The Sidelined: Economics No One Teaches the Poor

Angelina Lopez, De La Salle Institute, Junior, Fall 2025

Few people stop to think about the factors that impair low-income communities. Humans love to blame each other for issues; most people blame poor people for being poor. Low-income communities face persistent financial instability because they lack access to financial education, asset-building programs, and stable employment. Therefore, creating cycles of poverty that can only be broken through support designed to fairly help low-income communities. For example, it is described how there are "more than 450,000 Chicagoans suffer through poverty every day, at a rate of 17.2%" (Sharkey, 2023). 

Schools not providing proper financial education to students further exacerbates the disparity in our nation. Countless students have no idea how to properly manage their money. This is the reality for many, and it hits them like a truck when adulthood comes around when they have to figure out loans, banking, and savings accounts. 

Zuriel Hernandez, a UIC student, says that “if that school is not well funded, the quality of education that the students receive is nowhere near the same.” Kids in low-income neighborhoods often commute to schools that are well-resourced and far away from their homes in pursuit of a better education. This makes the attainability of a better education harder by limiting access to students with transportation and a spot earned in these schools.

Economic education should be required for students to graduate from high school. The National Education Association agrees, and so does a skilled financial advisor. Students have demonstrated a need and desire for economics classes, which makes this fact unfortunate: "Only 25 states required students to complete an economics class to graduate high school as of 2022" (NEA research, 2024). Gladys Lomeli, a renowned financial advisor, says that “financial literacy is not taught in all schools; if it was, we’d be way better off as a country”. 

Above all, we must be proactive by battling these economic inequalities with education and resources. It is no secret that low-income communities have withstood financial inequalities since the birth of this nation. Hopefully, one day we can see equity amongst our education systems and the provision of justifiable financial education courses and jobs.