Jennifer Garner Never Felt ‘Ashamed’ To Grow Up Poor With Her Mom Who Once Earned $1 A Day

Aug 29, 2023

Jennifer Garner is one of the biggest movie stars to have graced the movie industry with their amazing acting skills. The actress, who started her acting career in 1995, has been thriving in the entertainment world ever since. She has appeared in hit films like, "Daredevil," "The Adam Project," "Yes Day," "The Last Thing He Told Me," and many more.

Although Jennifer is thriving in the entertainment industry, she has had her fair share of humble beginnings, including her mom’s impoverished background. However, the actress has never been ashamed to talk about how her mother overcame the poverty in which she grew up. In an Instagram post on May 15, 2020, the "Elektra" actress celebrated her mom on her birthday with a heartfelt caption. 

Jennifer has always fought against poverty in America and is also an activist for children's early education. The actress is also a board member of Save the Children, a nonprofit organization promoting children's rights. According to a February 2019 CNN report, Save the Children reported that low income, teen pregnancy, food insecurities, and high infant mortality contributed to childhood poverty in the Southeast.

The actress teamed up with Save the Children after she was inspired by her mother's bravery to pull herself out of poverty with education. Since then, Jennifer has played an incredible role in generating awareness of the impact of poverty on children. Mark Shriver, who is the senior vice president for US advocacy and programs, shared at the time, "She's pushing our program and pushing for officials to make children a priority."

Jennifer has always treated her job as an ambassador for Save the Children with utmost importance. In March 2017, the actress testified on Capitol Hill about the significance of providing early childhood education for children living in poverty. The "Love, Simon'' actress appeared on Capitol Hill the same day a new budget proposal was released, and it did not prioritize early childhood education and severely cut Education Department funds.

The Washington Post reported that the "Alias" alum told the lawmakers then that "poverty is silent." She went further to explain her visit to Central Valley, California, and how she met a family whose home had the "classic signifiers of poverty." She also shared that the home was not what she noticed at first. She explained:

"Listen for the sound of adult conversation. There is none. Listen to the sound of children babbling, laughing, or crying. It doesn't exist. Poverty is silent."

The actress also talked about her visit to another family with a dull-looking child of 11 months who had never seen a ball or spoken a word. However, after showing the mother how to roll the ball, the mother and son ended up playing with the ball with lively baby conversations. She further added:

"A brain in poverty is up against it. I'm telling you. A child who is not touched, who is not spoken to, who is not read to in the first five years of his or her life will not fully recover. Neglect can be every bit as harmful as abuse."

The actress also added in her testimony at the time that "significant investment in high-quality early-childhood education" was what would make a difference in the children's lives. 

Jennifer's story of how she grew up, "one generation and one holler removed from poverty," has always inspired the actress. To celebrate her mother's birthday in May 2020, the actress posted a picture with her mom on her Instagram with a caption celebrating her bravery. 

The caption was about the actress's mom, Patricia Ann Garner's childhood and how she grew up on a tiny farm in Locust Grove. The actress wrote:

"My mother earned $1.00 a day for babysitting her neighbor's five children. My mom's family was poor – I'm sure she cherished that money – but it was the neighbor's old LIFE magazines that really shaped Mom's future."

She went on to explain how her mother was inspired by pictures of beautiful places far away from the farm, which made her curious to see them, too. She also wrote that earlier that year, her parents dreamt of visiting Antarctica and realized that they had fulfilled a lifelong goal and had "visited all 50 states and all 7 continents." 

In October 2020, ET Online reported that the actress was candid about what her mother said to her. During an appearance on the "Tell Me More With Kelly Corrigan'' show, the actress shared that when she moved to New York after college, her mother said:

"Jennifer, no matter what you do, it will never be as big of a deal as it was for me to leave that farm." 

She also never felt less about being poor. "I'm never ashamed of growing up poor. Rather, I am amazed by the grace and dignity that my parents had throughout my childhood," she said.

Jennifer, who is a proud mother of three children, has shown that her mother's bravery shaped and molded her life into what it is now. 

Isn't Jennifer Garner's mom's story very inspiring? What do you think can be done to help provide a good early childhood education? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to other Jennifer Garner's fans.