Poverty has several definitions, but it is commonly defined as a lack of economic resources, housing instability, lack of safe drinking water, and food insecurity. This deprivation can extend and seep into several facets of an individual’s life, severely impacting them mentally, physically, and emotionally. People living in poverty come from diverse ethnic, racial, economic, and social backgrounds.
Considering the numbers, there are still more poor white Americans than African Americans or Hispanics. However, when comparing poverty rates, it is affirmed that poverty is disproportionately distributed amongst minorities. The theories about the causes of poverty are constantly changing, as are the contrasting attitudes toward why people are poor. Victimization of the poor, blaming and attributing their disparities to the defects of their character, is very common.
Furthermore, a factor of poverty is also living wages and employment. Wages must be sufficient to provide living necessities that are crucial for an adequate standard of life. Consequently, wages today are not sufficient to provide such necessities. They have yet to catch up to the cost of living, reducing employed people to poverty. Additionally, there is a culture of poverty that enables learned helplessness and generational poverty, which keeps individuals across generations in its grasp. Based on the consequences of poverty and its causes, it generates a cyclical intersectional enigma.
The cycle of poverty implicates early childhood, parenthood, health, educational and employment prospects, and many other facets of life. The poverty simulator for living under such conditions further clarifies the massive economic, political, and social strife that up to 14 million people in the United States are subjected to. The disparities lead to implications that impinge on the larger community and individuals. Nearly all possible consequences of living in poverty influence the individual affected by it. As discussed, poverty is a cyclical entrapment that establishes lifelong barriers and difficulties that are passed on from one generation to the next.
Unemployment or low incomes force families to forgo necessary elements that can help them flourish, such as education and insurance for their vehicles, health, and other components, because they are seen as unaffordable luxuries in the midst of food, shelter, and economic insecurity. Additionally, detriments to their mental and emotional well-being are affected. Individuals in poverty experience strain or loss of identity, self-esteem, reduced friends, and social support. Both direct and indirect causes of poverty can include mental illness, family abuse, conflict, delinquency, and disability, among several other factors. This disempowerment inflicts a strain on an individual’s agency and competence as their economic, social, and political mobility diminishes.
The community is likewise affected by poverty. It pressures and makes it difficult for a community to establish policies and organizations and allocate funds to provide aid to the impoverished. This inability results from a lack of political efficacy and equality. It becomes problematic when the number of impoverished individuals continues to increase substantially and there are cutbacks in services. Additionally, communities may experience business failures and loss of revenue because fewer people are contributing to the local economy. Consequently, due to cutbacks, the demand for assistance exponentially increases. Finally, as communities grow impoverished, pockets or sectors of poverty grow concentrated in certain regions, mostly rural areas.
Social workers can and need to deliver coordinated services that can address the personal effects of poverty and the issues that clients may need assistance with. They can also advocate for social policies that address social and economic conditions, tackling and reducing the causes of poverty. For example, those in the social work profession can provide direct services to people who are in need of home stability in the context of subsidized housing, outreach services, and community groups.
Additionally, there are several service responses to poverty that social workers can utilize to help those affected by it. Programs such as Head Start provide educational and family support services to millions of families that can benefit their children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. Furthermore, social workers play a significant role in empowering their clients struggling with poverty. They can build substantially on their strengths and address issues that go beyond poverty and those facets that are affected by it.
Finally, empowerment programs help clients struggling with the consequences of poverty gain a sense of power through developing their own voices and being part of a safe space. These programs have a tremendous influence on the realization of the future for the most affected, creating power through relationships with others and reconnecting with their self-sufficiency.
