Poverty In America Research Paper

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.

Over 75 years later, we still do not have the freedoms President Roosevelt wished upon us. A specific freedom that still does not exist is “economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants.” There are still dozens of poverty stricken countries, known as Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). These are countries that have a national debt that is unmanageable with traditional manners alone. The good news is that the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative began in 1996 to address this issue. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMC), and other creditors teamed up to reduce the debt of 36 countries that met strict criteria.

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.

More than 800 million people in the world are malnourished, 777 million of them are from the developing world (Raphel, S., 2014). Poverty is an issue that must be addressed to the population loud and clear or everyone will end up suffering. There are many families trying to survive and live from paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, there are some families that are unable to support himself or herself or any family member. One important key issue of poverty in the United States is inequality. Many Americans blame the poor people for their own fate but you should never judge a book by its cover. There can be many reasons why an individual or families end up in poverty. For example, low wage jobs, discrimination and social inequality, vulnerability to natural disasters, war and political instability. Another big issue we face today is child poverty. This is a very critical issue because these young children are our future. If we let these children live in poverty, there is a higher chance they will drop out of school, look for work in order to support their family, or give up in life.

America is said to be one of the greatest countries in the world. Advanced technology, thriving agriculture, the so-called land of opportunities all obtainable in our beautiful America. So why then do we still have people going hungry every night? Why does such a disparity exist between a person who has an abundance of food and routinely discards food that is perfectly edible and one who digs for those same scraps in trash bins? At times, these people are living within a few miles of each other.

In an article written by Angus Deaton, he discusses the issues behind poverty and why it is persistent in the United States. In the beginning of his article, he presents data from the World Bank which states that 3.2 million out of 769 million of the world's poorest people are living in the United States and are living off of less than $1.90 a day as of 2013 (Deaton). Some of the arguments he mentions that may contribute to the United States high poverty rate include where our poverty line is set, the quality of our necessities, and our government aid.

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

“More children are living below the poverty line in the United States that in any other developed country.” This statement made by Dan Brown is eye opening to say the least. America, the land of opportunity, is failing its citizens which have had a monstrous effect on American children. Although, many may think our economy has rebounded in recent years which would lead to a decrease in children below the poverty line, the trend of children below the poverty line has been on the rise which is in desperate need to make a turn for the better. There are solutions to this crisis such as creating jobs, paid leave and sick days, and increased education.

First, dealing with minorities in poverty has became a sensational problem with black, Hispanic, and other ethnicity. They are having problems gaining and maintaining jobs in the United states because of discrimination, by getting paid lower than those of the main ethnicity in that region. In the article America’s Poverty Problem Hasn't Changed “Blacks and Hispanics make up for well over 20% in the poverty level” (White). This is showing that minorities are being treated unfairly, causing them to live in poverty and not be able to provide for their families or basic needs. People that are being discriminated are also are having this problem. which leads to them to be part of the poverty rate. In the article “America’s Poverty Problem Hasn't

America is in a state of poverty. The American people consisting of different ethnic groups are having a harder time getting out of poverty and the middle class is slowly becoming non-existent. The research will show that both children and adult are being negatively affected by poverty. Is the American dream an impossible one, of course, it's impossible because the middle class is slowly disappearing into history. People truly don't know what poverty is and how it is affecting America with factors such as debt, welfare, loans, and much more. Poverty brings people down and the rise in poverty dates back approximately 30 years ago. Americans are oblivious to America's state of poverty and how it different ethnic groups. Is the American dream really dead and is there a new dream on the rise?

The official poverty rate in America in 2015 was 13.5% meaning 43.1 million people in the Unites States lived in poverty. In recent years poverty rates have been declining. Poverty has been in America since the be 16th Century, with the emergence of the New World. In 2003 10.6 million children died before they reached the age of 5(same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy.) (Shah, n.d.) In “Laziness isn’t why people are poor. And iPhones aren’t why they lack health care, ’The author uses examples and evidence to show the poor choices that leads people to poverty and/or lacking health care.

“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice.”- Nelson Mandela (Pinterest.com). Did you know that over 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day? Also, every 3.5

Throughout the entire history of the world, there have been massive amounts of people living in poverty in every country, and many people have tried to figure out how to address the problem that is poverty. Ideas on each end of a spectrum have been introduced, such as getting rid of things that cause gaps between the rich and poor, thus making everyone equal, or leaving the poor to fend for themselves and possibly die. Neither of these are very reasonable to apply to living, breathing human beings because they are too extreme and not good for the population of Earth as a whole. There are many opposing views, but one in particular is that in order for the many countries that struggle with poverty to overcome the contributing factors, there needs to be a balance of support from other sources and self-growth.

During the 1980s, the Baker and Brady Plans were initiated to alleviate developing countries debts. The former plan called upon financial institutions to increase lending to developing countries by up to 50% and the latter plan sought to annul debt through collaboration with private-sector lenders. Developing countries’ debt problems became known as debt overhang whereby the “presence of existing ‘inherited’ debt” exacerbated the debtor countries’ economic hardships. While the Baker Plan was largely ineffective, the Brady Plan helped revive the Third World debt market and the composition of capital flows in the Brady countries shifted away from the public sector to the private sector in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) and equity.

Total indebted areas were major in Developing countries or known as third world could be devided in three groups: Latin America, East Asian and Sub-Sahara