Thomas Langley
Dr. Joffe
English 1301
May 2, 2016
America’s Nightmare: Poverty
Poverty is a word that evokes images of little children with ribs showing and very little clothes somewhere in a Third World country. According to Webster’s Dictionary, poverty is “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.” (Merriam-Webster) Poverty is a condition that has been around for a long time and will probably remain in society for years to come. As each generation rolls around, they have different ways of combatting poverty. Although this has been an ongoing war, is the government doing enough to eradicate poverty in America? During the Great Depression, the government created several organizations
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The problem we are having seems to be there is no dent in the poverty level of America. The U.S. Census indicates that the government spent $871 billion on assistance in 2010. That is nearly $9,000 for every poor and/or low-income person in America. (Rector and Sheffield) The problem which occurs is what people are expected to pay out is higher than what they are bringing in. Where does the government need to start? President Johnson intended the war on poverty to help Americans become self-sufficient but unfortunately the people who are receiving the help are becoming dependent on the help. The standard of living keeps increasing so the help to reach that goal also …show more content…
Government is aiding with the effects of poverty but not doing enough in order to eradicate the cause of poverty. By taking money and reallocating it to programs to enhance the knowledge of the working class instead of just aiding in the effects would greatly increase the chances of coming up out of the poverty level. A much needed overhaul of the government aid programs needs to be done in order for those who are taking advantage of the system to be stopped and those whom are in need of the help get the provisions needed. As much as the government does not want to hear it (nor do it) they need a budget cut themselves also. The money that could be saved by these government officials could be used to coordinate new programs for educating and helping the men and women who are truly in
Poverty, the state of being extremely poor, exists all over America! There are several different types of poverty, and the causes of poverty. Most people think of poverty as just somebody who is homeless and has no job, somebody who has no money to support the basic needs of life, and wears ragged clothing and lives under a bridge. What people don’t know is there are people living in poverty that have jobs and make money but live so poorly that they are categorized with people that live in absolute poverty.
Poverty affects over 767 million people in the entire world. In the United States alone, poverty affects more than 42 million people. According to feedingamerica.org, of that 42 million affected, 13 million children and over 5 million seniors live in poverty. Poverty is grouped into two different categories; absolute and relative. Wikipedia.org defines absolute poverty as the absence of enough resources to secure basic life necessities. This includes not having safe drinking water, not having clean bathroom facilities, not being able to get proper healthcare, not having access to education and not having proper shelter. Absolute poverty is also referred to as living in extreme poverty. Relative poverty, according to wikipedia.org, is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live. The meaning of poverty varies from country to country and person to person. For example, while some people in the United States would be considered as living below the poverty line, a person from another country may consider that person rich. However, poverty is simply when an individual is unable to meet their basic needs. This includes not being able to clothed, house or feed oneself or one’s family. Poverty is a problem that will not be easily solved. There have been many attempts to try and end poverty, but yet it continues to grow. In a country such as the United States that’s
The current poverty rate in America is 13.5 percent (US Census Bureau). That measures out to roughly 43.1 million Americans. What exactly is poverty? Poverty means not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is so much more than just not having enough money. Poverty is not having access to a doctor or medications you may need, poverty is not having access to a good education. Poverty can be the people who are barely able to pay for food and shelter and simply can’t afford other expenses such as car repairs, field trips with their children and any other extracurricular activity.
Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.
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.
Poverty has been around as long as there has been an America. Programs have been set in place to help offset the issue, such as Food Stamps and housing. The government’s implementation of some of these programs is to ensure that the poor have a place to sleep and adequate meals to eat. There are issues with these programs that contribute to the furthering of poverty, but for the most part are more helpful than harmful. While there is a chance that there will always be a poverty line that Americans will be under, there are solutions that can be implemented towards getting many of these people above it. Some options might include keeping jobs within the
Many reforms in the UnitedStates have been passed to help fight against the “War on Poverty”; but it has not been effective in eradicating poverty in the U.S. There are about 46 million people who are living in impoverished conditions and poverty continues to be a social issue in this country (Heritage Foundation, 2011) In the beginning, our country was formed under the belief that “this land is the land of opportunity and if we worked hard enough the American Dream can be gained” (Schwarz, 1997). People immigrate to this country today in hopes of becoming rich so they could gain a better life. In spite of coming to this country for a better life, many are faced with the lack of skills and money to succeed. In the end, most will end
Throughout years poverty has been an ongoing situation that has only been increasing throughout the years. Many efforts have been issued by the government over the situation; but yet many of those efforts have failed to succeed. Increased dependency is the only long term impact that government efforts have had on poverty. By solving poverty the government could make the economy grow more for everyone , because many people would be going back into the workforce. The government has a responsibility to end poverty through providing education, better programs, and jobs.
Many American families work full time, in many cases both parents have more than one job. But they hardly can afford to pay their bills, a lot of times they cannot afford to feed their children. What we need is better salaries, were a working mom can expend time with her kids, when a single mom has to have more than one job, it means she will have to day working and she will not be able to spend quality time with her kids. A lot of companies, hire people part-time employees because they can profit more by not offering health benefits and or sick leave. The solution to poverty consist in creating good jobs that will pay our work value.
Although I may think that Poverty is more of a social issue than a government issue it does not negate the fact that there is a Federal definition for poverty. Factors that contribute to the increasing poverty level are unskilled patrons, slow economic growth, inequality or single parent families. How do we combat this issue from a social and political standpoint? Our government has resorted to entitlements such as welfare in attempts to lower the numbers. It has been assessed by
Poverty is more prevalent In the U.S than many people know for example 1 in 5 families are thought to be poor. So how can we help? Well instead of giving money to these families in need we should be providing them with necessities for everyday life. If low income families are only given money there is no way to make sure it is going to the benefit the families needs, It could be going to drugs or other unnecessary things. Another way to help is making birth care more accessible so there are less unplanned pregnancies throwing many into poverty. If the government makes these two changes poverty would dramatically decrease
Ronald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won.” I read the book, Dancing in the dark by Morris Dickstein. This book was about the great depression, and the impacts it had on American life. The traditional thought of poverty, people dying of hunger and people lying in the roads, has been erased. America has abolished poverty by the traditional standards but the thought of poverty and what it is has changed. In America we consider poverty to be spending all your money on bills, so you have no money left for food to feed your family. We consider poverty to be just being poor. One-Third of our population makes less than $38,000. This is not enough to be able to be above the poverty line. Anything below this
Poverty has been evident since The Great Depression in the 1930’s. Since then, there has been an attempt to lower poverty level, though only a 2.5% decrease has been seen since 1965. It is argued that we do not need another war on poverty since nothing has seemed to help, but this is an issue that affects everyone. As Mark Bittman stated in his article “Why We’re Fasting” “This is a moral issue; the budget is a moral document.” Poverty can be improved if more emphasis is added to helping individuals or families out of poverty, instead of assisting them through their lives, by improving existing laws or implementing new laws centering around the idea of a fixed income.
Although, we have created a poverty line, which is supposed to enable us to distinguish who we should help. Now days the line is grossly inadequate. Poor people only spend 1/5 of their income on food. Which means we should multiply their food budget by 5. Doing this would make the poverty line higher, enabling more people to be below the poverty line, allowing for more people to get public assistance. Another concept that makes the poverty
End poverty by 2015. This is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are an eight-point road map with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world's poorest people. World leaders have agreed to achieve the MDGs by 2015.