So what does this say about the intergenerational poverty in the US?
In large part hereditary, like most things.
https://www.amazon.com/Son-Also-Rises-Surnames-Princeton/dp/...
Once poor, always poor?
11–20 of 358 posts
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#12"It is a sad and little-known reality that poverty tends to persist between generations". Is it? To me it's intuitively obvious and I can't think of any real person who would disagree? I can't even conceive of a different way this could work. Reducing the correlation to zero would require basically removing money's functional utility.
Being able to work to increase your own wealth isn't really controversial. In fact most Americans over-estimate the amount of economic mobility that we have, which is probably what the article is referring to. And rich families tend to have their wealth eroded in just 2-3 generations. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/generational-wealth%3A-why-d...
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#13So what does this say about the intergenerational poverty in the US?
No post body was provided.
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#14> Cultural norms can also encourage poverty cycles.
I often wonder about these.
Growing up I watched friends whose families had what you might describe as a cultural distrust of institutions, including schools, or even anyone who seemed to “think they’re better than us” (translation anyone who did well in school or a career).
They constantly made self defeating choices and seemed destined to have the same problems/ poverty as their parents.
Their distrust of institutions like schools could maybe be justified… but they were capable people who made choices that reduced their opportunities.
As an adult I watch my local schools reach out to provide services, help of all kinds and struggle to find more than a handful of takers or folks who want to try…
By no means does that mean there are no other barriers, but even trying to address those barriers/ help, you can encounter some surprising resistance/ challenges.
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#15I'm curious whether remote work will have a tangible effect on global poverty and if so, how it could be measured.
Considering things like what the article describes as the Black Tax, it doesn’t seem like it would help.
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#16"It is a sad and little-known reality that poverty tends to persist between generations". Is it? To me it's intuitively obvious and I can't think of any real person who would disagree? I can't even conceive of a different way this could work. Reducing the correlation to zero would require basically removing money's functional utility.
Is money really the issue? In many places, everybody gets a free education, and even university is free. So everybody could simply become a doctor or a lawyer and expect an income above the poverty line - at least if money was the only issue.
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#17I'm curious whether remote work will have a tangible effect on global poverty and if so, how it could be measured.
Remote work requires an investment in space and equipment that can be quite expensive. Someone can be a great candidate, but can't afford the computer, tablet and space they need to interview or get work done, and they'll be skipped over for someone who can afford it.
One can buy a cheap laptop for the interviewing process, or borrow it. I personally did the latter, with a great success.
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#18"It is a sad and little-known reality that poverty tends to persist between generations". Is it? To me it's intuitively obvious and I can't think of any real person who would disagree? I can't even conceive of a different way this could work. Reducing the correlation to zero would require basically removing money's functional utility.
Is money really the issue? In many places, everybody gets a free education, and even university is free. So everybody could simply become a doctor or a lawyer and expect an income above the poverty line - at least if money was the only issue.
That would assume the free education people get is equivalent across income levels, which is a hard thing to do in the best of circumstances.
Even independent of educational quality, there is a world of difference between a school's ability to teach a well fed, comfortable child and a child whose only meal of the day is the free school lunch. Similarly, a rich child can afford to do unpaid internships on summer break, whereas a poor one may be working minimum wage jobs to generate an income instead.
This is before you get into the weeds of things like teachers preferring to be placed into good schools because it makes their jobs easier, that well-connected schools can raise money outside of the public system, etc. People say they want educational equality, but this is almost never at the perceived cost to their own children.
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#19"It is a sad and little-known reality that poverty tends to persist between generations". Is it? To me it's intuitively obvious and I can't think of any real person who would disagree? I can't even conceive of a different way this could work. Reducing the correlation to zero would require basically removing money's functional utility.
Sweden does it. It takes about a 30-35% tax rate.[1] Nigeria is a poor country which still has a high birth rate. Outside of Africa, almost all countries are past that. Even China and India. [1] https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-sweden/
It's true, the nordic countries do well on Social Mobility [1] (measure of intergenerational economic mobility). However, I think we can all agree that they're fairly homogenous ethnically & culturally (e.g. as measured by Fearon's measure [2]), and that these factors play a huge role in social mobility in places like the United States.
In fact, if you jointly score social mobility & ethnic diversity, the United States looks to come out very close to the top (if not the top). It's probably not a "one size fits all" solution, though social safety nets are obviously a critical part of the equation.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_ranked_by_et...
Re: Once poor, always poor?
#20So what does this say about the intergenerational poverty in the US?
Not much, the main problem is that the kids aren't getting basic education. Every kid in developed nations has access to free education and parents aren't allowed to make their kids work to feed the home instead of going to schools. In Nigeria kids often don't have access to free education, and even when they do parents often prefer having their kids work to bring home money over making them go to school.