The ambiguity of progress: rethinking agency and the pursuit of individual change in social work with people living in poverty

This article examines how people living in poverty make decisions in the context of everyday risks and opportunities. Drawing on qualitative, multigenerational research in Czechia, the study engages parents, young adult parents, and young people to explore how experiences of long-term family poverty shape their understandings of and responses to change. Data were collected using the communicative daily life story method, emphasising reflexive dialogue and co-construction of meaning between participants and researcher. Using a critical realist approach, the analysis shows how structural constraints shape lived experiences while individuals make reflexive, contextually situated decisions. Participants assess opportunities, limitations, and potential consequences in navigating constrained conditions, highlighting the interplay between agency and structure. Based on these evaluations, they determine to what extent they can afford to pursue change. The findings demonstrate that such decision-making is rational within context, even when it diverges from social work expectations of individual progress. By foregrounding these strategies as a vital source of knowledge, the study promotes critical reflection in social work practice and a move beyond corrective approaches towards allyship and advocacy.