I stumbled upon author Bent Greve’s book, “Poverty,” in the Notre Dame University bookstore recently. A class textbook for college students piqued my interest as Erie County continues to witness escalating numbers of residents living in poverty, resulting in sharp increases in homelessness, domestic violence and opioid overdoses.
New statewide data shows Erie County had the highest rate of drug overdoses among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties in 2022 and 2023, with 184 accidental overdoses per capita in 2023.
What causes poverty? According to Greve, there are several reasons:
- individual factors: lack of effort, motivation, and money mismanagement;
- structural factors: poor education and insufficient opportunities; and
- uncontrollable factors: fate and bad luck.
According to Greve, those living in poverty face the following obstacles:
- inequality and limited redistribution;
- ineffective education;
- restricted access to health care; and
- violence and conflict.
All these elements are contributing factors to our housing crisis as well. One cannot simply place a struggling individual with mental health concerns into community living with limited resources.