Situational Vs. Generational Poverty
April 16, 2009
We must understand poverty in respect to our current national financial dilemma in order to clearly identify what families are going through today. Many families have been hit by tremendous hardship as foreclosure has hit all time highs. Increasing numbers of people are facing a change of class while they attempt to pick up the pieces.
Generational poverty and situational poverty while similar have very different beginnings and sometimes outcomes. People of generational poverty are “those who have two or more generations living in poverty.” Many of these families live together in large groups, rent versus own property, and struggle to make economic choices toward a better way of life.
Situational poverty is just that: based on dire and often unexpected circumstances. We can remember them as the 7 D’s: Divorce, Death, Disease, Downsized, Disabled, Disasters and Debt. These individuals have never experienced poverty prior to their situation and have their experiences in middle class (or higher) to draw upon.
Individuals in generational poverty are inexperienced with other class systems and the hidden rules of class are foreign to them. People in situational poverty often have relationships and resources at their disposal that assist them in reclaiming their prior living status.
Those in generational poverty often ostracize family members or friends who seek to leave for middle class, at times claiming they have ‘sold out.’ It is important for those who seek to enhance their living environment and economic standing to be willing to disconnect from these relationships even if only temporarily in order to achieve success. This can be a deal breaker for some as relationships are paramount to the psychological security of people of generational poverty. Many find themselves staying in abusive dysfunctional relationships because it is better to be in a dysfunctional relationship than to be alone.
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