The Social Problem That I Chose For My Final Paper Is Poverty

Poverty is a multifaceted issue, it is dependent on many factors and the ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work. Out of all the possible explanations as to why people are still living in poverty in the U.S., the structural view of poverty covers the most bases. The structural view of poverty explains that poverty can only ‘be understood and explained only with reference to political and economic characteristics of the society’ (Kerbo, p.266). With this in mind, this theory considers the position of the poor in the occupational structure. Since the poor have jobs that require low skill, which means anyone can learn how to do them, there is much more competition for such jobs. Those with jobs that require greater skills, such as doctors,

The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.

Overall, this paper is about how poverty is very prominent in our society, and we need to learn more about it. We need to increase aid to low- income families because they cannot support

The author describes various solutions to fighting poverty across the U.S as well as how poverty can affect individuals. The authors research focuses on the life of Tianna Gaines- Turner and her husband in that even though they both work. It's not enough to cover the expenses they are having to do for themselves and children. And since they can’t sustain the family they can get food benefits such as SNAP. Furthermore, the author also mentions some solutions to fighting poverty. Like increasing federal aid, federal housing programs, as well as individuals that have businesses can help to ease poverty in the U.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.

Poverty is not only an individual problem, but a societal problem. Harrell R. Rodgers wrote an article, “Why are People Poor in America?” Rodgers gives two categories of theories that are used when cultural /behavioral or structural/economic. Behavior/culture theorists look at the behavior, culture and values of the poor as the reason for poverty. While structural /ecIn western culture statistics are an excessively used tool in describing social issues. Numbers help explain a situation, but in excesses, can dehumanize a population. A serious social issue that suffers from desensitization is poverty. Poverty, as it is defined by Webster, is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of supporting; the condition of being poor. The condition of poverty plagues many American families. According to the Census bureau, 15.1 percent of the United States population falls below the poverty threshold. 15.1 percent does not draw the same effect as the actual 46.6 million individuals living in those circumstances. In the United States, poverty has become a growing problem. There are 15 million more people living in poverty today than in the year 2000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2013). The poverty threshold, developed by Molly Orshansky, is a tool used to help indicate how many Americans are in poverty. According to the census, 46.6 million of America’s total population makes less than the poverty threshold for a family of four. The condition of being

Poverty is a hardship that has existed in every milestone of American history. War impacted the economy of the country after the Civil War. The twentieth century would see wars, natural disasters, and economical depressions that contributed to the developing culture of poverty. Poverty in any time period is a shattering experience. While being poor during the Reconstruction, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights movement were each devastating, the nature of poverty would evolve as the culture of each decade evolved. The character of poverty changed most dramatically over the years through Americans’ perception of standards of living and the government’s response to poverty.

The United States is one of the richest and most abundant nations in the world. It is ironic that such high levels of poverty and income equality still continues in such a prosperous nation. Poverty exists due to the economic system that is constructed to allow the increase of wealth on one side and conditions of scarceness that make poverty unavoidable on the other.

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.

The topic of poverty is America has been both a huge focus and a sore subject for many. There are differing opinions on how to handle our growing population of people below the poverty line, with some saying the solution is the good old “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” rhetoric to others saying impoverished people have children and refuse to work just to get bigger checks from their states.

The detentions of American poverty has drastically changed from 1968-200. According to Daniel A Sandoval and other authors the main ages that are affected by poverty are the late 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. Due to lack of work, paying off school bills, and providing for families. By the 90’s poverty rates decreased and by 2004 its boomed up again in parts of the US, Mexico, and Africa. over the years, jobs security had leaked and income decreased.

I believe poverty is a big social issue in America. Poverty can be the main cause of robberies, drugs, alcoholism, prostitution, and homelessness. These are some examples that concern me the most. Many people in this country don’t realize how serious this issue is, although we see it happening all the time. This issue is so overwhelming that it’s not brought up by many people nowadays.

While it has proven to be difficult to end poverty in America, Peter Edelman is optimistic. In his book So Rich, So Poor Edelman makes a call to action. There are four prominent ideas that underpin Edelman’s reasoning throughout the book: (1) More people must understand why poverty is still so prevalent in America; (2) extreme poverty must be taken into consideration as a shocking 6 million Americans’ sole income was food stamps in 2011. This fact alone creates a sense of urgency that drives Edelman; (3) increasing income inequality should be treated as a moral issue; and (4) bold political action will be required if substantive progress will be made in alleviating poverty.

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

I have many thoughts about poverty before I even began this project. I feel that poverty is a terrible thing to have to go through and an even worst thing to have to overcome. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. I have mixed emotions about poverty in society today. I believe as citizens in the United States, we should make sure the percentage of poverty is little to none. It is many strategies that we can use to get to that point as well, that I will explain throughout this paper. I feel as a country these past years, especially in the 2,000’s we have not taken poverty as seriously as we needed to, that is why the percentages are increasing. I feel the middle and especially the higher class should help out more. We need more homes for the poor, community areas that provides breakfast, lunch and dinner that can be available for the poor and even more daycares and facilities where individuals can send their children for little to no cost while the parents can go to work and we also need have more job opportunities as well for the poor overall, so they can get on their feet and successfully provide for their families. I personally believe that these changes are possible for our community, but I strongly believe when it comes to poverty it is highly important to vote.