Poverty in America: Government Welfare Programs are the Solution

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Poverty is quite an issue not only in third world countries but also here in the United States. Interviews were conducted with 74 families with school-age children, including 44 families living at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and 30 families living above 150% of poverty (Heymann 5). Over 14 million U.S. children lived in poverty in 1997 (Sherman and Sandfort 555). Many times it is easy for people to hide certain aspects of their lives. However, poverty is not one of them. When a person is poor, it is humiliating for themselves, their families, and is very difficult to overcome. Although poverty is not always a choice, it is a preventable problem in today’s society that can be fixed. If people have the ability to recognize that this is a problem that affects people everywhere and are willing to do something about it, the percentage of poverty-stricken persons would be down to almost nothing. Thousands of books and essays about poverty, causes and possible fixes have been written for others to gain an understanding and pocket a little bit of knowledge so this can soon be fixed. There are millions of organizations in today’s world that beg for money, clothes, and food so they can be sent overseas to help a poor child in Uganda or Haiti. Helping nationwide is always a good thing to be a part of; however, there are many things that can be done in each person’s community, which is always a great place to start. As a group, we all spent time with children in our community who do not come from the most financially well off families. As with the majority of small communities, Anderson took a hard hit economically when money was lost and our entire nation took a turn for the worse. Many people lost jobs or were laid o... ... middle of paper ... ...en have lived in poverty in 1997- more than in any year since 1966 to 1990” (Sherman and Sandfort). This article focuses on the importance of ending poverty on all levels. To be able to do this, it would take the cooperation of people from every level of the system. Government policies would need to be made or stepped up to represent the people and give back what they constantly take away. Each state can take similar steps to reassure persons in their own regions they will be well taken care of. However, the last level is where the average person can begin to get involved-your own community. Each community involves a number of people who are responsible for studying and documenting data concerning poverty which provides assistance to different leaders in the community and will enable leaders in the community to reach out to more people that are affected by poverty.

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