What Does Generational Poverty Look Like?

What does generational poverty look like? Consider that this type of ongoing poverty is just two steps away from all of us: Lose your job and you are in situational poverty. If you don’t claw your way out and rebound you may find yourself in generational poverty. And it is easy for children to become mired in poverty as adults if they don’t receive a solid, foundational grounding in life.

A poverty case study video (7) showed the following as regards a family consisting of two parents and four children: The parents didn’t work. They were fortunate in that they had a solid roof over their heads. They had a beat up old car with a cracked windshield, which got them where they needed to go when they had money for petrol. The mother knew how to mingle in middle class society because she had been well educated and had been taught societal etiquette with good manners and politeness but had drifted in life due to misfortune and mental illness, seemingly now without purpose, and she now also suffered from addiction. She spoke of how much she loved her husband and how terrific he was to the family yet on other occasions she raged at him, demanding that he make her happy and do something to bring her out of her downward spiral. She felt depressed and sank into misery. She was in a mental cloud, akin to being trapped underwater with no way out, just fighting the cloying tide. There seemed to be a lack of support in family and friends.

Based on the video, it appeared as if she didn’t do much all day except tidying the house and meeting people to ask for money and food. When she spoke with people in authority, she seemed able to manage her emotions and be polite and this wasn’t the case when she spoke to her husband. She was street smart—able to adapt her rules of behaviour depending on whom she interacted with, a social chameleon. Her house was extremely tidy, unlike other people who don’t seem to care about the state they live in, untidiness everywhere, and this is more an indication as to what’s been learnt as a child, and the values that are important to specific people, rather than  being specific to one’s wealth.

The parents often shouted at each other in loud voices and argued in front of the children, who didn’t seem to notice this at all as it was just a part of daily life; the children were happy children. The parents never hit each other. They voiced their opinion loudly unlike more private people who are tactful and keep quiet and who, in fact, might swing to the opposite extreme and just not talk about what they are thinking at all so one might think everything is okay, and it isn’t. Boundaries as to what was allowed to be said seemed to be quite open. The family were closed in terms of things that might happen internally to the family, such as family secrets; this is universal.

The children were exceptionally well dressed, and clothing seemed to be a priority in this case, even more so than the family’s food needs. This may be due to a specific culture where appearance might be valued more than food. One can never judge someone’s wealth based on appearance. Never generalise. Rich people may purposely dress as if they lack money as they do not need to prove a point and are comfortable just being who they want to be. The case study family often lacked money for food, and a charity foundation helped them out, especially with basics like bread.

The children entertained themselves all day long. They sometimes missed school and weren’t being taught to the same level of education as the knowledge their mother possessed. Skills were being lost. In generational poverty, entertainment is often all important, and the TV may blare all day long. They seemed to lack purpose. When the family weren’t busy hunting for ways to make money, such as asking others for money, or trading in scrap metal for funds, they did nothing. They sat on the patio of their house and watched passing traffic. They sat inside and watched TV. They stared into space.

Is True Capacity a Factor of Childhood?

Where was purpose? Where were the skills they must have had within themselves? What if they had skills such as dancing, or painting, or photography locked away inside, yearning for freedom, captive in chains of a broken life, in a lack of discovery, a lack of motivation, a lack of hope? Have you ever read stories of children who become lost when they are young and who grow up being cared for by wild animals? Or children who are found after years of neglect, sometimes chained up, unable to speak properly? Heartbreaking, and at the same time of captivating interest, as such children often never recover. They are unable to learn key lessons that would allow them to fit in with society again. Yet there are other cases of children who are lost during their childhood years, perhaps their early teens, and are kept away from society for years, but are able to integrate once again. The latter type of children had that needed start in life; they had a foundation of key learning. These children may have trauma to overcome but are usually able to communicate and function when given back their life again. People need to learn key lessons during their formative years, to learn nuances of language, to face challenges that will grow intellect and know what it means to be a part of society and community and experience a sense of belonging. If a child or adult is able to read well, has a thirst for knowledge, understands how to do research, and is adaptable to basic change, the framework is set to learn almost anything, should passion awake. Most people can’t remember most of the facts they learnt at school but have the wherewithal to be able to go on a journey of discovery should they choose to don a new cloak of purpose and awaken dreams anew. Is this perhaps the problem in some cases of generational poverty? People may lack key lessons they may need to unlock true purpose in life. They have capacity; they are just not using their capacity or being given the opportunity.

Kindle Purpose, Kindle Passion

In the case study video, there seemed to be an expectation by the family that someone must help them out of their situation, almost a sense of entitlement. Perhaps society should, at the least, create solutions as a choice for people to grasp. Society may have the answers at her disposal, but people in generational poverty don’t. If they did know what to do, and had the means to do it, surely they would claw their way out of poverty. Finance alone isn’t the answer. There must be a process of knowledge transfer, and provision of a sound educational footing, to ensure that families and communities are able to lift themselves up and out of poverty, out of mindsets which keep them captive; to enable them to find jobs and to create jobs themselves; to kindle a fire of interest, one of hope, to see that they are able to contribute to society. All people need acceptance as part of the community. People truly feel valued when giving to the world. Perhaps the mother might start attending some craft groups. Perhaps the dad could be hired as a gardener. The parents could also find purpose as volunteers to help other people in a similar situation. We can move and contribute in spite of limitations.

Empower People to Help Themselves

Empower people to be able to craft their own worlds anew. Society should first meet poverty’s basic needs, such as water, food, shelter, and medical needs, and then lay a foundation to provide ongoing reusable skill sets for jobs and education, for people to truly realise their potential selves and to add value. If others are always providing all your needs, you won’t learn how to provide these needs for yourself. Once skills are at the required level, there should be a handover point for people previously in poverty to go it alone without leaving them totally in the lurch and a process to ensure they are able to access advice in the future, should they need this.

Children especially need to be educated to uplift future generations, through solid, thorough education. Education standards should be set high, to bring everyone up to reach for a challenging benchmark. You learn best when you are stretched to reach for a target just tantalisingly out of reach. If you are a teacher and see children lagging in your class room, ones who seem to have lost their passion for learning, these are the children to concentrate on teaching and to give extra lessons to. This is the way to uplift communities. Children previously in poverty may make a success of their lives based solely on a sound foundation of education—they stand next to their downtrodden-looking parents, smiling widely in their graduation garments, poised for future success.

As mentioned in the section in this chapter called “Ode to the San (Bushmen)”, in generational poverty knowledge is often lost somewhere along the way, and children drift into adults who have lost their purpose. This process knows no limits; it affects all types of people, all races, all cultures. Poverty is universal. For people who have lost purpose, knowledge and skills must be reclaimed. Find purpose, find life.

Involve People in Their Own Problem Solving

People on the ground have the most insight into what they are facing. They might not always have the solutions, but they should be included in problem identification and problem solving. It is futile to build something people will never use or don’t want, and a simple analogy is when I bought what I thought was the best space toy for a child, but it wasn’t the one that glowed in the dark, and he didn’t want it.

Allow Others to Become the Expert

The best way to ensure you become an expert is to do things yourself. Teach others how to become experts and give them the space to do this too. When baby birds leave the nest for the first time, the mother bird watched over her babies while they learn to flap their wings, and she is at hand to teach them how to find food and survive in their world. The baby birds launch themselves off the branch they are teetering precariously on, into the big wide world of open space, and they soon learn how to flap their wings to keep aloft. They learn to fly while the mother bird watches on. And each time they fly, their flight gets better, until they swoop with ease, and eventually they are able to become self-sufficient. Just as mother birds teach their new fledglings to become independent, there comes a point when people must go it alone. If you keep doing things for other people, they will never do it for themselves. This is a universal principle with application in all spheres of life. Let us help others to find their own wings, and then see them soar.

(7) Kim & Harley & the Kids (Family Foibles), A documentary film by Katrina Sawyer, Ronin Films, 2001 http://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/622/kim-harley-kids-family-foibles.html

Links to find my book, Foundation Stone of Hope, currently free to read on ISSUU