How do social institutions contribute to the problem of poverty?

You can argue that social institutions contribute to the
problem of poverty by creating a system that perpetuates that problem.  Let's look at
this from two ideological perspectives.

A liberal might say
that the public schools contribute to poverty.  Liberals would say that public schools
are underfunded (especially in poor areas).  They would say, therefore, that
underfunding leads to poor students getting an inferior education.  This education makes
it harder for them to escape poverty.

A conservative might
say that the social institution of big government helps to cause poverty.  Such a person
would say that our big government gives welfare type benefits to people and thus
encourages them to avoid work and to avoid behaviors that would be likely to bring them
out of poverty.

So our social institutions of education and
government can be said to contribute to the problem of poverty.