Are you aware that, for many people who have families and, perhaps, a lot of irregular expenses (kids who get sick, copays and Rx medicines, anyone?) getting a refund is the only safe way to have a sizable chunk of money.
Knowing that you have X amount of money to live off each month, and not having the luxury of holding funds in a savings account at .02% interest, it suddenly seems reasonable to get a $1000 or more chunk, every year.
I think that people in this forum, isolated as we are in many ways from the realities of life for those below an average income, tend to tsk tsk at the spending habits they see there.
For a good long time, I was there; divorced, four kids, ex who lied about income and then stopped paying child support at all. It took me a good ten years after my divorce to climb back above the average, and it was not due to laziness, drug use or any other vices. It was because once you have fallen, no matter the reason, our society makes it damned hard to get back up on your own. And you ARE on your own.
So. back to the topic. Here you are, a single mom, with four little kids. Your gross monthly income is $2500. Do you A) put money in a savings account B) put a little money in a 401K or c) take one fewer deduction than you are eligible for, and get some extra money, once a year?
I chose B and C. A would not have resulted in a sizable increase in our safety net, as it would have been too easy, when every single month was a struggle to stretch the money AND buy healthy food AND pay for decent clothes for the kids and myself AND allow them to have the very occasional special treat, like going to a movie, to use that savings as a piggy bank for the above mentioned copays and medicine. Seriously. The month that one kid got mono (five copays in a month) and another fell and needed stitches (ER copay--ouch!) was nearly a disaster, because an extra $175 in expenses was a lot at that point.
B got me some peace of mind for the future, and C let me know that if, for example, the car was on its way out, I'd have a way to either repair it or replace it with a newer used car, without starving my kids.
I was not unusual. There are even more "me"s now than there were in the late 80's and early 90's, because the terrible economic policies of the first part of this century damaged so many people.
Keep that in mind, please, before you propose to judge those people and their choices.