The characters in Jews Without Money are trapped in cycles of poverty. Escaping the tenement buildings is hard, as the society conspires to ensure that the poor remain poor. Poor people spend twice as much money just to get by: They are forced to invest money in clothing that instantly falls apart; they have to pawn possessions at extortionate rates just to put food on the table; and they have to work twice as long for half as much money just to pay the rent. Being poor costs a great deal of money, meaning that the people in the poorest communities are trapped in an oppressive cycle as putting any money aside demands huge sacrifices.

The trap of poverty is also seen in the jobs people perform. The dangerous jobs are the least well paid, as Herman’s situation illustrates. He is a house painter, and, like all house painters, he knows that the noxious fumes from the lead paint will slowly erode his health. He will lose either his mind or his health due to the lead in the paint, and he is eventually made so ill that he falls from the scaffolding and breaks both of his legs. He cannot work, so he can barely feed his family.