Many theories have been offered to explain why people are impoverished. This article by Karen Seccombe uses the case study of "Dee," a newly single mother, to explore four of the most common: individualism, social structuralism, the culture of poverty, and fatalism. She concludes that poverty is a highly complex phenomenon, and it is likely that many explanations come into play at the same time. It is experienced on the societal level, and as a personal, lived experience. (Contains 1 footnote.)