A Moral Issue Of Poverty

We live in a world where technology is advanced and it has solved many of our problems in the past, but an issue that has not been solved is poverty. Poverty is being extremely poor to the point where one cannot afford the daily necessities to survive, like food and shelter. Amongst the many problems we face today such as, war and climate change, poverty is a significant problem we have yet to solve. Poverty cannot be solved in a day nor in a year, in fact it might never be completely solved. Taking the right steps to significantly reduce poverty such as, becoming strict on those who apply for government assistance, donating leftover food for those in need and funding more resources into programs for rehabilitation may help decrease poverty.

Lowering the poverty level will effectively help people live better lives because more financially stable, they would have the means to provide and take care of their selves or their families. Poverty in America a topic that is always current, and is a problem that will never be truly abolished. In the United States, almost 13 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. This information, and my interest in the subject, helped me form three questions. What is poverty? How do people enter poverty? And what is being done to combat it?

In the article “Poverty” by The State of Working America it shows that the poverty rates in the Unites States through statistics. Statistics have shown that 15.1 percent of Americans were living in poverty in 2010. This was a slightly huge increase from the poverty rate in 2007. Statistics have also shown that 45.8 percent of children who living in poverty are African American and only 14.5 percent of white children are living in poverty today. Statistics also show that “among racial and ethnic groups, African Americans had the highest poverty rate, 27.4 percent, followed by Hispanics at 26.6 percent and whites at 9.9 percent.” (Poverty, 1) In addition this article also states that “Income inequality is the largest factor contributing to higher poverty rates. Increased numbers of minorities and single-mother-headed households are often cited as determinants of higher poverty rates, though they are much smaller contributing factors.” (Poverty, 2) This shows that the “The War on Poverty” legislation by President Lyndon B. Johnson did not actually help solve the poverty issue in the Unites States because poverty in America still exist

Poverty has been a constant problem throughout history. No matter how well the economy is doing, there will always be people who are homeless and hungry. Despite being the wealthiest nation in the world, the United States isn’t immune to it. In reality, poverty doesn’t have a true definition. “Being poor” is a relative term, for some people it’s the inability to eat that day, for other people it’s not being able to buy another car.

In the article “Poor Statistics” (Eberstadt, 2009, p. 26), it revealed how Washington is lacking the statistical tools to effectively measure material hardships in America. Also, it tells how the official poverty rate indicator is outdated and incapable of providing the accurate poverty information. They have been using this method for calculation the poverty rate since 1965 from the reported annual income of each family. The poverty threshold is the budget based on household size and composition that will be used and adjust the inflation rate. However, when this is finally determined, it will determine the percentage of the population that is counted officially poor. In 1973, America’s poverty rate was 11.1%. In 2006, it was 12.3%. The official poverty rate measures income not consumption. According to the

According to Dictionray.com, poverty is the “state of being extremely poor”. In 2014, 14.8% of Americans that is 46.7 million people who were considered being in poverty. In particular, two articles will consist of different views in the issue of poverty. In “What Is Poverty?” by Jo Goodwin Parker and “The Poverty of Equality” by Stephen Moore and Peter Ferrara will discuss the epidemic of poverty in the terms of lifestyle, government programs, and financial resources.

Before that question can be answered, poverty must first be defined. Poverty is general shortage, deficiency, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of physical assets or money. It is a complex notion, which includes social, economic, and political elements (Jensen, Eric pg. The federal poverty level is a system developed in the 1960s to define poverty by measuring the cost of certain food items and multiplying the total by 3, because in the 1960s a family’s food budget was approximately a third of total expenses. Unfortunately, impoverished individual are thrown into a situation where all of the odds are against them and in the moment, they are not thinking about their taxes, or tucking away a few dollars for retirement fund. The

What is a Social Problem? A social problem is a general factor that affects society. It is a problem affecting a certain group or area of people. I chose poverty as my social problem for this paper. What is poverty? Poverty is the state of being poor. It has many forms, from living in a house with just enough money to get by, to living on the street. Poverty can affect you in many ways. It can affect your health and your education. Many people that live in poverty currently probably didn’t get a proper education. Which means they probably grew up in poverty or got affected by poverty in some way.

As an advocate for social change, I chose to focus on the Social Justice issue of poverty. I realize that the issue of poverty is a critical and very sensitive area because so many residents of low-income status are faced with reality of living in an unfortunate and rather disadvantaged financial situation. Those whom struggle with being effected by poverty are also faced with having limited availability to resources as well as power and a sense of security because of deprivation of privilege. From my current research I see that there is statistical data providing a quantitative Approach to understand just how concerning the continued growth of poverty is and how that has transformed America as a whole. There are also supportive theories to aid in the realization of how this social issue pulls out examples of oppression through the targeted populations that face poverty the greatest and hoe those groups are segregated from the more privileged groups within society. These are drivers, which perpetuate social injustice because they allow for transparency of a system that lacks structure and that promotes nonequivalence between each individual.

Poverty is defined as “the state of being extremely poor.” (Oxford 699) In 2014, “21.1 percent of children under age 18 (15.5 million) in the United States lived in poverty. This group of children represent 23.3 percent of the total population and 33.3 percent of

The social problem is poverty, a risk factor that predisposes disadvantaged groups to incarceration. Data shows that the incarcerated majority are minority groups like African Americans and Latinos. In today’s society, one can argue that both the state and people tend to place the blame solely on the individual. The poor are often stigmatized, associating them with an undesirable stereotype that reduces their value as an individual. Furthermore, people tend to think that those in poverty engage in unlawful activities more often than the White population. As a result, African Americans and Latinos are more likely to be associated with crime and are more likely to be subjected to policing than the White population. There is a racial bias

According to text in today’s American economy, poverty is essentially an income distribution problem. The U.S. economy generates enough income to go around so that no one really has to live in poverty. But enough income does not go to everyone, and some people do live in poverty. Poverty is concerned with the relationship between the minimum needs of people and their ability to satisfy those needs. The difficulty with any definition of poverty involves the meaning of minimum needs and the amount of money required to

Half of the world, or about 3 billion people, live off of $2.50 or less a day. Additionally, according to UNICEF, approximately 22,000 children under the age of five, die every day from poverty. Something has to be done about this worldwide crisis of poverty, but no matter how hard we try calamity lingers. Poverty has been subjugating the Earth for years, obliterating families, jobs, and hope for a better life. It’s time for a change.

The official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent—up from 14.3 percent in 2009. This was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate. Since 2007, the poverty rate has increased by 2.6 percentage points, from 12.5 percent to 15.1 percent. In 2010 the poverty rate jumped up by almost a full present. It was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate and the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people that were living in poverty. In 2014 there were over 46 million people that lived in poverty and this was defined by the low level of income for those households where they made about $22,000 a year in a family of four. For children that were under the age of 18, that lived in poverty jumped from 20.7% to 22.0%. This was a total of 16.4 million kids that live in poverty. The total number of citizens that lived in poverty was equal to the population of the fifty largest cities in the US. The absolute number of people living in poverty is at the highest since the government started calculating these numbers in 1975. One of the reasons for this is because of the enormous inequality where income is concerned. Households with the lowest income of $20,000 or less a year, saw this income decline from 3.4% to 3.3%. The top 20% brought home more than 50% of all money income. Since 1990, real income has fallen 12.1% for people that are in the

There is a wide gender, race and ethnic difference present according to the 2014 statists. According to the 2014 statics, Child Poverty Rate is 21.1%, African American Poverty Rate is 26.2%, White Poverty Rate is 10.1%, Native American Poverty Rate is 28.3%, People with Disabilities Poverty Rate is 28.5% and Hispanic Poverty Rate is 23.6% (Poverty Basic Statistics, 2014). As millions of Americans continue to struggle in a slow economy, a growing portion of the country says that poverty is caused by circumstances beyond individual control (Seth, W. 2011). According to the article by Seth, (2011), 20 years ago, majority of the public opinion poll respondent said that poverty was caused by “people not doing enough." According to the 2014 statistics, 47 percent of respondents say that poverty is due to other factors, which are not in individual’s control and could have been caused by lack of government responsibility (Poverty Basic Statistics, 2014). There have been also programs implemented to help the less fortunate. Programs such as Food stamps, housing assistance and social security are programs that have helped or trying to help lower the high risk of poverty. These programs have helped but are not enough to eliminate poverty.