Poverty Shouldn’t Equal Patronizing

Since November the provincial government has been conducting a series of poverty reduction consultations in communities across the province. I have had the chance to facilitate small table conversations at three of these meetings thus far (Richmond, Burnaby/New West, and Surrey), and have been surprised by the patronizing attitudes of many of the social workers and community support folks who have dominated the conversations.  
The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction has said these consultations’ aims are to “help inform the Poverty Reduction strategy”, by asking the folks who attend these meetings two questions- What are the greatest issues that face people living in poverty? And, What are some solutions? Now some of the responses are very obvious, things like affordable housing and raised minimum wage predictably come up often, but due to the alarming number of folks who don’t actually have lived experience with poverty showing up to these meetings there is a fundamental disconnect when it comes to issues beyond housing and raising the rates.
I have lived in poverty my whole life, to varying degrees, and many of the issues that the community outreach workers are detached from what it is like to actually exist with things like food insecurity, social isolation caused by a lack of disposable income, and the shame imposed by the capitalist system. Many of well meaning suggestions focus on connecting people with existing band aid solution resources- in essence giving themselves more work- and not on actually ending the cycle of poverty. Food banks, shelters, and income assistance rates are not the answer. Handouts don’t lift people out, they create dependency- forcing people to make poverty their full time job as they run all over town trying to connect different limited resources and services. Constantly fighting hostile bureaucracy and advocating for yourself take up a lot of time  and emotional labour, add to that that many of the folks living in poverty also hold jobs, and you have a very tiring schedule of just scraping by. Now put someone who struggles with mental health disability in that position and there is no way they can make ends meet. PWD, you say? PWD doesn’t even cover rent most of the time, even with housing subsidies. It’s an impossible situation folks are in, and a $15 minimum wage and a few modular homes just isn’t going to cut it.
Having a social worker tell me that I don’t understand how confusing grocery shopping is for a poor person is probably one of the most infuriating examples of classism I’ve experienced in a long time (the systemic issues aside). People are meaning well, but what they are saying tends to range from patronizing to impractical, and it seems to exemplify their lack of lived experience with the issues at hand.
My hope is that with the Vancouver consultations coming up that more folks who actually experience poverty will show up. If you actually have lived experience please come to the sessions, and if you have any outspoken broke friends encourage them to come along. Let’s fill the space with personal stories the ministry can’t ignore.
And iff you can’t make it to one of the sessions, go to https://engage.gov.bc.ca/bcpovertyreduction/submit-your-feedback/ and tell your story.  Your voice should be heard, and your experience considered in forming the new Poverty Reduction Strategy. Do it for the 1 in 5 children who live in poverty in BC. Do it to end the cycle and allow future generations to grow up and prosper in BC.
*All views expressed in this blog post belong to the authors and don’t necessarily reflect the views of CYH.