Over the last several decades, theories on where the poverty trap stems from have circulated. What is the poverty trap? According to market expert James Chen, “a poverty trap is a self-reinforcing mechanism that makes it extremely challenging for communities to escape poverty.” If one really thinks about what that means, they will notice the poverty trap consists of numerous factors that affect not only the U.S. but several other countries as well. According to Investopedia, these factors include
- limited access to credit and capital markets,
- extreme environmental degradation (which depletes agricultural production potential),
- corrupt governance,
- capital flight,
- poor education systems,
- disease ecology,
- lack of public healthcare,
- war, and
- poor infrastructure.
Today we will focus on the link between poverty and the quality of education received by students. Students receiving a poor education can impact the student’s ability to exit the poverty trap. In a later post the other factors contributing to the poverty trap will be analyzed. According to PubMed Central, “there are a lack of schools being able to provide quality education to students in multiple countries throughout the world.” It has brought long-term effects that obtaining a quality education can resolve. According to PubMed Central, “an increasing number of [e]mpirical studies have supported the positive effects of education on the creation of wealth by individuals…” One can determine that the creation of wealth brought on by obtaining quality education is sustainable enough to help these individuals get themselves out of the poverty trap and affects generations to come. When considering this, keep in mind that a “minimum wage is the lowest amount of money that employers in that country are legally allowed to pay their workers for a given unit of work, according to World Population Review.” So, how can someone get out of the poverty trap when millions of people struggle just to finish school because of a lack of resources available to them? The goal should not be to become wealthy but to be able to pay one’s bills without being concerned about having to go without their basic needs.
If we look at students with parents who hold master’s and doctoral degrees, we can see they do research on the schools they send their children to and know what aspects of a school system is most important for their children. According to the National Institute of Health, “Adults [who] participated in an extensive early childhood education program for children from low-income families attained higher educational levels than those who’d received other interventions.”
Quality of Education
If escaping the poverty trap for some individuals depends on the level of education obtained by their parents, are there other factors related to the quality of education to consider when looking at long-term generational poverty? As stated by Leah Rodriguez, the “lack of access to education is a major predictor of passing poverty from one generation to the next.” When schools cannot afford to get schoolbooks for their students, it affects their students’ education. According to UNESCO, “When students do not acquire literacy, numeracy, social-emotional, and critical thinking skills, they face significant barriers to furthering their education, securing decent employment in rapidly evolving and increasingly knowledge-based labor markets, and participating meaningfully in society.” This supports that the poverty trap is due to the quality of education provided to students. The missing skills that are developed through a quality education would help a student be able to prevent themselves from entering the poverty trap by allowing them the ability to problem-solve solutions to their financial situations. According to the Center for Global Development, “…children who live in rural areas and who are enrolled in school are less likely to finish primary school or to transition to secondary school.” There are rural communities around the world that face two major challenges, which are having the “greatest need to expand education” and “having the greatest need to improve the quality of education they provide,” according to the Center for Global Development. There are students all around the world attending schools experiencing extreme poverty. This negatively impacts the student’s quality of education because schools cannot afford schoolbooks for their students, and many do not have access to electricity. This limited access to educational resources contributes to students remaining in the poverty trap. As stated by Leah Rodriguez, “…in countries across sub-Saharan Africa the number of students completing secondary school has increased from 23 [percent] in 1990 to 42 [percent] in 2014.” This may not seem like a substantial increase in the population; however, a 19 percent increase in the number of students completing their education is a major achievement in these countries. Especially when access to schools for about 60 percent of these students remains completely out of reach due to the cost of an education in these countries. Sub-Saharan Africa having only about 40 percent of their youth being able to access an education demonstrates that the poverty trap is not only affecting students living in America.
How Do We End the Poverty Trap
The world is facing the poverty trap, and one way to resolve this is to find a way to provide access to quality education that offers students a way out of their current situations. According to Renee Whitmore, “Several countries have decided to incorporate obtaining free college educations into their systems, in is now possible to provide equal opportunities for all, regardless of their financial background.” This does not take away from the cost-of-living expenses while in college, but it does make obtaining a college degree more affordable than in the U.S. Even though the cost of a degree in the U.S. can be quite expensive, one can begin a career that allows them to pay their bills and meet their living expenses from obtaining their high school diploma. It is important to find a way to get the future generations to understand just how important obtaining a quality education is when looking for a way to overcome their current situations. This will also help improve the quality of the education received by the generations that come after them.
The first step to motivating students to pursue a degree may be to consider the number of careers that exist and how these careers are highlighted by society. According to Imed Bouchrika, PhD, “pursuing top college majors like computer science or healthcare administration opens doors to in-demand careers…” When there are only about “32 top majors” to pursue, it becomes more important to have a career one loves that pays the bills and prevents them from entering poverty, according to Imed Bouchrika, PhD. This makes it understandable that only so many careers are pursued and why so many students choose not to further their education due to the level of competition they must face after graduation. These careers being the only careers some students are aware of may also deter individuals from pursuing degrees. This tends to leave a need for individuals to pursue careers outside of these careers. This is not negating that some students cannot pursue their education further than just a high school diploma, trade school degree, or an associate’s degree.
Even if they cannot pursue a degree, pushing past the generations that came before them can still help their family live lives that are more meaningful. So, getting individuals to care about their education would be a first step to ensuring the students stand a chance to prevent themselves from entering the poverty trap. Also, by acknowledging several aspects of the poverty trap, it is due to a lack of a quality education and students being unaware of the career possibilities available to them. An end to the poverty trap may be achieved by motivating students to pursue their educations, developing the important skills a quality education provides, and finding meaningful careers.
