1.) The poverty line is disputed to be set too low by some, in order for poverty to be present there has to be many unfortunate circumstances existing, in other words, the standard of living for those in poverty has to be barely livable. Our SSI text states that the official definition of poverty in regards to nutrition is that a person is expected to live on less than a dollar per meal, this is not a healthy way to live long term (Kerbo, 2012). Another criticism of the poverty line is that it is measured on income prior to taxes being taken out. This means there are many families that are absolutely living in poverty but are not accounted for or even considered for any government benefits because of the way the income is calculated. One other …show more content…
Our SSI text states that on a family level the children have a shorter childhood and are thrust into adult-like situations at a faster rate, on an individual level poverty makes people feel helpless, dependent and inferior (Kerbo, 2012). I feel the culture of poverty theory does have some truth to it, such as the lack of ego and self-worth of poor people, it’s an obvious conclusion because being poor is not glamorous or enjoyable. I do think that stereotyping people in poverty to certain categories or deciding the traits the poor have is not fair. There is a line on page 263 of our SSI text that I completely agreed with in relation to this theory, “When we focus on specific values and actual behavior, we find wide variance among many groups in the society” (Kerbo, 2012). There are many people in poverty that decide to make a change and better their circumstances, there are many who don’t, there are many who are also perpetuating the circle of poverty in their families, regardless being poor does not mean they don’t have any values or are simply complacent in their …show more content…
Our SSI text explains that “the poor are reacting realistically to their situation”, in other words, the poor have learned to live with their situation and therefore they accept the fact that their values are as such because anything more would be unattainable for them (Kerbo, 2012). In this view of poverty, the reasons for poverty are not due to the differences from the poor and the middle class, it is due to their situations. I agree with this view of poverty more than the culture of poverty argument, because personally I feel most people in society are not complacent with being poor their entire lives. The situational view of poverty focuses on the social and economic circumstances that are the source of poverty instead of the individual reasons, like the attitudes, values and behaviors of the poor regarded with the culture of poverty view. There are certain times in some individual’s lives where they have to experience poverty, such as after an injury or a death in the family, they may experience poverty for a time, but it is not a learned trait through
David K. Shipler in his essay At the Edge of Poverty talks about the forgotten America. He tries to make the readers feel how hard is to live at the edge of poverty in America. Shipler states “Poverty, then, does not lend itself to easy definition” (252). He lays emphasis on the fact that there is no single universal definition of poverty. In fact poverty is a widespread concept with different dimensions; every person, country or culture has its own definition for poverty and its own definition of a comfortable life.
Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,
Although poverty has minimized, it is still significant poverty which is characterized by a numerous amount of things. There are two types of poverty case and insular. “Case poverty is the farm family with the junk-filled yard and the dirty children playing in the bare dirt” (Galbraith 236)Case poverty is not irretraceable and usually caused if someone in the household experiences “ mental deficiency, bad health, inability to adapt to the discipline of industrial life, uncontrollable procreation, alcohol, some educational handicap unrelated to community shortcomings” (Galbraith 236).Case poverty is often blamed on the people for their shortcomings but on some levels can be to pinpoint one person's shortcomings that caused this poverty. Most modern poverty is insular and is caused by things people in this community cannot control. “The most important characteristic of insular poverty is forces, common to all members of the community, that restrain or prevent participation in economic life and increase rates of return.
situation they are in. “Poverty is such a personal experience that only the poor can understand it”
The Federal Government defines poverty as income that falls below the United States Poverty threshold. (Begun 95). If a person is below or right at the poverty line they are considered poor. It also refers to the lowest level of income a person can make and afford the minimum necessities. (Bender and Leone 23). The poverty line was adopted by the government in the mid 1960's. Not included in the income figure are cash benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid.(Le Vert 50). The poverty rate is adjusted for different sexes, races, ages, and family structures. The government adjusts the poverty line each year according to the cost of living.
According to Schwartz-Nobel, America will lose as much as 130 billion in future productive capacity for every year that 14.5 American children continue to live in poverty (Koppelman and Goodhart, 2007). Sadly the seriousness of poverty is still often clouded by myths and misunderstandings by society at large. This essay studies the issue of poverty and classism in today's society.
What do you consider poverty to be? Do you have a definitive explanation of it or do you consider it an abstract circumstance? In the article "What is Poverty? Jo Goodwin Parker gives her ideas on what poverty is. First given as a speech, this article is written as an attack on human emotion.
Poverty can be defined as the state of being extremely poor. This means that a person has very little to no financial resources or provisions necessary for survival. It proves to be a serious issue that many families in the United States have to face on a daily basis. Poverty is a serious issue because it influences employment rates, which in turn hurts economic growth when the rate is low, and it also contributes to the number of Americans whom are actually homeless today. From a sociological point of view, poverty can be looked at using several perspectives such as the functional perspective, which shows how poverty exists to keep society up and running; the symbolic interactionism perspective, in which stereotypes come into play, showing
Poverty is not just lacking monetary items and possessions, or a statistic. Poverty is how one chooses to observe the world. One can look around and see the less fortunate and declare themselves better, or they can see their equals who desperately need some assistance to find their footing. The Oxford Dictionaries defines poverty as “The state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.” However, this definition is almost the exact opposite of how Jacqueline Novogratz has come to define ‘poverty’.
The culture of poverty suggests that the poor people have bad hygiene, have diseases, lack education and can only be able to work hard manual labor, and this has been the prejudice associated with poverty-stricken people. People with a culture of poverty have no sense of history. They are people who hold strong feelings of helplessness, not belonging and marginality. The culture of poverty states that poor people are unmotivated and have poor work ethics. It also states that poor parents are uninvolved in their child's learning process because they do not value education, and this creates the cycle of poverty. In that, the children will lack the necessary skills to succeed in society. The culture of poverty also states that poor people are linguistically deficient and they tend to abuse drugs and alcohol, (Phillipe 2001).
The second measure is poverty gap index (P1) it measures the extent to which household fall under the poverty line (the poverty gaps) as a proportion of the poverty line. The addition of these poverty gaps gives the lowest cost of eradicating poverty, if transfers were perfectly targeted. But this measure does not show changes in inequality among the poor household. The third measurement is squared poverty gap (“poverty severity”) index (P2) it is averages the squares of the poverty gaps relative to the poverty line (All JH, 2005).
What are the definitions of poor and poverty ? Many people hear the words poverty and have different meanings, so how do we know which definition and I poor is the correct one? According to many people poverty may mean a person who does not have any money to do the things they want to do, however most people can afford to live only on the things they truly need. This is just one example; there are many other definitions of the word poverty. Then what do people consider to be the meaning of the word poor? Some may say poor is not having enough money for that extra something at the supermarket or at the mall. What exactly are the true definitions of each word, and how do you tell the words apart and how do you know what to believe.
The Culture of Poverty is a theory that was introduced by Oscar Lewis, and is defined as “a label for a specific conceptual model that describes in positive terms a subculture of western society with its own structure and rationale, a way of life handed on from generation to generation.” (Lewis, p19) This concept which has helped shape the liberal discourse of the 1960s, purports that there are persons who remain mired in poverty because their lifestyle entrenches them in the low socioeconomic bracket which in turn obstructs their social mobility. David L. Harvey with contribution by Michael Reed, analyzed Lewis’ theory in their paper The Culture of Poverty: An Ideological Analysis. In this writing they concluded that Lewis was rooted in a Marxist background and argued that liberal and conservative thinkers have misinterpreted its application over the years. Harvey and Reed’s critique will be used to examine the conservative position on poverty that Lawrence Mead uses in his writing of The Logic of Workfare: the Underclass and Work Policy, and the validity of Harvey and Reed’s position will also be assessed.
Poverty, also known as the silent killer, exists in every corner of the world. In fact, almost half of the world’s population lives in poverty. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 46.7 million people living in poverty the year of 2014 (1). Unfortunately, thousands of people die each year due to this world-wide problem. Some people view poverty as individuals or families not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. However, this is not the true definition of poverty. According to the author of The Position of Poverty, John Kenneth Galbraith, “people are poverty-stricken when their income, even if adequate for survival, falls radically behind that of the community”, which means people
In conclusion, sometimes actions take place that changes a person’s outlook on life and as you can see poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/ her.