The Effects of Poverty in America
“In 2007 about one out of every eight children in America was on food stamps. Today that number is one out of every five” (U.S Census Bureau). This statistic from the U.S Census Bureau illustrates how the poverty level of Americans is getting worse and worse. This statistic explains what every day poor American families must face and that it also greatly affects the lives of their children. In today’s society, America is ailed by the instantaneous increase of Americans living in poverty, causing families to take several risks in order to provide all of their family’s necessities.
Although it may seem that America is the “land of opportunity”, millions of Americans struggle to survive on how much they earn. Throughout the United States, indigent Americans experience many difficult obstacles in order to survive illustrating their need to provide for their family. A recent article about understanding the effects of poverty states “The number of homeless children throughout the U.S has increased by 60 percent over the past six years” (Sheffield, Rachel). This statistic is very scary because poverty in the U.S is constantly getting worse. The amount of homeless families has increased, which causes their children to struggle through school and have a much harder time becoming successful in the future. Poverty affects everyone in their family and puts a lot of stress on the parents to make enough to survive. Millions of American families tend
Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids :Summary In “Our Tired, Our Poor, Our kids”(2001), Anna Quindlen claims that “There are many homeless mothers and children”(332).Quindlen addresses this issue by needing to find homes for many children the past month (“thousands”) ,as well for those families that wait by their belongings until found a room to sleep. The population of homelessness people isn’t decreasing it’s increasing rapidly. She reveals these problems in order to inform people the outrages numbers of homeless families ,and also “explains some of the effects of homelessness on children,emphasizes the importance of affordable housing,and touches on the effects of welfare reform on homelessness”(329).
Rank explains, “households in poverty can be found throughout a variety of unban and suburb landscapes, as well as in small towns and communities across rural America,” (Rank 2 of 3). One may conclude that many destitute families are confined to certain places, which divide them between the rest of the population. This creates barrier that prevents these families from improving their living conditions. There are many small regions where poverty is common. Jade Walker, the author of “Number Of Homeless Children In America Surges To All-Time: Report”, is a veteran journalist with twenty-five years of experience covering international/national affairs, crime, the publishing industry, new media, and obituaries.
2015). My claim is to provide an explanation on how poverty affects American students and their education. One out of every 18th person in the U.S. still lives under the poverty line (Bishwa A. 2012). A big reason why many Americans are dropping down to the lower class is due to divorce, and getting laid off, as factories upgrade their competition, and stock prices by relocating jobs overseas. So how does low income affect their children's?
The following paper will aid in finding the fundamental components of Homelessness, such as the causes, effects, and solutions. Many people are snapped back to reality when they can’t afford to pay rent, buy food, or otherwise -low income becomes their safety’s demise. With the competitiveness in the job market, a large abundance of people cannot find jobs higher than minimum wage, which is not even close to the amount of money one can live comfortably on. The author of A Homeless Mother talks about her personal experience with low income, explaining her struggle to get jobs with an income over the low $3.35 an hour and affording health necessities without insurance, causing her to lose her apartment. (A Homeless Mother)
[2] Despite recent declines in poverty rates, a large number of people still face hardship, particularly children. According to the Center for Public Policy
According to Hodgkinson et al, there are “disparities in poverty rates depending on age, race or ethnicity, family structure, and geographic location. Although the largest number of poor and low income children are white, minority children are disproportionately affected, particularly African American, American Indian, and Hispanic children. In 2013, Hispanic and African American children were ~3 times more likely than white and Asian children to be poor. Children raised by single parents and children raised in the South or West are also more likely to be poor or low income than children residing in the Northeast” (Hodgkinson et al, 2016). Children and youth are a vulnerable population because they have no control over their situation or environment;
Issue Research Essay According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) almost sixteen million children in our country below the age of eighteen live in homes where they do not have consistent access to food (“Child Hunger Fact Sheet”, 2014). This is not due to a lack of food or lack of access to it in our country, but rather because of the growing rate of poverty in the United States (“Why Are Children Hungry, and Why Should I Care”, 2014). As this rate keeps increasing, children are becoming more and more vulnerable to the negative affects of poverty because they have no way of changing their family’s economic status. Their access to not just food, but also water, health care, and an education are also threatened making the
a. This work can be used as a source to add in chapter 11 of the book since it delves more deeply into why there is poverty in America. b. The author 's main goal is to inform people as to how poverty occurs, to whom it occurs to, who is affected and ways to prevent it. c. The lack of viable opportunities for all Americans.
Poverty affects almost everyone in the lower and middle classes because of the increasing dropout rate for both high schools and colleges, the high unemployment rate, and because nearly everyone wants to live the “American Dream.” For the people that grew up in a life of poverty, it will either make them strive to do better and use their education as a great opportunity to a better life or waste it all by wanting to do the same thing their parents do all their life. For example, some people may work a minimum wage job, live off of government funding, and fail with many get rich quick schemes. The high
According to the PBS Frontline video “Poor Kids” 2012, more than 46 million Americans are living beneath the poverty line. The United States alone has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the industrialized world. It is stated that 1 out of 5 children are living in poverty. The video documented the lives of three families who are faced with extreme hardships and are battling to survive a life of being poor. All three families have more than one child and could barely afford to pay their bills and purchase food for their household.
Generational Poverty Poverty has been around for numerous years. Poverty can be a generational problem if people let it. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and David Joy’s “Digging in the trash” both show that families in poverty do not have it easy, the children will live in poverty unless something is done, and people either find a way of escape or stand up against it. In the short story, “Sonny’s Blues” Baldwin shows how the lack of monetary resources affects many generations.
Poverty in America is a difficult topic to speak on; everyone has their own views and experiences on poverty. Certain social trends have impacted the society such as Family Dynamics; The way families are now are a lot different than families of the 1950’s-1960’s, In many cases both adult members of the family are working instead of the traditional husband working to support the family. Even with both members working full time it is still hard to support an average family due to working class wages not adjusting to inflation. Poverty has been increasing at a dramatic rate and the government is supporting more and more people with perverse incentives.
Poverty can be a vicious cycle for some families that goes from generation to generation. Another personal issue that can lead to poverty is illness and unemployment which puts someone out of work and there is little to no income coming in. Along with these personal issues that I stated there are also many
In 2009 the estimated number of impoverished families was more than 45 million, which is about 14.5 percent of the total U.S. population (Gongloff 2014). Majority of the poor Americans are white, but the poverty rate is much higher among minorities. Poverty can affect a child in many different ways. It can affect the whole child, the development of the child’s brain; it can also affect the child’s performance at school. Poverty can not only hinder a child, but it can also cause stress within the family.
Poverty can adversely affect the population in so many ways. Families living in poverty can face emotional and social challenges, cognitive lacks and health and safety issues and acute and chronic stresses. Levels of stress increase with the economic circumstances. Subsequent poverty and job loss are associated with violence in families, including child and elder abuse. These families are also more likely to be exposed to illnesses, job loss, eviction, criminal victimization and family death.