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Poverty Vs. The Economy Essay

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Poverty vs. The Economy

Poverty is a lack of goods and services necessary to maintain a minimal adequate standard of living. The definition of the term adequate varies, however, with the general standard of living in a society and with public attitudes toward deprivation. No university accepted definition of basic needs exists because poverty is a relative concept. In poorer countries it means living at the brink of subsistence, while in our country few improvised families confront starvation, although many suffer from undernourishment.

A key issue in the area of poverty is inequality. Inequality has been a problem in all societies. No society distributes income evenly. Despite all the conceptual and technical problems of …show more content…

If in-kind programs such as Medicaid, subsidized housing, and food stamps were also included, then the percentage in poverty might have been further reduced,
(Fitchen, page 97)

Another issue is that some particular groups are more likely to experience poverty than others. For instance, blacks are three times as likely to be poor as whites. Families headed by women are nearly five times more likely to be poor than other families. Families where the head has no more than eight years of schooling are nearly five times as likely to be poor compared to families headed by college educated person. Minority and female headed units are not only more likely to be poor but less likely to escape from poverty. The poor face multiple impediments to self-sufficiency, including joblessness, less than a high school education, and dependence on welfare.

Their are four different major groups of poor people. They are the elderly, children, employed working-age adults, and unemployed working-age adults. Each of these groups has different problems that are addressed by different programs.

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