Comparing the Rich versus the Poor Essays

The Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research conducted a study using data gathered from 46 developing countries to examine child poverty. The results found over a third of children lived in absolute poverty or in homes of more than five people.134 million 7-18 year olds lack basic education and over 375 million drink unsafe water. Civil war added to all of this makes for a hard existence  (Newbold et al.,

Poverty within the United States is defined as “having an income below a federally determined poverty threshold. ” Poverty thresholds were developed by the United States government in the 60s to benchmark levels of subsistence. Over time these thresholds are often adjusted to account for inflation; it is now typical for the federal government to adjust the poverty threshold levels annually. Poverty levels represent the government’s estimate of the point below which a family has insufficient resources to meet their basic needs. Any family with less income than the established poverty amount is officially classified as poor or as living in poverty. Income as defined by the federal rules can include cash and cash welfare assistance, but excludes any in-kind welfare assistance. There are restrictions a few other

In the essay “Richer and Poorer Accounting for Inequality”, written by Jill Lepore and published in The New Yorker, March 16, 2015, the author develops an argument of the inequality of the rich and poor in America, to persuade her audience to take action. Through the effective use of her rhetorical strategies Jill Lepore was able to develop her argument aimed at the audience of an educated middle to upper class.

Poverty within the United States is defined as “having an income below a federally determined poverty threshold. ” Poverty thresholds were developed by the United States government in the 60s. Over time these thresholds are adjusted to account for inflation; it is typical to adjust the poverty threshold levels annually. They represent the government’s estimate of the point below which a family has insufficient resources to meet their basic needs. Any family with less income than that established amount is officially classified as poor. Income as defined can include cash and cash welfare assistance, but excludes in-kind welfare assistance. There are restrictions within the definition of Poverty. A simple example would be that the thresholds are a federal value and no adjustments are made for cost of living differences. The poverty thresholds for 2015 as set by the US Census Bureau working with the Office of Management and Budget are as follows;

Each year, the Census Bureau updates the poverty threshold. According to their website, the official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and excludes capital gains or noncash benefits like public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps. Beyond that, there is also a poverty threshold that measures need. These include the dollar amounts to determine poverty status. It can be individual or by family and varies by the size of the family and age of the members. In a utopian world, there would be a single computation and we’d be able to see a complete description of what people and families need to live. (In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have poverty.) However, defining poverty is not a simple feat.

People thinks hunger, homelessness, and poverty are only found in the developing countries. Even though America is the wealthiest country it does have hunger, homelessness, and poverty. Poverty is a common social issue which exists everywhere. Different country has different thoughts and overviews on this topic. In the United States, poverty is slightly different in comparison to other developing countries. An Individual or a family is said to be poor if their annual pre-tax cash income falls below a dollar amount, or poverty threshold, that is determined by the Census Bureau each year (Poverty Overview). The poverty threshold is set by the size and composition of the family and they are updated each year to avoid errors. An individual or family whose income is not sufficient to fulfill the basic needs like the purchase of food, shelter, clothes and other necessary things are considered as a poor. For example, an unrelated individual with an annual cash income below $12,082 was defined as poor in 2015. That same person would have been considered poor

To understand the concept of poverty, it is important to define the actual living conditions of the individuals that the government believes to be impoverished. Poverty status is determined by comparing annual income to a set of dollar values called poverty threshold that varies by family size, number of children and age of householder. The official poverty threshold for a family of four is $19,806 in annual income, which translates to a full-time hourly wage of about $9.50 in a single-income family. The methodology for calculating the thresholds was established in the mid-1960s and has not changed in the intervening years. For instance, if the family income is lower than the dollar value of their threshold, then every individual of that family is considered to be in poverty. As for the individuals that are independent and do not consider themselves as part of a family, their poverty status is calculated by comparing the individual’s dollar value to his or her poverty threshold, so if it is lower than the federal poverty line then only that individual is consider to be living in poverty.

In our world, there are currently 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty. These individuals manage to live on the equivalent of what you can purchase in the United States for $1.25. Imagine what can be bought for $1.25 in an average city; perhaps a single soda, a small coffee, half of a gallon of gas, or a single hot dog from a corner. There is a misconception that one can purchase more with the same amount of money in an impoverished country than in the United States. In reality, this number has been adjusted for purchasing power. This means that no matter where one is in the world, $1.25 is sufficient for an individual to be able to make two simple meals.

Poverty is one of the world’s worst epidemics, if not the worst. It effects families on every continent and kills more and more people each year. The poor living conditions and harmful diseases cause children at a very young age to become violently sick. The crippling accidents from unsafe working conditions put families on the street millions at a time. While the wealthy are living large, practically bathing in billions of dollars, more than a billion people struggle to live off less than one dollar per day. The reality of poverty is that nearly half of the earth’s population is living under the poverty line.

Between 1990 and 2005, the rate of poverty in the developing world dropped from 46% to 26%, with the majority of developing nations continuing in this trend today (United Nations Summit, 2010). However, statistics show that approximately 920 million individuals currently live on a daily sum of less than USD $1.25 per day (ibid.). It is evident, therefore, that income inequality continues to exist, prompting the demand to further build the economy and better serve those in poverty through a greater focus on sustainable development.

People fear tangible and visible things, places they have been and never wish to return like the old scary basement locked in darkness. Yet, poverty remains abstract, unknown, and even unfathomable to most. Across the world poverty runs rampant as 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 per day and more than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty on less than $1.50 per day. These are not abstracts, but facts so let me repeat myself, 1.3 billion people, part of the human race whose DNA contain the same sequences as everyone on this planet live in extreme poverty; where food, medical treatment, and clean water remains a luxury. To help put this in prospective look at an old budgetary game of time and numbers.

There are some countries in this world with a GDP less than $750, with populations earning less than $1 a day, life expectancies barely reaching past 40 years old and devastatingly poor levels of health care, school enrolment and adult literacy rates. These are the defining indicators of people living in low developing countries (LDC’s). Populations living in poverty and the majority with an income too small to accommodate their basic needs and the resources in the national economy, even when equally distributed are not enough to provide a sustainable living for the population. Of the 50 countries recognised as LDC’s, 33 are found in Africa, south of the Sahara with 374 million living on an income of less than $2 a day. It seems that

The first step to any problem solving process is examining the scope of the task and educing any complications of proposed solutions. Above all the chaos and mess begetted from the current policies today, it is helpful to unravel and understand what global poverty is. However, poverty is not easy to define because “national poverty lines vary greatly across the world, from under $1 per person per day to over $40” (Ravallion). Because of cultural peculiarities, most of today’s problems relate to different issues such as accessibility to basic needs, adequate health and nutrition, and other problems that may be present in one country but not in another.

With the rise of the morning sun, most of us awake to a day of possibilities, but for those in extreme poverty daybreak brings only anxiety and despair as they try to survive on little to nothing. Over one billion people are currently living in extreme poverty, unable to fathom a future free from hunger, disease and oppression. Extreme poverty, defined as living on $1.25 a day or less, traps generations into an arduous existence with few opportunities to escape. Helping to eliminate extreme poverty means first understanding that it is possible to provide people with a pathway out and if it is possible, we therefore have the responsibility to do so. Millions die each year as a result of extreme poverty. While few would argue that we

​ A man’s economic status is based solely on his wealth and his material possessions, or lack thereof to define him as being “rich” or “poor.” Similarly, these two words, “rich” or “poor,” should also describe a man’s character.