Causes Of Poverty In The United States

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

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.

Poverty is caused by many different things. The central causes of poverty in America are stereotyping, separation from social activities, lack of knowledge, employment

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

The topic of poverty is America has been both a huge focus and a sore subject for many. There are differing opinions on how to handle our growing population of people below the poverty line, with some saying the solution is the good old “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” rhetoric to others saying impoverished people have children and refuse to work just to get bigger checks from their states.

I choose the topic poverty because it is an issue that affect many people. Poverty is issue that many assume occurs only in a third world country instead of the United States. Poverty occurs in the United States however it is not broadcast on national television. As the researcher, my objective is to highlight the cause and effect of poverty. Most individuals who work low wage jobs live paycheck to paycheck and rely on public assistance as supplement. Different issue contributes to poverty is job loss, Divorce, and low wages. Wages is a major component of poverty it is a struggle raising a family off minimum wage one must calculate the cost of living such as rent, car note, and kids necessity. Poverty has a negative effect on families such

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.

When we think of the word "poverty", the mind fills us with Third World countries. We think of countries within the African continent, Haiti, Central and South America, among others. The United States is a country with a heterogeneous society, full of many races and nationalities. However, we forget that poverty can be in front of us. How many times have we wondered if our neighbor, coworker, or our students are going through some need?

Poverty refers to the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support. Society often classifies this state as being poor. According to dosomething.org, 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat, and nearly ½ of the world's population lives on less than 2.50 dollars a day. Dosomething.org states that 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty on less than 1.25 a day, 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty, and 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. These statistics are rather alarming, and the first step to finding a solution to this problem is determining the exact cause. Many would ask how this transpired. The answer to this is the determining factor of what happened and the cause of

There are several opposing theories about the causes and of poverty in minority populations in the United States. The divide splits the cultural and behavior arguments, and the structural and economic ones. Though the arguments made by Wilson for the structural causes of poverty are less damaging for the individual and places more of the blame on economic, political, and other institutional forces for the cause of inner city poverty for African Americans.

Poverty is the result of man’s greed. Just like how guilt is the result of all evil. When a man wants more, another will suffer. This is a similar act as how evil arises from unatoned sins, when guilt builds up, it will burst, and evil will be replaced. Just like how there is no single root to guilt, there is no single root to poverty. However by understanding the historical circumstances and reality of particular countries, there are significant trends in the causes of poverty.

“The root cause of poverty is not an individual’s failing, rather it is the structural failings of society” (Barnett, 2016, slide 25). Poverty is rooted in the structural components essential to the economy and/or to institutional environments that favor certain groups over others, usually based on gender, class, or race. Discrimination based on race and gender often create the barriers to social equality. For example, the high rate of poverty among women may be a result of a patriarchal society that excludes women in a male dominated society. The same could be said for the African American population of our society. These two populations in today’s society make up a disproportionate amount of those in poverty.

In the time of the Great Depression back in 1930’s, where a time where four million Americans had fallen into poverty. Then in 2008 the economy experienced a serious economic meltdown crisis and recession, at this time 44 million adults now live below the poverty line officially defined as an income below $10,830 for a single adult or less than $22,050 for a family of four (Shaw, 2013 p.132). The economy today in my opinion, where poverty is still a huge impact due to the cost of living going up but the income is not changing and it appears people are digging themselves into bigger holes.

Poverty exists for many reasons: the organization of the U.S economic system, high divorce rates, single parent families, racism, discrimination, disability, poor education, mental illness and individual failures. Those who live in poverty or in poor neighborhoods are at a much higher risk of psychological distress which can be caused by higher rates of unemployment, financial burdens, homelessness, substance abuse, and criminal activity. Many who live in poverty become vulnerable to poor physical and mental health, they are often victimized by society and their ability to access health care is significantly restricted. Many who are psychologically impaired face barriers in furthering their education and in finding employment as well.

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