Opportunities
The general consensus is that where you were born matters greatly. Children copy their parents’ behavior, and as they grow older, they try to give their own twist to it. What was your situation like when you were growing up? Did you have two parents who surrounded you with attention, care, and love? Was there always enough food on the table? Did you wear clean clothes without holes? Or was there illness and/or poverty in your family? Were you part of a sports club? Did you take music lessons?
Opportunities Are Transgenerational
Your chances in life largely depend on the opportunities your parents had when they were growing up. My parents both grew up in large families, with ten and twelve children, respectively. Not in a row house in a city or village, but on a farm. After secondary school, both my parents pursued further education. My mother became a pharmacy assistant, and my father a social and cultural worker. My sister studied occupational therapy and primary education. I became a nurse and a health scientist. Neither of us lives in a row house in a city or village—we both live in a renovated farmhouse in the countryside.
Saving for the Future
My sister did gymnastics and took clarinet lessons. I struggled athletically due to my short stature, but after earning my swimming diplomas, I had a long-term subscription to the local pool. I quickly transitioned from organ lessons to piano lessons. Following in my parents’ footsteps, our own children also take music lessons. The eldest plays the flute, and the youngest plays the piano. They are growing up in the countryside, in a renovated farmhouse—a spacious home with plenty of room both inside and out. From the moment they were born, my wife and I have been saving for their future. By the time they reach adulthood, they will have a decent sum of money to use as they see fit. Whether for education, a first home, traveling the world, or as startup capital for their own business, the choice will be theirs.
The Unfairness of Opportunities
My parents had more opportunities than their own parents. We have more opportunities than our parents. And our children will have more opportunities than we did. But unfortunately, opportunities are not distributed fairly in this world. How different would things be if we had a different skin color? A non-Dutch-sounding last name? If we hadn’t been able to pursue higher education because there was no money for it? Or if we had grown up in a small, poorly insulated apartment with mold and moisture problems? If both our parents smoked? Or if one of them had an alcohol problem? If we had been raised not with love, but with a heavy hand?
Poverty
Politicians talk a lot about equal opportunities and financial security, but how do you actually achieve that? In my view, it starts with treating people equally in equal circumstances. But I fear that the institutional racism that underpinned the benefits scandal will not be eradicated in today’s political climate. In fact, it will likely increase rather than decrease. And what about poverty? People living in poverty have significantly fewer chances for a happy and healthy life than those who do not. Poverty is not just about having too little money to get by. It has direct and indirect consequences across various aspects of life.
People in poverty, or those barely making ends meet, often experience extremely high levels of chronic stress due to their financial struggles. Chronic stress is a killer—both directly and indirectly. Directly, because the human body and mind are not built to endure prolonged, extreme stress. Indirectly, because stress has devastating effects on a person’s lifestyle. This includes consumption habits (food, alcohol, smoking, drugs), exercise and movement, relaxation, and sleep. Poverty can negatively impact all these areas. And that’s not even considering the lack of perspective and sense of purpose that people in poverty often experience.
Hope
In short, if you truly want to help people lead healthy and happy lives, the first and foremost step is improving their financial situation. The minimum standard of living should enable people to make healthy choices rather than unhealthy ones. If you only have forty euros per week for food and drink and are also addicted to smoking, there’s hardly anything left to maintain a proper diet. And don’t start by trying to help someone quit smoking first—it will only cause more stress if the rest of their situation remains unchanged. What’s needed first is more financial support. Money and guidance.
People need to be empowered. They need to regain a sense of control over their lives. A new perspective. Many people living in poverty have long given up hope for a better life. But hope is everything. Without hope, opportunities are meaningless.