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Understanding poverty means understanding mindset
The topic of poverty was examined through group discussion and analysis Thursday afternoon in the Gordon Parks Museum at Fort Scott Community College.
About 30 people attended a free workshop entitled "Bridges out of Poverty" inside the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center to learn more about the hidden rules of poverty, middle class and wealth in order to have a better understanding of the driving forces behind the three socioeconomic classes.
Presenters included Anita Cooper, a social worker with the Department of Children and Families, and Georgia Masterson, director of the Circles of Allen County program. The workshop was offered as part of the first day of activities for the Gordon Parks Celebration of Culture and Diversity, which continues through Saturday afternoon.
Attendees first broke into groups to discuss and outline a mental model of poverty by answering the questions, "What comes to your mind when you think about people in poverty?" and "What does poverty look like to you?"
Some of the responses presented during the discussion on the model of poverty included vagrancy, the homeless, people with health issues that prevent them from working, people without transportation, people looking for "freebies," people who receive health care at the emergency room, people who move frequently and people who work multiple jobs.
Cooper said people in poverty often work part-time jobs with no benefits on a "three strikes and you're out" policy, whereas middle class people are typically able to take sick leave.
"They're (people in poverty) faced with 'Do I take care of my sick kid or go to work?" Cooper said.
In the presentation, the mental model of poverty showed that behaviors of people in poverty place high value in relationships and are "very distrustful" whereas middle class people deal in achievement. The mental model for wealth showed that "connections" are at the center of life for the wealthy.
"They (people in poverty) rely on each other to survive," Cooper said.
Masterson said people in poverty also "scavenge the land" making use of all the resources they can to survive. To get fast money, people in poverty also typically play the lottery or take part in some other form of gambling. People in poverty also usually place a high value on entertainment in order to take their mind off their problems. This is also where drugs and alcohol abuse can come into play.
"The only thing stronger than a mother's love is drugs," Cooper said.
Cooper said there is also "no planning for people in poverty."
"When your life is continually in crisis, when you are forced to deal with the tyranny of the moment, you don't learn to plan and have no 'future story,'" according to written information provided at the workshop.
The different levels of poverty -- including situational poverty and generational poverty -- were also discussed.
For those who live in generational poverty, crime is more prevalent in their neighborhoods, being able to physically fight is a necessity, the role of the male is a lover and fighter and lack of language skills to negotiate often leads to physical violence or threat of physical violence. Because people in generational poverty lack other resources, relationships are at the center of their lives. In spite of all this, people who live in poverty are excellent problem solvers, according to the presentation.
Some of the driving forces behind poverty mentioned include survival, relationships and entertainment. Driving forces behind middle class include work, achievement and material security while driving forces behind wealth include political, financial and social connections.
According to 2009 Census data provided at the workshop, "Statistically Rich" was an income of $100,000 or more. The median household income was $50,221. Currently, the official poverty threshold for a family of three is $18,310 ($8.90 per hour full-time job.) A full-time minimum wage job at $7.25 per hour produces an income of $15,080 per year if a worker puts in eight hours per day 52 weeks a year.
A single mother with two children receives $386 in cash assistance and between $442 and $526 in food benefits per month, translating to $10,000 to $11,000 annually.
"Sometimes they (people in poverty) have to keep working while losing benefits," Cooper said.
There was also discussion on the various "hidden rules" concerning each socioeconomic class. Individuals bring with them the hidden rules of the class in which he or she was raised. Hidden rules are understood behaviors that are necessary to survive in a particular economic class. Cooper said most of the time, people are unaware of the existence of these hidden rules. People who don't know the hidden rules for people living in poverty lose credibility.
Masterson and Cooper said the goal is to teach people in each economic class about these rules in order to help them better understand the class. To help people moving out of poverty to be successful, people who function in the middle class must understand their hidden rules and teach them the rules that will enable them to be successful at school, at work and in the community, according to the presentation.
There are different rules for time and power and people in poverty typically focus on the present, while being on time is not important. People in poverty need help making choices for their future as they have no future orientation.
"When you're living in crisis, being on time is not important," Cooper said. "They don't think about consequences. They just think about staying alive and the present."
Concerning the hidden rules of power, because people in poverty value relationship rather than achievement, they will leave a job rather than work for someone they don't respect. When they feel they are disrespected, people in poverty will fight for it, according to the presentation.
People in poverty also typically spend money on entertainment but do not save money for future needs.
"What's important is having entertainment around during crisis to keep things from falling apart," Cooper said.
The two presenters also asked attendees to think about where the community is in terms of people living in poverty and what evidence they see that poverty is becoming critical in the community. Some responses from attendees included the difference in high school graduations now and many years ago when many of the older attendees graduated from high school. There was discussion as to how high school graduations used to be quiet, solemn respectful events and more recently, they have become loud and boisterous with many graduates getting more cheers than others.
Masterson said all of the "hoops and hollers" at graduations in recent years may be because the graduate was "likely" the first in that family to graduate.
Other evidence provided included the differences in people who attend the annual Good Ol' Days street festival in recent years compared to 30 years ago when the event began. Discussion took place on how the way people dress to attend such events, and even visit Walmart, has changed over the years.
"And that may not just be people in poverty," Masterson said. "Sometimes middle class teenagers see people dressed in pajamas and slippers and say, 'That's cool,' and they think it's OK so they do it."
The group also discussed the definition of resources that many people in poverty live without in order to better understand people in poverty and used graphs to rate resources in their own lives. Those resources include financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, support systems, relationships/role models, and knowledge of hidden rules.
Masterson also talked briefly about the Circles USA program and its history and talked about Circles programs that are starting up in various Kansas communities. She said the program, which is funded through grant money, matches people who are living in poverty with people who are not in poverty with the objective of getting those living in poverty to take responsibility for "getting out of poverty."
The program provides resources and assistance, such as child care and meals, and structured time for the participants, Masterson said.
During the workshop, the four causes of poverty were shown to be behaviors of the individual, community conditions and the absence of human and social capital within the community, human exploitation and political-economic structures. All four causes of poverty must be addressed to effect change. To combat poverty, communities must provide fair chances at well-paying jobs, good education, health care and fair credit, according to the presentation.
Masterson said the federal poverty level is based only on the need for food, not shelter, clothing or other needs.
Statistics on poverty from the Kansas Association of Community Action Programs:
* The national poverty rate is 15 percent.
* The Kansas poverty rate is 14 percent.
* The national childhood poverty rate is 22 percent.
* The Kansas childhood poverty rate is 19 percent.
* The U.S. ranks 34th out of 35 developed countries in regards to the percentage of children in poverty.
* Low-income households lost 91 percent of their assets between 2007 and 2010.
* If the current federal minimum wage had been indexed to inflation since 1968 it would currently be $10.59. But, if it had kept pace with worker productivity gains over the same time period, it would be $18.72.