I believe that poverty combined with poverty of the spirit is the kind of poverty that is multi-generational.

I think there are many factors involved and it's not simply a matter of program availability, will to get out or opportunity to do so. My grandmother was a single mother living on PA. She had little education and little desire to improve her situation. My mother worked her tail off, determined to have a better life for herself and her family. She and my father budgeted, lived within their means and today, they live comfortably in retirement. On the flip side, there is the girl I went to HS with who said once "PA was good enough for my mom and her mom, it's good enough for me."

But beyond that, there are the children one of the inner city programs I volunteer with sometimes who simply don't know a different life, can't imagine there's a way out or an option for them. Don't know where to begin. They try to hold their heads above water but too often circumstances pull them under.