Growing Up In Poverty In The United States

The face of poverty is changing in the United States. When someone mentions that a person is living in poverty, we are inclined to think of a bum living on the street, eating at shelters, and using whatever money they have for alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Usually we visualize this person as being a middle-aged male with drab clothing and a long beard. This description may have fit the average person living in poverty or on the street a few years ago, but it is no longer a correct generalization. Children are the face of poverty in 2015. These children have little chance to rise up out of the lifestyle they are born into. Many of these children are born to teenage girls. The economic states of these mothers and their lifestyles many times

When Born with a Wooden Spoon was made there were 37 million people living in poverty, which equates to 1 in 8 Americans, and 1 in 3 children. According to the Census Bureau in 2014, 45 million or 14.5% of Americans lived below the poverty line. The federal government uses poverty thresholds to statistically identify these numbers, and to help set qualifying factors for federal assistance programs. In 2013 a family of three was considered to be living in poverty if they made less than $19,530, and a family of four was $23,550. That amounts to approximately $1,625-$1,962 per month to cover all living expenses. Over the past 20 years poverty has fluctuated, which is to be expected as the economy does the same. It has stayed relatively steady since 2012 around 15%. It peaked

While poverty rates among the elderly in the United States have significantly fallen since the 1980’s, poverty has simultaneously increased in the younger population, specifically those with children. Families with young children have a poverty rate that has steadily increased since 2003 (Hoynes, Page & Stevens, 2005). Currently, there are more than 14 million children living in poverty in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). The geographic nature of poverty various across time and has significantly differed from centuries ago. However, it has consistently been found that children in poverty face more hardships academically and physically as they live in economically disadvantaged, chaotic, and under-resourced communities (Reardon

With a staggering number of 14.5 million children living in poverty in America, which mean that children who come from these families are at a higher risk of outcomes. In an article written by (Rodgers,H,R,2015), poverty is a massive societal problem with a multitude of negative cause and effect relationships evolving from poverty(2015). Children raised in poverty are at a higher risk of an adverse health issues such as mental illness, malnourishment, child abuse, victims of violence, lack of quality schools and/or daycare. While the government has given allowance for each state,city and county the overall benefits are not successful as should be. However, since poverty is a dynamic family problem; programs are implemented not end poverty,

rise out of poverty, but they are few and far in between. When people are faced with the adversities of poverty, they are helpless and unable to strive for anything better because “better” doesn’t exist for them. With this mentality, the communities they live in would do very little to help the members improve their lot in life. Which in turn would mean that there would be little to no spending on assistance for the poor. A solution for characters mentioned throughout would most likely be to teach their kids otherwise, to enforce the belief that there is a way out. That if they focus on their education and strive for more, the living hell that they’re in can change. In addition, the parents of these kids must also embody themselves in this

Nelson Mandela once said, "Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future." (Nepaul). Yet, in 2014, 31.4 million American children lived in low-income households and 15.4 million lived in poor families (phys.org). By 2016, the number of children living in poverty still stay the same. In fact, it even shows sign of increasing when nearly half of children in America are living dangerously close to the poverty line, where their families barely make enough to afford the most basic needs (phys.org). Looking at these statistics, it is clear that we need to these children and their families. And in order to do so, we first need to change our attitudes towards the poor and create more effective plans, such as...

While the poor are barely protected by a frayed social safety net and often disengaged from the decision making processes that structure their lives, confronting the root causes of poverty is discouraging and increasingly urgent (Abramsky, 2012). Dramatic changes in the family, society, and the economy have altered the lives of children. Children are now more likely to live with a single parent with low levels of schooling and work experience making it more difficult for parents to support a family above the poverty level (Corcoran and Chaudry,

In America, there are more than 46 million Americans live below the poverty line, including 16 million children (Barbara Raab). The Population of US is 320 million, it means about 14.4% Americans live in poverty. We should do something to help those poor people. Before that we need build empathy for the poor, so we can understand them and make it easier to help them.

In society, everyone works for a living. For a majority of people, a job is an economic necessity. Wages earned by individuals fuel our economically system; however, in the United States the official poverty rate was 14.8 percent in 2014 (“Poverty”). The U.S. classifies a family being in poverty “if a family's total income is less than the family's threshold” (“Poverty”). Growing up in poverty runs a higher risk of effecting individuals in their education, criminal history, and work opportunities.

According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2016 report on Income and Poverty, in 2015 there were 43 million American people living at or below the national poverty threshold (12). For individuals this meant earning an annual salary at or below 12,082 dollars, with families adding on 4,160 dollars for each additional person (43). Poverty can be defined simply as economic deprivation on an individual or a family, however its causes and effects are each respectively far-reaching and complicated. Specifically, the effects of living in poverty can be detrimental to an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Living in poverty can also impact various aspects of a child’s development. Eliminating poverty seems like a lofty goal, but

Over the past couple years the cost of expenditures for child poverty has increased. It is now costing more to take care and provide for children in poverty than it is for governments to reduce and eliminate poverty as a whole. A large cause for child poverty is that children are born into families who have lower earnings which lead to those children growing up with a low potential to excel and therefore have job that pays low thus causing a recycled process. Living in poverty and low class segments in countries also takes a hit towards that country’s economy in the form of foregone earnings, crime and healthcare for those who grew up in poverty, one country that sees a large hit is the United States that faces a cost of $500 billion annually.

In my opinion, the idea of people being responsible for what happens to them when there adolescents growing up in poverty does affect them a lot. When you're suffering from poverty its way more tough to do the things you want to in life than someone who hasn't suffered. Some teens are able to overcome the effects of living in poverty and go on to become very successful adults, but this is not likely. When your an adolescent growing up to become an adult is one of the most important life transitions you will ever have (Kail & Cavanaugh). Most adolescents won't have this opportunity in life because there struggling with poverty. In my opinion, adolescents are responsible for growing up into poverty. When you're a teen you end up making poor decisions

Approximately one in five children in the United States lives in poverty, according to the American Psychological Association. (Children from low-income families face increased risk factors in their

In the United States, child poverty has been a severe issue even when the country was established. When looking at the statistics of child poverty from the past, it is clear that there was an increasing number of families and children living in poverty. This trend dates back to the year 2000 when 11.6 million people were living in poverty. In 2007, the number of individuals suffering from poverty rose to 13.4 million, (Arrighi & Maume, 2007). This is due to the massive economic fallout, also known as the Great Recession. The United States lost over 7.5 million jobs and the unemployment rate doubled, which directly impacted parents and their children, (Grusky & etc., 2011). This crisis resulted in leaving many Americans financially insecure. Even though many of the financially stable individuals suffered a great loss, they were able to utilize their resources to navigate through the calamity and recover whereas those who were poor faced an economic issue with greater impact. They were faced with foreclosures, bankruptcies and mortgage felonies. Most importantly, the lives of the young children were negatively impacted as well. The four areas that the children were affected by from the Great Recession were: health, hunger, housing, abuse and neglect, (Wiltz 2015). In several households, there was at least one member that suffered from malnourishment because of the inadequate food supply for the family. On the other hand, numerous children were left to be homeless because of

Children who are insecure about where their next meal will come from, where they will sleep that night and habitually suffer from poor health conditions are often associated with third world countries. The staggering truth is that these children exist in America. In fact 18% of American children face one or all of these challenges on a daily basis with little to no hope for change in their future. The cycle of poverty continues to plague American children and families, but with focused changes in health care and education they will break the cycle. Evidence shows that children who live in poverty are less likely to escape it due to the difficulties faced at home, inefficiencies in the education system and their health environment entraps them.