Can poverty be passed down? A nonprofit tries to break the cycle, By Katie Johnson, July 12, 2016, Boston Globe: “In some households, poverty is passed down from generation to generation, almost like an inherited trait. Teri Williams, president of OneUnited Bank, sees it happen among the lower-income Boston residents the bank serves. Often it boils down to bad decisions: people with bad credit who can’t get a utilities account use their children’s Social Security numbers to get the gas turned on and then can’t pay the bills, saddling their children with bad credit before they hit adulthood. ‘We’ve seen that unfortunately too many times,’ Williams said. New research suggests that these kinds of actions may be tied to the chronic stress of poverty, which can short-circuit brain development in children. This can limit their ability to plan ahead, control impulses, and juggle multiple tasks — skills that are vital to success in school and work…”
Tag: Boston
Income Inequality – Boston, MA
Half of city residents make less than $35,000 a year, study says, By Katie Johnson, March 15, 2016, Boston Globe: “Boston is a city of haves and have-nots, and a new study by the Boston Redevelopment Authority quantifies the growing divide, portraying the trend in stark numbers that show few benefits from the economic boom going to those near the bottom of the income scale. Despite much attention given to high-paying jobs in technology, biotechnology, and finance, nearly half of Boston residents make less than $35,000 a year, the study shows. Incomes, when adjusted for inflation, have not risen for such workers for three decades…”
Financial Opportunity Centers
Boston centers help low-income residents with budgeting, By Katie Johnson, March 20, 2015, Boston Globe: “Making money isn’t the problem for Adalziza Campbell. Managing it is. Campbell works two jobs, as a hairdresser and a certified nursing assistant, but still can’t get ahead. She got turned down for a bank loan to buy a house and had to borrow from her dwindling savings account to pay her bills. ‘I’m making money,’ she said. ‘Why don’t I have it?’ Like many people, Campbell, 35, of Charlestown, had never created a budget or tried to improve her credit score. But she has started learning these skills at the new Roxbury Center for Financial Empowerment in Dudley Square, one of two such sites to open in October as part of the city’s new Office of Financial Empowerment…”