Generational Poverty Reflective Paper

Reflective Paper

Dawn Sturdevant

BSHS/345

June 22, 2015

Jim Seibold

Reflective Paper

Generational poverty is not something anyone wants to endure if they don't have to.  Lack of education, not knowing if you will have enough food or money for the month, and not even knowing who will take care of you if you need it, are all complex factors of generational poverty.   Knowing how to avoid becoming another statistic of generational poverty are very important things to know, and follow.

One of the biggest things to do to avoid staying in generational poverty is to get your education no matter what.  Without that education then you too, will become another statistic.  It is much easier in these times, having to have a degree to get a job, if one has a solid education.  Knowing where to look for them is also important.  If there are no jobs in your area then look in the next county or town.  No transportation of your own?  Get into a carpool.  There are ways to overcome these factors with knowledge of how to do so.  

With generational poverty there are many complex factors.  “One problem created by poverty begets another, which in turn contributes to another, leading to a seemingly endless cascade of deleterious consequences” (Jensen, 2009).  Other complex factors involving generational poverty are health issues, social issues, and emotional issues.  Many people from a poor environment will say that there is something wrong with their child so they don’t have to put them in school.  Without an education, they are not able to get solid jobs, mostly part time, and thus end up staying home with their parents so that the parents have someone to care for them towards the end of their own life times.

Some challenges the aged face when it comes to employment involve different things like health, knowledge of the job they are seeking, and whether or not the employer wants someone of an advanced age working for them.  These things inhibit the lack of access the aged face when it comes to searching for a job.

Due to many things, the aged find that being employed is much more difficult now than when they were younger.  Here, in 2015, you have high school kids working in McDonalds and pushing out the elderly workers because the teenagers have more energy and can work at a faster clip.  Though some people of age are quite capable of keeping up with the younger generation, some cannot.  That is another reason for their lack of access to employment.

While older workers hold many types of jobs, door greeters, librarians, even Mayors, they also tend to have jobs where they are stereotyped by employers.  For instance, a man is 65 so he is given the job of a door greeter because the employer feels that because of his age, he won’t be able to handle anything else.  Little does he know that this elderly gentleman runs 15 miles a day.  Because he is aged though it is assumed that he is limited in his abilities and therefore given a job that to him (the elderly man) is somewhat demeaning.