Poverty Leads to More Poverty? : Bad Decisions - History?

Interesting easement on poverty. The question that should be asked at the same time what lead the individual to poverty in the first place? Bad decisions based on inadequate information, education, personal history, family history or is it just plan DNA? Is it just how we happen to be designed at any particular instant in time?

It seems logical that everyone can't be successful, we are all different in so many ways, yet some who are born into poverty rise out to become successful. Many on the other hand remain, struggling to get by, never seemly able to find the right formula to turn their lives around.

Does Poverty Lead to Poor Decision Making?
Source: "Does Poverty Lead to Poor Decision Making?" Fiscal Times, August 30, 2013.
September 11, 2013

A new study suggests that being poor may keep some people from concentrating on ways that would lead them out of poverty. Cognitive function is diminished by the constant and all-consuming effort of coping with the immediate effects of having little money, such as scrounging to pay bills and cut costs. As a result, people of limited means are more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions that may be amplified by, and perpetuate, their financial woes, say the Fiscal Times.

• The mental tax that poverty can put on the brain is distinct from stress.
• Stress is a person's response to various outside pressures that, according to studies of arousal and performance, can actually enhance a person's functioning.

"We documented similar effects among people who are not otherwise poor, but on whom we imposed scarce resources," says Eldar Shafir, a coauthor of the study. "It's not about being a poor person. It's about living in poverty."
Many types of scarcity are temporary and often discretionary, Shafir says.

• For instance, a person pressed for time can reschedule appointments, cancel something or even decide to take on less.
• "When you're poor you can't say, 'I've had enough, I'm not going to be poor anymore.' Or, 'Forget it, I just won't give my kids dinner, or pay rent this month.' Poverty imposes a much stronger load that's not optional and in very many cases is long lasting. It's not a choice you're making; you're just reduced to few options. This is not something you see with many other types of scarcity."