Ways to Solve Poverty
America, Home of the brave, Home of the free, Home of the poor. A overwhelming amount of Americans in our own country struggle under the poverty line everyday. They struggle for food, water, and a place to rest their heads at night, and they struggle for those for their kids all the while. A person is in a state of poverty when they cannot afford the necessities of life. Poverty is something government needs to deal with more because it carries a double cost to them and the tax payers, the poor people take their needed services, but they are unable to pay back their debt, sometimes they never are. Poverty also leads to a lower economic output, lower education, and lower productivity. Things such as Income and wealth
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The top 20% of American’s own 81% of this nation’s wealth yet they pay 61% of this nations taxes. They are more than able to afford taxes and in a time when this country is in dire need of tax money they need to step up and take those cuts. If the 2nd 20% of American’s only bring in 12.2% of this nations income yet they pay 19% of this nation’s income then it’s time for the rich to start coughing up the cash. The rich 60.2 of the nation’s income and still pay 61% of this nations taxes and that’s not fair. If everyone else can pay without their fair share of income for way worse jobs then the rich should start paying up.
This brings up the most important point, What is the government doing about poverty in America. They run many programs through many departments. Some of these programs include Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, Housing, and Unemployment. But all these programs are running and we still have a 12.1% poverty rate. Is the federal government doing enough for this 12.1%, No. This stat was taken in 2002 and we have had another recession since then and poverty is higher now than it was 30 years ago. We have pretty much overturned everything LBJ did in his war on poverty. Big companies are not helping either by outsourcing jobs that these poverty line American’s could perform. And government is thinking they are helping by raising the minimum
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 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
There are many myths behind the word and status called “Poverty”, this is a highly controversial issue that has affected millions of people worldwide. In society, there is a hierarchy in society and people’s perception of poverty ranges in thought processes such as in our social imagination. There are various reasons people are living in poverty and how it should be addressed. There is a large divide in between socioeconomic classes and this class system has changed people in many different aspects of their life. Some American people living in poverty lack of opportunities and resources to excel in society. People living in poverty can cause no sense of aspiration and not feeling included in society so usually do not become greater than their present circumstances. In this western society we live in, there is a consistent divide in a western society, the upper class will always regulate
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.
It is reported that 18.5 million people are in deep poverty, which means the income of a family is under 50% of their 2016 poverty threshold. It is often said that the efforts to fight Poverty in America has failed. According to surveys, 5% of Americans think that anti-poverty programs have helped decreased poverty, while 47% have said the programs have done nothing. However, in 2014, the U.S census bureau reported that poverty was decreased by 15%.The official poverty rate right now is 12.7%. 8 years after the great recession, the poor families of america begun to emerge from poverty. With the increase of jobs and more safety, poor families were able to climb out of poverty. Census data released today has shown that living in poverty were able to return to pre-recession levels, with poverty declining for all ethnic groups. However, poverty still isn’t disappearing from America. 40.6 million Americans are still living in poverty last year. Historically America has always had a very high poverty rate. It was first rated in 1959 to be 22.4% of people were in poverty. Which is a lot. The poverty rate has been fluctuated throughout the years. In 1973 the poverty rate has decreased to 11.1%, then has increased and decreased to 11 to 15 percent throughout the
The United States ranks among the wealthiest nations in the world, many Americans are living in poverty. Over the past two decades, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. The minimum wage as of now is 7.25. Full time workers work at least 40 hours a week and if a single mother get paid every two weeks she only makes 590 a month meaning that she cannot miss a day of work because she has a child to feed, bills to pay, gas etc.. In the economy there are two categories of poverty that those living in poverty can be placed in Relative Poverty which is lower than current standard and Absolute Poverty which is life threatening. Once you’re in poverty it’s hard to escape from that lower level.
The current poverty rate in America is 13.5 percent (US Census Bureau). That measures out to roughly 43.1 million Americans. What exactly is poverty? Poverty means not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is so much more than just not having enough money. Poverty is not having access to a doctor or medications you may need, poverty is not having access to a good education. Poverty can be the people who are barely able to pay for food and shelter and simply can’t afford other expenses such as car repairs, field trips with their children and any other extracurricular activity.
The problem we are having seems to be there is no dent in the poverty level of America. The U.S. Census indicates that the government spent $871 billion on assistance in 2010. That is nearly $9,000 for every poor and/or low-income person in America. (Rector and Sheffield) The problem which occurs is what people are expected to pay out is higher than what they are bringing in. Where does the government need to start? President Johnson intended the war on poverty to help Americans become self-sufficient but unfortunately the people who are receiving the help are becoming dependent on the help. The standard of living keeps increasing so the help to reach that goal also
while nations like United States of America have worked really hard to eradicate it domestically, it still widely exists internationally. Poverty has been a consistent problem throughout history. No matter what the median income, unemployment or overall property level is, there will always by people who are homeless and hungry. Despite being one of the most prosperous countries in the world, the United States is not immune to it either. The federal government measures poverty by the numbers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, The percentage of children in poverty is 27.7 percent of the total population in poverty with the supplemental measure and 36.1 with the official measure; while people over 65 are 12.7 percent of the total population in poverty in the supplemental measure and 7.6 percent in the official measure.
Ronald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won.” I read the book, Dancing in the dark by Morris Dickstein. This book was about the great depression, and the impacts it had on American life. The traditional thought of poverty, people dying of hunger and people lying in the roads, has been erased. America has abolished poverty by the traditional standards but the thought of poverty and what it is has changed. In America we consider poverty to be spending all your money on bills, so you have no money left for food to feed your family. We consider poverty to be just being poor. One-Third of our population makes less than $38,000. This is not enough to be able to be above the poverty line. Anything below this
Even major cities in our nation poverty. New York, two thirds of the city is economically insecure, Detroit a third the city and its residents currently live under poverty as well, also in New Orleans predominately African-American, the children of that city are under the same circumstances. Poverty levels are increasing so high that as a society it looks and seems that we are choosing to ignore the needs of millions of Americans. There is even a high percentage of americans living in what's called “deep poverty” which is living under less than half of the official poverty rate. Our has more than enough resources to at least cope with poverty but we are lacking the political will and the empathy for our own people.
Funding and support for those in poverty can help people get out as well as preventive measures are needed. Funding for Education, after school activities and programs, birth to three and other programs like save the children. Funding for these programs would help children’s chances of getting out of poverty. In the documentary, Breaking the Cycle of Poverty, said “”.Reasonable government aid that money margins are reasonable and not the bare minimum. Including quality food that isn’t restrictive and limited. Programs for drug use and help for those with mental health instead of just sending them to jail. Overall there is many factors to poverty that need to be aided in order for
Even though having the “poor class” is a necessary evil needed for society to function, most Americans, at some point in time, will experience what it is like to live in poverty or live below the poverty line. One main reason for having a high percentage of people living in poverty is because the U.S. policy makers have ignored the poor and have given tax breaks to those with a much higher income. Funding for welfare was slashed and extended unemployment benefits were ended. With little success with the economic reform the United States has been going through for the past five years, about 14.5 percent of Americans are still living under the poverty line.
is looked at as a substantially impressive nation. Having personally grown up in America, there
We as Americans are extremely lucky. We live in a big country with many resources and almost all the luxuries we ever wanted. On the flip side, in America there are also many people who do not have these privileges. The lower class is a struggling class. For many years, people have been trying to pull themselves up from the lower class and the majority does not succeed. Childhood poverty is a large problem in the U.S. It is said that the poorest people in the United States are the children of the lower class. Childhood poverty could lead to a number of problems such as hunger, violence, physical and mental disabilities, educational problems, homelessness, family stress, sickness, and too-early parenthood. The sad truth is that