The Only Cause Of Poverty In The United States

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

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.

The U.S. is among the richest countries in the world today, yet millions of people in America still live below the poverty level. The number of Americans living in poverty is increasing day by day as well as the number of children. Poverty in America has become a great threat to children’s wellbeing as they are affected emotionally, socially, and even in their school performance (Wood 720). Poverty in America is mainly caused by lack of jobs. Many people who live in poverty in the United States is due to lack of jobs and getting jobs with minimum wage. Another cause of poverty is due to the rise in the cost of living. Poverty exists in America despite the fact that is among the richest nations in the world.

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 and inequality have virtually plagued every country on the planet, including our own wealthy, free, and developed nation. Poverty is when people lack certain resources to meet basic living requirements. Inequality can be equated as the different levels of wealth, opportunities, and resources given to different groups of people. While white people do suffer from poverty, minorities are impacted by poverty and inequality on a much larger scale. Although there are far more white Americans in our country, poverty among African Americans is almost three times the percentage of white Americans in poverty. Overall, poverty affects more than 40 million people in the United States alone. Both poverty and inequality hinder the ability of these 40 million people to provide for their family and pay for housing, food, and living necessities. From my understanding, poverty and inequality are interrelated.

Poverty can affect whose who live beyond their means, and lose a job, whose who don’t want to work, or whose who do not speak the language. Poverty knows no color, age, nationality, or cares about an education.

Lowering the poverty level will effectively help people live better lives because more financially stable, they would have the means to provide and take care of their selves or their families. Poverty in America a topic that is always current, and is a problem that will never be truly abolished. In the United States, almost 13 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. This information, and my interest in the subject, helped me form three questions. What is poverty? How do people enter poverty? And what is being done to combat it?

In the United States, there are about more than forty-six million people living in impoverished conditions today. Poverty is a major conflict issue in this country amongst people who are part of the lower class because American families always had a hard time making ends meet, even before the Great Recession began. Living in poverty puts them at a disadvantage because they have to choose between necessitates like health care, child care, and food in order to help themselves and their family members. Though many reforms had been made to help cope with those who are living in poverty, it has been keeping many from being able to climb the social class ladder because the “War on Poverty” has not been

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).

Most Americans think the United States is the most powerful country in the world in terms of economy and living standards. The United States, land of the free, has millions of people effected by poverty and inequality everyday. Poverty and inequality does exist in this country and is a huge issue that needs to be solved immediately. For this issue to be solved, we have to uncover the characteristics of poverty, get rid of the stereotypes people have about the poor, and discover how poverty can end. In this essay we will discuss the poverty and inequality issue with some common points between three articles.

Poverty within America has steadily been decreasing with it being at 14.8% in 2014, 13.5% in 2015 and the most recent statistic of poverty among Americans being at 12.7 during the year 2016.Although we should not yet claim poverty among Americans is no longer an issue as it is 1.4 higher than it was seventeen years ago. Poverty, although decreasing, is a blight on America and should be deal with to prevent suffering upon Americans. Poverty is a social issue and should be approached as such, a social theory that should be used to eliminate poverty is the social conflict theory as it takes the approach that we should not blame the poor for their situation instead we should blame the way society operates. Society does tend to give poor people benefits albeit, in the wrong ways, society should instead support the poor to obtain a better education and support the natural reconstruction of a neighborhood.

Poverty in the United States is constantly growing and there are different measures that need to be established so poverty can begin to decrease. Barbara Ehrenreich a writer stated in, her persuasive essay, Is It Now a Crime to Be poor?, "It's too bad so many people are falling into poverty at a time when it's almost illegal to be poor" (2015, p.340). Poverty is an issue in the United States, that numerous people are trying to find solutions to. When the economy takes a turn for the worse, that is when the increase in poverty begins to skyrocket. The United States poverty can decrease by creating more jobs, establish better work schedules, and providing paid leave and paid sick days.

“The root cause of poverty is not an individual’s failing, rather it is the structural failings of society” (Barnett, 2016, slide 25). Poverty is rooted in the structural components essential to the economy and/or to institutional environments that favor certain groups over others, usually based on gender, class, or race. Discrimination based on race and gender often create the barriers to social equality. For example, the high rate of poverty among women may be a result of a patriarchal society that excludes women in a male dominated society. The same could be said for the African American population of our society. These two populations in today’s society make up a disproportionate amount of those in poverty.

Before that question can be answered, poverty must first be defined. Poverty is general shortage, deficiency, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of physical assets or money. It is a complex notion, which includes social, economic, and political elements (Jensen, Eric pg. The federal poverty level is a system developed in the 1960s to define poverty by measuring the cost of certain food items and multiplying the total by 3, because in the 1960s a family’s food budget was approximately a third of total expenses. Unfortunately, impoverished individual are thrown into a situation where all of the odds are against them and in the moment, they are not thinking about their taxes, or tucking away a few dollars for retirement fund. The

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