The Other America Poverty Analysis

Poverty has now become “As American As Apple Pie”, a situation we choose to ignore, and along with it the millions of families who suffer from it. Many have this tendency to believe that they are safe from falling into poverty; unaware of the multiple situations that can cause one to fall into poverty. It makes one wonder what’s keeping them from tipping over, eventually leading to the question, what makes poverty so common, and why is it still around?

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 has always been with us from beggars outside the gates of Jerusalem to the mentally ill homeless woman in the park. America is known for our huge difference in culture and class. This is due partly to the dynamics behind the political decisions of this country. The president himself admits that America is more unequal than it’s been since the great depression and many of his own supporters say he has failed. America now has, by many standards, the lowest social mobility of all of the high-end countries, meaning that a child born into poverty is likely to grow up as a poor adult. This is surprising for a country that not only prides itself as being a middle class society, but as the society where anyone can make it and where

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.

In Diana George's essay "Changing the Face of Poverty," she explains how the issue of poverty in the United States is misinterpreted. Diana argues that organizations with the primary goal of eradicating global poverty may be the ones contributing to the problem they're fighting against. I can agree with George that Americans have some over simplistic views and stereotypes which then “often fail to overturn cultural commonplaces that represent poverty as an individual problem that can be addressed on an individual basis.” (678) In order to overcome poverty organizations such as Habit need to move past using “the most common understandings of poverty in America." (680)

staggering? Poverty occurs when a person’s need for food, clothing and shelter are not being

Public housing is another program that helps to provide a roof over a family’s heads for reduced costs. Rent in some places can be quite high and a family of four may find it hard even to afford a small 3 bedroom house without breaking their pockets.

To many Americans, poverty is merely a synonym for ‘not rich’. Even those who understand the definition may struggle with the concept that poverty is not a distant, foreign, concern; poverty can occur in any country, region, neighborhood, and household. In a study performed by Carroll et al, 60% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “poor people are poor because of laziness and lack of will power (2011, p. 116). In the same questionnaire, 77% of respondents felt most poor people have the ability to escape poverty without government assistance (Carroll et al, 2011, p. 117). As above facts show, despite the widespread nature of this issue those not living in poverty often have

During these times, Harrington wrote “The Other America” which detailed just how ingrained poverty is in the society of America and how it is concealed throughout the country by the manner of dress, mannerisms, and character and how that inadvertently affects them drastically simply because they blend in with the rest of America that is not struggling economically. Harrington surmises that not only do those in poverty struggle economically but politically as well as their voice is not heard.

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

Poverty is an epidemic that has swept the American nation many times over. Whether it be quietly lingering under the surface, or blatantly staring us in the face as it is in this current recession, it affects people across America on individual, community and national levels alike. While there are many causes and effects of poverty, it is important to view the issue of poverty and its causes from all angles when one seeks to tackle the problem. These factors include socio-economic status, mental illness, family values and work ethics, to name a few. In this essay, I will be examining these factors as they are discussed in the book, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (referred to as Glass Castle throughout essay), as well as in the article

In an article written by Angus Deaton, he discusses the issues behind poverty and why it is persistent in the United States. In the beginning of his article, he presents data from the World Bank which states that 3.2 million out of 769 million of the world's poorest people are living in the United States and are living off of less than $1.90 a day as of 2013 (Deaton). Some of the arguments he mentions that may contribute to the United States high poverty rate include where our poverty line is set, the quality of our necessities, and our government aid.

There is an issue in the United States that a large portion of the population is either choosing to ignore or is simply naïve to the facts. I am a firm believer that poverty is directly associated to education. Research has backed this theory as it shows that 53% of those classified in upper class are college graduates compared to only 15% of whom identify as lower class (Parker, 2012). While there has been a lot of research conducted on who the upper class are and what the lower class need in order to bring themselves out of poverty there has been little to no change in funding practices of public education. If the end state goal of public education is to produce our countries future why are Americans not taking a more aggressive financial

What I have learn from the videos is how those who are economy depressed live life. These people live a life that modern middle class may take for granted. The day to day life they live is a constant reminder of what they don’t have. The mother has been making countless sacrifices for her children and they seem to have appreciated her hard work. This video has shown how the working poor live in America how there is a large disparity. People in America do not necessary live by a cast system but there definitely by a class system, where those with the less resources are treated differently. According to University of California Davis, an estimated 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty. That is seeming a large amount of people in poverty considering

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