The Distance Between Us By Reyna Grande: Problem-Solving Within Poverty

Poverty is not a simple issue that results in one universal response. It is a place where majority of our world resides – affecting children, families, and relationships. In the novel, The Distance Between Us, written by Reyna Grande, she shares the effects, consequences, and how she had to overcome her struggles in poverty. Poverty is a social issue that has grown over time to be one of the greatest problems concerning the world. Although poverty affects all age groups, children who are exposed to poverty are extremely affected because they are dependent on their families to assist in living, schooling, and survival.

Contributing factors that lead to poverty are caused through social, economical, political, and cultural issues. Economic development and education are just few of many issues to help prevent poverty. Poverty is a vicious cycle that tears families apart and leaving children behind. This issue makes it extremely important for people everywhere to be fully aware of the effects of poverty including causes, effects on people’s lives, and how to solve this issue. Majority of problems that families experience are stemmed from stress – finance, children, running a household, etc. When families have an extremely low income, they have added pressure from the account of their destitution, and the typical worries of family life turn out to be much greater. In Cornell University’s article, The Environment of Childhood Poverty, Gary Evans states, “Poor children confront widespread environmental inequities. Compared with their economically advantaged counterparts, they are exposed to more family turmoil, violence, separation from their families, instability, and chaotic households”. The marginal income needs to be increased to enforce possible survival for individuals and families.

In the novel, almost all of Reyna’s siblings had to start working at a young age to sustain health and living benefits from the main cause of income to the household. This is an issue that needs to be solved to result in proper health benefits in order for a family to maintain survival. Reyna Grande’s story makes readers aware of the importance to understand policies of what our government is doing. This helps the readers identify hardships children and families encounter every day to provide for each other and for them to feel like they have place in society.

Another social factor in poverty includes racial discrimination in the workplace. Many employers are not willing to see past the historical background of a person, oftentimes leading to a position of extremely low income, or complete unemployment. The poor need to be provided with socioeconomic arrangements, directly increasing a person’s involvement in labor activity throughout the country. Businesses and employers also need to be willing to offer training to those who are impoverished to give them a chance to show what they are capable of in the work field. To solve this issue in poverty, the government needs to use their resources to improve educational programs across the globe. Education plays a large role when places are looking to hire – a degree making the difference of being unemployed or hired. If children from poor families are the first to obtain an education, they can help turn their family’s future around. But in many cases, children in poverty almost always know that they will not be able to obtain a higher education, which leads to dropping out of school. Many families live in places where school facilities are out of reach; thus, having no resources or choice but to remain uneducated. In order for things to change, the government needs to branch out to educate and grow the future of our world. As the role of younger generations obtain a higher education, the less we will see unemployment and poverty in the world.

In The Distance Between Us, Reyna and her three siblings grew up torn between two parents. They all lived a rough life without any real love or support from their parents so they have to rely on each other for help, guidance, and support. Reyna’s older sister, Mago, dropped out of school when the family was still living in Mexico because there was minimal income to provide for the rest of her family. In the long run, this led Mago having low self-esteem and dropping out of college. If the government made it more affordable to obtain a higher education, she would have stayed in school so that she could acquire a higher paying full-time job. The makeup of American society shows that life depends on one’s family. Being born into opportunities to succeed can land someone a job, but being in poverty can have an adverse effect on reality for others. Poverty is a complex issue resulting in a repetitive cycle for children and families. This issue can and will be resolved through higher education and socioeconomic development.