Psychology of Poverty Bias Reflection Exercise → Check Your Lens: A Self-Reflection on Poverty Perception
Instructions:
Put an ✔ next to statements that represent your current beliefs or an ✖️next to statements that represent your previous beliefs.
Once you have completed the exercise, please refer to the Reframing Poverty Perceptions Exercise and reflect on how these beliefs shape your perspective on poverty, economic justice, and institutional support.
Typical Statements About Poverty & Economic Struggles
___ If people in poverty just worked harder, they could get out of it.
___ Government assistance should only be temporary—people need to take responsibility for their own lives.
___ If someone is struggling financially, they must not be making good choices.
___ Some people just don’t want to work.
___ I’ve worked hard for what I have—others should be able to do the same.
___ People who grow up in poverty have the same opportunities as everyone else; they just need to take advantage of them.
___ If people in poverty learned how to budget properly, they wouldn’t struggle as much.
___ If you give people too much help, they will become dependent.
___ I’ve met people in poverty who seem lazy and unmotivated.
___ We need more financial education programs—if people just understood money better, they wouldn’t be in poverty.
___ If someone wanted to own a home, they could just save and buy one.
___ I don’t understand why people keep having children if they can’t afford them.
___ If someone is homeless, they probably made bad life choices.
___ Some people in poverty don’t apply for programs or assistance because they just don’t want to help themselves.
___ Poverty has nothing to do with race—anyone can succeed if they work hard enough.
___ Minimum wage jobs aren’t meant to be careers—people need to get higher-paying jobs.
___ People in poverty should be more grateful for the help they receive.
___ If someone receives public assistance, they shouldn’t be buying luxury items.
___ People struggling financially should stop spending money on unnecessary things like expensive phones, nails, or designer clothes.
___ If they didn’t apply for a program, they must not really need it.
___ I don’t understand why people don’t just move to a better neighborhood if theirs is unsafe or doesn’t have resources.
___ If someone keeps making bad financial decisions, there’s only so much help we can give them.
Institutional Bias: Are You Reinforcing Punitive or Supportive Practices?
✔️ Check the statements that apply to your workplace, organization, or leadership approach.
___ We require extensive paperwork for individuals to prove they need assistance.
___ Our programs have strict eligibility rules that exclude many people in need.
___ If someone misses a deadline, they are automatically removed from services.
___ We assume that if someone doesn’t attend a meeting or respond quickly, they must not be serious about getting help.
___ We don’t check in with clients or program participants after they stop showing up.
___ We do not actively include people with lived experience of poverty in leadership or decision-making roles.
___ We rarely ask the people we serve for input on how our programs could be improved.
___ Our policies are primarily focused on accountability and compliance rather than support and flexibility.
___ We assume that because we offer a service, people will come—without considering barriers like transportation, childcare, or digital access.
___ Our organization does not actively address the role of systemic racism in economic disparities.
___ We require people to attend multiple meetings, classes, or check-ins before receiving assistance.
___ We have policies that unintentionally punish people for financial hardship, such as removing them from programs for missing a payment.
___ When someone does not succeed in our program, we assume they were not motivated enough to change.
___ We do not track or measure the long-term impact of our services after participants leave.
___ Our leadership team does not reflect the demographics or lived experiences of the people we serve.
Reflection Questions
-
After completing this list, what surprised you about your responses?
-
Have you ever unknowingly reinforced punitive mindsets in your interactions with people in poverty?
-
Do you believe systemic barriers impact economic mobility, or do you primarily view poverty as an individual issue?
-
If you marked any statements with an “✔️,” how do you feel about them now?
-
What shifts in thinking do you want to work on moving forward?
-
What specific policies or practices could your organization improve to become more trauma-informed and supportive?
Next steps
The goal of this exercise is not judgment—it’s self-awareness. When we acknowledge and challenge these perspectives, we take the first step toward creating more equitable, effective solutions for people in poverty.
Thank you for using this worksheet! We’d love to hear how it helped you or your organization. Please take a moment to share your feedback:
Thank you for using this worksheet! We’d love to hear how it helped you or your organization. Please take a moment to share your feedback:
📩 Share your thoughts via our feedback form