"The poor pay more" isn't just a cute rhyme: in many cases, the poor literally do pay more for the same (or worse) goods and services, compared to the wealthy.
This isn't the only kind of built-in inequality in society: even when everyone is treated equally, the poor may be disproportionately affected, for example by fines.
The Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness
Terry Pratchett (1993) gives a memorable description of one major aspect of the problem:
Origin of the phrase
The phrase "the poor pay more" originates with David Caplovitz's (1967) book, The Poor Pay More. It's especially focused on door-to-door salesmen using high-pressure sales tactics to force (or even trick) people into buying low-quality merchandise at inflated prices, relying on the inability of their victims to navigate the court system to enable the practice to continue.
In developing countries
The poorest people in developing countries pay far more for the same goods and services (Prahalad, 2009):
Examples
Light bulbs
A study conducted in Wayne County, Michigan found that incandescent bulbs are cheaper, and LEDs more expensive, in poorer areas than in wealthier ones (Reames et al., 2018). This situation still exists nationwide (Tabuchi, 2022).
Bibliography
Caplovitz, D. (1967). The Poor Pay More: Consumer Practices of Low-Income Families. The Free Press.
Prahalad, C. K. (2009). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits (Revised and Updated 5th Anniversary Edition). Wharton School Publishing.
Pratchett, T. (1993). Men at Arms. Victor Gollancz.
Reames, T. G., Reiner, M. A., & Stacey, M. B. (2018). An incandescent truth: Disparities in energy-efficient lighting availability and prices in an urban U.S. county. Applied Energy, 218, 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.02.143