'People in poverty should just try harder.' We often hear that conclusion in debates and discussions about poverty in our society. After years of fieldwork, Michelle Ginée wondered whether that is not just a little too simplistic. As a social worker at a PsWc in a large Flemish city, she often saw the same problems crop up in different people. Structural obstacles that cause people to get into trouble or just barely get out of it. Work? Sure, but is there work for everyone? And what about people who are just missing out everywhere? Or what is happening in education to make children aim higher than their parents?
She talks with an open mind to people from a wide range of fields: social workers, teachers, but also a justice of the peace and professors. But above all, she listens to people in poverty themselves. Together they expose thresholds and present good practices, in an attempt to pave the way out of poverty.
