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Poverty And Its Effects On Society

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Poverty is a current social problem that is relevant to American society. Being an impoverished individual in this society places the individual and his or her family at a major disadvantage. According to the United States Census Bureau, 45.3 million American citizens lived in poverty in 2013. Poverty has an impact on society as well as the individual. Higher rates of poverty could lead to higher criminal activity. Individuals who are not sufficiently financially supported will most likely turn to crime in order to make the money that they need. Clearly, a spike in crime rates negatively affects our society as a whole. Services such as a decent education, good quality health care, housing and many other aspects of the average American’s daily lives are extremely difficult for those suffering from poverty to attain. This social problem can perpetuate in a never ending cycle in an individual’s family. Impoverished parents who put their children into below average schools are not able to compete in society for a decent job and the circle progresses throughout generations of a family. Poverty creates a “the haves and have nots” type of society that distinctly separates those who have these services at their disposal and those who do not. Hypotheses: The demographic factors that has an impact on poverty in the United States are race and socioeconomic status or class. White privilege is quite apparent in the United States and minorities are, in result, oppressed by this aspect

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