Poverty: Success And Success

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What does it mean to be successful? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it means, “having gotten or achieved wealth, respect or fame.” With one of “the richest democracies in the world with the worst poverty,” citizens of our country are not exactly set up to achieve respect or success (Desmond, 2016). Ever too often we place the blame of being in poverty on the person themselves, rather than taking the time to think about the situations which could have led to their poverty. Maybe they were born into poverty, or experienced a pricey unexpected life event for which they are having a hard time coming back from. Once impoverished it is a hard fought battle to become “successful” and financially stable again. While money may be very easy to spend, it is exceptionally harder to earn.
When an individual is born into poverty the chances of one day being “successful” are pinned against them. With lower high school graduation rates, followed by even lower college graduation
Arlene, while in poverty, was not originally “struggling,” Ariene had a steady income with two boys in school. One day one of her boys threw a snowball at a car which resulted in the driver kicking in their front door, From that moment forward Arlene began to struggle. With one eviction on her record Arlene struggled to be accepted by other property companies, and landlords. Not only did her eviction cause her issues being accepted but, having two little boys increased her struggle. For mothers in poverty who have kids, their chances of being accepted for housing decreases dramatically. But why? Because kids are high risk, kids break things, get in accidents, are loud, sometimes cry, the list goes on and on. Landlords, in turn, do not want kids in their units as there is a higher risk of damage and/or increased noise complaints from

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