poverty trap

Definition of Poverty Trap

(noun) A scenario created when low-income individuals or families living in poverty, lose welfare or tax benefits when they secure employment or a higher salary, resulting in an overall worse economic condition because of the loss of their benefits.

Example of Poverty Trap

• John had a full-time job in a developing industry. John was not able to afford childcare for his two pre-school children while he was at work. John was forced to switch to part-time employment that allowed him to care for his children with additional help from welfare. Because John had to leave his full-time job he loses benefits beyond pay such as future advancement opportunities, insurance, and a pension.

Poverty Trap Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: pov·er·ty trap

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈpɑvərti træp/
• British English – /ˈpɒvəti træp/

Usage Notes

• Plural: poverty traps
• The poverty trap provides a disincentive for an individual to work or improve their socioeconomic status.

Related Video

Additional Information

• Word origin of “poverty” and “trap” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Arrighi, Barbara A., and David J. Maume, eds. 2007. Child Poverty in America Today. Westport, CT: Praeger.
• Bowles, Samuel, Steven N. Durlauf, and Karla Ruth Hoff, eds. 2006. Poverty Traps. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Conroy, Anne C., Malcolm J. Blackie, Alan Whiteside, Justin C. Malewezi, and Jeffrey D. Sachs. 2006. Poverty, AIDS and Hunger: Breaking the Poverty Trap in Malawi. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Ellwood, David T. 1988. Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family. New York: Basic Books.
• Goldsmith, William W., and Edward J. Blakely. 1992. Separate Societies: Poverty and Inequality in U.S. Cities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
• Harrington, Michael. 1962. The Other America: Poverty in the United States. New York: Macmillan.
• Haveman, Robert H. 1976. Poverty, Income Distribution, and Social Policy: The Last Decade and the Next. Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin.
• Jargowsky, Paul A. 1997. Poverty and Place: Ghettos, Barrios, and the American City. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Katz, Michael B. 1989. The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Lowe, Gary R., and P. Nelson Reid. 1999. The Professionalization of Poverty: Social Work and the Poor in the Twentieth Century. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
• Mosley, Paul, and Pamela Lenton. 2012. Financial Exclusion and the Poverty Trap: Overcoming Deprivation in the Inner City. London: Routledge.
• Raphael, Jody. 2000. Saving Bernice: Battered Women, Welfare, and Poverty. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
• Raphael, Jody. 2004. Listening to Olivia: Violence, Poverty, and Prostitution. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
• Tanner, Michael. 1996. The End of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in the Civil Society. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.
• ChronicPovertyNetwork.org

Related Terms

• absolute poverty
• class
• discrimination
• economic
• health
• income
• poverty
• poverty line
• relative poverty
• status

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Cite the Definition of Poverty Trap

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “poverty trap.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 3, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty-trap/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

poverty trap. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty-trap/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “poverty trap.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty-trap/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“poverty trap.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/poverty-trap/>.