What We Need to Know about Poverty

Do you live in poverty?  Do you know anyone who does?  Does poverty exist in another world from the one you live in?

Last week I attended a workshop called “Building a Sustainable Community:  Why Poverty Matters.”  I attended because it was sponsored by the Bridges Out of Poverty organization (Bridges), and I have been intrigued by their work. I learned that “4 out of 5 adult Americans will experience economic uncertainty during their lifetimes.”  And I learned how different that experience can be, depending on a variety of factors.  Bridges has a “dynamic” definition of poverty: “The extent to which an individual does without resources.”

There was a period in my life where my financial resources were low, but my educational and family resources have always been high.  People in generation poverty are usually “under resourced” in many areas.

Some facts from the day...

• The poorer you are, the sicker you are.

• Living in poverty is a risk factor for stress related illnesses.

• Poverty is one of the greatest threats to child health.  Poor children have increased infant mortality; more frequent and sever chronic diseases such as asthma; poorer nutrition and growth;…[and] increased obesity and its complications.

• Life expectancy is predicted more by ZIP code than genetic code.

• Poverty-related concerns consume mental resources leaving less for other tasks.

• The stress of poverty [can cause] roughly the same results found in people subjected to a night with no sleep [and can equal] a drop of as much as 13 points in IQ.

• Scarcity captures the brain and leads people into a tunnel.  Your only focus is solving the emergency of the moment.  You can’t notice what is outside the tunnel. 

There’s more, but you get the picture.  When the car of a “resourced” person breaks down, she may have credit cards, friends with reliable cars, and a membership that provides towing services.  When an under-resourced person’s car breaks down (if she has a car), it may be a major challenge to get it going again.  As the presenter said, “Poverty is a full time job with no weekends off, no vacations, and no retirement.”

That’s an introduction.  Poverty 101.  Maybe I’ll write more latter.  The workshop provided an intense picture of the nature of poverty.  It did not provide ways I can change the situation but it did provide a framework for understanding problems related to poverty.  Also, Bridges provides programs and services that help under-resourced people improve their situations.  I plan to learn more about their work.

(The parts above with quotation marks or a blue background come from the PowerPoint presentation that was part of the program.)