Poverty in the United States
Poverty is defined by Webster says the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. The most common measure of poverty in the U.S. is called the poverty threshold. This measure determines the lack of food and needs commonly taken for granted. The federal poverty threshold for a family of four is approximately $ 23,550 dollars a year in 2013. Many people will have at some point lived below the poverty level for at least a year according to the government. Poverty rate are constantly high in rural and inner city areas in the United States. According to the November 2012 census bureau more than 16% of the population in the United States lived in poverty. This includes 20% of American children. In 2011, child poverty reached an all-time high with over 16.7 million children living without enough food for the day. (US Census Bureau, 2013).
Effects of poverty
The effects of poverty are more than always going to be serious. Some major ways poverty affects the united states is: higher crime rates ,alcoho...
As stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the test of our progression is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Many people may agree with this statement considering that the United States is such a wealthy country and in 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States and 15% of all Americans and 21.8% of children under age eighteen were in poverty.The honest truth is that many people do not know the conditions this group of people must live in on a daily basis because of the small number of people who realize the struggle there is not a great amount of service. In the article Too stressed for Success, the author Kevin Clarke asks the question “What is the cost of being poor in America?” and follows the question by explaining the great deals of problems the community of poverty goes through daily by saying, “Researchers have long known that because of a broad reduction in retail and other consumer choices experienced by America's poor, it is often simply more expensive to be poor in the United States.
Insular poverty, elucidated by Professor John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1969 essay, The Position of Poverty, refers to the collages of people who are poor because the designation of their lives trap them on ‘social islands’ where nearly everyone is living in these standards. (Galbraith 404) Poverty has flagrantly become a ‘back of the mind’ subject in America. The underlying question remains; is American society responsible for the uprise of insular poverty? Despite the "efforts" America puts off to relieve the world of insular poverty, American society is indefinitely responsible for its popularity due to the absence of will for the impoverished to climb out of the hole of poverty, the absence of opportunities given to poverty minority, the absence of compassion for the povertized.
The Federal Government defines poverty as income that falls below the United States Poverty threshold. (Begun 95). If a person is below or right at the poverty line they are considered poor. It also refers to the lowest level of income a person can make and afford the minimum necessities. (Bender and Leone 23). The poverty line was adopted by the government in the mid 1960's. Not included in the income figure are cash benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid.(Le Vert 50). The poverty rate is adjusted for different sexes, races, ages, and family structures. The government adjusts the poverty line each year according to the cost of living.
Poverty is a prevalent issue that many Americans face and it has been a serious problem over centuries. Every year there are people at risk of hunger. Combating poverty is not an easy task; there are many underlying issues that need to be addressed. Fortunately there are policies in place to assist with in decreasing the negative effects of poverty; however, some of the policies may cause people to become more dependent on government assistance. As a result it may cause a rise in taxes to support these policies and programs. Poverty is very common and widespread around the world. Unanswered questions that arise in regards to poverty are what can be done to resolve it, what are the causes of poverty, and is it possible to eliminate poverty entirely. Based on research and my personal experiences, government aid and housing are some resolutions to decrease poverty.
Some effects of poverty are not easily understood, and are therefore sometimes mistakenly considered the cause of poverty. For example, studies link poverty to crime. In many cases, most crime leads to poverty and not the other way around. Crime indirectly increases poverty in many ways, even simple burglary or mugging. A high crime rate drives businesses out of neighborhoods. This eliminates both availability of products and services, as well as sources of jobs. Further, those who do stay find it necessary to charge higher prices to compensate for losses due to thievery, and hig...
People in America often suffer from poverty and the treatment that comes with it, throughout their everyday lives. The question raised is why are poor individuals dehumanized by high structures of power? Some people with a higher income feel like they have a choice and a real recourse to justice rather than a lower class individual. They also believe that they are entitled to the world and their opinion matters because of their financial status versus someone who doesn’t have material things. Lessin’s and Deal’s film , Natasha Trethewey’s Memoir, and Bell Hooks’ excerpts, depicts that the poor are often dehumanized and neglected by structures of power, such as the government and media, because of their lack of money and education, however some of structures of power are ignorant to how the lives of poor people really are.
Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were nearly 35 million poor persons living in this country in 2002, a small increase from the preceding year. To understand poverty in America, it is important to look behind these numbers--to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor.
Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. An author for United States Census Bureau said, “In 2014, the official poverty rate was 14.8 percent. There were 46.7 million people in poverty” (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor 2015). It has become a crisis effecting individuals and family’s world wide. Many individuals that have been raised or fallen into poverty struggle to ever get out. A major issue the causes poverty in America is the inequality. Every American lives a different life than their neighbor, but they all seem to assume they know what every other person is going through. Poverty is very dangerous for the individual suffering’s health and safety. There are many poverty
It certainly seems peculiar how so much disparity exists among the haves and have-nots in the country that leads the free world. The high level of poverty in the United States coupled with the disparaging rates of income are at times hard to comprehend. How can a country of such great wealth and power also be a country of vast poverty? Poverty will always be evident in the United States to some extent. However, minimizing poverty and income inequality will be conducive to the well being of the United States.
The impoverished communities of America are in shambles. “The urban populace is becoming increasingly Latino and Asian, with a slight increase in black residents,” (RACE). Racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally dealt a bad hand have filled the inner cities. In order to combat poverty rates in these neighborhoods the federal government must: make more programs in the community to help the youth, be more proactive in creating job opportunities and provide equal educational funds to the public school system. People claim that those that are living under these circumstances need to look deep inside of themselves, instead of blaming the government for their downfalls. On the other hand, it feels as if the government has left these people trapped and have not provided any aid.
The United States has one of the biggest and most stable economies in the world today. With an estimated GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 18 trillion dollars, a GDP per Capita of 58,000 dollars, and a GNI (Gross National Income) of 18 trillion dollars, the United States has one of largest economies in the world. The U.S. should aid developing countries by providing money and supplies that are necessary to help reduce poverty, to sustain their population, and to grow their economies.
Poverty is an enormous part of the United States that is highly overlooked. Poverty has an impact on the government, social groups, class, and communities. What exactly is poverty? Poverty in the United States is considered to be when a family makes less than the poverty line set for that year. For example, in 2005 if families of four, two of which are children have a yearly income of less than $19,806 then they are considered poor. One of the greatest sets of problems associated with poverty is drugs. The poor tend to have more legal problems when it comes to illegal drugs. Poverty can cause drug use and drug use can cause poverty. According to research poverty has a strong association to problematic drug use. The pharmaceutical Industry
Poverty can be defined as a condition of deprivation due to economic circumstances; this deprivation may be absolute or relative but is generally thought to be severe enough that the individual in this condition cannot line with dignity in his or her society (Conley, 2013, p. 375). There are different ways of how people from different race or different community define poverty. What might seem to be poverty for one community might not be consider as a poverty in another community. The government of the United States of America has set up a measurement to determine who falls under poverty level in other to reduce the confusions. This is call federal poverty level. In the year 2014, one is considered to be in a level of poverty if his or her
Where does the fine line of poverty stand? In the United States of America, children who live on less than $18,000 a year are considered to be living in poverty while in various other countries, children who live on less than $2 a day are considered to be living in poverty. Poverty is defined as the condition of being poor or the state of having little goods or means of support. In both the cases of children living on less than $18,000 a year and less than $2 a day, the children do not have enough support to survive adequately.
Poverty is a major problem in the United States today. Social, economical, political, and cultural factors all contribute to poverty. Education and economic development are two major issues that will help prevent poverty. The United States Census Bureau defines poverty as an "economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain basic needs for food, housing, clothing, health services and education." In other words, poverty is powerlessness, a lack of representation and freedom. Poverty is an issue that the world faces everyday.