The War On Poverty And Poverty

Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.

Poverty is a major issue that has worried America for years. America has worked extremely hard to end poverty,it still widely exists. There are some solutions to this world problem though such as food stamps, shelters, and obama care. It is important that while the challenges facing poverty are large, the solutions are feasible and can happen.

More than 800 million people in the world are malnourished, 777 million of them are from the developing world (Raphel, S., 2014). Poverty is an issue that must be addressed to the population loud and clear or everyone will end up suffering. There are many families trying to survive and live from paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, there are some families that are unable to support himself or herself or any family member. One important key issue of poverty in the United States is inequality. Many Americans blame the poor people for their own fate but you should never judge a book by its cover. There can be many reasons why an individual or families end up in poverty. For example, low wage jobs, discrimination and social inequality, vulnerability to natural disasters, war and political instability. Another big issue we face today is child poverty. This is a very critical issue because these young children are our future. If we let these children live in poverty, there is a higher chance they will drop out of school, look for work in order to support their family, or give up in life.

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

The United States has the highest rates of poverty and income inequality among any developed nation due to economic policies that prevent economic growth, a welfare system that has created a culture of dependence, and a decline in marriage. As evidenced by the current administration’s policies, high taxes and heavy regulations do not help the economy to grow. These prevent businesses and industries from growing, which in turn increases unemployment and the poverty level. Fifty years since President Johnson’s announcement of the War on Poverty, the poverty rate is reported by the Census Bureau to be currently 14.5% which is approximately the same as it was in 1967, three years into the war. This means that the War on Poverty has had essentially

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.

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.

Poverty in America dates back to the first settlers that landed with the Mayflower on the beaches of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The settlers that came from Europe, did not come because they were wealthy and looking for a new adventure. Rather they were looking to escape the hard life that they had been forced to live in their respective countries and towns. Some were escaping religious persecution, others were running from debt, others still were looking for a new start after hardships in their life had overtaken them. These people largely had their work ethic and maybe some capital, but poverty has existed since Europeans arrived, and though there are no records of it, I can be reasonably sure that there was some form of poverty

Poverty in the United States has been on the rise for many years, especially after the 2007 recession. The nation 's poverty rate is currently 15.1% which is the highest since 1993. Ever since the recession, the poverty rate has gone up 2.6% from 2007 through 2009. In 2006, 36 million Americans were living under poverty but that number rapidly rose to 46 million in 2012. The United States continues to provide billions of dollars in foreign aid to other countries even though 46 million Americans are living under poverty. The United States should provide less funding for international foreign policy because it is statistically proven that money spent on foreign aid is not as effective as money spent on programs in the United States.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson launched the “war on poverty” during his speech at the State of the Union address in 1964. During this address his goal was to encourage everyone to join forces and to believe that ending poverty was possible. The 50th anniversary of this speech has brought various debates whether the plan instilled worked or failed and how much is the governments responsibility. One side feels the war was a success and notes the improvement made for many Americans and what could have transpired if this war was not declared. The other side will state that the war implemented failed although money was invested and that poverty is a social problem. They suggest that poverty and malnutrition existed in the 60s-70s but is not the case today. However, the war has not ended since poverty still exists fifty years later so changes need to be made.

In order to more clearly understand the severity of poverty in our nation, we must first look back to the source of the issue. With the start of The Great Depression in the 1920s, economic downturn was at it’s worst. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, millions of investors on Wall Street were uprooted. This caused consumer spending to drastically decline over the next several years. With this decrease in consumer spending, nearly 15 million Americans were laid off and half of the country’s banks failed. President

In the article “Poverty” by The State of Working America it shows that the poverty rates in the Unites States through statistics. Statistics have shown that 15.1 percent of Americans were living in poverty in 2010. This was a slightly huge increase from the poverty rate in 2007. Statistics have also shown that 45.8 percent of children who living in poverty are African American and only 14.5 percent of white children are living in poverty today. Statistics also show that “among racial and ethnic groups, African Americans had the highest poverty rate, 27.4 percent, followed by Hispanics at 26.6 percent and whites at 9.9 percent.” (Poverty, 1) In addition this article also states that “Income inequality is the largest factor contributing to higher poverty rates. Increased numbers of minorities and single-mother-headed households are often cited as determinants of higher poverty rates, though they are much smaller contributing factors.” (Poverty, 2) This shows that the “The War on Poverty” legislation by President Lyndon B. Johnson did not actually help solve the poverty issue in the Unites States because poverty in America still exist

Poverty in the United States is a big concern that the nation face all together. Poverty is the main reasons why people are homeless, do not have enough food to eat, cannot get the medical help needed, and why there are so many crimes throughout the world. The main focus is poverty in the United States and how as a nation the citizens came together to help one another out. RONALD REAGAN famously said, “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” With 46 million Americans — 15 percent of the population — now counted as poor, it’s tempting to think he may have been right (Edelman Para 1). Poverty effects each and every one of our citizens just because fixing poverty requires money, millions and millions of dollars must come from someone. That money comes from taxpayers that works hard for their money whether it is minimum wage, high wage employees, or even property owners. Throughout history, one of the solution of poverty in the United States is providing free aid to the general public who qualifies or meet certain standards of being poor and in need. It started long ago when poverty was born, poverty was born in the depression era where the population of the people was jobless, homeless, and left to steal from the fortunate just to survive. Although Welfare has changed significantly from providing aid to single mothers with dependents and war veterans’, it is still a source of income that keeps people from suffering financially alone. Unemployment benefits, welfare, and

Poverty is a problem throughout the world and throughout recorded history. Poverty in America has been around since the founding of this country; when the first poorhouses were established. Handling the issue of poverty has been debated just as long. No matter how rich the United States is there will always be people at the bottom of the income ladder. We all agree that poverty is a problem and we want to solve it, but what exactly is poverty? Is the current welfare system working to eliminate poverty in the United States? No.