UNDERSTANDING GENERATIONAL POVERTY

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"What is Generational Poverty?

Generational Poverty is defined as having been in poverty for at least two generations. It is important to understand the difference between Generational Poverty and Situational Poverty.

A person/family can experience Situational Poverty when their income and support is decreased due to a specific change – job loss, divorce, death, etc. While there can be a domino effect caused by this one significant change, families experiencing Situational Poverty tend to remain hopeful, knowing that this is a temporary setback.

KEY FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH GENERATIONAL POVERTY"...

understanding individual poverty....now that is the ticket.

and then there is GLOBAL poverty. Interesting topic poverty.......IF you can not afford a smart
phone is that poverty? IF you can not afford a flat screen TV or an X-box is that poverty? My
definition of poverty is NO running water,in fact NO water at all...you must travel 4 miles round
trip to bring back water. A dirt floor and scrap lumber as an abode,two sets of clothes,no shoes
No basic medical care,14 hour day at a dollar and hour,no access to B.C.,so that means many
mouths to feed (until they die of starvation) THAT my friend is poverty......abject poverty.

homeagain wrote: and then there is GLOBAL poverty. Interesting topic poverty.......IF you can not afford a smart
phone is that poverty? IF you can not afford a flat screen TV or an X-box is that poverty? My
definition of poverty is NO running water,in fact NO water at all...you must travel 4 miles round
trip to bring back water. A dirt floor and scrap lumber as an abode,two sets of clothes,no shoes
No basic medical care,14 hour day at a dollar and hour,no access to B.C.,so that means many
mouths to feed (until they die of starvation) THAT my friend is poverty......abject poverty.

It's definitely relative. If a poor Mexican family can get across the border they will still be poor in our eyes, but in their eyes they just jumped up a class and will live better here than they did in Mexico. This country has no idea what real poverty is... you can be a hermit living under a bridge downtown and still have access to food, water, clothing, and shelter. No matter how unfair you may feel life is in the US, you can only sink so far unless you just choose to give up.

It's also my opinion that the reason you can only sink so low in the US is because it was not founded on a notion that everyone should live at an equal level... you can become as wealthy as you can imagine if you're willing to work hard. And if you don't want to put in the work, you can directly and indirectly benefit from those around you who do. Living off the trash from the rich and middle class here is still better than working like a dog just to survive in other countries.

In my mind you are in poverty when either one of two things is happening.

1. Despite your best efforts, you go to sleep hungry.
2. Despite your best efforts, you go to sleep cold or wet.

Pretty simple. Folks in the above groups need help from others, if someone does not have a smart phone, well then they might just be typing this sentence and most certainly not in poverty.

Perhaps we could get rid of the min wage so it is legal for them to work for money again.

But the first things you give someone in poverty is not a sweeping policy, it is a meal, a blanket and a tent. Then after that you get rid of the policies that put them there, since they were not on average dumb or lazy, even if some are.