Poverty Of The United States Essay

The Federal Government defines poverty as income that falls below the United States Poverty threshold. (Begun 95). If a person

Poverty is a common social issue that has troubled nations for thousands of years. While nations like the United States of America have worked diligently to eradicate it domestically, it still widely exists.“According to the U.S. Citizen burow 47.6 million citizens living in poverty.With 20% of those households living in extreme poverty.”(PBS.org)

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.

In terms of federal poverty measure there are two different versions; one is poverty thresholds and the other is poverty guidelines. Poverty thresholds are a version of the federal poverty measure, developed by Mollie Orshansky in the 1960’s, which is the official measure of poverty that was based off of the cheapest food plan for a family (Schiller). In 1955, studies reflected that poor families spent about one-third of their income on food; so multiplying a low-cost food budget by three determined how much income a family needed (Schiller). Poverty thresholds are mainly used to calculate the number of poor Americans and other poverty population figures (lecture). Since then the threshold has only been adjusted for inflation and is an absolute threshold that considers a family poor if its pre-tax cash income falls below the poverty threshold (lecture). Since the food plan was only supposed to be used temporarily or for emergencies, it is clear it needs some updating. Poverty guidelines are used to determine program eligibility and are considered a simplified version of the poverty threshold (lecture).

Poverty has been an ongoing issue since the birth of this Nation. When one thinks of poverty the last people we think of are the ones closest to home. As children some are told “finish your dinner, there are starving kids in Africa”, but what about the starving children whom are in neighborhoods close to us? Poverty is everywhere, even the places that are thought of as wealthy. Poverty in America; a continuing issue.There are many different definitions of poverty. The United States Census Bureau states that

The issue of poverty in the United States seems to lie on the grounds of race education and family structure. As expected I found that educational levels paralleled poverty levels. Unexpected , research was found to prove that race did in fact play a substantial role in poverty. Family structure along with other influential factors either locked an individual into poverty or provided a means for escape from the continuing cycle. Other factors contributing to poverty was the location of homes or neighborhoods and the accessibility to better paying jobs.

Poverty within the United States is defined as “having an income below a federally determined poverty threshold. ” Poverty thresholds were developed by the United States government in the 60s to benchmark levels of subsistence. Over time these thresholds are often adjusted to account for inflation; it is now typical for the federal government to adjust the poverty threshold levels annually. Poverty levels represent the government’s estimate of the point below which a family has insufficient resources to meet their basic needs. Any family with less income than the established poverty amount is officially classified as poor or as living in poverty. Income as defined by the federal rules can include cash and cash welfare assistance, but excludes any in-kind welfare assistance. There are restrictions a few other

Poverty is not only an individual problem, but a societal problem. Harrell R. Rodgers wrote an article, “Why are People Poor in America?” Rodgers gives two categories of theories that are used when cultural /behavioral or structural/economic. Behavior/culture theorists look at the behavior, culture and values of the poor as the reason for poverty. While structural /ecIn western culture statistics are an excessively used tool in describing social issues. Numbers help explain a situation, but in excesses, can dehumanize a population. A serious social issue that suffers from desensitization is poverty. Poverty, as it is defined by Webster, is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of supporting; the condition of being poor. The condition of poverty plagues many American families. According to the Census bureau, 15.1 percent of the United States population falls below the poverty threshold. 15.1 percent does not draw the same effect as the actual 46.6 million individuals living in those circumstances. In the United States, poverty has become a growing problem. There are 15 million more people living in poverty today than in the year 2000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2013). The poverty threshold, developed by Molly Orshansky, is a tool used to help indicate how many Americans are in poverty. According to the census, 46.6 million of America’s total population makes less than the poverty threshold for a family of four. The condition of being

However, this system of measuring poverty is flawed because if a family makes a dollar more above the set limit, they do not qualify for financial help from the government (NCCP, 2008).The poverty threshold is an inadequate measure of whether people are considered poor or not. Current poverty measures are flawed because it assumes how much a family spends and does not accurately include family resources such as Earned Income Tax Credit (NCCP, 2008). The way that the government measures poverty is based on outdated information that was set in the 60s. Because it has not been sufficient to keep up with the standard of living, those who are living in “high cost cities like New York and those who live in rural areas of the country” (NCCP, 2008) are barely getting by.

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

An issue that impacts the world globally is poverty. Poverty is a problem that is not to be taken likely. Poverty affects almost the majority of the world's population, and it can turn into hate, lust and other things that can affect family, friends, cities, government, and even nations. Take Germany for example. During the era of WWII, the Germans started to go down an economic slump and recession because of the harsh Treaty of Versailles that France and Britain dictated on. Corrupt leaders in Germany influenced the poor that Jews were the reason for the loss of the first World War. Because the people were tired of living in poverty, they decided to believe these so-called "leaders" and scapegoat the Jews, and they did not take the acceptance

In the United States, income poverty is defined by the poverty threshold, developed in 1959 and based on expected food expenditures (thrifty food basket) for families of varying sizes. Each year the threshold is adjusted for the Consumer

There are many factors which contribute to poverty in the United States. The first of the governing factors of poverty is economic downturn. According to Kneebone (2010) and Desilver (2014), both the Great Depression and Recession led to increasing levels of poverty due to the lack of employment. Essentially, if companies are not making revenue, eventually they must begin laying off workers to compensate for losses. In addition, collapse of family structures of contributed to poverty. Rushefsky (2014) reports single-parent families, specifically those with female head of households tend to be in poverty due to low wages and or lack of job opportunities, requiring the dependence of welfare programs. Fundamentally, it becomes more difficult for families

This study considers the conditions of income, wealth and poverty in the United States of America. Income got a better distribution during the 70s but the level of economic growth decreased aggravating the unequal distribution of income (Stone, et al). However, wealth enclosed an inequality of distribution in the United States. It is referred to the unequal distribution of assets among residents of the United States. Also wealth is associated to the values of homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments. In this context, statistics of poverty indicate people living at the economic adversity without satisfying their basic necessities. In mention by the article named “Measuring Poverty (A New Approach),” the statistical data of poverty is published by the U.S. government being a topic of importance and political sensitivity.

Poverty threshold is the maximum value that classifies an individual as not having sufficient money or income to support the basic needs and living in a poor environment that potentially affects his or her physical health. In other words, people who are constantly worrying and struggling the incapacity and limited resources to provide themselves food, clothing, housing, health care, and transportation are considered in poverty.