How to End Generational Poverty: Understanding the Challenge

Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard for people to escape poverty? Maybe you’ve heard questions like, “Why don’t they just get a job?” or, “Isn’t poverty about making better choices?” Questions like these are often shrouded by misconceptions many of us have about what poverty looks like — especially when it spans generations.

Generational poverty is far more complex than it appears on the surface. Barriers have been built over time and are deeply embedded in communities, such as limited or no access to things like quality education, stable job opportunities and basic health care.

For children growing up in generational poverty, it’s all they’ve ever known. This can make it incredibly difficult to imagine, much less achieve, a better future.

From left: a Honduran boy and two boys in Turkana, Kenya (photos by Davey Gravy @davey_gravy) | A Filipino boy looking out his classroom window (photo by Jon Taylor Sweet @jontaylorsweet)

In this article, we’ll explore the causes of generational poverty and how it impacts a child’s life outcomes. We hope to debunk common myths around poverty and to create more understanding and empathy around the topic.

When we recognize the grit and resilience it takes to defy the odds, we can celebrate all the more when we see a child step out of poverty into a thriving and hope-filled life.

What is generational poverty?

Worldwide, living in extreme poverty means you survive on less than $2.15 a day. Children living under these conditions often lack daily necessities like safe water, nutritious meals, adequate shelter and access to medical care.¹

Many of those living in extreme poverty have lived that way their entire lives, just like their parents, grandparents and their parents before them. When poverty spans two generations or more, it’s categorized as “generational poverty,” which is a type of “systemic poverty.”

Systemic poverty is deeply embedded in the systems, structures and institutions of a society.

Poverty affects children the most. More than 50% of those living in extreme poverty are under age 18, even though they make up only 31% of the total population.² With limited access to essentials for proper growth and development — like nutrition, education and health care — paired with unsafe living conditions and dependency on their caregivers, children face huge challenges in breaking free from the cycle of poverty.

Generational vs. Situational Poverty

It’s also important to differentiate generational poverty from “situational poverty.” Situational poverty is often temporary and may offer more opportunities for recovery. It occurs when income suddenly decreases due to a crisis such as divorce, job loss, illness or a natural disaster.

Generational poverty is deeply rooted and can be significantly harder to overcome. It’s sustained by poor access to health care, employment, education and other opportunities. People experiencing situational poverty often feel more optimistic about improving their circumstances compared with those in generational poverty, who often feel hopeless.

“I know what it means to grow up in poverty. I know what poverty means. I have the scars on my body, on my hands, on my legs that were brought about because of poverty. I know that when children are not given an opportunity, their potential cannot be realized.”

— Dr. Jacob Kitonsa, Vice President of Global Program at OneChild

Watch as Jacob shares how he rose from poverty and became who he is today — a champion for kids in hard places.

What causes intergenerational poverty?

Now that we better understand the state of poverty in the world, let’s dive into what causes generational poverty in the first place.

Poverty is highly complex, especially generational poverty, and there’s no single cause. According to the 2024 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), poverty is shaped by multiple contributors — called “dimensions” — which include health, education and standard of living.

The MPI further breaks these dimensions into 10 specific “indicators.” In simple terms, poverty affects multiple areas of a person’s life and can be measured by looking at critical factors that determine their well-being.

Dimensions of Poverty

• • Health: Nutrition, child mortality
  • Education: School attendance, years of schooling
  • Standard of living: Housing, drinking water, cooking fuel, sanitation, electricity, assets

Worldwide, 1.1 billion people (of the 6.3 billion covered in the MPI report) live in multidimensional poverty. And over half of them are children.³

The Bajau, a sea nomad community in the Philippines (photo by Jon Taylor Sweet @jontaylorsweet)

Causes of Generational Poverty

The causes of generational poverty are complex and interconnected, spanning systemic, cultural and familial factors that reinforce cycles of hardship over time. Here are some of the main causes that lead to and keep people in poverty through generations.

Most people in poverty face several overlapping factors that compound the difficulty of breaking free. Many children grow up without the resources and mindset needed to escape poverty — or they don’t even believe it’s an option. It’s all they’ve ever known, creating a cycle that continues across generations.

Children who grow up in low-income families and experience social and economic hardships during childhood and adolescence can have a difficult time escaping poverty as adults.⁴

At OneChild, we believe that understanding these causes is essential to addressing them.

What are the effects of generational poverty on children?

We’ve touched on various reasons for poverty. Next, let’s explore how poverty impacts children when they’re young and throughout the rest of their lives.

UNICEF shares that growing up in poverty can have significant and lasting effects on individuals, including:

• • Hindered mental and physical growth
  • Fewer skills for the workforce
  • Limited social and economic opportunities
  • Lower wages as adults
  • Higher risk of death
  • Poverty passed down through generations

A group of children in Turkana, Kenya (photo by Davey Gravy @davey_gravy)

Few Opportunities

Children who grow up in poverty develop fewer skills that will help them be successful once they’re old enough to join the workforce. They also earn lower wages as adults, reinforcing the cycle of poverty from generation to generation.¹

Poor Physical and Mental Health

Income isn’t the only factor that determines whether someone stays in poverty throughout their lifetime. Nutrition and mental health also play key roles, impacting someone’s ability to learn and have hope for a better future. Hopelessness is a pivotal factor that perpetuates generational poverty.

When individuals experience poverty early in life, it increases their likelihood of poor nutrition and other stressors that can result in limited brain development and mental illness in adulthood. When a child’s parent suffers from mental illness, it can influence the child’s intellectual development and educational achievement, enforcing the cycle of poverty. Poverty is also linked to the following:⁵

• • Poor physical health
  • Lower social status
  • More exposure to violence, crime and trauma
  • Mental illness that worsens financial outcomes

Children who experience poverty have an increased likelihood of experiencing depression and anxiety as teens and young adults.⁶ Low-income individuals in a society are also 1.5 to 3 times more likely to have depression or anxiety.⁵

Can someone break free from generational poverty?

Now that we understand how challenging it is to break the cycle of poverty, is it realistic to expect people to escape for good and heal from the repercussions so they can live in freedom?

Absolutely.

We’ve seen it happen — and not just once. We have hundreds of stories of children whose families have endured generations of poverty, where barriers have been deeply rooted and opportunities hard to find. But they found hope. When given the resources and encouragement to push through the barriers, children begin to thrive.

“I have come to a strong conviction that the Lord has given me that opportunity not only to become a voice for the children in hard places, but also to be a living example that if children are given an opportunity, they can thrive. They can become what God has made them to be.”

— Dr. Jacob Kitonsa

A Bajau family in the Philippines (photo by Jon Taylor Sweet @jontaylorsweet)

Somnang’s Song

HOPE. How does it exist?

In the midst of sorrow. In the midst of hunger. In the midst of pain.

Hope is elusive, evading comprehension, yet hope remains.

“But still, I choose to sing.”

Watch Somnang dare to dream despite his circumstances.

A World Without Poverty

At OneChild, we have a big vision. We see a world where every child has a loving and supportive Child Champion and the tools needed to thrive. We also go so far as to envision the renewal of local communities all over the world and the eradication of global poverty.

Any big vision takes at least a generational timeframe. But we already see it happening, from dense cities in India and Latin America to remote villages in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Create Lasting Change for Children in Hard Places

If you’re a pastor or other leader with a passion for the kingdom of God, we’d love to hear about your mission and how we can partner to strengthen your global ministry! Together, we can create lasting change for children in poverty.

EXPLORE PARTNERSHIPS

1. UNICEF. (n.d.). Child poverty. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/social-policy/child-poverty

2. World Bank. (2023). Poverty and shared prosperity 2022: Correcting course. Retrieved from https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099835007242399476/pdf/IDU0965118d1098b8048870ac0e0cb5aeb049f98.pdf

3. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2024). 2024 Global multidimensional poverty index (MPI). Retrieved from https://hdr.undp.org/content/2024-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi#/indicies/MPI

4. National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). (n.d.). Childhood and intergenerational poverty. Retrieved from https://www.nccp.org/publication/childhood-and-intergenerational-poverty/

5. Gertler, P., Martinez, S., Premand, P., Rawlings, L. B., & Vermeersch, C. M. J. (2014). Impact evaluation in practice (2nd ed.). Science, 345(6198), 1257–1259. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay0214

6. National Institutes of Health. (2010). Childhood poverty: Its relationship to brain development and academic achievement. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2920957/