Poverty And Its Effects On America

Poverty, people are born into it. People can sink into its grasp, or people can escape. But it’s a hard journey. As for Kevin Powells mother growing up in the south she never saw money, for “at the age of eight in a field picking someone else’s cotton”. (p. 86) Being in poverty is based out financial needs, being poor is one thing. Poverty is just below that, for you barley have enough to get by and sometimes you are places in a setting that could risk health or safety.

Poverty can be characterized either as far as a clear salary level or as a relative condition that progressions as society reclassifies it. As the age of the world grows and progresses among the middle and upper class, the lower class is struggling to keep up with the rest. As citizens they have the right to be in the same boat as other successful people in the world, they just do not have an advantage in doing so. Communism is not in the conversation, but many of the working people in poverty deserve to be paid as normal to keep a home and more. Poverty can be reduced drastically with just a little help and kindness.

     Appalachia is no longer the land of severe poverty that it was three decades ago, now the poverty rate of one in 15 is close to the national average. The number of adults who have received a high school diploma has also jumped from one out of three to two out of three; and the infant death rate has been

An equally important factor in determining where poverty manifests itself is the economic opportunity available in a certain region. Hillbilly Elegy makes

At the county level, poverty as defined by the US government is an immensely rural problem, with the most remote rural places at the greatest disadvantage. It would seem obvious that where and how an individual lives would matter in a person’s ability to rise above the poverty level. However, federal policy that addresses poverty is not specific to rural areas or metropolitan areas an instead is agnostic to

staggering? Poverty occurs when a person’s need for food, clothing and shelter are not being

In Uneven Ground, the author Ronald D. Eller narrates the economic, political, and social change of Appalachia after World War II. He writes “persistent unemployment and poverty set Appalachia off as a social and economic problem area long before social critic Michael Harrington drew attention to the region as part of the “other America” in 1962.”(pp.2) Some of the structural problems stated by Eller include problems of land abuse, political corruption, economic shortsightedness, and the loss of community and culture; personally view the economic myopia as being the most daunting.

The term poverty is often used when referring to third world countries like Sudan or Darfur. Painful images of families suffering from malnutrition are often the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, sadly, the same struggle is happening here in the U.S. and even worse, it’s happening right here in Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch reports that three years ago the state of Ohio was 12th in the nation for food insecurity because there were so many people who did not know where their next meal would come from. Now Ohio is ranked 6th in the nation for food insecurity. Many blame the troubles with the unemployment on the state’s difficulty recovering from the recession. Ohio’s poverty rate is rising as the national rate is leveling off (Candisky, 2011). According to the Ohio Poverty Report, Ohio’s individual and family poverty rate are lower than the nation’s average. Urban areas have higher rates but there are still people living in poverty in rural areas. Rates vary between characteristics and circumstances. Many families who receive cash assistance do not usually get out of poverty (Larrick, 2014)

The state of Arkansas is in poverty because of low rates and wages verses cost of living. However, this can be improved by people in our state having better job choices and better pay. The reason for low job rates and wages is that you have to be bilingual to get a job, you have to get a good education and employers aren’t able to hire as many people to work for them. All of this stuff combined with the cost of living causes poverty.

Appalachia has long been regarded as a place of natural beauty and allegedly 'backwards' people. In one of the early attempts to 'civilize' rural Appalachia, the population was characterized as consisting of "agricultural savages" who refused to learn better farming practices (Anglin 2002: 565). "The poverty and environmental abuse I witnessed there were not simply a failure of economics. It went much deeper than that; hence our continual failure to 'social engineer' meaningful changes there. It was a poverty of the spirit; a poverty of the soul" said one observer, of the attempt to encourage rural Appalachians to adopt modern farming practices at the turn of the 20th century (Anglin 2002: 565-566). Other than subsistence farming, the only other predominant industry in rural Appalachia is the coal industry. Rather than provide a potential source of enrichment to the region, this too has been seen as impoverishing, rather than sustaining the residents. "Appalachia has become virtually synonymous with coal and problems of the notoriously dangerous, cyclically unstable, and highly competitive industry" (Pudup 1990: 61).

What does this happen to Kentucky and not the rest of America? In order to respond to this question, one must analyze the lifestyle of Kentuckians. Poverty is the cause for most of cancer issues in Eastern kentucky. According to the Fahe, 25 percent of Appalachian Kentuckians live under the poverty line. Additionally, in 2014, there is a difference of $16,000 between the the average income of people in Appalachian kentucky and the rest of the United State.(Fahe.org) Those statistics demonstrate that the economic situation in Eastern Kentucky is terrible ,and people are desperate. Eastern kentucky is probably the worst place to live in the entire United States. According to the NY Times, six of the top ten poorest county are located in Eastern Kentucky; Clay county is the poorest of all. The regions has never been that pitiful; it all happened when coal mining was shut down. It was the source of revenue for most households. In this region, many men did not pursue education, instead they went to work in the coal mines before or right after high school. Therefore, the economy of the regions depended on one variable: coal mining, and now there is nothing left to the

The citizens in Central Appalachia are amongst the poorest in the country even thought they live in an area that is environmentally diverse and full of natural resources such as coal, timber and agriculture. The author of the book looks at the coal history of her hometown West Virginia and examines the impact of mining and mountain top removal has had on the region. Appalachia’s poverty rate is twice as high as any other region in United States. The regions are primarily country and the people are largely white with majority of the locals having roots that have been tied to the lands for generations. Burns talks about how one of the biggest issues facing the area and the main reason why all the money being made is not going to the people of the land for all these years is coal.

What are the main reasons there is so much poverty in America? In the past 30 years, poverty has increased drastically leaving many people homeless and helpless. Adults, as well as the children, are left on the streets to seek different ways to aid their families. If a working family member is injured, then it is up to the others to find ways to care for the injured and at the same time set food on the table. Many women also work to aid their families, however, when a woman works at a factory she only earns the 75 cents when compared to when a male earns a dollar. It does not even seem proportional if a person works for a long period of time and then the person only receives a fraction of what they worked. Despite the economic growth in America, there are still signs of poverty in some parts of the country, which is due to the lack of employment, low wages, overpopulation, and injury.

How much does a wealthy NYC billionaire have in common with Chicago’s poor communities? Millions it seems.”

Poverty refers to the state of having little or no money, goods, or means of supporting oneself. It may be described the inability to secure basic needs. Rural researchers define poverty by adding fine distinctions that are exclusive to how poverty exists and experienced in rural and small town communities. The issue of poverty alleviation has long been a primary subject of developmental debate. However, to date, there is still no technical definition that gives a clear understanding of the meaning of poverty. Poverty in itself is a debatable occurrence; this is because the circumstances leading to poverty differs from one individual to individual. Impoverished individuals have their own understanding and interpretation of their social reality. Ark-Miss-Tenn (Mid-South) are poverty stricken and the unemployment rate is epidemically high. Consequently, many available jobs cannot be filled due to lack of skilled employees.