what causes poverty 
poverty is a difficult cycle to break and can pass from one generation to the next it is often determined by socioeconomic status ethnicity gender and geography many people are born into poverty and have little hope of overcoming it others may fall into poverty because of negative economic conditions natural disasters or surging living costs as well as drug addiction depression and mental health issues other root causes of poverty include for those able to move out of poverty progress is often temporary economic shocks food insecurity and climate change threaten their gains and may force them back into poverty typical consequences of poverty include alcohol and substance abuse little to no access to education poor housing and living conditions and increased levels of disease access to good schools healthcare electricity clean drinking water and other critical services remains elusive for many in poverty heightened poverty is likely to cause increased tensions in society as inequality increases and in turn lead to rising crime rates discrimination and povertyas noted above poverty isn t simply related to income levels in fact there are a number of factors that can push people to or below the poverty line discrimination is just one of them in some cases governments may pass certain laws and regulations that prevent certain individuals or communities from accessing services such as healthcare education or social services these people may also be denied access to the labor market or housing which can prevent them from reaching a suitable standard of living in other cases deep rooted societal beliefs can isolate individuals families and entire communities some of the most common groups of people who may experience this type of discrimination include according to the most recent statistics from the williams institute at the ucla school of law poverty rates among members of the lgbtq community have dropped since the covid 19 pandemic but rates are still higher than for those who don t identify as lgbtq the most recent report showed that the report also indicated that lgbtq people of color notably black latinx hispanic native hawaiian pacific islander nh pi american indian alaskan native ai an and multiracial people are more likely to experience poverty compared to white or asian americans 14