The Poverty Mindset and Possible Solutions

A poverty mindset is a momentous obstacle to overcome in breaking the cycle of poverty. The mind is a powerful thing; one’s thoughts often determine the direction and outcome of that person’s life. When a certain mindset is passed down from previous generations in a child’s development, it can become ingrained in their very psyche.

Consider this: If a person’s parents and grandparents before them were impoverished, barely scraping together enough to survive, why should life be any different for them? Why should they hope for any better?

This is particularly true in developing regions such as Asia and Africa. Stuck in a cycle of generational poverty, it may not even occur to individuals to dream for a better life, let alone plan for or invest in such possibilities. Their poverty mindset may lead them to accept their struggle for survival as their only option in life, believing that the way things are now is how they will remain.1 They may never even wonder how to break the cycle of poverty.

Parents often pass on this poverty mentality to their children, perpetuating the cycle. Scarcity tends to create a myopic focus on the present need, causing one to “overvalue immediate benefits at the expense of future ones.”2 Out of necessity, impoverished parents commonly focus on the immediate need of putting food on the table, sometimes keeping children out of school to contribute to the family income, not realizing they’re sacrificing their children’s futures in the long term.

These parents may simply not have the funds to invest in their children’s education. With 736 million people living below the poverty line, making $1.90 a day or less,3 these families often need every cent of income for food and shelter. They live as if poverty is the only option because—for them—it is.


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