When it comes to poverty, the national debate frequently overlooks systemic issues. Instead, the majority often blame those who are poor for their predicament. Poverty is usually caused by various circumstances, including a lack of desire, self-advocacy, and weak work ethics. Individuals who lack self-advocacy are impoverished because they make poor decisions based on what is necessary for survival, making it difficult for them to care about the future and forcing them to live on their own (Hosken, 2020). Self-advocacy is defined as adopting behaviors that promote long-term goals over short-term incentives, but poverty can drive an individual to live in the here and now. If an individual does not know how to survive through today, worrying about tomorrow can be a luxurious thing to do. Individuals can devise successful strategies to combat poverty in any particular location if they are motivated enough. Motivation strengthens those people, preparing them for any future challenges.
In various ways, poor work ethics contributes to poverty. The working poor, of course, has employment, but so do many of the welfare poor. However, there is a slight possibility that work will lift the worker out of poverty in any circumstance (Hosken, 2020). In terms of work principle, both the poor working and the welfare poor have it to varying degrees, but it does not help them much because the only employment available is low paying and leads nowhere. If a working poor or welfare poor person is a woman, she is much worse off; because sexism is pervasive even in the desperate world of the low-wage earner, and women are given the least desired occupations and paid minor salaries.
Reference
Hosken, N. (2020). Social work, class and the structural violence of poverty. In Doing Critical Social Work (pp. 104-119). Routledge. Web.