Sometimes, when talking about the conditions of poor people, one hears sentences like this: “He must be very lazy!” Why didn’t he look for a job?”, “It’s obvious that they don’t spend the money on drugs!”, “What’s the point of helping charity? What doesn’t change!” There are many harmful stereotypes that poor people face as they struggle to make ends meet, but the reality is that poverty is not a choice, it is a situation that each of us can choose to be in place of those less fortunate. who are caught in this downward spiral due to illness or unemployment and other such factors.

What does the cycle of poverty mean?

Janet Mola Okoko, a sociologist, defines the cycle of poverty as: “a vicious spiral of poverty and deprivation that is passed from one generation to another.” In fact, factors such as economic disability and lack of education make it more and more difficult to escape poverty over generations.

Janet Mola Okoko

In economics, the trap or cycle of poverty is created by self-reinforcing mechanisms that cause poverty to persist once it occurs. Unless an external factor breaks the cycle. This cycle can continue for generations, and when such a term is used in developing countries, it is also known as an obstacle to development.

The cycle of poverty is defined as a phenomenon in which poor families survive for at least three generations, i.e. enough time for none of the ancestors who have the cultural, intellectual and social capital necessary to change their poor conditions and are capable of transmitting it, are alive. If they are not, then they become poor.

“Ates Financial Academy” defines the cycle of poverty as follows; In economics, there is a word called the cycle of poverty, which means that a person caught in this cycle has free money and little capital, so he cannot use investment opportunities and will continue to have little income, and this has a direct impact on his next generations. and the cycle of poverty will be formed.

Various reasons create the cycle of poverty, which reinforce each other; For example, economic problems create psychological pressure, and this pressure makes it difficult for a person to make economic decisions, disrupts his work and life, and makes him poorer day by day.

How do people get stuck in the cycle of poverty?

In order to show the creation of this cycle in a better way, we refer to an example; We consider three women in different generations of the same family to show how the cycle of poverty is formed and continues and damages in different generations. in a small village with few opportunities; “Natalie” lost his father as a child and his mother “Sumiya” could not send him to school due to poor living conditions and deprivation. Natalie grew up under the same conditions and far from education, and because she does not have a good education and the village is suffering from a drought, she cannot find a job. After some time, Natalie’ mother insists that Natalie get married so that she can live a stable life and take care of him. At a young age, Natalie marries a man from their village, who also has a poor education and is having trouble finding a job. They also start a poor life. Soon, Natalie gets pregnant and has a beautiful daughter whom she names “Vanessa”. This little girl suffered from malnutrition due to lack of income and lack of sufficient food in her village, and this leads to health problems for her for the rest of her life. Natalie has to walk many kilometers to fetch water and the rest of her time is spent nursing her sick child. As time goes by, Natalie gives birth to more children and trying to provide enough food, water and medicine for them becomes more and more difficult. The family in the middle of all these problems cannot afford to send their children to school, and the children have to collect water and help at home from a young age. Vanessa also grew up without enough education and she also cannot find a job. She married very soon and had children and lives in poverty… and the cycle continues. This cycle continues without fail until it is broken, but is it possible to break the cycle of poverty?

How to break the cycle of poverty?

As we mentioned in the example; Natalie was orphaned as a child and the lack of an effective guardian and the lack of suitable conditions caused the family’s poverty. Of course, for Natalie, his father cannot be revived and brought back to the world, but the situation can be changed in his favor as much as possible. This is where the role of appropriate government programs and the support of public charity institutions becomes prominent. If Sophia, Natalie’ mother, receives special training for employment, the situation will change completely! For example, according to the geographical and climatic conditions of the village, trainings in the field of sustainable agriculture, or the production of sustainable vegetable garden projects, can be provided so that both the family’s food is provided and the surplus of their products can be sold in the local markets and earn an income. Also, through the participation of public and government institutions, a deep well can be created in the village so that Sophia and her daughter can enjoy safe water and Natalie does not have to go far to fetch water. This means Natalie never has to miss school or skip homework to fetch water, and her mother Sophia can water her gardens and watch her vegetables grow. Little Natalie grows up in better conditions, healthy and educated, and decides to work hard and become a local school teacher. He is also supported by the cooperation of related institutions and helps the deprived children of his region to enjoy proper and free education. Natalie gets married at the right age and decides to have a child. She saved money from her work and her baby is born beautiful, healthy and happy. If there are any complications during the birth, Natalie will benefit from the programs prepared to support her and her child, and her worries will be resolved. Natalie’ family is stable and independent and can send Vanessa to school so that she has a better future. The impending possibility of poverty has not been transferred to generations and the family is free to enjoy their lives and plan for the future.

Now the cycle of poverty is broken:

If we look at the story of Sophia, Natalie and Vanessa, we will realize that they are not lazy or comfortable people, but just a family that is going through hard times and needs help to get the support and opportunities they deserve to build a better future for themselves. .

Unfortunately, the cycle of poverty is transmitted in generations; It means that a poor family cannot give a good education to their children, and those children also do not acquire the ability to create wealth and cannot make correct economic decisions, which will later lead to the formation of a poor family, and this trait will be passed on from generation to generation.

This cycle of poverty also exists in middle-class families! It means that a person who spends 90% of his income on house rent or other expenses has little money left for him to invest and start a business that he cannot do effective and useful work with this money, so only his income is spent on daily needs and income and savings and profit. It will not have. Now imagine the situation of this person when next year with the increase in house rent and the increase in living expenses, how will his life and conditions be? Well, definitely, because he is only trying to earn money, he has to make more efforts to be able to meet his normal life expenses, so this person is inevitably caught in the vicious cycle of poverty.

what’s the solution?

In every generation, one person should be supported or consciously decide to break this vicious cycle and improve the conditions for himself and the next generations, for example, through proper entrepreneurship and proper investment.

Is this workable?

Questions like this may cross your mind: “Well, what is the solution now?” Is it possible for me to get out of this vicious cycle overnight? And can I increase my financial power?”

Yes, there are ways that won’t work overnight, but can break a person out of the vicious cycle of poverty. Of course, they are time-consuming and one should not expect to get rich very soon. In fact, gaining knowledge and making the right decision can be the first step; If a person decides to change the economic fate of himself and his family, he can achieve salvation in various ways.

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