What keeps people in poverty isn’t a lack of effort; it’s barriers that compound over time, such as a lack of education and limited medical care.
To break the cycle of poverty, we must remove those barriers in children’s lives.
Compassion removes barriers by providing education, medical care, nutrition and other necessities to children in need.
What Keeps People in Poverty Isn’t a Lack of Effort
Jaspher, a 12-year-old boy from a rural community in the Philippines, knows what it means to live in poverty. At times, the family goes an entire day without a meal. And at home, his father, mother and three siblings go without electricity, relying on two small solar-powered lamps at night.
Living in poverty isn’t a choice for Jaspher and his family. Every single day, Jaspher’s father, Bernie, takes whatever work he can find. He works tirelessly at nearby farms, fixing machines or performing chores for his neighbors.
But when there’s no work, there’s no income, and the family must go without.
Barriers Keep People in Poverty
What keeps families like Jaspher’s in poverty isn’t a lack of effort. It’s not laziness or a lack of ambition. Instead, it’s barrier after barrier. And these barriers look different for all those affected by poverty.
For Jaspher’s family, it’s limited access to work. It’s limited resources to save or get ahead. It’s limited options because the few dollars a day that do come in must immediately go to urgent needs like food.
These barriers keep Jaspher and his family focused on merely surviving instead of on how they can rise above.
What Causes Poverty in the First Place?
To better understand the poverty trap, it’s important to start at the beginning. How do families like Jaspher’s fall into poverty? Here are just some of poverty’s many causes:
Generational poverty: Jaspher’s parents likely grew up in poverty. And it’s quite possible his grandparents did too. They may have struggled to find work, leading to lower income and fewer resources. As the challenges of poverty stack, the next generation starts life already behind, creating a generational cycle of poverty that’s difficult to break.
War and conflict: Armed conflict and violence can force families to flee their homes, sometimes even destroying them so it’s not possible to return. These families immediately lose their shelter, belongings and often access to essentials like food. Some may even lose livestock or land, ripping their livelihoods right out of their hands.
Natural disasters: Just like conflict, natural disasters destroy homes, leaving families without shelter or their belongings. They decimate infrastructure, including businesses and farmland, eliminating families’ sources of income. Disasters can even cause food and safe water shortages. For families who just lost everything and can’t afford medical care, this can leave them vulnerable, sick and unable to work to rebuild their lives.
Environmental factors: Changes in climate, like extreme drought and harsh flooding, can severely damage crops and the communities who rely on them. Families who make a living through farming may find themselves without the income they need to support their loved ones.
Barriers That Keep Families From Escaping Poverty
Once a family has fallen into poverty, there are many barriers that threaten to keep them trapped. Some of these barriers include:
Hunger: Hunger leads to malnutrition. For caregivers, this can lead to sickness that keeps them out of work and unable to provide. For children, malnutrition prevents them from developing both physically and mentally. Unable to perform in school, malnourished children can’t learn the skills they’ll need in the future to provide for themselves or their families.
Limited medical care: Without medical care, children and caregivers suffer from preventable illnesses that keep them from school and work. In some places where medical care is hard to come by, families must drain what little resources they do have to get even basic care, pushing them further into poverty.
Lack of education: Limited access to education prevents a child from reaching their full potential. Without critical skills, they’re often limited in employment opportunities, making it hard for them to provide for themselves and eventually their own children.
So Why Is It Hard to Get Out of Poverty?
The causes of poverty above highlight this truth: One setback can change everything.
Hunger leads to malnutrition, then to sickness, then to limited education, then to a lack of future income. And so the cycle continues.
Jaspher faces many of these barriers that threaten to trap him in poverty. Limited meals could put him at risk of malnutrition and illness, making it harder for him to learn or even just grow up in a healthy, capable body.
And as his family struggles to earn enough income just for food, school uniforms and supplies could easily be too costly a purchase. This could limit his educational opportunities, which will make it harder for him to get a stable job.
Every next step Jaspher could take toward a brighter future — eating nutritious food, getting an education, learning job skills — is a hurdle he must jump. Each challenge introduces a multitude of others, keeping him stuck. While this is Jaspher’s story, millions of other children living in poverty around the world face the same compounding traps.
Every barrier to freedom becomes another barrier.
The Key to Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: Overcoming Barriers
Jaspher and his family are not without hope. As a Compassion sponsorship program participant, Jaspher receives the love, care and encouragement he needs at the local church to overcome the barriers he’s up against.
He receives medical checkups to protect his body from illness and disease. Nutritional support so his body can grow healthy and strong. Tutoring, school supplies and uniforms so he can get an education. And he learns about the love of Jesus, reminding him of his profound worth and potential.
At the center, Jaspher is believed in, encouraged and given the skills he needs to build a different life.
“I am grateful for the support of Compassion and the local church. I am also grateful for the tutoring and encouragement that he gets from the center.” — Judy, Jaspher’s mother
With each barrier that’s broken, Jaspher can see more clearly into a brighter future. For Jaspher, this looks like becoming a police officer one day.
Living in a remote community, Jaspher must walk nearly two hours along dusty roads and uneven paths to reach the public school. But he’s never absent. With the support and encouragement of those around him, Jaspher knows that his dreams are worth pursuing.
The barriers of poverty don’t define him — each step he takes is a step toward freedom.
How Compassion Helps Children Overcome Barriers
Compassion works to help children overcome the barriers of poverty by caring for them with the love of Jesus. Whether children face hunger, sickness or loneliness, local church staff customize care by offering meals, tutoring, medical care or even an encouraging word on a hard day.
Child sponsorship makes this care possible. The consistent support of a sponsor equips a local church to care for a child’s immediate needs, introduce them to the hope of the gospel and prepare them for a brighter future.
Child sponsorship provides each child with:
An introduction to Jesus.
Safe community.
A voice of their own.
This care helps children conquer the challenges of poverty, such as malnutrition, limited education and a lack of medical care. And with each barrier removed, over time, escaping poverty becomes possible.
What keeps people in poverty? Barriers. What helps break the cycle? Overcoming them. And that’s exactly what Compassion International does for children just like Jaspher at local churches around the world.
