The Benefits Of Poverty In America

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.

Poverty affects over 767 million people in the entire world. In the United States alone, poverty affects more than 42 million people. According to feedingamerica.org, of that 42 million affected, 13 million children and over 5 million seniors live in poverty. Poverty is grouped into two different categories; absolute and relative. Wikipedia.org defines absolute poverty as the absence of enough resources to secure basic life necessities. This includes not having safe drinking water, not having clean bathroom facilities, not being able to get proper healthcare, not having access to education and not having proper shelter. Absolute poverty is also referred to as living in extreme poverty. Relative poverty, according to wikipedia.org, is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live. The meaning of poverty varies from country to country and person to person. For example, while some people in the United States would be considered as living below the poverty line, a person from another country may consider that person rich. However, poverty is simply when an individual is unable to meet their basic needs. This includes not being able to clothed, house or feed oneself or one’s family. Poverty is a problem that will not be easily solved. There have been many attempts to try and end poverty, but yet it continues to grow. In a country such as the United States that’s

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.

When most people think of poverty they think of somewhere overseas, however; poverty is a lot closer to home than one might think. The winding, twisting roads of Eastern Kentucky have picturesque scenery, but many of the people here are struggling in these hills. The people of Eastern Kentucky have been dependent on the coal industry to feed their families and pay their bills, but this once thriving industry has been on the decline in recent years. Without coal, Eastern Kentucky is facing a grim future and many of its residents are struggling with the effects of losing one of their main employment opportunities.

Poverty in America is severe. One third of our population lives under the poverty line. The poverty line being a family of three or more surviving on $36,000 or less. This transfers to 20.5 million people. Seven million of these people being women with children. 6.7% of our population has an income less than 9,000 for a family of three. These numbers are astounding and they are only on the rise. This means that more families are going without food. This means more children are starving and getting sick and dying. One in four families are going without food. This is a huge problem. Everyone says that poverty is a problem but most people are ignorant to the fact that it is beyond our comprehension how big it is.

The question “Why is there so much poverty in the United States?” has such a broad spectrum of issues. There is no simple cure or single cause of poverty. As of 2016, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. How is it that 400 people hold more wealth than half the population of the United States? Throughout this assignment I will be discussing the unfair distribution of wealth and through the data I collected finding the best route for equality for all.

In 2017, as indicated by ASPE, the poverty line for four people in the United States is 24,600 dollars or less, and will rise as the standard of living costs increase with inflation. Many people believe that if one is poor, than their children will be poor. This opinion is flawed and outdated due to the many programs that help people in need nowadays. Other factors determine the success in a person’s future, such as their mindset and drive. Poverty does not affect power because behavior aspects influence a child's future, in addition to their cultural and geographical background.

How much does a wealthy NYC billionaire have in common with Chicago’s poor communities? Millions it seems.”

The government has the power to decide very much who is living in poverty and who is eligible for government assistance, “The US Census Bureau uses specific money income thresholds to determine who lives in poverty. These income thresholds are called poverty thresholds. They represent the minimum amount of money needed to support families of various sizes,” (Government Lawyers). Even though society doesn’t have the power to decide who is living in poverty, they are still generalizing people are or aren’t in society but judging them based on their looks. They have the power to judge and also look down on those who are in that state just to justify and feel good about themselves. However, the government are currently making efforts to help those

A phenomenon that has existed for hundreds of years if not even thousands, a phenomenon called “Poverty”. Poverty is a state of living in a really bad condition in terms of both social standings and financial situation. The poverty percentage varies from one country to another depending on many conditions like country economy, lack of education and overpopulation.

     How many times have you been on your way home, or somewhere around downtown, and at a stoplight you see someone sitting at the intersection with a cardboard sign that reads something along the lines of, “Homeless and hungry”? If you have ever been in a car that passes through a large city in the U.S., then like most others you probably have. What have these people done to be in a situation like this? What can you do to help? Are they really homeless? These are commonly asked questions, however few really take the time to find the answer. An outstanding injustice that I see prevalent in today’s society is the amount of people living in poverty in the United States.

What is the one thing that all people wish they had, or take for granted if they do have? This is a thing that most do not even realize that they have the luxury to call their own. Some find it with family and friends, some with material things, and some with the mental state they call normal. This is a home. People are in constant poverty all around us and we do nothing to help. While poverty is a little different from homelessness, it’s no different in the fact that millions of people all across the United States are struggling to get by every day, and we do nothing to help. People live in community housing, in the streets, in cardboard shelters, in between buildings and alleys, under bridges and inside of sewers. But these are just the well-known places, created by the ‘hollywood movie’ standards of homeless people. Poverty is happening all around you, whether it be by the neighbors that can’t afford to buy groceries anymore, the couple downtown that has nowhere to stay because their apartment building was burned to the ground, or the children that run away from their abusive or destructive families in desperate attempts to regain the grip of control on their life, however weak it may be. If there has ever been a more pressing time for the citizens of the U.S. to stand up for each other, it is now.

On dictionary.com poverty is defined as, “the state or condition of having little or no money, good, or means of support; condition of being poor”. For a little less than a week, I pretended to live under the poverty line. I say pretend, because nothing I did could ever equate to the struggles and difficulties that those who actually live below the poverty line experience. I lived without wifi, social media, snacks and drinks other than water. The amount of driving I was doing was limited and I could only spend $2.00 a day.

Just ten years later, janitors once again marched for an increase in their wages. The city still had to confront all the issues related to poverty and wages, so the workers decided that their best option for them to be heard, was through a march (Meyerson, 2000). As the marchers began to walk down Wilshire Boulevard from downtown to Century City, they experience many surprises. As they walked the cars kept honking at them, not become of anger, but because they were trying to signal their support for the movement (Meyerson, 2000). As the movement continued, there was a lot more support then what they believed they would get. Elected officials came out and stood on the flatbed truck leading the parade, to signal their support (Meyerson, 2000). This march was very different in comparison to the one that had occurred 10 years prior, which had been violent. Furthermore, there was a lot of influential people on their side, for example Deputy Mayor Manuel Valencia, who said that “the wages that the strikers are now earning are simply not a livable wage, not for anyone, not in Los Angeles.” (Meyerson, 2000). They had a great deal of support, not only here, in L.A., but also abroad. There is an important line in the article by Meyerson, “By making visible the lives of our immigrant poor, by making plausible a solution to their poverty, they have—in 10 short days—improved us all” (2000). They stood up for their rights, and helped make L.A. a better city. It is interesting to see that

In North America, millions of people are affected by poverty. High-class members of the United States in charge of large corporations take advantage of these lower class individuals. Impoverished individuals who are able to find a job usually work for minimum wage and experience poor working conditions. These lower class workers do not deserve the lifestyle they must deal with. Low class individuals not only have to struggle with finding employment, but also have to worry about the government of the United States mistreating them. Whether someone is an impoverished immigrant or U.S. born citizen, it is evident that the government and large corporations in North America take advantage of low class individuals by offering them jobs with atrocious pay and working conditions.