Hunger Awareness Month: Broke and Broken? The Psychological Effects of Poverty

As we explored yesterday there is no shortage of judgment for the 47 million Americans living in poverty. All kinds of stereotypes and assumptions abound that serve to blame them for their situation.

It would never occur to you to jeer at someone who was drowning or propose that they had done it on purpose. You would surely never suggest that they liked being stuck underwater.

Poverty is drowning. It’s a downward spiral that it is almost impossible to climb out of. Worse, the physical and psychological effects of living in poverty make escaping it that much harder, as this infographic aptly depicts:

Source: BestPsychologyDegrees.org