The Pros And Cons Of Poverty In The United States

In the locality of Oskaloosa, people see poverty as a problem, but not everyone understands its severity. Ronald Reagan once said “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” Poverty will continue to win and beat down this country if we, the people, don’t do anything about it. The poverty rate in Oskaloosa isn’t as drastic as Haiti or Zimbabwe, or even in the states like California or Nevada.

The current research findings within Texas gives rise to the situation in Nacogdoches County. Although no two counties are alike, research on rural Texas counties reveal common barriers. Many of the same issues are expressed throughout the region. Joliffe (2004) showed that over 40 percent of the U.S. nonmetro population had the greatest prevalence of both poverty and persistent poverty. This is the equivalent to one in six persons in the region living in poverty, and more than one in four living in persistent poverty counties (Joliffe, 2004). This gives impoverished rural families very little income for adequate

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

The ecological dimension is one of the most common ways to define rural characteristics. Noticeable characteristics such as behavior, composition, culture, environment, organization, and resources can be examined to endure a rural macro theme. In simply explanation, it is the interchangeable use of rural and nonmetropolitan and, differing, urban and metropolitan (Hash, Jurkowski, & Krout, 2015). About two thirds of the nations counties are classified as nonmetropolitan areas which include small cities, villages, and open country (Hash et al., 2015). A subculture model of poverty classifies core deficits of the lower subclass as the cause of the problem. Appalachian traditional subculture should not be described as either poverty or farmer

It’s well known that elevated and unrelenting poverty is excessively found in rural areas, with isolated rural areas experiencing the utmost poverty. Mammen and Lawrence (2006) state that time limits enforced by

Benson County (typology code: 38005), which is located in North Dakota, is a non-metro region with persistent poverty and persistent child poverty. It is a farming dependent county that mainly constitutes of Native Americans (USDA ERS, 2015). In 2013, 30.2% of the population were below the poverty level. The county was barely mentioned in any news, but the fact that people are living in substandard lives and the causes of their poverty worth our attentions. From ACE 255, I have learned that there are three explanations for poverty: flawed character, restricted opportunity, and big brother. As far as I’m concerned, poverty in Benson County is a result of a combination of these three causes, with more weight on restricted opportunity. In this

Poverty in South Carolina is an issue for all citizens. The issue is particularly acute if you are a citizen living in poverty, but the issue is of critical importance to those citizens that must support those areas stricken by persistent poverty. Unbeknownst to many South Carolinians is the persistent poverty corridor in which certain counties struggle much more than others long I95. Allendale County stands out even amongst its peers as a county that is struggling to address multigenerational poverty. This paper deals with Allendale County poverty after offering insight into poverty in general within South Carolina.

The term poverty is often used when referring to third world countries like Sudan or Darfur. Painful images of families suffering from malnutrition are often the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, sadly, the same struggle is happening here in the U.S. and even worse, it’s happening right here in Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch reports that three years ago the state of Ohio was 12th in the nation for food insecurity because there were so many people who did not know where their next meal would come from. Now Ohio is ranked 6th in the nation for food insecurity. Many blame the troubles with the unemployment on the state’s difficulty recovering from the recession. Ohio’s poverty rate is rising as the national rate is leveling off (Candisky, 2011). According to the Ohio Poverty Report, Ohio’s individual and family poverty rate are lower than the nation’s average. Urban areas have higher rates but there are still people living in poverty in rural areas. Rates vary between characteristics and circumstances. Many families who receive cash assistance do not usually get out of poverty (Larrick, 2014)

Poverty is present in today’s U.S. social system. For example, as Lesser states in the Clearinghouse Review, “Forty-six million Americans live in poverty” (1). Lesser then goes on to say how forty-six million Americans living in poverty correlates to almost one in every three single-parent families is poor (1). This is a daunting fact as it applies to today’s economic context with “rising unemployment rates and mortgage crises driving more individuals and families to seek the support of a cash-strapped social welfare structure” (Grijalva 1). With this in mind, many legislators are discussing the topic of poverty in the political realm. In order to tally the score of representatives the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law conducted its sixth annual Poverty Scorecard. “The 2012 Poverty Scorecard grades the voting record of every U.S. senator and representative on the most important poverty-related votes in 2012” (Lesser 1). The 2012 votes covered a range of topics such as budget and tax, food and nutrition, health care, housing, and many more (1). The results of the 2012 Poverty

It is an undeniable fact there exists a growing poverty epidemic within American society that needs to be addressed. According to a 2012 report by the Cato Institute the United States government spends nearly one-trillion dollars every year to combat severe financial need through a total of 126 separate welfare programs. While this value by itself seems significantly large, perhaps to an even excessive extent, in reality it had little effect on the American poverty level, never al allowing it to drop below 10.5%. Even with these massive government expenditures aimed at elevating quality of life, for many households an escape from their low-income bracket is still vastly unattainable. Current statistics show that more than 40% of individuals born into the bottom quintile will remain there, failing to escape into a life of financial stability. Despite immense funding, in its existing state of organization, the system of aid currently offered by the American government to lower income household fails to effectively alleviate the living conditions of the impoverished due to its negligence towards payday loans and the other intangible costs of poverty, its temporary and ineffective solutions to fight hunger, and most significantly, its insufficient reliance on an unreliable and inconsistent enforcement from state jurisdictions.

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.

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.

Poverty is a huge factor in the world and in our society. There are several steps we could do to try to possibly reduce the percentage of people living in poverty in the U.S. This is a huge problem in our economy and how it affects people that work for their money. Poverty in America is a news topic that is often overlooked. The demographics that are hardest hit are children, the elderly, and the unemployed. ("US Poverty Level By State.")

Poverty in the suburbs has been a huge struggle for the government and its citizens. The suburbs make up about 60% of our nation’s populations. (Berube & Kneebone, 2013) Between 2000 and 2013, the suburban poor made up 56% of our nations poverty rate. Overall, poverty has increased and shifted substantially from just low income families to the working class. The main reason is wages are not covering individual needs. In efforts of the government, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was established. In 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was implemented. Federal welfare reform gave permission to states allowing them the opportunity to reform their welfare systems.

The logic of poor peoples purchases as they attempt to meet a wealth image they cannot obtain is obscene. It is impossible to provide for their families and live a rich lifestyle under little earnings. Stated by Isabel Sawhill, “None of this means that providing lower-income families with more money is necessarily a bad thing” (Sawhill). The political system works in a matter to benefit poor families with money they do not earn. Poor individuals complain about being poor while it is quite simple to overcome poverty and rely on a career. Pursuing a career and presenting a humble attitude can help with overcoming poverty and presenting a better reputation. Poor individuals need to visualize more than spending money on unnecessary items, work to flip their money without relying on the government, and be themselves not a false image.