Poverty
Hailey and Moonee are living in poverty, and their lives spiral downwards because of the cycle of poverty they cannot seem to escape. Although Hailey is her own worst enemy, and makes the things that she can control infinitely worse, much of her life is out of her control and she is definitely an economic victim of her circumstances. An example of this is her reluctance to work as a prostitute in the strip club where she is a dancer. Because she refuses to sell sex to the customers she is fired, but when she explains this to the benefits office, they do not see this as an extenuating circumstance for losing a job. Her benefits are cut off, which means that she is in a worse position than before with even fewer options.
The Sex Work Trap
It's unlikely that anyone ever lay in bed as a child dreaming of becoming a prostitute. Yet women are trapped into prostitution because they have few options other than this available to them. Hailey is a dancer but she is expected to be a sex worker too. When she doesn't want to do this, she is fired, which cuts off her benefits, which leaves her with no options for making money other than becoming a prostitute. This is a vicious cycle that traps women into sex work and punishes them when they don't want to do this.
Loss of Childhood
Moonee's childhood is one big paradox; on one hand she likes to run around with her friends, explore and dream of a world of princesses, fairies, and other Disney characters. On the other, she listens to her mom having sex with clients whilst she is locked in the bathroom "out of harm's way". Moonee cannot have a childhood in the true sense of the word because she is far too exposed to the harsh realities of adult life. She also does not know that the childhood she is experiencing is different from the childhoods other kids are having, and consequently loves her mother and wants to remain living with her. She does not see foster care as an opportunity to regain a normal childhood; she sees it as being ripped away from the mother she loves, and the life she has come to know and like as her own.
