|
Make a comment
Reaching for the Middle:
Observations of Two American Students
from Generational Poverty
Norah Booth
About 40 percent of Americans will experience poverty at some point in their lives. Of these, only a small percentage come from generational poverty, defined as being in poverty for two generations or longer (Douglas-Hall & Chau, 2007). The majority of children in these low-income families have parents without a college or university education (Douglas-Hall & Chau, 2007).
Long-term goals, such as college graduation, do not create short-term benefits in generational poverty. If poverty values are based on survival, college graduation is an intangible because it has no immediate benefit to survival (Payne, 2001). When students are constantly taking care of immediate needs, such as a sick sibling, working relatives who need a babysitter, all-important family gatherings, or caring for their own children, education is an abstraction that cannot compete.
... ... ...
Subscribe to read more!
Make a comment
|
Reaching for the Middle