Texas Poverty In Texas

1001 Words3 Pages

Poverty in Texas
Poverty rates have increased more in recent years due to the economic recession. In fact, it has been within the United States for innumerable years with Texas being among the states with the highest poverty rates in the country. But what causes poverty? What are the factors that contribute to Texas’ financial stance in comparison to other States? The main causes of poverty in Texas are unemployment, unevenly distributed poverty rates, and cuts regarding government programs.
The population affected by poverty in the state of Texas has increased within the last 5 years. In fact, according to the 2007 census addressed on poverty, approximately 3.934 million people in Texas are living in poverty. This number, however, has increased …show more content…

An important factor that is often overlooked, is the broad border Texas shares with Mexico. Many people with low income are living in areas with poor living conditions, called colonias, near the border. Colonias, or colonies, consist of poorly constructed houses made for people who make 10,000 a year or less. However, these areas lack electricity and water supply; many of the families living have to find their own water throughout the day. The main concern for the people living in these areas are the living conditions: they have limited water supply.. Meaning they are limited to bathing, cooking and drinking water. If we consider the colonias along the Texas and Mexico border, we realize that the population is almost entirely composed of Hispanics living under poor conditions, thus increasing the poverty rate on Hispanics, furthermore increasing the aggregate poverty rates in …show more content…

The money was cut from programs that assisted the poor, such as: Children’s Health Insurance Program and food stamps. I believe the lack of assistance programs, such as the aforementioned programs; have effectively increased poverty percentage nationwide. These programs benefit many families in poverty as providing food at low cost and insurance for the children. Other programs similar to those that provided housing for families in poverty, were also cut drastically, thus increasing the difficulty for individuals seeking to qualify for said programs. What, then, can be done differently to reduce the amount of poverty in Texas?
 Revenue should be increased through tourism and re-distribute its income towards industries. Texas has always been a state of tourism; many tourists come to see the river walk, the Alamo, as well as the other major cities in this State. Along with tourists, Texas has the capabilities and natural resources to attract businesses to this state. It is important to attract development and jobs to Texas, as it will benefit the state economically, while also provide more jobs and open doors to those people struggling in poverty. Increasing the industrialization of Texas may be the beginning to effectively decrease the poverty

Show More
Related

  • The Glass Castle Stereotypes

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Essay On Texas Border Wall

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    The state of Texas faces several issues year round. The state and government agencies pursue to find solutions for these problems. One of the solutions is to finish the border wall to prevent this from happening. Since Texas borders with Mexico one of the main issues it faces is immigration and the trafficking of drugs. The borders along the south side of Texas are an easy pathway to get the immigrants and drugs into the country.

    Read More

  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

    2218 Words  | 5 Pages

    Undisputedly poverty has been one of the major persistent social problems in the United States for hundreds of years. Poverty does not discriminate against Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, homosexuals, heterosexuals, age, gender, or persons with disabilities. Poverty can strike any population, community, ethnic group, and family. According to the U.S Census Bureau, 43.6 million people were in poverty in 2009 which was an increase from 2008. (Insert citation for website). There are multiple causes of why a family or individual can fall into poverty, which includes but not limited to, disability, unemployment, age, and recessions, as for which we have seen through the 2008 recession and the Great Depression. Throughout this paper I will address poverty as a social problem and its causes. I will also focus on how children and family households headed by single mothers are effected by poverty, and how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families came about to help children and families in poverty.

    Read More

  • African American Sociology

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the main causes of poverty is a lack of money. There are some families that do have at least one person employed in the household but the money earned is not enough to provide for the family. Tough decisions such as paying rent buying groceries become a daily challenge for struggling households. Those living in households headed by people with no high school degree are the most likely to enter poverty. Limited options in the job market make it hard for those without degrees the ability to find jobs that will pay above minimum wage. Many Americans earn less than the nation’s median income which hinders most Americans from living a life free of hunger. Children who grow up in poverty suffer more persistent, frequent, and severe health problems than do children who grow up under better financial circumstances. Children of poverty are at an extreme disadvantage and cycle ends up repeating itself until the pattern is somehow

    Read More

  • Why is there so much poverty in the United States?

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    The question “Why is there so much poverty in the United States?” has such a broad spectrum of issues. There is no simple cure or single cause of poverty. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “the 2011 Poverty Guidelines are $10,890 for a single member household and $22,350 for a family of four” (par 13). In addition, “families’ incomes that fall below the threshold given, means that every individual in the household are considered to be in poverty” (par 13). Poverty is too complex an issue to be the result of just one problem, but we can narrow down the subject, to show the effects of how the lack of education can diminish our countries resources and how that has a ripple effect on future generations. Without an education, people receive lower pay; there is an increased rate of crime, and a higher reliance on state and federal aid, which is draining economically.

    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

  • Wage Inequality And The Texas State Government

    1311 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women working in the Texas state government suffer wage inequality because all women carry the expectation that they will leave work to have a baby. Women determine whether they will or will not have kids, but even though their colleagues do plan on having kids or are pregnant, they all have the same designated pay. When hiring women employers have a doubt that they will stay the entire time and that it will be a permanent job so the employer does not feel a need to give them an equal pay compared to a man doing the same job.

    Read More

  • Poverty in America

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Poverty in NC

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is no secret that, within the last decade, America has faced an economic crisis of historic proportions. Though the nation appears to be in a state of recovery from the greatest recession since the Great Depression, there are still major issues to address; namely poverty. Poverty today has hit more homes than ever, especially in places such as Eastern North Carolina. According to the 2010 Bureau of Economic Analysis, North Carolina ranked as the ninth wealthiest state with gross domestic production worth $424.9 billion.[2] North Carolina is among the top states for agricultural output, which consists of poultry, tobacco, hogs, cattle, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. A U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey, however, states that North Carolina’s poverty rate spiked to 18 percent, surpassing the official national poverty level of 15.2 percent (1). While those percentages may seem considerably small, it equates to 1.7 million people without adequate housing, health care, education or employment. This ranks North Carolina as the 12th highest poverty state in the nation. Moreover, the federal government reports that at least 20 percent of the residents of 10 Eastern North Carolina counties have consistently reported living in poverty for the past 30 years. These counties of “persistent poverty” include Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Halifax, Martin, Northampton, Pitt, Robeson, Tyrell and Washington County.

    Read More

  • Poverty and Classism

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the main causes of poverty is the lack of education. The U.S. education system denies students in poverty the opportunities and access it affords to most other students. Without good education, most people would encounter challenges in finding income-generating work, especially when there are few employment opportunities during an economic downturn.

    Read More

  • Food Insecurity In The Dallas Metroplex

    360 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Dallas metroplex is an incredible community that has seen incredible levels of growth within the last few years. People from all over the nation have made Dallas there home and rightly so, as Dallas features a diversity of cultures and opportunities not typically found around the state. With the growth of the population comes the responsibility to help those in need in our community. In the Dallas Metroplex it is estimated that at least 452,000 people are food insecure. In fact, there are several notable cities in the Dallas County that hold families in need of food assistance.

    Read More

  • Four Major Effects Of Poverty In The Native American Community

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty is a problem the whole world struggles with; some are affected more than others. Minorities tend to be the ones that can be affected the worse within countries. The United States is no different in this trend; this country’s minorities are affected by poverty just like in any country. There are three minorities in specific that are largely affected by poverty here in the United States. The three minorities would be; Native Americans, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans. There any many factors that make these minorities suffer with poverty. Often these factors are the same that cause poverty. Each minority has their own group of factors that affect their quality of life. There are four major effects of poverty on these minorities;

    Read More

  • Poverty In The Mississippi Delta

    353 Words  | 1 Pages

    The war on poverty made significant impact on the residents of the Mississippi Delta, especially poor families that were struggling to earn a living. For the first time, the government was offering medical services at subsidized fee. It meant that most of these families could now get medical attention when they fell ill. As Garcia notes, in as much as the rich could still get better medical services after these bills were passed, the poor had access to basic health which was by far better than what was the case before when they had to pay for any little medical services they received. The free food donations are still helping a number of families in the region. Cases of starvation have completely been eliminated in the Mississippi Delta because

    Read More

  • Welfare Poverty Paper

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine yourself living on $14,000 each year under the poverty line. One might have trouble paying for child care, medical assistance, or even feeding their own children. One might struggle in finding a stable job or have a difficult time paying for social security income. The following paper will discuss, how welfare and poverty have affected the United States, what type of people are affected in the process, and how one can help provide cash payments for needy families who are under the given poverty line.

    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

More about Texas Poverty In Texas

Open Document