Family Futures

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Can or will the family succeed?

A family-centric approach to poverty alleviation

Dr Catherine Bernard, Founder Director, Service and Research Institute on Family and Children

onfronting

amily

overty

n societies where male domination is far more prevalent

than gender equality, one would expect the implications

of ‘male power’ to be highly recognized. What we find

instead is that men are rarely mentioned in programmes or

policy documentation with regard to poverty, family break-

down, violence against women, women’s empowerment or

families mired in poverty.

Perhaps it feels more comfortable to use euphemisms such

as ‘feminization of poverty’, ‘deprived children’, ‘marginalized

communities’, ‘below poverty line’ and the like when refer-

ring to the poor. No wonder the impact of poverty on family,

gender equality and child protection is understood vaguely,

and that so much is left to the imaginations of policymakers.

The family is a social unit and family breakdowns have

serious impacts and consequences on each member of that

unit. This basic fact is the reason why poverty must be treated

as a family issue. I have previously identified family break-

down as the womb of social ills,

of which poverty is primary

and serves as an incubator for other social ills. These social

ills are not isolated. They have ramifications for present and

future generations. Hence family-centric initiatives necessarily

involve an integrated approach and long-term commitment

to marriage along with concern for the well-being, secu-

rity and education of children. Poverty, on the other hand,

compels families to remain embedded in immediate short-

term concerns because their focus tends to be mere ‘survival’.

It needs to be admitted that society has yet to realize and come

to terms with the fact that marriage and family stability serve

as long-term foundations for eradicating poverty, and form

the basic social protection floor for humankind.

Family life in conditions of poverty is unpredictable. It is

prone to serious vulnerabilities and living itself is a risk. For

the poor, there is no such thing as ‘tomorrow’. Their lives are

subject to different forms of uncertainties and threats, such

as forced evacuation, compelled migration in search of work,

displacement or refugee status because of natural disasters,

water scarcity, unemployment, addictions, hunger, violence,

abuse, seeing homes go up in flames or vanish under water

because factories have to be built or dams made, and many

more experiences. What happens to the children in these

families is of least or no importance in such operations.

Poverty has manifold corrosive effects on a family’s health,

developmental stages and mental capacities and in the physi-

Image: SERFAC

The family is the foundation from which poverty can be minimized and

eliminated, and should be part of any developmental process

Family poverty often gives children responsibilities that inhibit their academic

performance, with many lagging behind or dropping out of school