Cause Of Poverty In America

Poverty has now become “As American As Apple Pie”, a situation we choose to ignore, and along with it the millions of families who suffer from it. Many have this tendency to believe that they are safe from falling into poverty; unaware of the multiple situations that can cause one to fall into poverty. It makes one wonder what’s keeping them from tipping over, eventually leading to the question, what makes poverty so common, and why is it still around?

Poverty is a common social issue that has troubled nations for thousands of years. While nations like the United States of America have worked diligently to eradicate it domestically, it still widely exists.“According to the U.S. Citizen burow 47.6 million citizens living in poverty.With 20% of those households living in extreme poverty.”(PBS.org)

More than 3 billion people are living in poverty across the world, among those an estimated 43.1 million people in America are living in poverty. There are many causes of poverty, but mass incarceration is one of the most prominent ones. When people get out of prison or jail, they have a very low chance of getting a job and finding a home because they have the label of being a criminal. People tend to explain poverty especially poverty in America is that people are lazy and do not want to work, but that is not the reason at all. The government is ultimately responsible for distinguishing who is in poverty and what measures are going to be done to help those people get assistance. But because people do not particularly talk about this

The government has implemented programs to offset and help those below the poverty line. For the elderly, Medicare and Social Security are in place. This ensures that when the older adults cannot work anymore, they can receive health care and income they will need. Thus they will not be forced into homelessness and can still receive adequate medical care.

Poverty, a common problem in the US and yet, something that people consistently overlook. We are often unaware of the magnitude of poverty in the U.S and sometimes even disregard it. People living in destitution are at greater risk for behavioral and mental problems. Children or Teens who live in poverty are prone to poor academic achievements, become school dropouts , or grow subject to abuse or neglect. People in poverty also occasionally show signs of anxiety and depression.

Over the past years poverty has become more common in America, affecting millions of Americans. There are two types of poverty: absolute poverty and relative poverty. According to  Merriam-Webster (2017), Absolute poverty is not having any basic human needs to survive, in the other hand, relative poverty is not having enough money or resources like others in society do. Poverty is caused by lack of money, jobs, and education.

As you can see, there are more than the basics of poverty. These poor people struggle on a daily basis to provide the needs of themselves and their family. Poverty affects adults and their children in so many ways. I believe that poverty should be one of the main focuses of America. I have deep sorrow for these people doing whatever they can to make money. I think that poverty needs to be decreased in the United States. I don’t know how the people in poverty do it. They have a weight that they are carrying on their shoulders that they shouldn’t. It’s time for a change.

The United States defines poverty for a family of four as being less than $16,036 per year, or $4,009 per person (Leone 12). People find themselves under this line for an innumerable amount of reasons. Some of these causes are under one's control and others are greater factors beyond an individual's power. Each family or individual person has unique and separate reasons for living in a state poverty. There is no way to try and define them all. Focusing in, three main topics arise that encompass the most predominant reasons for a person to fall into poverty. Education, family life and influence, along with the business cycle may work individually or together to cause poverty. These three leading

Poverty is an authentic life issue people all over the world continue to struggle with. There are many countries that try to help those in poverty, but a complete solution has not been found. Although there are countless definitions of poverty, according to Schwartz, he states in his article the United States Government says; “Poverty is a state of deprivation, or a lack of the usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions”. The government calculates poverty based on the total income a person may receive and it does not include non-cash supplements (Schwartz).

Poverty is a complex societal issue, which includes social, economic and political elements. It is a lack of necessary means to fulfil basic human needs including food, shelter, clothing etc. The U.S. Census Bureau defines poverty as living in a household with a total cash income below 50 percent of its poverty threshold. Official poverty rates in the US as estimated by the Bureau is 12.7 percent for 2016. Official measures concluded that 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty that year, nearly 1 in every 6 people. The measure is based on information provided from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The survey is sent to U.S. households, so the poverty estimates do not include those who are homeless. (Semega,

Roosevelt also known as FDR in 1932. Roosevelt was a rich Governor from New York who offered Americans the “New Deal” and won the votes of suffering people. Shortly after President Roosevelt was taken into office the first thing he wanted to do was have congress to pass the Emergency Banking Relief Act to stabilize the banking system (WGBH, 2013). There were many recovery programs that were put into place to help the US if this tragedy happened again. Roosevelt built programs to help stabilize the economy. These programs were called the New deal. They included the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which hired Americans who were unemployed to work on government structure plans, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) constructed dams and power plants in particular areas that suffered from the depression (Great Depression 2015). These areas included states such as parts of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Civil Conservation Corps was one of the New Deal’s most successful programs. The Corps sent 3 million single men between the ages of seventeen to twenty-three to the nations’ forests for employment. These young men lived in camps in the forest, they dug ditches, built reservoirs and planted trees. They were initially volunteers, but ended up getting paid $30 a month,

The overall all causes of poverty in United states is the poor economy, the lack of jobs, affordable housing, education, and healthcare. (4) The poor economy is causing the competition for jobs to be high. With more people trying to find well-paying jobs, the jobs become scares. Having a minimum amount of jobs make life harder for middle-class Americans. They depend on those jobs so they can support their families. Not having the income to pay for food and monthly bills is a primary cause of poverty. The lack of money causes people to lose the thing that is beneficial for day to day life. Not only are people losing their houses and cars they are also losing motivation, faith, dignity, and they begin to turn to drug, alcohol or to commit crimes.

Poverty rates in the U.S. have increased by 4percent since the 1960s reaching 15.1percent. As a result of such poverty, many families are having difficulty living and continuing their education. The U.S. has tried to get the poverty rates to drop by creating social security, financial aid, and welfare. Poverty causes a major problem not only in the U.S., but all over the world. Poverty causes many families to struggle to survive; 88 million people live in absolute poverty, while nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 and some even less at $1.25 a day, which is not nearly enough for your average family. There are many causes for poverty, including but not limited to, education, environmental issues, sexually transmitted diseases, lack of money, and overpopulation.

American economist and statistician, Mollie Orshansky, was the woman who gave America the way on how to measure poverty that we call the Orshansky Poverty Thresholds. The Census Bureau issues the poverty thresholds every year and that produces the status of the American people economically. The very term “poverty” continues to evoke debates on what it actually means to be poor. There are many studies that have been conducted to determine what is the cause of poverty in America and what we can do to help diminish it. From a sociological standpoint, one thing everyone should focus on when it comes to poverty is to ask yourself why people are living the way they are. People do not just wake up one day and decide that they want to be poor, let

This review is formulated with scholarly sources and references based off of poverty in America. This disclosure is approached with a value free sociological approach, and it will give insight on the social causes of poverty and the effects it has on America. Poverty is a very controversial topic. Many will assume that people living in poverty are lazy, made bad life decisions, or that they are solely the reason for their predicament however, people living in poverty would argue that their are deeper issues for it. Poverty will be deeply explained and researched from both perspectives