Poverty Relief

Following the recession and lost of millions of manufacturing jobs, many American families fell within the poverty line. As Rank describes in his article many turned to “the safety net” known as government aid during such times. Such assistance was to provide families in need with money and services needed to survive needed to survive before they could get back on their feet. Downside was, these programs only helped these families

Baum, Fran and Duvnjak, Angella. The politics of poverty in Australia [online]. Social Alternatives, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2013: 12-18. Availability: ISSN: 0155-0306. [cited 04 Aug 16].

As citizens of the United States of America, we are extremely lucky. We have the freedom of speech, the right to religion, and all around free-will. We are a free country. Thus bringing attention to the less fortunate parts of the country is not easy. The citizens of the country tend to turn a blind eye to the hardships that some people face. Why aren’t we doing more to help those in need? As a country united, we need to be doing more to help the people in poverty, hunger, and who are homeless in America.

The welfare system was originally created to help people who were temporarily out of work or in need of assistance, but “total welfare spending has nearly doubled since 1996” (Donovan and Rector). Through the years, this program has evolved into a system that still offers assistance, but also does not encourage it recipients to find a way out. The welfare system is dishing out millions of dollars each year to recipients who are putting forth zero effort into supporting themselves and their families. Instead, they rely on tax-payer 's money. The weight of supporting these programs is on the shoulders of middle class workers. As a result American society is getting into deeper poverty. “Unless Congress acts, it will drive the nation into bankruptcy” (Donovan and Rector). The welfare system was at once a good idea to help others get off their feet, but it has changed dramatically over the years due to people abusing the system.

In the United States there are “over 100 million people receiving some form of federal welfare” (Munoz#7). The purpose of creating the welfare system was to provide aid to those families with “little to no income” (article 1). Back in 1996 Clinton passed the welfare reform act; allowing state full control of the welfare system. The Welfare Reform Act was to help steer welfare

Around two-thirds of Americans with low-income qualify for government assistance, yet they aren’t getting it. Instead, they must wait in lists ranging from 3 to 5 years long in order to receive help. This article, written by Andrew Flowers, delves into the housing assistance crisis and the two problems that cause this: affordability as well as the lack of funding and ineffectiveness of government programs.

Poverty is an issue that can affect anyone. One of the biggest struggles for those living in povery is obtaining and affording food. Thankfully the United States has a food assistance program for people who are living in poverty. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as Food Stamps is a monthly budget specifically for food. While it has not eliminated hunger in the United States, it is a step forward and is also a prevention to hunger in poverty stricken families.

“What is poverty? Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom” (The World Bank, 2009).

Two public policies that have been passed within the last fifty years that have shaped our social and political consciousness are Affordable housing and SNAP. Affordable housing “In general, housing for which the occupant(s) is/are paying no more than 30 percent of his or her income for gross housing costs, including utilities. Please note that some jurisdictions may define affordable housing based on other, locally determined criteria, and that this definition is intended solely as an approximate guideline or general rule of thumb”(HUD.GOV). Affordable housing is for people of low income. Many people that are able to receive Affordable Housing also are able to receive SNAP. SNAP or Food Stamps are “any of the coupons sold or given under a federal program to eligible needy persons and redeemable for food at designated grocery stores or

Individuals in true need of aid were provided the basic necessities to keep them afloat. However, today that has changed. People constantly freeload off of the system, and nobody stops them. People who don’t really need assistance still get welfare checks each month. This should not be allowed to happen. People who receive welfare checks each month spend them on luxuries and unnecessary items. This should not be allowed to happen. Taxpayers are forced to fund a program that does not reduce poverty like it is supposed to. This should not happen. It is time that Americans open their eyes. Government officials, lawmakers, taxpayers, welfare recipients, everyone. They need to open their eyes and take a look at what is happening to

It was documented that reform legislation paves no easy road to helping people out of the welfare system. Some welfare recipients felt like they were just being put out without the appropriate guidance and support to be successful. Welfare recipients talked about receiving bus tokens for transportation and childcare assistance for their children and being told to report to a work-site and look for employment. The states were able to put up to 30 percent of its’ TANF grant into its child care and social services block grant. The funds moved to social services has to be spent on children whose families earn less than 200 percent of the poverty level, but "this provision is cosmetic," says a searing analysis by the nationally respected Center

This Chinese proverb consist in the general principle of alleviating poverty by facilitating self-sufficiency has a long history. The documentary Poverty Inc. critics the paternalist attitude of the countries, especially of the United States. When a nature disaster occurs in countries called “Third World” or underdeveloped where the economic progress is limited, the United States reacts immediately sending food, clothing, health care products or any kind of humanitarian aid. Before a disaster situation help is the natural response and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this attitude. But, what happens with the people the after the emergency when everything backs to normal? People continue living in poverty. Even though European countries

Many describe poverty as an economic deprivation, or lack of income. However, this alone does not incorporate the different social, cultural and political aspects of this unfortunate reality. Poverty is not only a deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity. The general scarcity, lack, or the state of one without a specific amount of material possessions or money. It is a versatile concept that may be defined as either absolute or relative. Time and again, poverty is a call to action, for the poor and the wealthy alike, it is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.

After the liberation in 1961, Tanzania, created new policies for liberating people from poverty imprisonment. The government strategized to move people away from distant, remote locations of the country to designated village areas (villagelization), where services such that schools, clinics, piped water, roads, and adult education would easily be available to citizens. The villagelization blueprint famous in Kiswahili as vijiji vya ujmaaa linked with African communal life or African socialism (Hope, 2007; Major and Muhvihill, 2009). However, during this process, the country, like other parts of Africa, suffered from hunger as a result of a severe drought, together with the previous mention internal and external forces and once again

assistance to low income individuals and families. An estimate of 1.8 million New Yorkers and a total of 46.3 million Americans participate in the SNAP program. Despite the large number of individuals on food stamp the Census Bureau reports in 2010 3.9 million people were lifted above the poverty line and 5 million in 2012 all because of the assistance from SNAP. However the federal government has threaten to cut back on the budget for SNAP. In January 2014 the Farm bill was proposed which included an 8.7 million cut to the SNAP program for the next 10 years. Obama later signed the bill into law on February 7, 2014 saying that the Bill would help create more jobs, move the economy forward and give Americans more equal opportunity (Resnikoff 1). Despite the government’s reasons for the budget cut 850 thousand households would be losing an average of 90 dollars per month (Resnikoff 1). This is unfortunate because reports have shown that SNAP is not only an effective federal program but it also has a positive outcome for individuals. Even in the previous statistics, going from 3.9 million to 5 million people lifted above the poverty line in only a two year difference is a significant breakthrough for low income individuals. It is often easy to find yourself falling under the poverty line, but harder to pick yourself back up. Many individuals who are against the program believe that being on food stamps makes an individual more government dependent and takes away the drive for