Two very different cartoons on inequality.

These two cartoon strips tackle inequality and the poverty cycle from two very different angles. Both have elements of truth in them and are very useful for promoting discussion on the different approaches to looking at why inequality exists.

The first cartoon can be found here. It deals with the poverty cycle in terms of food, health, parental expectations and the other advantages that growing up in a wealthy household may confer.

The online version has the advantage of some animation but an A2 size printed version of the cartoon can be purchased here.

The second cartoon starts off in a similar way by introducing two children but then focussing on different factors that are often associated with poverty, i.e. low education levels, single parent household, age at which parent has children. It then goes onto say the "good news" - these factors are a matter of choice.

Of course, whether there is often any real choice is debatable but that is the idea of the cartoons - to get your students thinking!

If you find these cartoons interesting, you might also be interested in this cartoon from my blog post way back in 2011. As an example of escaping the poverty cycle, it mentions Ben Carson who ended up running for the Republican nomination in the US elections last year.