Poverty In Pocatello, Idaho

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.

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)

Poverty is an epidemic that has swept the American nation many times over. Whether it be quietly lingering under the surface, or blatantly staring us in the face as it is in this current recession, it affects people across America on individual, community and national levels alike. While there are many causes and effects of poverty, it is important to view the issue of poverty and its causes from all angles when one seeks to tackle the problem. These factors include socio-economic status, mental illness, family values and work ethics, to name a few. In this essay, I will be examining these factors as they are discussed in the book, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (referred to as Glass Castle throughout essay), as well as in the article

Out on the streets, sleeping on park benches, begging people for money or food: this is probably pretty close to the image that comes to mind when you hear the word “poverty”. These things aren’t usually seen around Grand Forks so people assume that there isn’t any sort of poverty issue around here. Would it surprise you to know that 21.8 percent of residents in Grand Forks County lived in poverty in 2014? That’s more than seven percent more than the national poverty rate of 14.5%. (Jacobs) The county of Grand Forks does, in fact, have a poverty issue.

This population relies on the clinic for what the clinic calls integrative medical care (M. Lind, personal communication, May 10, 2017). In addition, the Santa Monica non-profit organization OPCC (n.d.), offers a “comprehensive system of care” for the “vulnerable and needy members of (the) community—homeless individuals, victims of domestic violence, at-risk youth, indigent Veterans, and people dealing with severe physical or mental illness or substance abuse”. The organization (which also partners with the Venice Family Clinic) has multiple locations and offers assessments for all. OPCC (n.d.) touts the success of its programs, reporting that the organization “has placed 966 people into permanent housing, 95% of whom remain housed.” As far as the homeless population, Elizabeth Anderson of the Human Services Division believes that Santa Monica “does more than its fair share in making shelter beds available year-round”, especially as compared to greater Los Angeles (personal communication, April 27, 2017). Santa Monica’s Police Department (n.d.) also has a homeless liaison unit which partners on this issue.

The Higher Education Access & Success for Homeless and Foster Care youth task force is an organization founded in Buffalo, NY in September 2017. This task force will include several individuals from the community such as local agencies, stakeholders, legislators, and active members. The members of the task force aim to improve the social and economic injustice of a population that has been excluded from access to services needed for higher education. Each individual of the task force will play a vital role in rectifying the injustice of the population by addressing three different levels of social work practice which includes micro, mezzo, and macro practice to create social change. The role and responsibilities of each member are based on

This group was sponsored by the Arkansas State University (ASU) Social Work department. ASU Masters Social Work department mission statement is as follows;

Compared with the median household income ($53,741) in North Dakota as a whole, households living in Benson earned far below the state level. Similarly, as for persons below poverty level, North Dakota state had 11.9% of population below the poverty threshold, while the rate in Benson was 35.8% although the unemployment rate was only 3.5%. To explain the low household income of people in Benson, the Chapter of the Working Poor provides some useful information. According to Chapter 6, two major strategies to escape from poverty are 1. Small family size, and 2. Secondary workers. However, the average family size of Benson County was 2.9, which is small enough. Also, a majority of families have two to three workers in the labor market. It seems that the two strategies above were already satisfied, but why does Benson County still have such a high poverty level? From my perspectives, low wage should account for the reason of the working poor. Specifically, the workers may have a low level of human capital due to limited education. Another situation is businesses do not have a great demand for labor to contribute to outputs or profits. Thus, as Schiller mentions in the textbook, labor force participation is necessary but not sufficient to escape

There is an issue in the United States that a large portion of the population is either choosing to ignore or is simply naïve to the facts. I am a firm believer that poverty is directly associated to education. Research has backed this theory as it shows that 53% of those classified in upper class are college graduates compared to only 15% of whom identify as lower class (Parker, 2012). While there has been a lot of research conducted on who the upper class are and what the lower class need in order to bring themselves out of poverty there has been little to no change in funding practices of public education. If the end state goal of public education is to produce our countries future why are Americans not taking a more aggressive financial

Within not only our own country, but throughout the entire world, there is poverty. It is pretty much a fact of life, and the current way the U.S. government is attempting to resolve the problem is not the correct way. We are trying to fix a long-term problem with a short-term solution. Instead of welfare, there are much better ways to solve the problem of poverty.

Whatever happened to the idea of “women and children first”? This concept has been slowly diminishing throughout the years. In today’s society, poverty can be seen in the faces of women and children across the globe. The overwhelming majority of the poor consists of women and children. As of 2013, one in seven women live in poverty (Robbins and Morrison 2014: 1). The poverty of women and children is a global problem, but it is also a problem that hits home. Poverty exists in our hometowns and neighborhoods across the United States. This problem is not just in low-income countries like much of Africa or the third world countries we see on commercials. It is also prevalent in high-income countries like our own. Poverty may have a women’s face,

Since America was founded, immigrants have developed and shaped each state, making the country so unique and to some, the most desirable place to live. “The streets were paved of gold” was the slogan used to attract so many people from around the world, but, how many people truly “struck gold” after moving here? Only 28% of the population (according to a 2005 census) live in the middle to upper class. To put this statistic into perspective; one in every 4 families are living knowing that they are financially stable. The question presented to teens today is whether you’re born into wealth or work for it. Day to day people swear by the phrase; “It’s not what you know it's who you know”, and this does hold a substantial amount of truth but it

“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.

In the data, what had surprised me the most was the large number of white people living in poverty in my community. I was surprised about this data because I had always thought that white people were less likely to be in poverty. On television, say President Trump for example, spoke often about how there were many African Americans in poverty that it was becoming a problem in the United States. “ You go into the inner cities and you see it's 45 percent poverty, African Americans now 45 percent poverty in the inner cities” (Sebastian, 2016). The percentage of poverty President Trump has said in his response was contradictory because it had exceeded the federal data. The percentage was less than 40 percent even in a city such as Detroit.

As a young adult in 2017, I wonder how the United States will advance in the next twenty years, fifty years, or when I leave the Earth two hundred years from now. America has developed tremendously in the last century. For instance, numerous diseases and infections have been eradicated. There are nearly three hundred twenty-five million people in the United States today with nearly eighty-five percent of Americans having access to the internet. However, with these advancements, my generation will have deal with America’s dilemma of the distribution of wealth in this country.