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When most people think of poverty, they think of the lack of financial resources to meet basic living needs. But poverty can come in many different forms. There's a difference between generational poverty and situational poverty. Situational poverty is a short period of hardship. One who is faced with situational poverty has hope that they will find a way out, that things will get better. However, generational poverty is when a family is living in poverty for at least two generations. When a family is battling with poverty, the three key factors that contribute to generational poverty are hopelessness, survival tactic vs. planning for the future, and the inconsistent structure of value patterns. Generational poverty is waking up every day and not having the hope that life can be better. Families and individuals who experience this type of poverty, are usually not equipped with efficient resources to get out of their situation.

"Hopelessness is the key factor in creating the cycle—one generation to the next.

Without hope and the belief that life can be better, the motivation and energy needed to break the cycle are very low." A person experiencing hopelessness due to poverty doesn't feel like a financially healthy life is or will ever be obtained. Many people are unaware that they can improve their conditions. "The cost of a car, insurance, registration, gas, maintenance… You can't afford all that without a job, and you can't get to the job without the car." Hopelessness is not a character flaw; rather, it is the nature and cruel result of being trapped by circumstances upon which they can have no impact. Think about the word "trapped." This is the way one would define how they are feeling experiencing hopelessness due to poverty.

Living in poverty, one would think differently and have different goals than your average person who is not experiencing poverty. Instead of wondering what you are going to choose to eat for breakfast this morning, one living in poverty is trying to figure out how they will get their hands on anything to fill their stomachs and the stomachs of their families. This is where the Survival Tactic vs. Planning for the future factor comes in. Living in poverty, one is only trying to survive and make it to the next day without starving. Food is not all that you worry about when living in poverty. There are unresolved health issues, issues with family members, and, most importantly, finding somewhere to live. Planning is almost non-existent because planning involves having some hope that the plans will follow through.

As you can see already, therefore generational poverty exists; and it is an endless cycle. Every day it's a different problem that arises that you need to resolve somehow even if one hasn't yet figured out how they will eat or bathe. These essentials are considered luxuries to those battling generational poverty.

The values of those caught in the Generational Poverty cycle are very different from those who have been established in a middle-class family. Traditionally education is the priority to set the foundation for a sustainable future. Unfortunately, that is not the case when a family is caught in generational poverty. The family is at a point of living day to day versus planning for a better future. Here is an example of the difference in the values held by those experiencing poverty and the middle class: A family cannot consistently pay their utility bills even though it is a priority. The parents will choose to feed their children before paying a utility bill.

Parents are putting the focus mainly on raising their children to go directly into the workforce. Reason being, there is no time nor money to go to college, so the goal is to get some income, rather than having a career that could lead to a more prosperous future. The lack of values shown by the parents will be passed down to the children experiencing poverty, which in turn gets passed down to the next generation. When it gets passed down, the children who grew up on learning to pick up physical labor jobs will never emphasize education. That will cause that second and third generation to do the same and keep that family in the same situation.

There are many different types of poverty, to be more specific, there are six types. However, I felt the need to define generational poverty because it is a continuous cycle that affects families in so many ways. Some of the significant factors that are endured are hopelessness, having to choose between survival tactics versus planning, and inconsistencies of value patterns. The numbers of individuals impacted continue to rise in our country and around the world at a rapid pace. There are many misconceptions when it comes to poverty and how it is caused. A few of those include "Poor people are lazy," "they don't value education." If we take the time out to do the research and be able to identify the different types of poverty, we can help these families by providing the necessary resources to break the cycle. It can be as simple as teaching the children how to grow vegetables as well as providing free nutritious meals to these families. If we come together, we can make a big difference in the rising poverty numbers. What are you doing to help break this cycle?

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