Unrecognized Voice and Exclusion from Participation

A lack of power and the weight of poverty in its many dimensions prevent people in poverty from exercising their voice. They have learned that they don’t matter as human beings, so they do not speak of their hardships or struggles:

"No one cares. We don’t really matter. We are disposable."

Instead, they internalize the injustice and dehumanization they face, and this affects their self-esteem and self-worth — "We learn to suffer in silence" — and can lead to anxiety, serious health conditions, and internal rage. Without a voice, people living in poverty are unable to collectively define themselves and are consequently unable to bear the weight of the labels society places on them.

Those people in poverty who are able to speak out struggle with not being listened to and not being heard. Most of the time, as a U.S. research team activist said:

"We don’t want to speak to complain, but to exist."

The unrecognized voice of people in poverty prevents the public from knowing "the real deal of what it is to live in poverty.” Poverty is commonly defined by academics, economists, and policymakers without the input of the people who actually live in poverty. Because their voice is unrecognized, unacknowledged, or ignored, they are prevented from speaking on their own behalf and from participating in society economically, politically, and culturally. They rarely have access to any decision-making process that would lead to meaningful solutions.

People in poverty have their political voice silenced by disenfranchisement. Because their voice is unacknowledged and they lack power, they are not recognized as active contributors to society. Voting laws and regulations (for example, the requirement to produce a personal identification card or a birth certificate in order to vote, and the need to travel miles to a polling station) prevent some people in poverty from voting. People in poverty have been labeled as apathetic or too lazy to vote. The reality is that many of them know that their elected representatives do not care about them or, worse, only use them as an example when talking about benefit fraud or crime. These dynamics prevent their voice from being heard and deny their participation in political life.