What is Poverty?
Why
is it effecting so many people?
When
will it end?
Poverty is
something that everyone knows about, but not many people know the full story of
it. A lot of times when people think of the word “poverty” they think of
starving kids in Africa with bloating stomachs. True, there are probably kids
in Africa like that, but there is a lot of poverty that goes on here in America
that most people don’t think about or just don’t notice. I want to open the
eyes of people who are too ignorant to think that America is all about the
American dream and endless opportunity, because in reality, there is more
opportunity to fail than most people think.
The
dictionary definition of poverty is “the state of being poor” (Dictionary,
2014). That definition is so lackluster to me. Poverty can not simply be summed
up in five words. My personal definition of poverty is “being unable to support
yourself or others when one has seeked help and has tried every possible option
to get what they need to survive but fail.” According to the National Poverty
Center, a family is considered in poverty when their income is at or below the
poverty threshold (NPC, 2014). If one makes between $11,344 and $26,023
annually, depending on how old they are and how many people they are
supporting, then they are considered to be in poverty.
Poverty
is much more common in the U.S than most people think. In 2010, 15.1 percent of
Americans were in poverty. 24.4 percent of those people were black, 26.6
percent were hispanics, 9.9 percent were non-hispanic whites, and 12.1 percent
were asian. Also, 15.8 - 31.6 percent of single parents were in poverty in
2010. The percentages were overall higher in women than in men. And out of the
15.1 percent of Americans in poverty, 36 percent of those people were children
under the age of 18 (NPC, 2014). So it doesn’t matter what your age, gender, or
ethnicity is, poverty hits every group of people.
Most
of the time when people think of poor people, they think that poor people
brought this upon themselves. People would say that poor people could have
chose to save money and not blow their earnings on meaningless things. I could
say that I actually think this way sometimes, but sometimes people don’t have
the luxury of having extra money lying around or the little that they do have
leftover has to go towards bills, food, or something of that nature. Even when
people in poverty did nothing wrong, like being laid off of work, have to deal
with unexpected hospital bills, or anything like that, they feel inferior,
hopeless, and powerless. Sometimes losing a job isn’t the problem. Sometimes it
is having a job that doesn’t pay nearly enough to support a family, but people
don’t have the proper education to get a better job. And they can’t get the
proper education to get that better job because they don’t have the money to
pay for it! It is just an overall bad cycle of unfortunate luck. If you are
born into a poor family, unless you are a genius like Einstein or an amazing
athlete like Jordan, then good luck having the right resources or connections
to get out of that lifestyle. Being a child in poverty is hard enough as it is
just by not getting all the same or equal chances and opportunities to succeed
like regular middle class and above kids get, but they also have to deal with
the probable physical and psychological effects that poverty goes hand in hand
with.
Poverty
affects more than just people’s wallets. It affects people’s minds and bodies
as well. And out of all people, it affects adolescents debatably the most out
of everyone. The effects of poverty can start as early as birth. “Many infants
born into poverty have a low birth weight, which is associated with many preventable
mental and physical disabilities. Not only are these poor infants more likely
to be irritable or sickly, they are also more likely to die before their first
birthday” (Causes and Effects of Poverty, 2014). Children born into these
conditions are also twice as likely to have impaired vision or hearing, iron
deficiency, or high levels or lead in the blood which can lead to brain
malfunctioning (Causes and Effects of Poverty, 2014). Also, children that live
below the poverty line are 1.3 times more likely to have learning disabilities
or have developmental delays than non-poor kids (The Future of Children, 2014).
Not to mention, poor children in poverty also typically score 6-13 points lower
on IQ tests than non-poor kids. I don’t really believe in IQ tests. I don’t
think they are very accurate with measuring a person’s intelligence by having
someone answer a bunch of questions that no normal person would ever just know
on the top of their head. But anyways, on top of these physical effects, there
are also psychological effects poverty has on the children of America.
Along
with the physical effects, there are also the devastating psychological effects
that happens to children who live in poverty. There are behaviors that children
do subconsciously because of poverty. They can have externalized behaviors
including aggression, fighting, or acting out. They could also have
internalized behaviors such as anxiety, social withdrawal, and depression
(Future of Children, 2014). It is statistically proven that children who come
from poverty families had more internalizing and externalizing behaviors than
non-poor kids (Future of Children, 2014). It sucks that these kids can’t really
do much about how they grow up because they are either born into a poverty
family or born into a more well off family. But just becaus the kids can’t do
much to help, doesn’t mean that others can’t help!There isn’t a huge plethora
of options of how to help these kids, but there are definitely a few things we
can do to prevent poverty to be as bad and prevalent in the future for the next
generation of kids.
Everything starts with proper
education. Better education equals better paying jobs. “With better education,
kids live longer, earn more, wait longer to have a child, and are less likely
to commit a crime. More importantly, these benefits pass on to their children,
snapping the cycle of poverty” (3 ways to fix..,2014). In order to do this, you
have to start young and give kids from pre-k to 12th grade the right knowledge
and tools to be more likely to go to college and get good jobs. But in order to
start that, the parents need to get educated as much as they can to get good
jobs themselves. Well educated parents equals well educated kids. I’m not
saying that this is going to be an easy or cheap solution, but I AM saying that
this solution is statistically bound to work. I fully believe that this
solution would be a huge step in the right direction, and I know it will take a
while for it to actually kick in and take effect, but if the United States
believes in it and backs up this plan 100% then the outcome will be well worth
it!
Works Cited
"3 Ways to Fix America's Child Poverty Problem." The Week. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
<http://theweek.com/article/index/224906/3-ways-to-fix-americas-child-poverty-problem>.
"Causes and Effects of Poverty." Causes and Effects of Poverty. Web. 11
Nov. 2014.
<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/social-and-global-stratification/causes-and-effects-of-poverty>.
"Dictionary.com - The World's Favorite Online English
Dictionary!" Dictionary.com.
Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://dictionary.com/>.
"The Future of Children, Princeton - Brookings:
Providing Research and Analysis to Promote Effective Policies and Programs for
Children." - The Future
of Children -. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
<http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=53&articleid=287§ionid=1889&submit>.
"National Poverty Center | University of
Michigan." RSS. Web. 12 Nov.
2014. <http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty>.
Good job Mary! I love how you opened up with your own thoughts and ideas, then what I liked was that you put the definition of what poverty is. I liked how you went more in depth of what poverty is and not what people think poverty is, I liked how you put that it affects not only peoples money, but it affects peoples health overall. Then I like how you started discussing how it plays on psychology, I agree with your points on how it can cause aggression or other behavioral issues, because it is true. People that live in poverty usually act out because they have no other way to show what they are feeling. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. I like how you expanded the idea of poverty of how the lifestyle of the poor not only affect their physical well being, but also their psychological well being. I also like how you included the data of the people who are suffering from poverty which makes the reader knowledgeable that poverty is an issue that reaches above the stereotyping of minorities and hardly affecting the youth. Finally, I like how you ended your blog including the ideas you have to end poverty in America. I highly agree that education especially in parents to teach their young is vital to prevent social reproduction among the poor.
ReplyDeleteBy Krista Woldeit,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your paper. You made a lot of valid points on how important education is to a better paying job and how poverty can have such a negative psychological effect on an individual. I completely agree on the point that you made on "educated parents equal well educated kids", you are a product of your environment and if your parents set a good example, there is a very good chance that you will follow the correct path and believe in good education.
I do believe that even though the odds are against you when you are born into a poor family, you can still be successful and go against the odds. Millions of immigrants come to the US with out knowing any English, not being familiar with the American culture and customs and yet through hard work and dedication, they are successful and live the American dream.
By Karina Polcaster
ReplyDeleteI agree with you with what you have written. I believe that many times when we personally think about the topic of "poverty" it starts with looking at those who are out on the street begging for money. You hit it right on the nail when you mentioned how you initially feel, which is anything but sympathy. It is our human nature to always blame someone for their lifestyle because we think that humans have control over everything, including their money. Much of which is just not true. There are things such as bills that sneak up on people, an illness, or the chance of being brought up poor in an impoverished family.
Another solution to which this could be resolved, when it comes to education and having that available equally to everyone is the idea of having children learn how to earn, save, and keep a checkbook. While it is detrimental to someone to not have a full education of elementary and high school, during those years it is important to teach children the importance of money.
By: Jackie Bartnicki
ReplyDeleteI think it was really interesting how Mary said that poverty couldn’t be defined in the five words that the dictionary states it as. It raises a good question- what is poverty? I believe it must be different across the globe. We compare ourselves to each other every day. We look at the person next to us and wonder if they’re better or worse off than us. It’s a constant competition, whether we realize it or not. When someone brings up the word “poverty”, we might instantly think of people living in Africa or a third world country. They don’t have clean water, food, homes, clothing, school, doctors, etc. However, a family in America could complain and label themselves as poor because they can’t afford the newest Xbox gaming system.
Our country, as a whole, needs a reality check in order to realize how good we have it. We are greedy and selfish at times, and using the word “poverty” in wrong situations is ignorant to the people who are actually living through it. As the generations progress, we might need to redefine the word “poverty” and the requirements behind it. With all the technological advances we have made throughout the years, it is interesting to think that we’re “poor” even if we have working machines like microwaves, refrigerators, stoves, ovens, DVD players, VCR machines, cell phones, air conditioners, heaters, a few televisions, and at least one gaming system. That’s just a few of the basic technological machines we use every day. Yet, they can be labeled into a poor family. A family could have all those things but claim they can’t pay for medical insurance? Why? Priorities are messed up and at that point, you’ve chosen technology over a piece of life that is valued more than something made of plastic that won’t be cool in 2 years from now.
I really think it’s affecting the youth today. At a young age, I don’t think they don’t comprehend the negative effects yet. If a family is labeled as in “poverty”, whatever definition we decide that to be, the priorities have to be in order rather than giving in to wants and desires over needs. Like Mary said, the education aspect of it is really important. It is common for people to be born into poverty; however, what is stopping you from breaking that cycle?