The Poverty Cycle

The cycle of poverty has been described as a phenomenon where poor families become trapped in poverty for generations.

Because they have no or limited access to critical resources, such as

o   Educational and

o   Financial services,

Subsequent generations are also impoverished.

There are multiple cycles of poverty – based on, among other things,

o   Economic,

o   Social,

o   Spiritual and

o   Geographical factors.

Many cycles overlap or perpetuate new cycles and therefore any attempt to depict the cycle of poverty will be far more simplistic than realistic.

The figure below shows – in very simplistic terms – how a cycle of poverty related to hunger keeps a person or household poor in one of the world’s developing countries.