Eric Jensen, author of Teaching with Poverty in Mind : What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It (2009), defines the following types of poverty;
• Situational poverty is generally caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often temporary. Events causing situational poverty include environmentaldisasters, divorce, or severe health problems.
• Generational poverty occurs in families where at least two generations have been born into poverty. Families living in this type of poverty are not equipped with the tools to move out of their situations.
• Absolute poverty, which is rare in the United States, involves a scarcity of such necessities as shelter, running water, and food. Families who live in absolute poverty tend to focus on day-to-day survival.
• Relative poverty refers to the economic status of a family whose income is insufficient to meet its society’s average standard of living.
• Urban poverty occurs in metropolitan areas with populations of at least 50,000 people. The urban poor deal with a complex aggregate of chronic and acute stressors (including crowding, violence, and noise) and are dependent on often-inadequate large-city services.
• Rural poverty occurs in nonmetropolitan areas with populations below 50,000. In rural areas, there are more single-guardian households,and families often have less access to services, support for disabilities, and quality education opportunities. Programs to encourage transition from welfare to work are problematic in remote rural areas, where job opportunities are few (Whitener, Gibbs, & Kusmin, 2003). The rural poverty rate is growing and has exceeded the urban rate every year since data collection began in the 1960s. The difference between the two poverty rates has averaged about 5 percent for the last 30 years, with urban rates near 10–15 percent and rural rates near 15–20 percent (Jolliffe, 2004). (p. 6)
References
Jensen, Eric (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind : What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It. ASCD. Retrieved June 26, 2012, from Ebook Library.
Jolliffe, D. (2004, July 20). Rural poverty at a glance. Rural Development Research Report Number 100. Washington, DC: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/RDRR100
Whitener, L. A., Gibbs, R., & Kusmin, L. (2003, June). Rural welfare reform: Lessons learned. Amber Waves. Washington, DC: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.Retrieved May 21, 2009, from www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/June03/Features/RuralWelfareReforme.htm