Inheritance of Scarcity: How Poverty Becomes Trauma Across Generations

Poverty leaves a mark — not just on bank accounts, but on bodies, minds, and generations. This groundbreaking book reveals what society has refused to name: poverty is trauma, and its effects are as real and measurable as any catastrophic event.Blending neuroscience, psychology, epigenetics, and lived experience, the book uncovers how chronic scarcity rewires the brain, shapes identity, and silently passes from one generation to the next. It exposes the hidden emotional labor of parents raising children under constant threat, the adultification of kids who grow up too fast, and the deep shame woven into class identity.At the societal level, it confronts the systems that keep people trapped — punitive welfare structures, inaccessible healthcare, policing practices, and cultural myths that blame individuals instead of acknowledging structural harm. It argues that poverty is not an accident or a moral failure, but a form of structural violence that our institutions quietly normalize.Yet this is also a book about possibility. It illuminates the resilience found in communities, the power of collective healing, and the transformative potential of trauma‑informed policy. It offers a path for families to rewrite inherited narratives and for society to build systems rooted in care rather than control. Read more