Really? Laziness?  When discussing poverty, there is always one explanation I can never grasp. I have been told time and again that people are poor because they are lazy.  Is this really plausible? Are the 1.4 billion people living in poverty today suffering due to a common symptom of laziness?  Very unlikely.  From what I’ve experienced, laziness is a flaw found in individuals across all types of socioeconomic levels. There is no concrete data to back the lazy = poverty theory, and I’ve yet to see any research conducted on the amount of wealthy individuals who lost their riches due to the laziness syndrome.
So I want to know; why does this attitude persist? Â In the modern area, with the amount of knowledge and data people have access to, it’s quite shocking to see how many individuals share this belief. Â There must be reasons for this attitude. I’ve narrowed it down to three.
1.) People want to avoid the problem. There is no better way to detach yourself from the suffering of others than to convince yourself that the less fortunate deserve their lot in life.
2.) People underestimate the power of government and policy. If the government doesn’t reinvest in the country (e.g. infrastructure or education) than business will suffer as will the population. Moreover, if a government has inadequate or inefficient welfare policies this can hinder people from breaking out of poverty (e.g. lack of childcare assistance to single parent households negatively effects 3 out of 4 American families living on welfare). Policies can be enabling, which can cause resentment towards entitlement programs. Lack of policy can sometimes act as a financial burden.
3.) People do not understand poverty. There are many who have never been exposed to this type of suffering, and they are unaware of the obstacles facing the poor. Some may lack empathy; others are ignorant to the situation.
Regardless, it seems many have not properly assessed the situation before formulating their opinions.
A recent poll by Business Insider found that 27% of Americans blamed poverty on laziness. A similar study done by the National Centre for Social Research discovered that 63% of Britons blame lazy parents for childhood poverty. Considering the populations in both these countries, this mentality is fairly widespread, and a little dangerous.
If people believe in the lazy = poverty theory, then who will make sure that people have adequate access to education, good infrastructure, healthcare, and job opportunities? Who will provide the incentives that wealthier individuals have a promise of a future and a good life?
I’m curious to know how much this inaccurate fallacy hurts the poor. Laziness is by no means the culprit of poverty, and the fact that a significant number believe so surely impedes progress.
There is definitely a need for empathy here. Those who have gone through hard times understand that life can be unfair, mindless of work ethic. Maybe there needs to be more integration between the haves and the have-nots.
To say people are poor because they are lazy is simply a ‘lazy’ way to address social inequality. Maybe these folks should work a little harder to tackle the problem.
 By Michelle Blanchet Michelle is an educator interested in education, development, and social enterprises. She has a Master’s in International Relations and is currently residing in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Resources  http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21881954~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-17-welfare-reform-cover_x.htm  http://www.businessinsider.com/salvation-army-report-on-homelessness-in-the-us-2012-5  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16064988
I think ‘laziness’ is a manifested result or symptom of fear of the pain of failure and a disbelief in the idea of personal success. If you ask someone why they are not trying, the answer will probably be “what’s the point? I already tried before and failed”. If you were to do some research outside of the “pool of experts” and talk to people who are impoverished, you would find that they are very conservative and excellent economists who are literally petrified to spend the tiny ammount they have for fear of not being able to recoup their losses. Too much emphasis is placed on the idea of loss in the reward training that these people receive as children and not enough on perseverance and tenacity will eventually garner the rewards of success. If we continue to look at things from the perspective of the haves, we will never have an undestanding of the have nots. The irony here is that simply writing poor people off as lazy instead of actually going out and helping people succeed is, well, lazy.
In short, I found this article to be correct. How do I know? I grew up in poveverty and still find myself struggling with this fear. Only recently have I started to learn to be successful and am on my way to making a, what I consider to be, success of myself.