1. A Framework for Understanding Poverty
Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D.
Version 5.2
aha! Process, Inc., Highlands, TX

2. My Personal Experience with Class
Place a check next to each of the following that applies to you:
NOTE: The purpose of this exercise is simply to illustrate that the broader a person’s experience, the greater the potential understanding of different economic realities. There is no assigned value (good or bad) for any item.
have ever lived in a trailer/mobile home
have ever lived in a home larger than 10,000 square feet
have ever lived in an inner city
have ever traveled to a Third World country
have two friends who grew up in poverty
have flown in an airplane
have taken a vacation more than 50 miles from home and did not stay with a relative
have had private music lessons … MORE
The purpose of this slide is to check for personal experience with different economic groups.
MORE (entire list appears on handout and in workbook):
have used public transportation to get to work or school
have a member of your immediate family who is on disability
know an adult who has never had a full-time job
have been to a country club
have been to a debutante event
know the CEO of a company that has more than $30 million in revenue
have been to a charity event and met a state governor or the president of the United States
know someone personally who was killed in a drug- or gang-related incident
have been inside a homeless shelter
have a friend who was in foster care
have friends or relatives who have not gone past the eighth grade
have a friend or relative who has ever received food stamps or services from a free clinic
know someone personally who has been in wealth for two generations or more
can describe the difference between a trust fund and a will

3. Continuum of Resources
UNDER-RESOURCED
RESOURCED
Instability/crisis
Stability
Isolation
Exposure
Dysfunction
Functionality
Concrete reality
Abstract representational reality
Casual, oral language
Written, formal register
Thought polarization
Option seeking
Survival
Abundance
No work/intermittent work
Work/careers/larger cause
Poverty
Prosperity
Less educated
More educated
Refer to the article in the appendix of the workbook called “Toward a Cognitive Model for Better Understanding Socioeconomic Class.” It looks at patterns and is about the marriage between your relationships, the knowledge you have access to, and the resources you have. That impacts your thinking. Knowledge is a form of privilege. The more under-resourced you are, the more you live on the left-hand side of the chart. The more resourced you are, the more time you spend on the right-hand side of the chart. If you do not like the terms poverty, middle class and wealth, then use resourced and under-resourced.
Middle class connotes stability and the predictability of the resources that are available to you. If you don’t like the concepts of poverty, middle class, and/or wealth, you can define economic differences based on the stability of the resources available. The fewer resources a person has, the more that person lives in an under-resourced world with those characteristics. The more resources a person has, the more that person lives in a resourced world.

4. Generational and situational poverty are different.
Key Point
Generational and situational poverty are different.
Generational Situational Middle New Old
Poverty Poverty Class Money Money
Economic class is a continuous line, not a clear-cut distinction.
Generational and situational poverty are different.
There are distinctions between generational and situational poverty:
* Generational means a person has been that way for two generations or more.
* Situational poverty is when there is a death, a divorce, or an illness, and resources are temporarily reduced. Other examples: college days or the first few years of teaching.
There is as much difference in thinking between generational and situational poverty as there is between old and new money.
Middle class equals education beyond high school; most people move one class in a lifetime.
* When you're moving from poverty to middle class or middle class to wealth, you're using some of the rules you grew up with and some of the rules you are moving to.
* When you have been in poverty two generations or longer, those are the only rules you know. They shape your thinking. Forty percent of U.S. adults live in the class they were raised in.
The term poverty in this workshop means generational poverty: It has been that way for at least two generations.

5. Intergenerational transfer of knowledge Three-generation rule
Research
Intergenerational transfer of knowledge
GP – SP – MC – NM – OM
Three-generation rule
An individual moves back and forth on a continuum—from generational poverty (GP)/situational poverty (SP) to middle class (MC) to new money (NM) to old money (OM)—generally one economic level per generation.
The pattern is that it takes three generations on average to have a member of a family attend college if that family came into a country as unskilled immigrants.
Knowledge gained by one generation and passed to the next generation is called the intergenerational transfer of knowledge.
On average, 90% of wealthy families have lost their wealth by the end of the third generation.
The first generation that attends college often chooses service careers in teaching or government.
In order to graduate from college, an individual must learn to navigate the world using the hidden rules of middle class.
A family moves from generational poverty/situational poverty to middle class to new money to old money—generally one economic level per generation.

6. Knowledge is a key form of privilege, as are social access, race, and money. How you spend your time determines your knowledge base to a large extent.
How you spend your time determines your knowledge. Knowledge is a key form of privilege. Look at the mental models on the next three slides as examples of how each economic class spends its time and thereby creates its knowledge base.

7. How you spend your time determines your knowledge.
How you spend your time will help determine your knowledge base. If you spend your time in the streets, you may be “street smart” and understand the hidden rules of survival, but you may not necessarily be “book smart” and know the hidden rules of success at school.
The following three circles illustrate that how you spend your time impacts/defines your knowledge base to some extent. Ask the audience to look at the first chart and, with their neighbors, discuss what is on that chart that would not be on their own chart. Then have them look at the middle class chart and ask them: What is on that chart that was not on the first chart? Have them look at the wealth chart and ask them: What is on that chart that they did not see on the other charts? Finally, ask the audience: Is one chart better than another? No, they are just different. How you spend your time determines your knowledge.

8. Defining the Migrant Culture

9. What are some other cultural aspects of migrant families?
Debrief
What aspects of the migrant culture were portrayed in the film McFarland?
What are some other cultural aspects of migrant families?

10. Mental Model for Poverty
This mental model was first created by a group of people in poverty in central Ohio. This model would be somewhat different by region, race, ethnicity, and cultural history, but it has common features that appear in all situations.
We will examine three pieces of the pie—wages, housing, and illness—and we will learn to analyze poverty situations for stability, time horizon, and problem solving strategies.
ANCHOR:
Transportation always shows up on the pie because when you’re in poverty, you cannot afford a reliable car. How many of you are AAA members or have some other roadside assistance program? So when your car dies, you pull over and call AAA. But in poverty, you don’t call AAA, you call Uncle Ray, and he comes out with a truck and a chain and hauls your car back home. Uncle Ray is the reason that the word relationships is written across the pie. When you don’t have AAA, you need Uncle Ray.
ADD:
A mental model gives the big picture in a matter of seconds; the mental model communicates the “why.” For example, by looking at the mental model, you can see that when you’re in poverty, you need people to survive, to “get by.” That is why relationships are critical in generational poverty.
One woman in a Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World group told the facilitator to draw several lines around the perimeter of the circle with a big black marker because, as she said, once you’re in there, it’s tough to get out. Another participant studied the mental model for a while and said, “I never realized it before, but poverty sucks!”
Actual responses from people living in poverty.
Developed by Phil DeVol (2006)

11. Mental Model of Middle Class
Add elements to the mental model: mortgage payments, working longer hours, credit card debt, cost of education, cost of child care.
See also “Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America.”
What has happened to middle class areas in the center of the country?
EXERCISE:
What has happened to the middle class in your community in the past five years?
What would you add to the mental model of middle class to fit your community more accurately?
Developed by Phil DeVol (2006)

12. Mental Model of Wealth
This mental model is provided so that the audience can see where the hidden rules of class, including the wealthy class, come from.
Analyze this mental model for stability, time horizon, problem solving strategies, and power.
The environment of poverty is often unstable, so people have to focus on solving immediate, concrete problems. The environment of middle class is more stable; because people have today covered, they worry about the future and focus on planning. The environment of wealth is so stable that people don’t worry about today or tomorrow; they can make decisions based on family traditions.
The time horizon in poverty is the present. The time horizon in middle class is 2–4 years; people can make plans 2–4 years in advance and reasonably expect to see them through. The time horizon in wealth is two decades.
People in poverty have personal power, strength, and fighting ability, but they may not have the power to stop bad things from happening in the neighborhood or community. People in middle class have the power of the institutions because the institutions are run on middle class rules and norms. People in wealth have the power to influence and shape policy and the direction of the community.
REINFORCEMENT:
These concepts will appear in the hidden rules and again in the module on poverty research. Our point is that to create sustainable communities, we must have all three classes at the table. It helps greatly if we understand one another’s environments and hidden rules.
Developed by Ruby Payne (2005)

13. Key Point
Most schools and businesses operate from middle-class norms and values.
The patterns we're going to talk about are economic because most schools operate from middle class norms and values. In order to graduate from college, one must learn to use the hidden rules of middle class.
VIDEO OPTION:
Show Rita's story about the boy who had no alarm clock.

14. Key Point
Individuals bring with them the hidden rules of the class in which they were raised.
Each of us is like this rich piece of fabric that is very different from person to person.
We have threads that come from our race, our religion, the region of the country we grew up in, aging, economics, and cross-cultural threads (e.g., gender).
Each of us brings with us a whole set of hidden rules.
One of the things we have hidden rules about is food:
* Food is very important because food is often the line between being destitute and merely being poor.
* The issue about food in poverty is quantity. The questions after a meal are: "Are you full? Did you have enough?"
* In middle class people have too much food. They're always on this diet or that diet. So the issue about food is quality. The questions after the meal are: "Did you like it? Was it good?"
* In wealth the issue about food is presentation. The questions after a meal are: "Was it artistically presented? Did it have aesthetic appeal? Did it go with the theme?"
The big problem with hidden rules is that they're seldom articulated. But, more importantly, they're often equated with intelligence.
Members of the group that has the most power, the most money, or the greatest number of people often believe that their hidden rules are the best. So if you don't use them, you're viewed as either stupid or rude.

15. Political connections Financial connections
Key Point
Hidden rules about time and money:
Poverty
Middle Class
Wealth
Survival
Relationships
Entertainment
Work
Achievement
Material
security
Political connections
Financial connections
Social connections
What are the three driving forces that are used to make decisions in middle class? In wealth? In poverty?
Remember, we are talking about patterns, not stereotypes. When we stereotype, we apply a pattern to everyone in the group. Make sure this is not the case.
If you've been in the middle class mindset two generations or more, most of your decisions are made against three factors: work, achievement, and material security. Those three forces shape middle class lives every day.
In wealth most of your decisions are made against social, financial, and political connections—for two reasons: They keep you safe, and they help you make more money. The rule about money is that you just don't talk about it. Investments yes, money no.
After two generations in poverty, you don't have much stuff.
* Most of your decisions are made against three factors: relationships, entertainment, and survival.
* You have only one real possession, and that's people.
Additional patterns in wealth:
* It is not okay not to be perfect.
* Details are very important.
* A person is not respected unless he/she has expertise.
* Rules do not apply to my child.
* Social exclusion is a key weapon of choice.
Additional patterns in generational poverty:
* Noise level is higher.
* Important information is given nonverbally.
* Entertainment is valued.
* Respect is given to those who are personally strong.

16. Three things that help one move out of poverty are: Education
Key Point
Three things that help one move out of poverty are:
Education
Relationships
Employment
There are three key things that help one move out of poverty: education, relationships, and employment. Money helps you get past survival mode and allows you time to devote to learning.

17. Partner Talk
Who in your life was instrumental in motivating you? How did it affect you?

18. Key Point
To move from poverty to middle class, one must give up (for a period of time) relationships for achievement.
The reason that many adults in poverty choose not to leave, and many students in school quit learning, is this: To move from poverty to middle class or middle class to wealth, there's a period of time during which you have to give up relationships for achievement; you don't have enough time to devote to both.
The dilemma is about time; a person has to choose.

19. Four reasons one leaves poverty are: Too painful to stay
Key Point
Four reasons one leaves poverty are:
Too painful to stay
Vision or goal
Key relationship
Special talent/skill
Any one reason, or a combination of these reasons, may help an individual leave poverty. To keep from returning to poverty, you must learn the hidden rules of middle class. Cite an example of a professional athlete, musician, or actor who came from poverty but did not make it because they were not successful in learning the hidden rules of the new economic class they were in.

20. "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship."
Dr. James Comer, an educator at Yale University, says this: "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship of mutual respect."
It is amazing that people think you will get learning without relationships of mutual respect. You won't. A relationship of mutual respect is the primary motivator for learning.
–Dr. James Comer

21. Creating Relationships
DEPOSITS
WITHDRAWALS
Seeking first to understand
Seeking first to be understood
Keeping promises
Breaking promises
Kindnesses, courtesies
Unkindnesses, discourtesies
Clarifying expectations
Violating expectations
Loyalty to the absent
Disloyalty, duplicity
Apologies
Pride, conceit, arrogance
Open to feedback
Rejecting feedback
This chart, which is based on materials from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, identifies the deposits and withdrawals involved in creating relationships.
Note. Adapted from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, 1989.

22. Creating Relationships WITHDRAWALS MADE FROM INDIVIDUAL IN POVERTY
DEPOSITS MADE TO
INDIVIDUAL IN POVERTY
WITHDRAWALS MADE FROM INDIVIDUAL IN POVERTY
Appreciation for humor and entertainment provided by the individual
Put-downs or sarcasm about the humor or the individual
Acceptance of what the individual cannot say about a person or situation
Insistence and demands for full explanation about a person or situation
Respect for the demands and priorities of relationships
Insistence on the middle-class view of relationships
Using the adult voice
Using the parent voice
Assisting with goal setting
Telling the individual his/her goals
Identifying options related to available resources
Making judgments based on the value and availability of resources
Understanding the importance of personal freedom, speech, and individual personality
Assigning pejorative character traits to the individual
This chart, which is based on materials from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, identifies the deposits and withdrawals made to and from an individual in poverty.

23. Hidden Rules of Economic Class
POVERTY
MIDDLE CLASS
WEALTH
POSSESSIONS
People.
Things.
One-of-a-kind objects, legacies, pedigrees.
MONEY
To be used, spent.
To be managed.
To be conserved, invested.
PERSONALITY
Is for entertainment.
Sense of humor is highly valued.
Is for acquisition and stability.
Achievement is highly valued.
Is for connections.
Financial, political, social connections are highly valued.
SOCIAL
EMPHASIS
Social inclusion of the people they like.
Emphasis is on self-governance and self-sufficiency.
Emphasis is on social exclusion.
FOOD
Key question: Did you have enough?
Quantity important.
Key question: Did you like it?
Quality important.
Key question: Was it presented well?
Presentation important.
CLOTHING
Clothing valued for individual style and expression of personality.
Clothing valued for its quality and acceptance into the norms of middle class. Label important.
Clothing valued for its artistic sense and expression.
Designer important.
TIME
Present most important.
Decisions made for moment based on feelings or survival.
Future most important.
Decisions made against future ramifications.
Traditions and past history most important.
Decisions made partially on basis of tradition decorum.
These are the hidden rules of economic class in poverty, middle class, and wealth.
If your audience does not have a book to refer to, you may wish to talk about the specific hidden rules on slides 59–61 instead of showing this slide, since it is difficult to read.

24. Hidden Rules of Economic Class
(continued)
POVERTY
MIDDLE CLASS
WEALTH
EDUCATION
Valued and revered as abstract but not as reality.
Education is about facts.
Crucial for climbing success ladder and making money.
Necessary tradition for making and maintaining connections.
DESTINY
Believes in fate. Cannot do much to mitigate chance.
Believes in choice. Can change future with good choices now.
Noblesse oblige.
LANGUAGE
Casual register. Language is about survival.
Formal register. Language is about negotiation.
Formal register.
Language is about connection.
FAMILY STRUCTURE
Tends to be matriarchal.
Tends to be patriarchal.
Depends on who has/controls money.
WORLD VIEW
Sees world in terms of local setting.
Sees world in terms of national setting.
Sees world in terms of an international view.
LOVE
Love and acceptance conditional, based on whether individual is liked.
Love and acceptance conditional, based largely on achievement.
Love and acceptance conditional, related to social standing and connections.
DRIVING FORCES
Survival, relationships, entertainment.
Work and achievement.
Financial, political, social connections.
Hidden rules (continued).

25. Could You Survive in Poverty?
Put a check by each item you know how to do.
1. I know which churches and sections of town have the best
rummage sales.
2. I know when Walmart, drug stores, and convenience stores throw
away over-the-counter medicine with expired dates.
3. I know which pawn shops sell DVDs for $1.
4. In my town in criminal courts, I know which judges are lenient, which
ones are crooked, and which ones are fair.
5. I know how to physically fight and defend myself physically.
6. I know how to get a gun, even if I have a police record.
7. I know how to keep my clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat.
8. I know what problems to look for in a used car.
9. I/my family use a payday lender.
10. I know how to live without electricity and a phone
11. I know how to use a knife as scissors. … MORE
Quizzes from the Framework book.

26. Could You Survive in Middle Class?
Put a check by each item you know how to do.
1. I know how to get my children into Little League, piano lessons, soccer, etc.
2. I have an online checking account and monitor my bills online.
3. Every bedroom has its own TV and DVD player.
4. My children know the best name brands in clothing.
5. I know how to order in a nice restaurant.
6. I know how to use a credit card, checking account, and savings account—and I
understand an annuity. I understand term life insurance, disability insurance, and
20/80 medical insurance policy, as well as home insurance, flood insurance, and
replacement insurance.
7. I talk to my children about going to college.
8. I know how to get one of the best interest rates on my new-car loan.
9. I understand the difference among the principal, interest, and escrow statements
on my house payment.
10. I know how to help my children with their homework and do not hesitate to call
the school if I need additional information.
11. I know how to decorate the house for the different holidays. … MORE
Quizzes from the Framework book.

27. Could You Survive in Wealth?
Put a check by each item you know how to do.
1. I can read a menu in at least three languages.
2. I have several favorite restaurants in different countries of the world. I use
a concierge to book the best restaurants as I travel throughout the world.
3. During the holidays, I know how to hire a decorator to identify the
appropriate themes and items with which to decorate the house.
4. I know who my preferred financial advisor, legal firm, certified public
accounting firm, designer, florist, caterer, domestic-employment service,
and hairdresser are. In addition, I have a preferred tailor, travel agency,
and personal trainer.
5. I have at least two residences that are staffed and maintained.
6. I know how to ensure confidentiality and loyalty from my domestic staff.
7. I have at least two or three “screens” that keep people whom I do not wish
to see away from me.
8. I fly in my own plane, the company plane, or first class.
9. I know how to enroll my children in the preferred private schools.
10. I know how to host the parties that “key” people attend.
11. I am on the boards of at least two charities. … MORE
Quizzes from the Framework book.

28. “The extent to which an individual does without resources.”
To better understand people from poverty, the definition of poverty will be:
“The extent to which an individual does without resources.”
Definition of poverty.

29. Resources
Financial Having the money to purchase goods and services. Emotional Being able to choose and control emotional responses, particularly to negative situations, without engaging in self-destructive behavior. This is an internal resource and shows itself through stamina, perseverance, and choices. Mental Having the mental abilities and acquired skills (reading, writing, computing) to deal with daily life.
If you have fewer than three of the nine resources, you are more likely to make poor choices.
Which one of these do you think makes the biggest difference in your lifelong stability? It's emotional resources. It's the ability to be alone when times are bad and not be destructive—to self or others. You get a lot of your emotional resources from relationships. Emotional resources involve the internal line that we don't cross when we're angry.
Mental resources are on this list, and they just mean you read, write, and compute. What mental resources really give you is the ability to know whether or not the information you have is correct. Inappropriate behavior usually begins when some of these are missing. Students may want you to focus on their behavior rather than on their lack of academic skills.

30. Resources (continued)
Spiritual Believing in divine purpose and guidance. Having hope or a future story. Physical Having physical health and mobility. Support Systems Having friends, family, and backup resources available to access in times of need. These are external resources.
Resources (continued)
Why would spiritual resources be on this list? They give hope. The second thing is this: In the resiliency research on adults who have made it out of very difficult situations, one of the high, high correlates is that they had a strong belief in a higher power.
Physical resources: This means your body works. It does not mean you have a car. If you have ever been sick and felt aggravated that you couldn't get up and do something you needed to do, you know what a difference physical resources can make.
Which one would you guess makes the biggest difference in school success? It's really support systems, which are not just money and friends, but also know-how.
* That's why the research is that there's no difference between minority and white achievement if the net worth of the households is the same. Net worth speaks to the level of the support system.
* The way a support system shows up in school is in homework and projects. Support systems include such things as health insurance, knowledge base, friends, and family.
* Do you have someone who can help you out with a task when you cannot or do not want to do it?

31. Resources (continued)
Relationships/Role Models Having frequent access to adult(s) who are appropriate, who are nurturing to the child, and who do not engage in self-destructive behavior. Knowledge of Hidden Rules Knowing the unspoken cues and habits of a group. Formal Register Having the vocabulary, language ability, and negotiation skills necessary to succeed in school and/or work settings.
Resources (continued)
According to the research, which one of these resources makes the biggest difference in lifelong learning? It’s relationships/role models.
In their brilliant book The Growth of the Mind and the Endangered Origins of Intelligence, Stanley Greenspan and Beryl Benderly show that almost no learning occurs without a significant relationship. It just doesn't happen.
This is the same point Dr. James Comer made earlier. Among wealthy students who are not achieving, Ruby Payne often found relationships/role models to be the resource they don't have. The irony of this is: That's one of the few resources on the list that money can't buy.
Formal register includes having the emotional control, vocabulary, language ability, and negotiation skills necessary to succeed in school and/or work settings.

32. Resources tell you which interventions will work.
What we want to stress is the resources that are available because you have to make the interventions based on the resources that they have. And one thing to say to them when you show the video of Matt and the trailer (“Tammy’s Story”) is: “If you asked the mother to come to school for parent-teacher conferences, will she do that?” And they’ll say: “No.” Is it because she doesn’t love her child? No, it’s because she doesn’t have time. Then how are you going to make an intervention in that situation actually work? And so that’s why we talk about it. We recommend they do that as the first step in RTI.

33. Family Structure Two factors interfere with family function:
low income
high conflict
Many families experience both—because financial stress increases conflict and vice versa
Note. From The Developing Person Through the Life Span, 7th ed., quote by McLanahan in K. S. Berger, 2007, p. 362.
Add to this mix of low income and high conflict a student’s understanding of and ineffective or effective use of the voices, registers of language, and understanding of hidden rules, and you will find that this can have a major impact on discipline in the classroom.

34. Personal Family Structure At your table, discuss these questions:
Who helped you with your homework?
Whom did you care about most? Who cared about you?
Were relationships competitive? Cooperative? Both?
Whom did you trust?
What did you think about authority?
What did you learn about relationships?
Give participants time to draw and discuss their personal family structures.
As participants draw, refer them to this slide to consider and discuss as they draw. Recommended time: 10 minutes.
The power of this activity is in the personal interactions between and among the participants.

35. https://youtu.be/mU-gTNZ6g8E