The Pros And Cons Of Poverty

Living in poverty has a wide range of negative effects on the physical and mental health and well being of individuals (apa.com). Hunger, child development, risk of infectious disease, low social mobility, inadequate and affordable housing, economic isolation, homelessness, lack of education and information, unemployment, violence, health issues, drugs and drug use are some of the effects of poverty in society. All of the characteristics of poverty are devastating but some are more complex than others. In my opinion, the major problems are crime, education, housing, unemployment, and the lack of food. I think that some of the affects of poverty can cause other problems to arise. For example, when individuals live in inadequate homes (roaches and rats everywhere, no clean running water, and there’s mold everywhere) living in unsanitary conditions can cause disease and other health

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 rates in the United States are at their highest in the extremely urban and truly rural areas of the country. However, poverty rates, as measured by the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, are higher in non-metro areas as compared to metropolitan centers. The demographics of poverty offer insight for future policy considerations to both public administrators and policy writers beyond the demographics of simply rural versus metro citizens. For example, in 2016 rural White citizens were half as likely to live in poverty as either Black or Native American citizens. In addition, a female head of household in a rural area is nearly eight times as likely to live in poverty as a married couple. Couple these demographics with the fact that only 46 million citizens live in nonmetro areas – roughly 15% of the national population – it is not surprising that rural areas seem to receive less attention by federally elected officials than urban and suburban areas with few, if any, programs geared specifically to known problem characteristics.

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.

“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).

Poverty, in economic terms, is typically based on a poverty line, which measures the minimum amount of income deemed sufficient for livelihood. Although, poverty can also connotate the deprivation of capability.

Poverty effects each ethnicity, and gender differently, African Americans typically live in the greatest poverty, followed by Hispanics, Non-Hispanic Whites, and Asians. It can be found largely in the homeless, immigrants, children and the elderly, and in concentrated urban areas like Dallas, New York and Los Angeles. Poverty can be caused by situations like accidents that leave an adult unable to work, those working low wage jobs. It can also be cause by poor money management like when my family lived in poverty. In 2008 my grandparents passed away, my father took the money we inherited and moved us to Washington, he ended up giving away all of our money to a man who ran away with it. Thankfully our house in Missouri had not sold yet so we were able to move back into it. My parents struggled to find jobs again, and for almost a year we lived off of the donations given to us by

Poverty can be defined as a state of being extremely poor, not having the ability to own any possessions of their own. When looking at the global economy as a whole, it becomes very ostensible that the majority of people living in poverty is women and children. All over the world millions of women and children are living in poverty. Whether we are looking at a developed country or a less developed country, it is adamant. Between the different countries there are many different reasons on why an increase in poverty has occurred but the consequences that are left from poverty is all the same.

Poverty is an authentic life issue people all over the world continue to struggle with. There are many countries that try to help those in poverty, but a complete solution has not been found. Although there are countless definitions of poverty, according to Schwartz, he states in his article the United States Government says; “Poverty is a state of deprivation, or a lack of the usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions”. The government calculates poverty based on the total income a person may receive and it does not include non-cash supplements (Schwartz).

Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support: condition of being poor (Poverty, n.d.). There are numerous reasons that contribute to the overwhelming poverty rates in America, some of which cause sever hunger and death. The economy, cultural beliefs, minimum wage, and lack of jobs are a just a few reasons more than 45 million people are in poverty. The American government has set the limits to what is considered to be poverty under a set guideline of 48 possible thresholds. The thresholds vary according to the size of the family and the ages of the family members. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, poverty

Unfortunately, poverty is a complex phenomenon. It occurs on a structural level, as seen when discussing poverty rates, and on a personal level. In order to help individuals living in poverty, professionals must move beyond any myths and biases they may hold. Poverty cannot be fully grasped without an appreciation of the social environment in which poverty exists (Seccombe, 2011).

Poverty can be defined as the condition where people basic need for shelter, food, and clothing are not being met. Whereas Jensen (2009 ) define poverty as a chronic and debilitating condition that results from multiple adverse synergistic risk factors and affect the mind, body and soul. Jensen (2009) has identified six types of poverty. The six types of poverty are situational, generational, absolute, relative, urban and rural poverty. Situational is caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often temporary. Generational is when two generation within the family have been born into poverty. Absolute involves a scarcity of

Poverty is “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor” (Dictionary.com, 2017). Based off this definition poverty is a condition that can cause a cascade of cause and effect actions that is detrimental to families and individuals both physically and mentally. Haan, Kaplan, & Camacho (2017) completed a study on the correlation between social and economic status and health in adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the lower the socioeconomic class the higher incidents of diseases and deaths related to chronic diseases (p.1161-1162). Just being without money or little money was not the only indication of health indication, a person living in an area with higher poverty issues

When refer to define poverty, the difference between the traditional unidimensional approach and contemporary multidimensional approach for the measurement of poverty should be considered. While only one variable is submitted in terms of the traditional approach, for example, consumption or income, multidimensional approach, for example, Sen’s capability theory, expands the amount of dimensions alongside which poverty is determined. The multifaceted reality of poverty, conversely, makes it tricky to confine the essence of this experience by means of a single uni- or multidimensional approaches for measurement (Fusco, 2003).

Poverty can be defined as the state of being poor which refers to the deprivation or insufficiency of basic needs which include food, water, shelter, clothing, and education. In America, poverty affects millions of people with a poverty rate of almost 15%. Poverty is an important social problem to address because it affects everyone in a society either directly or indirectly. Those that are affected directly are about 47 million people with a majority of those being in certain groups that are at a higher risks of living in poverty such as families with children, single parents, certain ethnic minorities, or people with disabilities, however, poverty can still affect anyone, in any group.