Poverty: Who’s to Blame? Spoiler Alert, It’s Not “Them”
If your first thought was to blame “them” or “the people living in poverty,” you aren’t alone, but you’re also not right.
Poverty is much deeper than that.
Single parents, immigrants, and minorities are more likely to live in poverty. Communities that face racial discrimination and systemic oppression have higher poverty rates than White Canadians.
Why is this the case? Poverty is a structural, social problem, not an individual, personal problem. It usually intersects or occurs alongside systemic barriers and is rooted in structural inequalities.
Different Approaches to Poverty
Views and perceptions about poverty’s causes can be individualistic or structuralist. An individualistic understanding of poverty blames the issue on the poor people themselves and sees poverty as a personal issue, not a broader structural one. This dismisses the many structural inequalities contributing to peoples’ situation and can promote judgmental misconceptions about poor people.
Structural inequality describes inequalities in wealth and resources that stem from discrimination. For example, children raised in single-parent households are 3 times more likely to live in poverty than children raised in two-parent households. The economic opportunities open to single-parent-led families and two-parent families are unequal.
“Structural inequality focuses on the practices that shape outcomes for individuals, independent of their personal decisions, efforts, talent, or needs.” - The Center for High Impact Philanthropy
As we’ve explored on our Instagram, talking about poverty and dispelling poverty myths is necessary to gain a broader scope of poverty as a growing global issue.
Not an Individual Problem
Here at Mom2Mom, we believe poverty shouldn’t be considered a personal problem. Poverty shouldn’t be blamed on a person's “bad choices” or lack of work ethic. Believe it or not, these are common assumptions that many moms in our community and others experiencing poverty hear way too often.
Reducing poverty to a personal issue is problematic because it unfairly blames individuals for their circumstances, ignoring the bigger social and structural factors at play. Poverty is not that simple. Plus, it can be offensive to assume someone is living in poverty because of their own deficiencies.
It is important to adopt a structuralist understanding of poverty by addressing its underlying and intersecting causes. These causes are out of an individual’s control and can include a lack of opportunities, discrimination, and other systemic barriers.
Intersectionality of Poverty
What is intersectionality? Intersectionality describes how our overlapping experiences and identities can intertwine to impact our outcomes in life. It helps us question “Who is hardest hit by social problems like poverty,” and “Why does poverty affect certain communities more than others?”
For instance, if a single mom is also a racialized woman, she faces more barriers and is more likely to live in poverty. Her combination of experiences along the lines of race, gender, and marital status intersect to make a complex yet unique web of challenges.
Speaking to these intersections, Statistics Canada reports
People in single-mother households led by an immigrant woman are most likely to be low-income
33.8% of immigrant single mother-led households with young children experience poverty
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Poverty is a structural problem, not an individual problem
Poverty intersects or occurs alongside systemic barriers
Poverty is rooted in structural inequalities
Mom2Mom’s programs focus on alleviating poverty-related stress by providing resources ranging from financial support to friendship and community.
Most Mom2Mom participant moms are Indigenous and women of color, including women who were born outside of Canada. As we move forward, it is essential for us to continue learning from and supporting mothers who are navigating single parenting and their intersecting identities.
What can you do to help? Reading this post is a great place to start! Developing an informed understanding of poverty through education and sharing information are all ways to help address poverty stigma and misconceptions.
You can take the next step by joining the Mom2Mom community either through donating resources or time—keep up with exciting opportunities by joining our email list!
Through collective action, we can move towards the future Mom2Mom envisions: an equitable society where moms and children are not limited by poverty.