Poverty : A Country Of Opportunity

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.

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 is “about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter”(what is poverty, 2009). Everybody might know this meaning and the problem.

It is not shocking to hear that tens of millions of Americans are living in poverty. Startling statistics about the poor are constantly being tossed around on television with images of run-down neighborhoods and malnourished children. The real surprise, however, is that millions of those in poverty are full-time, minimum wage earning workers. Many say one should feel morally obligated to help these people. President Barack Obama said it best in his February 2013 State of the Union address, “Let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full time should have to live

“What is poverty? Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom” (The World Bank, 2009).

Poverty, in economic terms, is typically based on a poverty line, which measures the minimum amount of income deemed sufficient for livelihood. Although, poverty can also connotate the deprivation of capability.

42% of kids born in poverty will not get out. Today, more Americans are falling below the poverty line and are struggling trying to find a way to get out. The Inequality gap in America has increased for the past few decades. Resulting from Economic Inequality in America, 400 Americans share more than 50% of America’s total wealth. These 400 Americans are the Top 1%. While the Top 1% are living luxurious lives, the Bottom 99% is struggling to make ends meet. Inequality is nothing new to the United States. In fact, it is a serious problem for America’s Economy, Democracy and the Middle Class.

However, this system of measuring poverty is flawed because if a family makes a dollar more above the set limit, they do not qualify for financial help from the government (NCCP, 2008).The poverty threshold is an inadequate measure of whether people are considered poor or not. Current poverty measures are flawed because it assumes how much a family spends and does not accurately include family resources such as Earned Income Tax Credit (NCCP, 2008). The way that the government measures poverty is based on outdated information that was set in the 60s. Because it has not been sufficient to keep up with the standard of living, those who are living in “high cost cities like New York and those who live in rural areas of the country” (NCCP, 2008) are barely getting by.

Poverty is the condition of being unable to obtain socially money or possessions. Poverty has been established in multiple countries for years; in many divergent degrees. From the late

Today, despite strong labor markets with record low unemployment rates, there are millions of Americans who work but remain poor. In 2009,.which is the most recent data available, accordint to the Working Poor Families Project (a privately funded effort aimed at improving economic security for low-income families) 10 million low-income working families in the United States an increase of nearly a quarter million from the previous year. Forty-three percent of working families with at least one minority parent were low income, nearly twice the proportion of white working families (22 percent). The number of working poor in the United States is higher than they have ever seen it before and it continues to increase at a staggering pace. I'm going

According to Peter Edelman of The American Prospect, the issues that America faces in the war on poverty are worse than we think, but we can overcome them. Edelman believes that there two core problems surrounding poverty in the United States: a high volume of low-wage employment and a concern for those who have no work opportunities available to them at all. Low-wage work surrounding those who are currently struggling to survive in America often have incomes that may even fall up to two times below the national poverty line. Edelman reports this figure represents those who bring home around $36,000 annually for a family of three; and in 2012 impacted a total of 103 million Americans, or one-third of the population. Those living in extreme

Although Americans have one of the highest National income per person in the world, based on what other less fortunate places, what is poor to America might be completely different to someone in poorer countries. ”When you look at the people who John Edwards insists are poor, what you find is that the overwhelming majority of them have cable television, have air conditioning, have microwaves, have two color TVs; 45 percent of them own their own homes, which are typically three-bedroom homes with 1 1/2 baths in very good condition.” said Robert Rector in an article “Poverty and Homelessness” which emphasizes the fact that Americans could have it much worse. Most of the people who claim they don’t have money have a house, food, a place to sleep and even children who are fed just as much as middle-class children. The difference is that we are spoiled by our government and believe that because a family does not have excess money after all the bills are paid, they are

Now this time, I will not insult your intelligence. You know I’m not suggesting any more frivolous ideas. These numbers command far too much respect to joke around, and represent the most astonishing facts about American poverty of all. Last year a mere .2% of national news mentioned the issue of poverty in America, children living below the poverty line increased

While it has proven to be difficult to end poverty in America, Peter Edelman is optimistic. In his book So Rich, So Poor Edelman makes a call to action. There are four prominent ideas that underpin Edelman’s reasoning throughout the book: (1) More people must understand why poverty is still so prevalent in America; (2) extreme poverty must be taken into consideration as a shocking 6 million Americans’ sole income was food stamps in 2011. This fact alone creates a sense of urgency that drives Edelman; (3) increasing income inequality should be treated as a moral issue; and (4) bold political action will be required if substantive progress will be made in alleviating poverty.

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.