Poverty Theory

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According to the National Poverty Center, 15.1% of Americans were living in poverty in 2010. Although the poverty rates were slowly in decline from 1993 to 2000, instances of poverty reached a record high in 2010. Recent figures show that the poverty rate has remained unchanged in 2014, and still affects 15% of Americans (Clyne, 2014). To put poverty in a different perspective, let's compare it to the number one cause of death in America: Coronary Artery Disease. CAD is the most prevalent health condition that affects men and women, and is the leading cause of death for Americans, effecting 16.8 million people (Daniels & Nicoll, 2012). Currently, 50 million people are living in poverty. That means that Americans are two-thirds more likely to be impoverished than have CAD. Similar to CAD, there are various causes contributing to the occurrence of poverty.
Currently, there are five main sociological poverty theories used to explain the reasons for poverty in developed nations. The most widespread theory in the United States, describes poverty as a personal deficiency. On the opposite end of the spectrum, is a theory that shifts focus from the individual to the larger systems, including: political, economic, and/or social distortions which create and reinforce poverty. These two theories share one main ingredient: capitalism.
Explaining that poverty is caused by individual deficiencies comes from conservative and neo-conservative thought. One of the most well-known proponents of this theory is America's very own: Newt Gingrich. The foundations of this theory include: judging a person's work ethic, their ability (or lack thereof) to make good choices, their salvation through God, their inherited genetic traits, and their use of gov...

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...pitalism and Poverty: A Socialist Analysis. Democratic Socialists of America. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.dsausa.org/capitalism_and_poverty.
Freeman, R. (1998). Poverty and the Politics of Capitalism. Business Ethics Quarterly, 31-35.
Kahal, S. (n.d.). The Religious Roots of Modern Poverty Policy: Catholic, Lutheran, and
Reformed Protestant Traditions Compared. New York University. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/mead/V53.0395/Kahl.pdf.
Poverty in the United States. (2014, January 1). Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/#2.
Theories of Poverty. (2002, January 1). Black’s Academy. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.blacksacademy.biz/ba/civ/XG9hg1anx/17QsHqGOlp.pdf. Wachtel, H. Capitalism and Poverty in America: Paradox or Contradiction?. The American
Economic Review, 67, 187-194.

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