Nickel and Dimed on (Not) Getting By in America

Poverty also influences our responses to health and illness. The level of income below that which people cannot afford a minimum, nutritionally adequate diet, suitable and secure housing, heating and hot water, and beds to sleep on.

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in the United States, it is recorded that roughly 5.4 million women are classified as working poor. Which shows they are considered higher than men, 5.0 million (BLS Reports). Among the large portion of Americans considered the “working poor”, this article breaks down not only into gender but race. It also incuded that those of Hispanic or African American race were more than two times more likely to be considered “working poor”, compared to other races considering the white and Asian populations. In 2013, the “working poor” rates for the African Americans and Hispanics were roughly 13.3, and 12.8 percent (BLS Reports). Also

In the U.S., the primary source of income comes from jobs. However, people are unable to find jobs because businesses are outsourcing unskilled labor to developing countries since workers there are willing to be paid less than the average American worker. This creates problems for people who are trying to look for jobs because many lack the skills to function in a job that requires skill and will remain jobless until they find unskilled labor jobs. Since the Recession, working class families who had lost their jobs are struggling to survive due to the little job availability (Heritage Foundation, 2011). Because the majority of working class families are suffering from prolonged

Exactly, income equality is a determinant in the U.S. Most families that fall into poverty are less likely to look for healthcare. They prefer to feed their children and the older children dropout high school to find a job to help pay bills or food. Poverty increases negative human behaviors, such as alcoholism, drugs or crime. The lack of education prevents individuals from obtaining high paying jobs. I believe, education is the key in the low-income communities. They need active government or private programs that reach out to the community, educate, motivate, and encourage.

The people associated with a low-income economic status are the ones who suffer the most. They are victims of the structural violence in the United States. The political system does not create preventative policies in regards to poverty. The root issue regarding the impoverished is the governmental system. Since the United States is made of a capitalist economy, there are flaws within the system. The main flaw is that this capitalist economy is designed to have a group of people failing. It is based on competition and the desire to get ahead. For this system to work and be “successful,” there must be a group that is lower than the rest. This group in the United States happens to be the impoverished. This group is suffering from inadequate infrastructure and supplies. There is no affordable housing created for the impoverished. Majority of the subsidized housing in the United States is created for the low middle class citizens (CHAPTER 3). Being one of the impoverished in a developed country is like being stuck in the same rut for years. There is very little self-help they can do and there is hardly and help provided to get out of the rut.

The government has the power to decide very much who is living in poverty and who is eligible for government assistance, “The US Census Bureau uses specific money income thresholds to determine who lives in poverty. These income thresholds are called poverty thresholds. They represent the minimum amount of money needed to support families of various sizes,” (Government Lawyers). Even though society doesn’t have the power to decide who is living in poverty, they are still generalizing people are or aren’t in society but judging them based on their looks. They have the power to judge and also look down on those who are in that state just to justify and feel good about themselves. However, the government are currently making efforts to help those

Each person has a different perception of poverty and it is influenced by components such as race, ethnicity, financial, and educational background. One can have a similar experience as someone near them but never the same. It is hard to replicate the same experience as someone else due to the confounding variables that affect a person’s experience and perception of poverty. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed she tries to experience the life of a low-wage worker by implanting herself in the workplace and residential place of a low-wage worker. However, even though she uses the best mechanisms she can to get the full experience there are some discrepancies between her experience and the experience of someone who is actually living that life. It is hard to control these factors because there is so much variation in the type of people that are low-wage worker. It is hard to account and represent everyone who is living in these conditions. Not everyone’s perception of poverty can be viewed from a single magnifying glass looking in from the outside. Barbara’s perception of poverty may be skewed due to some uncontrollable and controllable factors she inherently possessed at the start of the experiment.

After thoroughly examining some the hardships experienced by underpaid workers’, it has become evident that the definition of poverty is often misconstrued by society. Demonstrated through numerous case studies and as presented in David K. Shipler’s “The Working Poor: Invisible in America”, the lives of many low income workers’ are adversely impacted by the lack of a sufficient salary. After gathering materials from such resources as journals and articles, it is apparent that the U.S. government has steadily attempted to enrich the lives these impoverished workers, through an abundance of job training programs and strategies.

The poor population is comprised of many individuals to assume that this group of individuals are living in poverty because they lack skill and motivation would be an unfair generalization. The disabled, unemployed, and elderly, are just some of the individuals who are living below the poverty line. The additional complexities that attribute poverty may be rooted in inequality, sexism, racism, ageism, and personal bias and other prejudices can keep an individual in poverty regardless of the level of skill or education. While the welfare system does offer

There are an abundant number of individuals who at one point reach the lowest part of their life and for many poverty is the reason why! Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or support. Poverty has been an issue for thousands of years, dating back to ancient times. As a matter of fact, poverty has been problematic for a remarkable period of time that it doesn’t resemble a concern anymore. Part of the reason why it doesn’t seem as a complication is due to people ignoring it. Likewise, whenever a problem is ignored, it usually gets worse than it already is. Poverty isn’t something that can be ignored because it isn’t just a local or national issue; in fact, it is a global issue that impacts the majority of people in at least one shape or form. For the most part, poorness doesn’t cognate a permanent condition, still for people affected by it, it feels like an everlasting hardship. Throughout history, millions of people have contributed to helping those in need, but no person alone could end the fear, suffering, and unhappiness of those in necessity. In order for someone to help lower the rate of poverty it has to be broken down and

Poverty prevents individuals’ ability to afford good health insurance or if any. People who don’t have health care or have high co-pay tend to wait until the last minute to go to the doctor. In most cases of serious illness, it is either too late or too costly at the point for treatment. This brings us to the second point of healthcare system. The United States

A consequence of poverty is that there is no luxury to plan for a brighter future because the present is more urgent. The poor live a strenuous life style in order to survive and must choose between essential resources because their living wage is low. The overall increase in pay for low wage workers is a lot less than the raise for the rich. For example, Bartolome Perez started as a custodian at a Mc Donald’s franchise in South Los Angeles eventually became more valuable to the company by cooking and training new employees, yet after adjusting for inflation his raise totals to $2.00 raise over the course of his entire career while receiving no benefits (Orange book). Low wage workers like Perez need to work harder to support themselves

Poverty makes it easier for someone to be exploited. As of 2011, people living in poverty make no more that $1.90 a day ("Poverty Headcount Ratio"). These people are more susceptible to poor health, hunger, and lack of education. They become vulnerable and are forced into horrible working conditions. Children of these families have no choice but to work for survival ("Addressing Root Causes").

Poverty is a major cause of ill health and a barrier to accessing health care when needed.

Poor people do not have enough basic needs and healthcare. Being poor means deprived economically, politically and socially. They hardly get opportunities. They have inadequate nutrition, higher risk of diseases and lack access to healthcare and basic essentials for living resulting in low achievement. (para.3)