My family and I lived in abject poverty, but we had an abundance mentality. If you’ve read my many blog posts or memoirs, you are familiar with my family’s story. We made it out of poverty and so can you!
My four siblings and I grew up in a two-parent household in the segregated South. Four siblings graduated from high school in the early to late 1960s. I graduated in 1971 and received a partial scholarship to college. Our eldest brother was class president, salutatorian, and president of the student council. Our next eldest brother was voted most talented by his senior class. We all furthered our education by serving in the military, attending college, or trade school. As adults, we married and started our families. We had an abundance mentality.
In spite of living in poverty, our Christian parents instilled in us life-long values. They taught us not to worry about sustenance but trust in God’s provisions. This trust didn’t mean we could sit idly by. We had to put in the work and believe. They taught us life skills to get us out of poverty and remain out of poverty. We were valued and were expected to go to school and learn. Our parent’s education was cut short by racist laws of the time, but they had hope for us.
There are many causes of poverty. It is qualitatively defined as having inadequate access to basic human needs such as food, water, and shelter. It exists in every country. The United States is considered the richest country in the world, yet according to World Bank, 37.9 million or 11.5% of its residents live in poverty.
Poverty is measured in two ways-absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute or abject poverty is the goods and services someone, or a family, cannot obtain. Relative poverty looks at the context of the need, how one social group compares to others.
The official method of calculating poverty levels in the United States was developed in the 1960s and according to World Bank, has not been refined substantially since then. Some critics believe the government overstates the poverty level because it counts people as impoverished who in past generations, would be considered as not living in poverty. The highest poverty rate on record was 22% in 1950s and the lowest was 10.5% in 2019.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Current Population Report, a whopping 37.9 million Americas are considered impoverished. The census supplemental poverty rate, which adjusts for how government programs keep people out of poverty, was 12.4% in 2022. The poverty rate for people 65 and older was 10.2%, up from 8.9% in 2019.
According to research, those living in female-headed households without a husband, young adults without a high school diploma, those living in a family whose head of household is unemployed, and minorities (the rate is 19.5% for Black families) are at greater risk for poverty.
Another key factor in the cycle of poverty is lack of education or access to education. Without education or a trade, impoverished people face an upstream battle in the labor markets. It’s more difficult to find occupations or trades that pay better wages without skills. This lack of human capital creates barriers to better opportunities and the poverty cycle may repeat itself. In spite of living in shacks without electricity or running water, our parents insisted we would achieve. We rode the bus to segregated schools but were taught by caring and involved teachers. Legal segregation was the law of the land but parents, teachers, principals, and support staff cared.
Another root cause of poverty is man-made. Present and past political discordance play an important role in causing poverty. Discriminatory policies, procedures, unjust labor laws, and other social injustices are the reasons my family and I lived in poverty. In spite of this, we didn’t have a poverty mindset. Our parents invested in us and taught us to have an abundant mindset.
Some lessons learned from our parents:
- Keep God first, be kind and generous-These are signs of faith. Sometimes we gave three cents or a nickel in the church offering. If we didn’t have money, we gave time and energy. We saw our parents praying and were taught to pray.
- Obey and respect your parents. They set the example and knew we needed an outlet for stress. We had many conversations around the pot-bellied stove in the middle of our shack.
- Invest in yourself -Have some ambition in life. Have goals and dreams and develop short and long term goals. Refrain from drug and alcohol abuse.
- Be grateful. Gratitude forces us to see good in ourselves and others. This creates a mindset of possibilities.
- Look for opportunities and make sure you are prepared. We had to do our best in school academically, volunteer (even though we were poor), and participate in activities.
- Be happy for others. What God does for others, HE can do for you. Never be jealous of others success and wealth. Never plant seeds of self-doubt in your mind.
- Take some risks. When we were old enough, we honed in on our talents to earn extra money. I drew and sold paper dolls to classmates, our sister sewed and made skirts, our brothers sold art work, played music, and worked as shoe shiners.
- Expand your mind by reading and learning about money. We helped our parents work in the cotton fields when school was out and earned extra money. I learned to sharpen hoes to earn extra money. My older siblings were faster and more proficient than me. We learned how to save a portion of what we earned. We didn’t have money to take a vacation but books took us to many faraway places.
- Treat yourself on occasion. Our parents saved to buy or make special treats for Christmas, Easter, and other events. We spent quality time with relatives.
- Develop friendships. True friends ensure supportive, trusting, and reliable relationships. Some of these childhood friends became life-long friends.
These are a few pathways out of poverty. I shared more in my memoirs, The Tangled Web: A Little Girl’s Struggle To Overcome Racism and Poverty, and The Footlocker: A Family’s Journey Out Of Poverty.
Keep having a positive outlook and be the example you want to see.
Francie Mae. April 22, 2025.
References
U.S. Poverty Statistics and Facts (Updated for 2025). Website. Accessed April 22, 2025.
Definition of poverty in America according to World Bank. Website. Accessed April 22, 2025.