Poverty and mindsets - How poverty and exclusion over generations affect aspirations, hope and decisions, and how to address it.

Joint Research Centre (European Commission), Laura Cassio, Zsuzsa Blasko, Alice Szczepanikova

ABSTRACT

This report focuses on how poverty and exclusion affect behaviour, aspirations, hope and agency, which can all be essential drivers to social mobility. Evidence suggests that the experience of poverty itself seems to contribute to the transmission of poverty to the next generation. The report gathers and summarises findings from behavioural studies, neuroscience, sociological and economic studies. Bringing together these diverse sources and scientific evidence can help to better understand this complex issue, and to identify countermeasures that may effectively address the problem.