What Are the Root Causes of Being Poor?
The headline is worth repeating.
What Are the Root Causes of Being Poor?
JLP at All Financials Matters read a book that attributes society’s poor to single parent households. Do you agree? If not, what do you think is the root cause of being poor?
Share your opinion and read my response to the discussion on JLP’s blog.
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Whoa! That’s not what I was tryin’ to say.
My point was that it seems like there could be a correlation between single parent households and poverty. I think we have to look at it as a potential cause of some poverty, not the root cause.
No worries, I didn’t say YOU said it. I said you read a BOOK that “attributes society’s poor to single parent households.” I understand this is not your opinion, but the author’s quote from the book (highlighted in your post) insinuates it.
Lack of education and/or lack of opportunity. When people are educated and are given/earn the opportunity to put that education (street, book, whatever) to use, poverty can become a memory, if the willingness to work is there.
Sorry Single Ma,
To answer your original question: no, I don’t agree with the premise of the book as I understand it. I do not subscribe to the belief that being a single parent is a root cause of poverty. That would not explain the world’s poor population, many of whom, I suspect, are married.
Can being a single parent make it harder to get out of poverty? I would say yes. But that conclusion is not revolutionary. There are many factors that would make it harder to escape poverty, single parenthood is one.
I do not agree that single parent households are the root of poverty–look at you, for example.
I grew up in a very small town, with few opportunities, a poor school system, and an even poorer community. You were ‘very rich’ if your parents could afford to buy you even a $1200 secondhand car to use after your 16th birthday. I agree with an earlier poster that few opportunities and poor education are major contributors.
I saw it over and over again growing up–I think it’s a cycle that is VERY hard to break–your parents didn’t get or couldn’t get a good education in the public school system, therefore weren’t prepared or motivated to go to college, and therefore they didn’t encourage these traits in their offspring. If you are not brought up to do well in school, it is hard to expect that of yourself. And I think school is the major path to avoid poverty for most people.
I was lucky in that even though my dad didn’t get past his high school diploma, my mother had a master’s degree, and emphasized that we were to do well in school, at the cost of everything else, except for church and family. Therefore, I did as much as I could with the public school system–took all their AL classes (and their one AP class), got straight A’s, etc–and ended up at the number 1 public university at the time (UVA) and went on to get my master’s degree. Few others from my high school made it into a college, and even fewer (can count on one hand) got their master’s degree or higher. School just wasn’t a priority to most of my classmates–mostly thanks to their parents, who didn’t have the money for college and therefore told their kids they would never be able to go (I witnessed this with my own eyes). They told them to get a minimum wage job or get training in blue-collar industries instead.
Church also kept me out of trouble and focused on being a “good person.” I think both are keys to helping a child be successful.
Poverty as a whole is a complex issue that I think would be impossible to boil down to one phrase. To say that single-parent households are the root of or even major cause of poverty would be wrong and an oversimplification of the issue. Not that I know what I’m talking about, but I do know that poverty is affected by economic structure, the role of government, political stability, education, neighborhood economic development, health, hard work, and sometimes, luck. I think the emphasis on single-parent households is misguided and incorrect.
This was a very interesting post and I read your comments on the other blog. You should just copy it on this blog too. It’s worth repeating! Bravo :)
I think the likelihood of a person living under the poverty line (or continuing to live under the line) is highly individual. My mom was single, was struggling with drug/alcohol recovery while raising my brother and I and worked up to 3 jobs at a time for many, many years. Now she only stays in hotel rooms that have hot tubs in them and goes to the Bahamas every few months to “unwind”. She pulled herself out with sheer will. Likewise, I had my daughter at 17 and had to drop out of school — however, I got my GED and bought my first home by age 19. I’m a single mom but we live a pretty comfortable life.
I think a big factor in poverty is the lack of access to educational assistance for people who just get stuck and don’t know how to move forward. It seems like the older you get the more problems pile on top of you and some people just can’t see the way out or aren’t able to get ahead. My incredibly brilliant (genius IQ) 27 year old single male friend only brought home $9,000 last year though he works very hard and has an honors college education. His pessimistic attitude probably has a lot to do with why he can’t seem to get on top of his finances and achieve his goals.
It’s all about attitude, baby!
PS, Glenn Beck is a moron!