Analyzing Poverty in the United States

1005 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Factors that lead to poverty

Poverty

Poverty is a prevalent issue that many Americans face and it has been a serious problem over centuries. Every year there are people at risk of hunger. Combating poverty is not an easy task; there are many underlying issues that need to be addressed. Fortunately there are policies in place to assist with in decreasing the negative effects of poverty; however, some of the policies may cause people to become more dependent on government assistance. As a result it may cause a rise in taxes to support these policies and programs. Poverty is very common and widespread around the world. Unanswered questions that arise in regards to poverty are what can be done to resolve it, what are the causes of poverty, and is it possible to eliminate poverty entirely. Based on research and my personal experiences, government aid and housing are some resolutions to decrease poverty.

With the increase of unemployment in the United States, people find it difficult to make ends meet, so they rely heavily on unemployment benefits. Unemployment checks enable people to support their family and pay their monthly bills while they are seeking employment. My friend James has been working for Safeway for about eight years and got laid off with a wife and a two-year-old daughter to support. With the help of the unemployment check, he was able to provide for his family temporarily until he found a job where he was able to provide for his family permanently. Indeed in 2010, unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people above the poverty line—which is roughly $17, 300 for a family of three. A report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) gives some indication of what might lie ahead for people who exhaust their benefits (Kaufmann). ...

... middle of paper ...

... Poverty: A Little Help for the Long-Term Unemployed? | The Nation. N.p., 8 May 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .

Kittle, M.D. "Fraud Still a Problem in Extended Unemployment Benefit Programs « Watchdog.org." Watchdogorg RSS. N.p., 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .

Newsom, McKellar. "Violations and Vouchers: An Interview with a Section 8 Police Officer." The BiggerPockets Blog RSS. N.p., 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .

Stillwater, Jane. "HUD "Section 8" Housing: The Revenge of the Trailer Trash?"OpEdNews. N.p., 14 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

    2980 Words  | 6 Pages

    Zuberi, Dan. Differences that Matter: Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United. New York: Cornell University Press, 2006.

    Read More

  • The Myth Of Poverty In America

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    As stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the test of our progression is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Many people may agree with this statement considering that the United States is such a wealthy country and in 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States and 15% of all Americans and 21.8% of children under age eighteen were in poverty.The honest truth is that many people do not know the conditions this group of people must live in on a daily basis because of the small number of people who realize the struggle there is not a great amount of service. In the article Too stressed for Success, the author Kevin Clarke asks the question “What is the cost of being poor in America?” and follows the question by explaining the great deals of problems the community of poverty goes through daily by saying, “Researchers have long known that because of a broad reduction in retail and other consumer choices experienced by America's poor, it is often simply more expensive to be poor in the United States.

    Read More

  • Politics and Poverty

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are three areas, which have broad and differing views on how to combat poverty. Those three being, Welfare, Social Security, and Taxes. The following arguments present how those different perspectives affect the poverty issue in America today.

    Read More

  • The Homeless in Canada

    2623 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hastings County, Social Housing, “Boxed In” April 2005 (pg. 6, 7, 15, 16, 23, 24, 108) Local Sources (pg. 110-114) Retrieved from: http://www.hastingscounty.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=88

    Read More

  • The Logic Of Stupid Poor People

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poverty is a complex and growing problem in the United States. As of right now there is no solution. There are proposals and acts, such as Obama Care, that were enacted in an attempt to help people in poverty, and there are so many organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and The Hunger Project, that try to aid people when they start to lack the necessities, like food and shelter. College students are graduating college with a large amount of student loans and no way of paying them off, people are being evicted from their homes, and employees are being laid off. The unemployment rate in the United States in 2015 was five percent, that’s about fifteen million people. It’s becoming difficult for people to find jobs, therefore making it hard for people to get back on their feet and start living a comfortable lifestyle. Poverty in the

    Read More

  • The Working Poor in America

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hage, David. “Purgatory of the working poor: people seeking help from the job-training and income-support systems face a bureaucratic paper chase and limited resources. There are oases of progress, but much remains to be done”. The American Prospect Inc. Sep 2004.

    Read More

  • Homelessness in America

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Education can be somewhat helpful to people headed toward poverty or homelessness. However, new research is showing that education is needed but alone it is simply not enough to help people get jobs and help their situation. Along with their education, the poor need job training in the area of work they are looking towards (Bernstein 1). The training along with the mandatory education helps people excel in something they are good at and improve their job chances. The people who do get their education and job training then run into another roadblock. In the U.S. economy, typically low-wage jobs are more abundant. In fact, the low-wage sector of the economy is the part that is projected to grow the most. In the next ten years, thirty new low-wages jobs are expected to be added to the work force. Of those thirty, half of the new jobs will require very little training (Bernstein 3). This results in a lower quality of work and less pay. Many people on the verge of poverty occupy these low paying job...

    Read More

  • Welfare In How To Land The Job You Want

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Our current unemployment situation matches the Oxford dictionary definition, financial support is given to those who are unemployed or those in need. People nowadays who receive welfare think it is an entitlement, and not welfare, because the people who receive welfare think they have earned it by simply getting government money” (Einhorn).Recipients do not acknowledge the fact that welfare is not intended for those who are too lazy to get a job; it is only meant for people who simply cannot or just happened to get laid off for a few months. “The five requirements of collecting unemployment are as follows: being able to work, involuntary jobless, available to work, and currently looking for work” (Einhorn). The program, which was created around the 1930’s, was only meant to provide income for week to week necessities as the matter of food, clothing, and shelter (Einhorn). One of the drawbacks of this is that the longer the government supplies this, the longer it will take an individual to accept a job. A Denmark Economic Council study established that a person waited until the special benefits lapsed before accepting a job (Einhorn). The lengthy aid of income allows those who are inactive to pick what they like instead of the first opening that becomes available. That is unfair, because majority of people in need of a job, take

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Unemployment In America

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    In August of 2009, the unemployment rate in the United States was the highest it had been since the Great depression approximately 80 years before that. During that month, 9.6% of Americans were unemployed. That may not seem like very many people but 9.6% of the population is 29,452,800 people. During that month, over 29 million people were unemployed. Now in November of 2015, that percentage has gone down to 5.1%; which means over 16 million people are still unemployed because of the recent rise in the United States population. In the past 15 years, unemployment has become a major issue in the United States and we are in dire need of a great solution. Thank God we have welfare! Welfare helps so many people who aren’t educated enough to get a job to feed their growing families. Welfare programs have been set in place by the government to ensure a certain standard of living for the entire country.

    Read More

  • Federal Unemployment Insurance

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two years ago Emmy-winning reporter and producer Thanh Tan had an article in the Seattle Times asking unemployed workers to share their first-hand experiences using unemployment insurance and their position on a federal extension. Within a matter of days, over 300 people responded to the post; many with anecdotes of the care and relief they received through the organization.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Children And Poverty

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poverty is “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions” (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2015); in other words, struggling to provide a comfortable living style. It is the cause of family stress and many other problems, especially for the children. Millions of people around the world are struggling with poverty; families suffering to provide enough food seem to be growing in numbers. According to the United States Census Bureau, the poverty rate was highest in the 1960s and decreased greatly in the 1970s. However, it is now slowly starting to increase again. Recently released census data by the Bureau showed that one in five people are living in poverty (Census Bureau, 2014). Poverty is even

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Poverty

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty is an undeniable problem in America. In 2014, 14.8 percent of the United States was in poverty (“Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet”). There are more people in the United States than it seems that do not have their basic necessities. In an

    Read More

  • Unemployment Persuasive Essay

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is clear the importance and benefits of extending unemployment insurance benefits to those law abiding citizens is beyond beneficial. Not only are the economic benefits of increased consumption a positive outcome, but so are the decreased applicants for welfare, and overall well-being of society. The New York Times provided the following graphics to depict the changes in layoff, unemployment claim, departure, and hiring rates over the past 12 years. As you can see, layoffs were at a twelve year high in 2009, and have tapered off since, but the number of those who applied for unemployment insurance benefits after being laid off in 2009 and later are among those struggling to seek new positions in the work force, and need the extended temporary insurance benefits.

    Read More

  • Solutions to Poverty

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty is a major problem in the United States today. Social, economical, political, and cultural factors all contribute to poverty. Education and economic development are two major issues that will help prevent poverty. The United States Census Bureau defines poverty as an "economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain basic needs for food, housing, clothing, health services and education." In other words, poverty is powerlessness, a lack of representation and freedom. Poverty is an issue that the world faces everyday.

    Read More

  • Cause and Effect Essay: Unemployment

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most life changing effects of unemployment is the loss of income. Especially if they are a single parent of if they have a large family to support. Having no money means eventually having no food, no clothes, no shelter, and no car. It also prevents one from doing many things and activities, even though their amount of leisure time has increased. One might not have money to go to the movies, play on sports’ teams, or do any other recreational things. Being unemployed for a long enough time leads to a lot of debt. Any money that has been saved ends up getting spent rather quickly with all of today’s living expenses. Twenty thousand dollars may seem like a lot of money to some people, but with no income that money gets spent before you know it.

    Read More

More about Analyzing Poverty in the United States

Open Document