Poverty Is Not Only An Individual Problem

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.

Poverty is a big problem in the United States. According to Charles Zastrow, “in 2012 over forty-six million people, about fifteen percent of our population was living below the poverty line” (p. 117). In other words, there were a great amount of people living below the poverty line the poverty line. The poverty line is the minimum level of income needed for secured needs of life according to the government. Poverty causes malnutrition, homelessness, School dropout’s drug abuse, and much more.

“Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter” (“What is Poverty,” 2016). In the United States, there are 45 million Americans are living in poverty (“45 Million Americans,” 2014). In order to determine if one is living in poverty, the United States Census Bureau has established a poverty line that they then measure, according to the individual’s income and their family size (“Poverty Thresholds,” 2016; “Poorest Cities in America,” 2016). Since the recession in 2008, many states have seen a rise of families living in poverty. Poverty is a vicious cycle and has devastating effects on young children.

The United States defines poverty for a family of four as being less than $16,036 per year, or $4,009 per person (Leone 12). People find themselves under this line for an innumerable amount of reasons. Some of these causes are under one's control and others are greater factors beyond an individual's power. Each family or individual person has unique and separate reasons for living in a state poverty. There is no way to try and define them all. Focusing in, three main topics arise that encompass the most predominant reasons for a person to fall into poverty. Education, family life and influence, along with the business cycle may work individually or together to cause poverty. These three leading

Poverty is a major problem in the United States today. Social, economic, political, and cultural factors all contribute to poverty. Culture of poverty is the argument that poor people adopt certain practices that differ from those of middle-class in order to adapt and survive in difficult economic circumstances. According to the culture poverty theory once these survival adaptations are in place they take on a life of their own and can hold people back (Conley, 2013).

In 2010, about 46.2 million people were considered poor. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent, whereas in 2009, 14.3 percent of people in America were living in poverty (Censky, 2011). That is an increase of 2.6 million people in 2010. In the United States, the federal poverty line – an absolute measure of annual income – is frequently used to determine who is categorized as poor (Ferris & Stein, 2008, 2010). Currently the government defines the poverty line as an income of $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four (Censky, 2011). In sociology, poverty can be defined using two terms – relative deprivation and absolute deprivation. Relative deprivation is a comparison between people and social class. With

This review is formulated with scholarly sources and references based off of poverty in America. This disclosure is approached with a value free sociological approach, and it will give insight on the social causes of poverty and the effects it has on America. Poverty is a very controversial topic. Many will assume that people living in poverty are lazy, made bad life decisions, or that they are solely the reason for their predicament however, people living in poverty would argue that their are deeper issues for it. Poverty will be deeply explained and researched from both perspectives

Poverty is a growing problem around the world with millions of people lacking the basic elements necessary for stable living and Hamilton is no exception. Nearly one fifth of Hamiltonians live below the national poverty line (Social Planning & Research Council, 2012). Moreover, one third of all private housings are rentals (or tenant housings), and seven percent of residents live in derelict housing (Social Planning & Research Council, 2012). This abundance of poverty is structurally maintained through the results of capitalism, the existence of classism, and the effects of oppression.

Poverty is a difficult subject to talk about for anybody. While, some people choose to ignore it and think that it only occurs in other parts of the world. Some people have to deal with it on a daily basis here in America. John Galbraith, Karl Marx, Robert Reich have all written their ideas down about poverty; although what they wrote was very different they also share many similarities. Most of the human population is in poverty and live on less than $10 a day. This is an ever growing problem with no reasonable solution that will lead to a short term answer or any way to ever solve an issue this immense.

Poverty has been one problem that all societies have had to deal with in some form or another. Poverty is a complex issue that has many different aspects that affect the people involved. The complexity of it is why it has been a difficult problem for people to solve. The negative stigma associated with poverty is one of the most difficult aspects to change. With enough education and knowledge, poverty will one day be a problem of the past.

Poverty does not have one clear definition. It is a complicated, multi-faceted concept. It is a common social issue that has troubled nations for thousands of years. Poverty is the condition of having an insufficient amount of resources or income. Poverty has haunted the social life of Brazil for a number of years. With a booming economy, Brazil has managed to skip over poverty, for now. However, how long can they hold this issue off? The problem does not lie in their efforts but the way they have structured their social structure. A structure which consist of a poor education system and political corruption and bureaucracy, it needs fixing now and fast. Hosting a World Cup despite facing a poverty crisis, goes to show their efforts in eradicating poverty.

Poverty, what is it? Poverty cannot be defined by just one definition. Poverty is a serious worldwide issue that is affecting all of our lives in the world. In Fact,Did you know nearly half of the world’s population, more than three billion people, live on less than two dollars and fifty cents a day. Just think, If you were given that same budget could you survive? Would you be able to live the same lifestyle that you do? The answer is most likely no and this is a mind blowing statistic. Statics like these are real eye openers, because they make you think and appreciate just how lucky we are not be living in poverty such as other countries that are rather called, Third world countries.

Poverty, a state of economic scarcity in which one lacks material possessions or money, has endured in even the most vibrant and influential of cultures throughout the world. The United States, as a country of diverse societies and cultures, demonstrates the reality of this phenomenon. To be specific, forty-five million, three hundred thousand Americans, or the equivalent of 14.5 percent of the population, live below the poverty line. And as of 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau concluded that 19.9% of children under the age of 18 are living in poverty. Sixty to seventy percent of these impoverished students do not graduate, and their test scores are 10% lower than those of their wealthier peers (Hochschild).

Poverty is the shortage, deficiency, or the state of a person who lacks a certain amount of material property or currency.1 Poverty is a versatile idea, that has communal, economic, and political fundamentals.2 Poverty can be defined as absolute or relative. Absolute poverty is lacking necessities like food, clothing, and shelter.3 Relative poverty is someone’s economic statues and how they are materialized. The United States has dealt with poverty for centuries. The amount of Americans existing in poverty in the United States was anticipated to be 35.9 million in 2003 with almost 12.9% of the people in poverty being under eighteen.4 Poverty directly effects the ingenuous children who grow up in hardship suffering families and sadly, studies show that poverty tends to move from one generation to the next.5 In today’s society, you are technically considered poor if you are only making close to 20,000 dollars a year, live in a little home, and drive a beat up car.6 In other cultures and society’s you are doing extremely well if you can provide food, water, and a roof over your families head. With food, water, and a roof over your head you can survive. A lot of the problem in America though is that a lot of people do not have these things. This is the reason why it is hard for people in severe poverty to survive here in America. Another big reason for poverty in America is because of the lack of physical well being.7 Physical well being is all about how healthy you

Poverty is defined as not having sufficient money or resources to meet basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Many people experiencing poverty may not be able to access healthcare, receive an education, or participate in recreational activities. They are often marginalised because their level of income does not allow them to meet the standard of living deemed acceptable by society. People vulnerable to poverty include those living with disabilities (mental and physical), single parents, the elderly, youth, and racialized communities. Worldwide, 1.4 billion people (as of 2005) live below the poverty line of $1.25 per day, with over 3 billion people living on less than $2.50 a day. 1 billion children live in poverty, the equivalent of half the children in the world with approximately 21,000 children dying of easily preventable diseases. In Canada alone, 4.9 million people live in poverty, the equivalent of 1 in 7 people, with Indigenous children being more than twice as likely to live in poverty than non-Indigenous kids. As of 2010, around 100,000 people in Ottawa, or approximately 10% of Ottawa’s population, are considered to be poor.