A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Dr.

Ruby Payne
Introduction
Myths About Poverty and Wealth
1. Poverty belongs to minorities. Fact: Sixty-seven percent of all individuals in poverty in
the United States are white.
2. Poverty is caused almost totally by the system and exploitation. Fact: In addition to
systemic and exploitation causes, poverty is also caused by individual choices, addiction,
illness, war, lack of education, lack of employment, mindsets, disabilities, and thinking.
3. People in poverty are lazy. Fact: Actually, people in poverty are often problem solvers
with limited resources who may or may not have the knowledge bases, tools, bridging
capital, and transportation to be employed.
4. Wealthy people do not pay taxes. Fact: 67.9% of U.S. federal taxes were paid by the top
20% of households in 2009.
5. Your IQ is lower if you are poor. Fact: IQ is largely a measure of acquired knowledge. If
your environment does not provide that knowledge or vocabulary, you cannot show
evidence of it on a test.
6. Poverty is about money. Fact: Poverty is about a combination of resources. See Chapter
1.
7. In wealth, assets are more important than income. Fact: Assets are important, but income
is what allows one to live every day. If none of the assets is producing income (or
insufficient income) to live, you are in significant trouble.
8. Poverty is mostly an urban problem. Fact: Poverty is equally found in rural areas and, to a
surprising degree, in suburban areas as well.
Key Points
1. Poverty and wealth are relative to the environment in which you live. In Manhattan of
New York City, $1,000 is insignificant. In Haiti, $1,000 will allow you to live for a long
time.
2. Poverty occurs in all races and all countries.
3. Economic class is a continuous line, not a clear-cut distinction.
4. Resources in generational and situational poverty are different, just as in new money and
old money.
5. This work is a cognitive study based on patterns, not on stereotypes. All patterns have
exceptions. If this work is used to stereotype—i.e., indicating that everyone in a given
group is a certain way—then the work is misunderstood.
6. Privilege is as much about the intergenerational transfer of knowledge as it is about
money and social access.
7. An individual brings with him/her the hidden rules of the class in which he/she was
raised.
8. Most schools and businesses operate from middle-class norms and use the hidden rules of
middle class.
 9. For our students to be successful, we must understand their hidden rules and teach them
the rules that will make them successful at school and work. “Code switching” is a term
often used to describe this. We tell students that there are rules for basketball and rules
for football. To use the football rules in a basketball game is to lose the game. We tell
students that there are rules for school and rules for out of school, and they are not the
same. You use the rules in the situation that will help you win the situation.
10. We can neither excuse people nor scold them for not knowing; as educators we must
teach the students and provide support, insistence, and high expectations.
11. To move from poverty to middle class or middle class to wealth, an individual must give
up relationships for achievement (at least for some period of time). The issue is time;
there is not enough time to have both.
12. Four things that move you out of poverty are employment, education, relationships of
bridging social capital (people who are different from you), and or a future story.
13. Four reasons one leaves poverty are: It’s too painful to stay, a vision or a goal, a special
talent or skill, and/ or a key relationship.
Chapter 2 Language and Story: How They Impact Thinking, School, and Work
Registers of Language
Every language in the world has five registers. These registers are the following:
Register Explanation
Frozen Language that is always the same. For example: Lord’s Prayer, wedding vows, etc.
Formal The standard sentence syntax and word choice of work and school. Has complete
sentences and specific word choice.
Consultative Formal register when used in conversation. Discourse pattern not quite as direct as
formal register.
Casual Language between friends is characterized by a 400- to 800- word vocabulary.
Word choice general and not specific. Conversation dependent upon non-verbal
assists. Sentence syntax often incomplete.
Intimate Language between lovers or twins. Language of sexual harassment.

Further Explanation
The majority of minority students and poor students do not have access to formal register at
home. As a matter of fact, these students cannot use formal register. The problem is that all the
state tests—SAT, ACT, etc.—are in formal register. It is further complicated by the fact that to
get a well-paying job, it is expected that one will be able to use formal register. Ability to use
formal register is a hidden rule of the middle class. The inability to use it will knock one out of
an interview in two or three minutes. The use of formal register, on the other hand, allows one to
score well on tests and do well in school and higher education.
Patterns of Discourse
How does this make a difference for students and teachers? First of all, parent-teacher
conferences tend to be misunderstood on both sides. Teachers want to get right to the point;
parents, particularly those from poverty, need to beat around the bush first. When teachers cut
the conversation and get right to the point, parents view that as being rude and non-caring.
Second, writing becomes particularly difficult for students because they tend to circle the
mulberry bush and not meet the standard organizational patterns of getting to the point.

Story Structure
Specificity of Vocabulary
Why is specificity of vocabulary so critical to school success? In poverty, when something falls
on the floor, the adult says, “Get that.” In middle class, when something falls on the floor, the
adult says, “Please pick up the fork from under the table.” Someone in wealth might say, “Please
pick up that Queen Anne fork from under the Chippendale table.” Specificity of language tends
to be higher in wealth than in middle class. Even the relative “crowdedness” of a household
impacts children’s early language exposure. Evans et al. found that parents in crowded homes
speak in less complex, less sophisticated ways with their children compared with parents in
uncrowded homes.
Specificity of vocabulary is important because it indicates two things—the amount of shared
vocabulary a person has and the ability to think critically about something. Shared vocabulary
means that you and I have words around which there is a common understanding. Writing has
meanings only to the extent there is shared vocabulary. Furthermore, the specificity of language
indicates the detail by which something can be examined. Virtually all compare-and contrast
activities are based on specificity of language.

What Can Schools Do to Address Casual Register, Discourse Patterns, Story Structure,
and Specific Vocabulary?
Because there is such a direct link between achievement and language, it must be addressed. The
following suggestions are not exhaustive, but rather a place to begin.
1. Have students write in casual register, then translate into formal register.
2. Establish as part of a discipline plan a requirement that students learn how to express
their displeasure in formal register and therefore not be reprimanded.
3. Use graphic organizers to show patterns of discourse.
4. In the classroom, tell stories both ways. Tell the story using the formal-register story
structure, then tell the story with the casual-register structure. Talk about the stories: how
they stay the same, and how they are different.
5. Encourage participation in the writing and telling of stories.
 6. Use stories in math, social studies, and science to develop concepts.
7. Make up stories with the student that can be used to guide behavior.
8. Use casual register to build relationships and to translate meaning between formal
register and casual register.
9. Tell students that just as there are different rules for different sports, so there are different
ways of expressing ourselves at home and at school.
What Does This Information Mean in the School or Work Setting?
Formal register needs to be direct-taught.
Casual register needs to be recognized as the primary discourse pattern for many
students, particularly those from poverty.
Discourse patterns need to be direct-taught.
Both story structures need to be used as a part of classroom instruction.
Discipline that occurs when a student uses the inappropriate register should be a time for
instruction in the appropriate register.
Students need to be told how much formal register affects their ability to get a well-
paying job.