Unemployment Vs Poverty

Unemployment is seen as one of the possible reasons for the increase in poverty rates, despite the increase in welfare payments. Whilst it is likely that this startling increase in unemployment levels is partly responsible for the increase in poverty, it still

Unemployment is currently measured in the United States by counting those who "do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks, and are currently available for work" (Leonhardt). This means that a great deal of people are not counted as unemployed because they are discouraged and have not looked for work in the past four weeks. Or, the person was injured in some way and they are "not currently" available for work. This does not mean that the people in either of these groups do not actually wish to find work, but it does mean that they are not counted because of an archaic system that has been used by

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 is a hard concept for people to put into words. Ruby Payne states a working definition of poverty in her book A Framework for Understanding Poverty in which she says, “The extent to which an individual does without resources” (7). For a better look, the dictionary defines poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions”

The U.S Census Bureau defines poverty through two measures: The Official Poverty Measure and The Supplemental Poverty Measure. The contrast in what each measure accounts for creates a difference in who are considered impoverished. The Official Poverty Measure is

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).

What is poverty? Poverty is not simply a matter of low income flow. Poverty can be generally categorized as the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/poverty). There are two types of Absolute poverty where individuals have no access to the basic necessities in life including food, water, clothing, shelter and Relative poverty occurs when people do not enjoy a certain minimum level of living standards as determined by a government that vary from country to country, sometimes within the same country (Brunswick and Canada, 2010).

Poverty is a complex societal issue, which includes social, economic and political elements. It is a lack of necessary means to fulfil basic human needs including food, shelter, clothing etc. The U.S. Census Bureau defines poverty as living in a household with a total cash income below 50 percent of its poverty threshold. Official poverty rates in the US as estimated by the Bureau is 12.7 percent for 2016. Official measures concluded that 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty that year, nearly 1 in every 6 people. The measure is based on information provided from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The survey is sent to U.S. households, so the poverty estimates do not include those who are homeless. (Semega,

The largest county poverty rate in households with children is Mexico at 25.8% and barely falling short is the U.S. at 21.6% (OECD 2011). In the late 2000’s poverty rates in the U.S. was at 17.3% just 2.6% higher than Japan (data group labeled “late 2000s”). In 2007 America had 36.5 million individuals living in poverty. Many of these individuals worked either part time or had experienced unemployment. Unemployment is defined as jobless but actively seeking work at the moment.

To look at this issue, a working definition of poverty is needed. As Dr. Williams posed in our class “What is Poverty?” (Williams, 2016) A good working definition comes from Conley”s book. He writes, “Poverty can be defined as a condition of deprivation due to economic circumstances. In this condition a person cannot live with dignity in his or her society”. (Conley, 2011) Poverty can and is divided into two distinct categories. These categories are important in understanding what situation that person is going through.

Poverty within the United States is defined as “having an income below a federally determined poverty threshold. ” Poverty thresholds were developed by the United States government in the 60s. Over time these thresholds are adjusted to account for inflation; it is typical to adjust the poverty threshold levels annually. They represent the government’s estimate of the point below which a family has insufficient resources to meet their basic needs. Any family with less income than that established amount is officially classified as poor. Income as defined can include cash and cash welfare assistance, but excludes in-kind welfare assistance. There are restrictions within the definition of Poverty. A simple example would be that the thresholds are a federal value and no adjustments are made for cost of living differences. The poverty thresholds for 2015 as set by the US Census Bureau working with the Office of Management and Budget are as follows;

Therefore, the economic definition of poverty include two categories: absolute and relative definition of poverty. Relative defines poverty in relation to the economic status of other members of the society: people are poor if they fall below prevailing standards of living in a given societal context. For example, someone who lives in an expensive subdivision yet rents a run-down house and does not own luxurious things could be considered poor compared to the rest of the neighborhood. For the most part, poverty is relative and socially defined. The absolute definition measures poverty in relation to the amount of money necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Where relative poverty sees inequality of income, absolute poverty sees families go hungry, live in inadequate housing, suffer from lack of health care, and possibly not have access to safe drinking water. An important criticism of both concepts is that they are largely concerned with income and consumption.

Unemployment refers to the numbers of people not working and can be measured by the claimant count and labour force survey. There are different types of unemployment and each of them requires different policies to overcome them.

According the US Census Bureau (2016), the definition of poverty is shown as the following:

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).