Jarvinen, Harri. Mental Poverty in Families with Children and How It Is Experienced. Language: Finnish. Diak, Spring 2013. 64 pages. Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. Degree Programme of Social Services. Option in Social Services and Education. Degree: Bachelor of Social Servies + Deacon.

It is interesting how families with children experience poverty on emotional level. That was why this theme was chosen for this thesis. What emotions does poverty raise? How can people deal with these emotions? How do these emotions affect the behavior of the family and its members? This theme was also current. In addition, the researcher had personal experiences in how some friends had experienced poverty in the childhood.

The thesis is based on the interviews of three families. These families had different starting points for their situations. The children (who are now adults) had also the floor and they brought out their thoughts about poverty. A deacon, working in family work, was also interviewed. Theory about poverty was seeked for and information was looked up in many articles, interviews and from different organizations` websites. Material from a writing contest called Everyday Experiences About Poverty was analyzed. In that contest people who lived below the poverty line told about their everyday lives. Some passages linked to the subject of this thesis were picked up. Material from another writing contest in 2010 meant for professionals in social field was used in this thesis. This material also backs up the deacon`s interview

The thesis brings out that poverty is not just a financial problem, it is also mental deficiency. The interviews reveal the fact how crushing mental poverty can be. Financial distress increases mental poverty because the lack of money limits social relationships and hobbies. Many are ashamed of the situation and they do not talk about it to outsiders. Society can often blame itself for this situation. Poor families with children appreci-ate different issues in everyday life: It is more important to them to be together and do things together. They also tell that they have grown stronger as persons.