Types of Poverty
There are two types of poverty: situational poverty and generational poverty. Generational poverty occurs in families where two or more generations are born into poverty. These individuals are not equipped with the tools needed to move out of poverty. Their needs and social challenges are very different from the second group.
Situational poverty occurs when individuals experience some type of loss. The condition is temporary because they have the tools needed to determine a way out of a crisis – loss of job, home or living arrangement, for example.
In general, children born into generational poverty do not develop the tools needed to survive in middle class society. Studies have shown that children in lower income families hear fewer words, use fewer words and have an average vocabulary of 800 words relative to the 1,200-1,300 word vocabularies of children in middle income families. With fewer opportunities for language acquisition, it becomes more difficult to obtain the continuing education, employment and other resources needed to move out of poverty.
Early childhood(footnote) is a critical period in brain development. Prenatal and postnatal health care play a crucial role in a child’s development. Early childhood education is also important. Sensory, motor, emotional and cognitive stimulation promotes the development of neural circuits in the brain. Neural circuits are formed by dendrites that form branches between neurons (brain cells). The dendrites also bring information from one neuron into other neurons. This elaborate network establishes the foundation for sensory, motor, emotional, and cognitive skills. Research indicates that children living in poverty, without prenatal care or early childhood stimulation develop 20% less dendrites than other children.
Generational poverty also impacts spending habits. Although it may seem frivolous to an outsider, money spent on television entertainment, for example, provides a temporary escape from the oppressive conditions under which these individuals and families live. The social norms of individuals in generational poverty also vary from those of the mainstream society. Jobs may be lost for no other reason than a lack of understanding of the expectations that others take for granted – one’s attire, speech, mannerisms, and other social norms in any given setting. The long term impact on children born into these conditions is profound and encompasses many areas of their lives.
Homelessness in the Twin Cities
As an outreach worker and housing advocate for Catholic Charities, John Petroskaf works with single homeless adults. There are two shelters available: the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul and the Secure Waiting Overnight Shelter in Minneapolis. Together, these shelters serve 400-450 people each night. Petroskaf began his work as a volunteer at the Dorothy Day Center. An attorney by trade, he observed that a number of shelter visitors were repeats. They lined up outside of the shelters, obtained a space for the night and then repeated the same process the following day.
Catholic Charities began issuing cards for shelter clients. This provided a means of tracking the users. With this tracking tool, the shelters determined that 5% of the users were regulars. Using a list of regular users, Petroskaf works down the list until he finds someone who is interested in locating permanent housing. For each bed that opens in the shelter, a new space is available for someone else in need. (footnote)
For some of the shelters’ clients, life is focused on day to day survival. After leaving the shelters in the morning, the next task is to obtain a free meal at one of the drop-in centers. If shoes or an item of clothing are needed, the next stop is a clothes closet. This process continues until evening falls and the shelters reopen for the night.
The Minneapolis shelter reserves the first floor as a low barrier space with minimal rules and expectations. It serves to get people off the streets and into a safe place a night. There are minimal rules. An individual may be intoxicated; however, drugs and alcohol cannot be in their possession. Users are given a mat and space on the floor. There is a water fountain and a restroom facility. The conditions are crowded with spaces offered on a first come first serve basis.
On the second floor, there are 63 bunk beds serving 126 men. These clients pay a minimal fee of $4 per night. They receive a locker, bed with clean linens, and food. The fees are reimbursable if a client moves into permanent housing. It is estimated that 400 of these men have obtained permanent housing since 2000/2001.
The homeless population served by Catholic Charities is composed of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, substance abuse problems, chronic alcoholism, traumatic brain injury and other conditions. Another group served by the shelters is composed of individuals with profound mental illness. This population grew with the closure of state security hospitals in the 1970s and 1980s.
The closures were precipitated in part by new laws designed to protect individuals from being unduly incarcerated. It produced a rebound effect by limiting the ability of family members and health care providers to intervene on an individual’s behalf. Evidence of psychosis, malnourishment, unsanitary living conditions, and lack of health care are no longer sufficient grounds for incarceration. In most cases, a demonstrated danger to others is needed. Counter to popular media stereotypes, these individuals are rarely a danger to others.
Overall, approximately 90% of Petroskaf’s clients have a mental health disability, physical disability and/or substance abuse problem. Many are compromised in one of the following areas: emotional, mental, physical, and financial resources; support systems and relationships; spiritual support; and an understanding of social rules and other class variables. In working with these individuals, the first goal is to establish income and health care. From there, they can transition into permanent housing.
Transition to Permanent Housing
Catholic Charities operates under two rules. The first is to secure housing and the second is to reduce harm. According to Petroskaf, secured housing tends to reduce the harmful behavior. Removed from the chronic stress of crowded shelters, the daily dangers of spending life on the streets and the constant exposure to other homeless individuals, clients typically drink less, spend more time at home, and establish more stable living habits – improved hygiene, a cleaner living environment, and in some cases, resuming communication with family members.
Mind the Gap: Reducing Disparities to Improve Regional Competitiveness in the Twin Cities (footnote)
In discussing the conditions of poverty in the Twin Cities metropolitan region, Ron Krietemeyer referenced the Itasca Project. Funded by the Brooking Institute, the project was conducted by 40-50 chief executive officers and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The findings indicate that if left unchecked, race, class and place disparity trends in the Twin Cities region will create a future work force with little education and few skills. By addressing the underlying causes of poverty, and its perpetuation in this region, those trends can be reversed.
How is poverty defined? In a survey the average American estimated that 1-5 million in the USA live in poverty. Under the federal definition of poverty, there are 37 million people (approximately 12.5%) living in poverty in this country. The federal formula for defining poverty thresholds was developed in the 1960s by an economist with the Social Security Administration. Mollie Orshansky developed the formula for use in a risk assessment of low income households. It was not intended as a measurement for poverty.
As adopted by the federal government, this formula uses a one-to-three ratio of food expenditures to after tax income in determining the poverty thresholds. In other words, food accounts for 1/3 of the minimal required expenditures to support a family. Depending on the family size, the minimal required income is 3 times the minimal food requirements. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov), the 2005 poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children is $19,806. Whereas utilities, health care and other cost of living expenditures have risen, the cost of food has decreased. Yet, the federal formula has not been adjusted to account for these or other changes that have occurred over the years. Orshansky, along with other economists and experts, repeatedly appeal to the federal government to change this formula. To date, these efforts have failed.
Krietemeyer suggests a more realistic formula for determining the poverty thresholds. When considered from this vantage point, it seems logical to conclude the reason why government officials have not adopted new standards of defining poverty. If one assumes a more realistic estimate for a family of 4 is $40,000, then the number of people living in poverty doubles. Although 25% of the population living in poverty is a remarkable figure, it reveals only one aspect of a complex, interwoven trend that threatens the lives and futures of those living in poverty as well as the economic future of the Twin Cities region.
The Itasca Project Findings
There are 3 kinds of disparities in the Twin Cities: race, class and place. Minneapolis and St. Paul have one of the most highly educated populations in the country with 33% acquiring a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, of these individuals, only 19% are African Americans, 11% Mexicans and 8% Hmong. Furthermore, the Twin Cities has the highest share of adults with a high school diploma; however, it ranks 40th among 100 large metropolitan areas for Latinos with high school diplomas. The statistics are both enlightening and humbling, especially with the region’s current economy outpacing the national economy.
All told, minorities have less educational, economic, health, housing, income, and other opportunities for prospering at a middle-income or higher level. According to the Itasca Project, these burdens will inevitably be born by the Twin Cities metropolitan region. One study measured the degree to which racial minorities are concentrated in the inner cities. Minneapolis ranked at the bottom with a disproportionate number of minorities living in the cities and a disproportionate number of whites living in the suburbs. Nationwide, the perpetuation of poverty is of such magnitude that only the federal government has the resources to reverse it. Locally and nationally, there are many ways that individuals can take action to reduce poverty.
Closing the Gap
Studies have shown that having larger numbers of people earning at least a middle-class income fuels the local economy by creating a large number of consumers with more purchasing power. Bringing more money into an area increases the local tax base and decreases the fiscal costs associated with poverty.
The fates of larger metropolitan areas (cities and suburbs) are intertwined. Improving the inner cities will also improve the suburbs. Studies indicate that when the central city income levels increase, suburban incomes, home values and populations also increase. In those cities that reduced poverty in the central cities, it fueled income growth in 74% of the metropolitan areas (central cities and surrounding suburbs).
In a study of metropolitan areas, in 74% of those areas that reduced central city poverty rates, income growth was fueled. Reducing spatial disparities also creates efficiencies that lower infrastructure costs. Based on these findings, the Itasca Project recommends an agenda to reduce disparities in the Twin Cities region:
Becoming Involved On a Local Level
According to Krietemeyer, the two most dramatic ways to impact poverty are housing and early childhood development. In general, he recommends that individuals select any one of the critical areas and learn more about it. Consider joining a group and taking advantage of opportunities to learn about the issues and contact legislators. It was also noted that personal letters, e-mail, phone calls and faxes carry far more impact than petitions or form letters.
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