Cause Of Poverty In The United States

Poverty will always be an issue that the human race will have to deal with. The reason is not so clear because there are so many reasons. There is not just one reason as to why poverty even exists. But having money is kind of a game that not everyone knows how to play. So, they may be in the game for a while but if you do not play smart all of your money will be gone. The problem with this game is there are no official rules. So, it’s either you play it right or play it wrong. And when you play it wrong you have lost it all.

Although poverty can be a puzzle to understand, reasons that lead to poverty is not too hard to grasp. There are a lot of reasons why people end up homeless and or in poverty. A lot of people think that poor people are just lazy and do not care to get a job or all

they want to do is abuse the system. However, that is not always the case, matter of fact that is not even close to the majority if the cases. A lot of people that are in poverty are in poverty because they are either disabled, or they do not have an education, or the job that they have is just not making ends meet.
Working Poor
There are people who work every day and still cannot make ends meet. Either the job does not pay enough or they are single parents, or both. According to an article done by Robert DeFina, he finds that poor families working at least 1,750 total hours. With these results, it is clear that they work and work hard.

“Although the working poor are a much larger population than the unemployed poor, U.S. poverty research devotes much more attention to joblessness than to working poverty.” (Brady, 2013) “The usual poverty threshold is calculated as the amount of income to buy the minimum required goods and services from the market. This minimum required purchase is greater for these people since they have less time than the average person to produce some goods and services for themselves at home.” (Harvey, 2007) As you can see, the working poor sometimes just cannot find the time in a day to make enough money to take care of their family.

Disabled in Poverty
“Disabled people are now firmly established as being the poorest of the poor.” (Heslop, 2014) I thought this statement was incredibly interesting because in an article written by Amartya Sen, Sen expressed that poverty should not just be looked at as being without money, or poor standard living. It should be viewed as capability- failure because a lot of them are not able to meet the acceptable daily needs for themselves. So I agree with them being the “poorest of the poor” because they lose both ways. A lot of the times disabled people were not always disabled and they were able to hold job positions and then one day all of that changed. In today’s society there are a lot of homes that include disabled persons; this helps us know that the income of that house is not as high as it can be. According to Heslop’s journal families with a disabled person or persons in the home are more likely to be in poverty than those without.

Maria Bagnato administered a survey called WHO DAS II in 2011. The survey measured a variety of limitations between men and women. It showed that women have a harder time getting around, completing house chores, and participation in society. It showed that although disability is already an issue, women with disability suffer more with poverty than disabled men, because of their limitations.

Veterans a part of this section on disability as well because they are considered the work related disability group. They have served out country and when they come back, they are not able to get a job because they are physically or mentally disabled. “The odds of work disability are higher among male and female veterans than among comparable male and female nonveterans.” (London, 2011) According to an article by Kate Tilleczek, there are also strong, and consistent relationships found between poverty and mental health at both the family and neighborhood levels, but the mechanisms by which the connections occur in the biological or social embedding process are less well understood. So, there goes a great amount of veterans living below the poverty line.

Education and Poverty
Education is the key. Especially here in the United States. You can hardly find a job after you graduate from college. So, just imagine those without the privilege of college education. “On average, workers without a college degree earn somewhat more than poverty-level wages, but their wages are still quite low.” (Ferguson, 2005) Now you may think, well they earn more than “poverty-level” wages so they should be good; however, if you add children in the picture, that have to be taken care of, it is easy to fall under the poverty line. According to a study done by William Sutherland, education is one of the key ways to fight poverty. Without it, you cannot get around it. His study also highlighted that children who are brought up in poor and uneducated homes, it becomes a cycle.
The Stigma of it All
We find that being considered poor for a lot of people is a stigma that they refuse to carry. Most poor people do not want to be seen as people who take advantage of the system. So in order for them to separate themselves from those who do, or at least they think they do, take advantage the system, they stigmatize them. Most people under the poverty line know that they are poor, but when statistics are shown about poor people they do not see themselves. “Thus, our informants’ denial of their own poverty and their joining in with the condemnation of ‘the undeserving poor’ reflects, in part, the long-run shame and stigma of poverty and unemployment.” (Shildrick, 2013) This also shows that people who have trouble acknowledging themselves, will never pull themselves out of poverty because they are comfortable with their day-to-day. And are busy calling out who they think are the “undeserving poor”.

My concept map is on the topic of Poverty.

I really enjoyed the lectures on poverty in the U.S. and around the world. So, in my concept map I am highlighting what we recognize as causes of poverty. Three of those main cause I highlighted are, "Lack of education", "Lack of opportunity", and "Disability". We know that poverty in most "normal" situations are combated by education; so, if you don't have an education you cant fight poverty. Education allows you to get a job or career and in turn, in most cases, make you money. Another thing that combats poverty is opportunity. On the concept map, two points stretch from "Lack of opportunity", and those are location and discrimination. A lot of the times depending on where you live you don't have access to a job or if you are a minority employers may not hire you, this is why poverty has a lot to do with opportunities. Finally, disability is definitely something that can push you into poverty because a lot of jobs require you to be able to move around efficiently, and if you are disabled you cant fulfill the job requirements. All of these things are important to look at, when trying to figure out poverty and its expansion around the

world.