For over 35 years Ruby Payne has been trying to share her observations regarding children and poverty. Here are a few to think about.
POVERTY IS REALTIVE Poverty exists in relationship to a desired state. And it is not always related to money. If everyone around you is in the same situation, it may be something or someplace that makes you richer. Or even education, talent or experience.
POVERTY CUTS ACROSS ALL RACES AND COUNTRIES It is true in every country and every race that here are haves and have nots. The percentage may vary but the reality exists everywhere.
GENERATIONAL POVERTY AND SITUATIONAL POVERTY ARE DIFFERENT Situational poverty is often a short term caused by circumstances, loss of job, illness and medical expenses, death, divorce, etc. Generational poverty lasts for two or more generations when a family cannot make economic or educational progress.
Financial assistance can help move people out of situational poverty. Generational poverty requires individual family members be supported in establishing and reaching personal goals, most often those of education and self sufficiency. Getting people in poverty to move past day-to-day survival and personal relationships to a larger view of the possibilities of achievement in the wider world is a lot more difficult than it seems. Societal expectations, often negative, and discrimination, often hidden, are large barriers. Education can be a tool to help individuals move out of poverty. But the larger society must believe it is to their advantage to help struggling others to move ahead.