Argument On Poverty

When we discuss Poverty in the United States

Poverty is a major issue that has worried America for years. America has worked extremely hard to end poverty,it still widely exists. There are some solutions to this world problem though such as food stamps, shelters, and obama care. It is important that while the challenges facing poverty are large, the solutions are feasible and can happen.

The U.S. is among the richest countries in the world today, yet millions of people in America still live below the poverty level. The number of Americans living in poverty is increasing day by day as well as the number of children. Poverty in America has become a great threat to children’s wellbeing as they are affected emotionally, socially, and even in their school performance (Wood 720). Poverty in America is mainly caused by lack of jobs. Many people who live in poverty in the United States is due to lack of jobs and getting jobs with minimum wage. Another cause of poverty is due to the rise in the cost of living. Poverty exists in America despite the fact that is among the richest nations in the world.

To many Americans, poverty is merely a synonym for ‘not rich’. Even those who understand the definition may struggle with the concept that poverty is not a distant, foreign, concern; poverty can occur in any country, region, neighborhood, and household. In a study performed by Carroll et al, 60% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “poor people are poor because of laziness and lack of will power (2011, p. 116). In the same questionnaire, 77% of respondents felt most poor people have the ability to escape poverty without government assistance (Carroll et al, 2011, p. 117). As above facts show, despite the widespread nature of this issue those not living in poverty often have

Poverty in the United States is a big concern that the nation face all together. Poverty is the main reasons why people are homeless, do not have enough food to eat, cannot get the medical help needed, and why there are so many crimes throughout the world. The main focus is poverty in the United States and how as a nation the citizens came together to help one another out. RONALD REAGAN famously said, “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” With 46 million Americans — 15 percent of the population — now counted as poor, it’s tempting to think he may have been right (Edelman Para 1). Poverty effects each and every one of our citizens just because fixing poverty requires money, millions and millions of dollars must come from someone. That money comes from taxpayers that works hard for their money whether it is minimum wage, high wage employees, or even property owners. Throughout history, one of the solution of poverty in the United States is providing free aid to the general public who qualifies or meet certain standards of being poor and in need. It started long ago when poverty was born, poverty was born in the depression era where the population of the people was jobless, homeless, and left to steal from the fortunate just to survive. Although Welfare has changed significantly from providing aid to single mothers with dependents and war veterans’, it is still a source of income that keeps people from suffering financially alone. Unemployment benefits, welfare, and

Poverty in America is one of the longest fought battles in America along with homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, racism and immigration. Poverty is the state or condition of having little to no money, goods, or means of support. Some causes of poverty vary from lack of employment, lack of education, Economic changes, and mental / physical disabilities. While suffering from poverty, it is hard to be a part of society. One may even debate that political, social, and cultural factors can also contribute to the causes of poverty. The voices of poverty go unheard on a daily basis. Welfare, food stamps, wic and other government assistance programs are designed to help those that live

During the week of 2/21-2/25 the class discussed poverty and welfare in America. 47 million Americans are poor as measured by Federal Poverty line. Poverty is very prevalent in southern states such as Mississippi (23%), New Mexico (22%), and Louisiana (21%). Minorities and female headed family’s comprise much of the poor. Many people are poor because of behaviors such as lack of education, lack of a job, and children. There are two different types of views on poverty and they are conservative and liberal. Conservatives believe that it is the persons fault given that America has many opportunities for a person to earn money. Liberals believe that poverty springs from structures in the economy and our society. Poverty is scattered all over

Poverty within America has steadily been decreasing with it being at 14.8% in 2014, 13.5% in 2015 and the most recent statistic of poverty among Americans being at 12.7 during the year 2016.Although we should not yet claim poverty among Americans is no longer an issue as it is 1.4 higher than it was seventeen years ago. Poverty, although decreasing, is a blight on America and should be deal with to prevent suffering upon Americans. Poverty is a social issue and should be approached as such, a social theory that should be used to eliminate poverty is the social conflict theory as it takes the approach that we should not blame the poor for their situation instead we should blame the way society operates. Society does tend to give poor people benefits albeit, in the wrong ways, society should instead support the poor to obtain a better education and support the natural reconstruction of a neighborhood.

While it has proven to be difficult to end poverty in America, Peter Edelman is optimistic. In his book So Rich, So Poor Edelman makes a call to action. There are four prominent ideas that underpin Edelman’s reasoning throughout the book: (1) More people must understand why poverty is still so prevalent in America; (2) extreme poverty must be taken into consideration as a shocking 6 million Americans’ sole income was food stamps in 2011. This fact alone creates a sense of urgency that drives Edelman; (3) increasing income inequality should be treated as a moral issue; and (4) bold political action will be required if substantive progress will be made in alleviating poverty.

There are three main arguments believed to be the explanations for the existence and persistence of poverty. The first account is the Dependency-Based Explanation that puts the blame of poverty to the individual or to their cultural background. The Exclusion-Based Explanation and Structural-Based Explanation are the next two which establishes the society that condemns people to poverty.

A social problem, is “a general factor that effects and damages society”. It can be used to describe an issue or a problem within a certain group of people or an area in the world. Examples of contemporary social problems today include anti-social behaviour, drug abuse, and sexual abuse. Poverty is an example of a social problem that exists all over the world, and to different extents. In the UK, poverty has effected at least a third of the population, as shown by the Office of National Statistics, providing evidence that it is a massive social problem in the country. Tameside has a big poverty problem. 1 in 4 children in Tameside are born into poverty, and workers in Tameside earn significantly less than other workers in the rest of the North-West area. In addition, Tameside has the largest proportion of people claiming unemployment benefits compared to the rest of the North West of England.

The pinpoint cause of poverty is challenging to find. People who live well off and are above the poverty line may be quick to assume that laziness, addiction, and the typical stereotypes are the causes of poverty. Barbara Ehrenreich, a well known writer on social issues, brings attention to the stereotypical ideology at her time, that “poverty was caused, not by low wages or a lack of jobs, but by bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles” (17). Ehrenreich is emphasizing the fact that statements like the one listed, often influence readers to paint inaccurate mental pictures of poverty that continue to shine light on the ideology of stereotypes being the pinpoint cause to poverty. However, there are many other causes that are often overshadowed, leaving some individuals to believe that poverty was wrongfully placed upon them. Examples would include: high rates of unemployment, low paying jobs, race, and health complications. Which are all out of one’s ability to control. There is no control over a lack of jobs and high rates of unemployment, nor the amount of inadequate wages the working poor receive. Greg Kaufmann, an advisor for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and The Half in Ten campaign, complicates matters further when he writes, “Jobs in the U.S. [were] paying less than $34,000 a year: 50 percent. Jobs in the U.S. [were] paying below the poverty line for a family of four, less than $23,000 annually: 25 percent” (33). Acknowledging Kaufmann’s fact, the amount received for a family of four is fairly close to the yearly salary of a high school graduate, which means, receiving that kind of pay for one man may seem challenging, now imagine caring for the needs of four individuals. To make matters worse, certain families receive that amount of money and carry the burden of paying for

The United States of America: the land of the free and the home of the impoverished. In a country where 47 million of its citizens fall below the alleged poverty line, there is an obvious dire urge for social reform. As Mark Rank stated in his book, Rethinking American Poverty (page 19), “between ages of 20 and 75, nearly 60 percent of Americans will experience at least one year below the poverty line.” Poverty in America has reached a feverish high. Readings of O’Connor, Rank, Wacquant, Fording, Soss, & Schram, Katz, Iceland, and Gans adequately summated the topic of modern poverty and economic inequality in the United States. From analyzing the poverty line to evaluating how our neoliberal-paternalistic society effects the less affluent, it is important to develop a fresh mentality to properly frame poverty as an urgent social problem. In order to better understand and conceptualize the epidemic of poverty, it is imperative to identify the flaws in popular conceptualizations of poverty.

When I agreed to help my mother’s friend move into her new home in Parramore, Orlando, I was not prepared for what I was about to witness. While my mother was helping her friend move into the home, she was so scared of the car being robbed that she forced me to watch over it. In this neighborhood, every other home was either dilapidated or abandoned. Rundown buildings were seen on every corner, and children walked the streets without supervision. And even worse, a gentleman was starving to the point where he offered me drugs in exchange for food. I did not take the drugs, but instead, I walked him to the nearest gas station and bought him a sandwich and drink. I came back from the gas station and went home with my mother; I was not only astonished by this issue, but I was entirely speechless.

I have many thoughts about poverty before I even began this project. I feel that poverty is a terrible thing to have to go through and an even worst thing to have to overcome. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. I have mixed emotions about poverty in society today. I believe as citizens in the United States, we should make sure the percentage of poverty is little to none. It is many strategies that we can use to get to that point as well, that I will explain throughout this paper. I feel as a country these past years, especially in the 2,000’s we have not taken poverty as seriously as we needed to, that is why the percentages are increasing. I feel the middle and especially the higher class should help out more. We need more homes for the poor, community areas that provides breakfast, lunch and dinner that can be available for the poor and even more daycares and facilities where individuals can send their children for little to no cost while the parents can go to work and we also need have more job opportunities as well for the poor overall, so they can get on their feet and successfully provide for their families. I personally believe that these changes are possible for our community, but I strongly believe when it comes to poverty it is highly important to vote.