A Framework for Understanding Poverty

“Children are the world’s most valuable resource
and its best hope for the future.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy July 25, 1963
A Framework for Understanding Poverty
By: Ruby K. Payne, Ph D.
According to Ruby Payne, “To survive in poverty, one must rely upon non-verbal, sensory, and reactive skills. To survive in school, one must use verbal abstract and proactive skills.” So how do children of different socioeconomic backgrounds prosper, grow and survive in our schools? How do we breakthrough the barriers that separate? How does the Children’s Bill of Rights build the foundation for the well-being of every child?
Children’s Bill of Rights April 20, 1996: Every child has the right:
To be nurtured and loved by at least one caring adult
To have appropriate health care
To have nutritious food everyday
To have stable shelter every night
To have an education
Unqualified support for these rights is imperative to a healthy and save society and the future of our nation. Children are our future.
Kennedy’s words were spoken in his UNICEF appeal in 1963. Thirty-three years later the Children’s Bill of Rights was adapted and the first edition of Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty was published. In her book Payne takes a look at poverty and tries to let the reader understand its profound impact on learning and decision making.
As the book begins Payne lists her findings of twelve key points that show the differences between those from poverty and those who are not. These points are repeated throughout the book. They include: Poverty is relative; occurs in all races; generational and situational poverty are different; schools operate from middle-class norms and values; individuals bring a set of hidden rules of the class in which they were raised; cultural differences in poverty; never excuse them nor scold them…teach them; teach them there are two sets of rules; to move from poverty to middle class one must give up relationships for achievement; reasons one leaves poverty and the two things that help one move out of poverty.
From these key points Payne identifies the eight resources that play a vital role in the success of an individual. They are: Financial: money to purchase goods; emotional, ability to choose and control responses; mental, intellectual ability; spiritual, belief in divine purpose; physical, health and mobility; support systems, family and friends; role models, usually nurturing to the child; and knowledge of hidden rules, habits of a group. Payne explains a person without some degree of these eight resources is in poverty.
In chapter three, Payne discusses the hidden rules of a society. These unspoken rules and habits of a group of people may contribute to,” the factors that keep an individual from moving upward in a career-or even getting the position in the first place.”[p44]
Chapter four examines generational poverty verses situational poverty. I found it very interesting that the key factor differentiating these is attitude. “Lack of education in the choices and rules of the middle class, not intelligence or ability, is generally the reason for staying stuck in generational poverty.”[p61] In her key points, Payne emphasizes two things which help one move out of poverty; education and relationships. I agree with this philosophy. The data is clear… higher education level yields higher lifetime earnings. As a result the hidden rules aren’t so hidden anymore.
Education helps one move from poverty in more ways that just financial. Statistics show children from poverty are more likely to be in single parent families, victims of child abuse and neglect. Additionally they have a higher drop out rate and are more likely to be teen parents. Ruby Payne wants to stop the cycle of poverty in America. Take her quiz and see where you fit in.