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Stories move us. Numbers guide us. Together, they give us the power to act.
Too often, conversations about poverty rely on stories or numbers but not both. We share a moving story of a child struggling to get by, hoping empathy will spur action—but without data, we risk missing the full scale of the problem. We state facts hoping they speak for themselves—but without stories, the human impact can be lost.
For example, I could share a powerful story about a family working two jobs but one crisis away from poverty (which is the definition of what’s called an ALICE household (asset-limited, income-constrained, employed), and you will be moved. But knowing the data that about one in three families in Marion County live on the edge of poverty brings that story to life and brings urgency to the situation.
Certainly, in the last 10 years serving as director of the Faith & Action Project, I’ve witnessed how stories inspire and connect us and how data illuminates solutions. Together, they guide us toward meaningful, lasting change.
For example, economic expert Raj Chetty, who has issued landmark studies of economic mobility, points to data showing that children who grow up in communities with more cross-class friendships are more likely to rise out of poverty. He also notes that employment levels among adults in a child’s neighborhood can have effects on that child’s future economic opportunity and that families with greater civic involvement and faith community attendance will give their kids a better long-term shot at staying out of poverty.
In other words, the data can help develop evidence-based solutions for improved economic mobility and guide local decision making. Furthermore, the data will help us get to causes and possible solutions to poverty, and help us identify factors—such as transportation limitations, low wages, poor financial literacy, housing insecurity, insufficient mental health services and systemic barriers—that feed and perpetuate it.
It’s tempting to think poverty is too big to solve or that it touches only a few. But the data proves otherwise, making the crisis undeniable and showing the urgency—and possibility—of collective action.
The truth is, the lives of the 257,000 people living in or on the cusp of poverty affect us all. Cities with rising levels of poverty see reduced economic activity, lower tax revenue and strained municipal budgets. Children in those communities tend to perform poorly in school, which inhibits their ability to establish careers and increases the likelihood that they—and their children—will draw more from the system than contribute to it. And so on.
The data makes it clear that ignoring poverty doesn’t simply mean accepting the status quo. It means allowing poverty to persist and weaken our whole community. At Christian Theological Seminary, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to thrive and, as a community, we are called to shape systems that create opportunity.
That’s why we brought Chetty to Indianapolis to speak for a free Faith & Action Project conversation last week at the Schrott Center for the Arts at Butler University. We believe his data and stories about cities that are battling poverty effectively can help us continue to fight poverty today and prevent it for tomorrow.•
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Rabinowitch is director of the Christian Theological Seminary Faith & Action Project.
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