Economic Poverty

Post the economic crisis in America and the recession during the years of 2008 and 2009, the country saw a great increase in poverty and worsening of living conditions of Americans. Currently, almost 50 million of fellow Americans are living in extremely bad conditions under the poverty line which means earning less than $11490 for a single person or $23550 for a family of four people. That’s about 1 in every 6 people in this country are living under poverty. A person living in this country on minimum wage which is $7.25 an hour also cannot pull himself out of poverty even after working 40 hours a week.

In the article “Rethinking the American poverty”, Mark Rank suggests the three major shifts that are required for a practical understanding of American poverty. First, it’s important to recognize that poverty affects us all because of two reasons. The first reason is that each year, the government has to spend a lot of money to solve the social problems associated with poverty. Poor people suffer from lack of health access, not having enough money to support their basic needs,…which create a huge burden on the government’s budget. The second explanation for us to care about poverty is that there is a strong chance at some point during life time, Americans would face poverty. The second shift is to realize that American poverty is largely the

More than 800 million people in the world are malnourished, 777 million of them are from the developing world (Raphel, S., 2014). Poverty is an issue that must be addressed to the population loud and clear or everyone will end up suffering. There are many families trying to survive and live from paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, there are some families that are unable to support himself or herself or any family member. One important key issue of poverty in the United States is inequality. Many Americans blame the poor people for their own fate but you should never judge a book by its cover. There can be many reasons why an individual or families end up in poverty. For example, low wage jobs, discrimination and social inequality, vulnerability to natural disasters, war and political instability. Another big issue we face today is child poverty. This is a very critical issue because these young children are our future. If we let these children live in poverty, there is a higher chance they will drop out of school, look for work in order to support their family, or give up in life.

Poverty is a hardship that has existed in every milestone of American history. War impacted the economy of the country after the Civil War. The twentieth century would see wars, natural disasters, and economical depressions that contributed to the developing culture of poverty. Poverty in any time period is a shattering experience. While being poor during the Reconstruction, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights movement were each devastating, the nature of poverty would evolve as the culture of each decade evolved. The character of poverty changed most dramatically over the years through Americans’ perception of standards of living and the government’s response to poverty.

The United States is one of the richest and most abundant nations in the world. It is ironic that such high levels of poverty and income equality still continues in such a prosperous nation. Poverty exists due to the economic system that is constructed to allow the increase of wealth on one side and conditions of scarceness that make poverty unavoidable on the other.

Homelessness is an epidemic problem that faces many American’s and families across the United States, especially in Detroit. You may see homeless people sleeping in the underpasses of freeways or walking and sitting on street corners or holding up a sign asking for some support for their next meal. We all have seen homeless individuals and thought it was not our problem for their circumstances or maybe had a belief he/she was lying about their situation. Many of us make a choice to give money or buy food, but there are others who make a choice to ignore or overlook the homeless population. Society has placed a stigma and label the homeless population labeling them destitute by choice, but for many homelessness has become a way of life.

In recent months there has been endless discussion on how to make America great again. From politician to business men and women, dialog on fixing the present structure in America has been rampant. Within such dialog, topics on the increasing and rather consistent levels of poverty in some regions in America are touched on as well. Poverty is defined as a condition where one’s basics needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met ("What Is Poverty? “). From sea to shining sea, more than 15 percent of the American population live in poverty, a total of people over 46 million. Many who live in poverty within the United States live in areas that were once thriving from the country’s economic growth that are now only sad remnants such as the Deep South and Rust Belt cities.

There seems to be an increase in poverty in the United States and there are so many theories behind why this might be a problem. It seems as if Society as a whole wants to blame this social “condition” on Society itself. I believe that the problem of poverty lies within the actual individuals that are experiencing poverty. There are a few reasons why people experience poverty. They are as follows: One, the liberal welfare programs that were started in the 1960’s, two, individuals lack the characteristic of power and individuality, three, anti-social behavior and the idea that poverty passes from one generation to the next.

The U.S. is highly respected and is always associated with greatness. The illusion of prosperity overshadows a critical issue which is often ignored and that issue is poverty. In 2014, there were about 47 million people in America living in poverty, 16 million being children. What exactly is poverty? The state or condition of having a little or no money, goods, or means of support. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, it is less than $11,770 for one individual and $24,250 for a family of four. . Poverty is very important, our main goal is to end poverty but unfortunately over the years it has not been successful. So, our purpose is to at least lower the high numbers in statistics. To get out of poverty, America needs

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.

Poverty is “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor” (Dictionary.com, 2017). Based off this definition poverty is a condition that can cause a cascade of cause and effect actions that is detrimental to families and individuals both physically and mentally. Haan, Kaplan, & Camacho (2017) completed a study on the correlation between social and economic status and health in adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the lower the socioeconomic class the higher incidents of diseases and deaths related to chronic diseases (p.1161-1162). Just being without money or little money was not the only indication of health indication, a person living in an area with higher poverty issues

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

Poverty affects the ageing population because people are living longer, but resources are decreasing the elderly have fewer and fewer choices for finding help with finances and health related issues, which results in substandard medical care (KRUGMAN). Another reason poverty affects the ageing population is because of the inability to buy food that is nutritionally balanced makes the elderly health problems worse and potentially shorten their life expectancy. Also the living conditions of the elderly are substandard

Poverty is a major issue in America, and those affected appear to be predominantly children. Jarjoura, Triplett, and Brinker (2002) noted that 21% of the children in America are born into families that are living in poverty, which is higher than in many other countries. Some important characteristics of impoverished neighborhoods are high levels of delinquent and criminal behaviors, lack of parental supervision, low levels of

A stigma was created a long time ago in the United States that the rich deserved everything. They got everything. They could have worked hard for what they got. They could have been born into wealth. Either way, they are wealthy and despite what anyone believes, there are many benefits to wealth. At least, in comparison to living a life of poverty.