Poverty in the United States - Research Paper Example

? Poverty in the United s POVERTY IN THE UNITED S Introduction Poverty can be defined as a lack of material possession or money that is socially or normally acceptable. It is also defined as being in a state of privation. The poverty threshold is the common poverty measure instituted by the US government, which recognizes a lack of services and products that mainstream society takes for granted as being poor (Danziger & Haveman, 2001). This threshold as defined by the US government is adjusted for inflation, which is done by using the CPI, or consumer price index. The Us government uses total received income in defining the poor with poverty levels in 2012; for instance, set at an annual income of $23,050 for families with four members. Majority of US citizens spend one year at least below this income at a particular point of their life between twenty-five and seventy-five years of age. There are more poor people in the inner cities and rural areas of the United States in comparison to suburban areas. Extreme poverty, which refers to those living on below $2, was twice in 2011 what it was in 1996, ranging at 1.5 million households (Danziger & Haveman, 2001). This was at least 15% of population in the US. By 2009, Americans living in poverty had grown to similar levels as it had in the 60s, which had necessitated the War on Poverty in the US. The Poor in America The federal poverty level in the US is used to define the poor. Rather than being based on their wellbeing, yearly consumption, or total wealth, it is based on the annual income of a family (United States Bureau of the Census, 2012). In determining who is poor in the United States, two definitions are used by various agencies for different purposes. The federal poverty level is the best measure of who exactly is poor in the United States. This measure is also used in the determination of who gets federal aid and subsidies. For the year 2013, the annual income for a family to be described as poor in the US is $23,550 (United States Bureau of the Census, 2012). For larger families, this can be computed by adding $4,020 per each person or subtracting the same for each person in smaller families. The poverty level guidelines for the poor are a little higher in Hawaii and Alaska because the standard of living is higher in these locations. The poverty rate is representative of an average over the whole US population and is not revealing of who is well off or not. For example, the poverty rates for Hispanics and African Americans are much higher than the national average (United States Bureau of the Census, 2012). This rate remained for Hispanics and African Americans stayed at thirty percent in the 80s and 90s and later started to fall. The rates of poverty for these two groups fell to their lowest levels in 2000, although the rates had risen again to almost the same level as before in 2010. People who define themselves as African American have the highest rates of poverty at approximately 28%, while those who are Hispanic of origin have a poverty rate of at least 26%. Asians, on the other hand, have a poverty rate of 12%, while white Americans who are not of Hispanic origin have a poverty rate of at least 9% (United States Bureau of the Census, 2012). Reasons for Poverty The reasons for poverty in the United States include the increase in part time compared to full time work, poor wages, jobs that have higher poverty rates than others, education levels, having children, and racial discrimination in employment (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). Some 46 million people in the United States lived below the official poverty line in the United States in 2011, which makes up at least 15% of the entire population (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). Out of these, approximately ten million are classified as working poor who are people that have a job, or have been looking for a job for at least six months, although they are still below the poverty level. A report by the BLS, or Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that the number of working Poor Americans increased significantly during the economic recession. A few conclusions on why poverty in America has improved from its record low levels in the early and mid 90s can be made. Part time work has become less conducive than full time employment with regards to poverty. At least 14% of employees working part time fell to levels beyond the poverty line, in comparison to 4.4% for employees working full time. (Lawson & Lawson, 2010) Part time employment makes up a significant portion of the economic recovery plan in the US, which has a significant effect on rates of poverty. Another cause for poverty in the United States has to do with low wages. Approximately 66% of the American working poor have slipped below the poverty line due to their low earnings, at least in part (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). However, the labor market, which is still anemic, has also played a significant role with 40% of the American working poor going through periods of unemployment. In addition, some jobs possess higher rates of poverty in comparison to others. Most of the working poor in the United States work in the service industry, which makes up 13.2%, or 3.4 million, of all employees in the service sector (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). Other jobs that have especially high poverty rates are forestry, fishing, and farming, which make up some 17.1%. Extraction and construction also have high rates poverty at approximately 10.5% (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). Education levels also lead to a significant difference in poverty rates. Only some 2.5% of those with a college degree in the United States fall below the official poverty rate line. In contrast, 9% of those with a High School education who are employed can be classed as being working poor (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). At least 20% of Americans who did not finish their high school studies dropped below the poverty line. In addition, race has a big role to play in the poverty disparities with 13% of Hispanics and 14% of African Americans are below the poverty rates, in comparison top just 6% of White Americans (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). Finally, families who have at least a single member working for at least twenty-seven weeks and with children under eighteen years were at least four times more likely to be in poverty compared to those without children (Lawson & Lawson, 2010). Demography of the Poor in America Those who are especially vulnerable to being poor in the United States include single families, children, women, and ethnic minorities. Hispanics and African Americans are more likely to fall below the poverty rate compared to white Americans. In the year 2011, 19.2 million or 10% of all non-white Hispanics were poor, while 4.5% lived in deep poverty (Mangum et al, 2012). 27.6% of all African Americans, which makes up 10.9 million people in the US, lived in poverty. 34.1% of Hispanic children also live below the official poverty line, compared to 38.8% of African American children and 12.5% of white American children. Although African Americans are only representative of 13.1% of the entire US population, they make up 27.6% of those living below the poverty line. Similarly, Hispanics represent some 25.3% of people living below the poverty level, despite making up only 16% of the total American population (Mangum et al, 2012). Another common characteristic of poverty in the United States is that female-headed families have a higher likelihood of being below the poverty line. In 2011, at least five million more women were below the poverty line compared to men. Families with a single woman as head are also more likely to fall below the poverty line. 34.2% of female-headed households without a male present fall below the poverty line with 16.9% living in deep poverty (Mangum et al, 2012). In comparison, 16.5% households headed by males with no wife present live in poverty with 6.7% being in deep poverty. Compared to 7.4% of families with a married couple who live in poverty, it is clear that families headed by single mothers are more likely to live in poverty. In addition, children in single families headed by women are four times more likely to live below the poverty line, as well as eight times more likely to be in deep poverty than those in families with both parents (Mangum et al, 2012). Work disabilities are another common characteristic among the poor in America. In 2011, those with work disabilities were representative of 11.3% of the population living between sixteen and sixty-four, as well as 24.8% of poor people in this age range (Mangum et al, 2012). For those people with severe working disabilities, at least 34.7% of them were poor, in comparison to some 11.7% of those without disabilities related to work and 16.3% of people with disabilities that were less severe. Another common characteristic among the poor in the United States was age. In 2011, at least 22% of all US citizens under the age of eighteen were under the poverty line, compared to 13% of those aged between nineteen and sixty four and 9% of those aged above sixty four (Mangum et al, 2012). Poverty is also more characteristics in rural areas and inner cities of the United States. In 2011, poverty rates were higher in the inner cities than they were since 1993, compared to poverty in the suburban areas that has seen a gradual fall in the same period (Mangum et al, 2012). With regards to various regions in the United States, poverty rates were more characteristics of some regions than others. Nearly 1.5 million more people lived below the poverty line in the Southern part of the US in 2011 compared to 2009, which saw the poverty rate rise to 16.9%. In the same time, the West, Midwest, and North East saw decreased instances of poverty rate rises with an average of 4% (Mangum et al, 2012). Conclusion The poor in America are defined as those who live below the official poverty line, which stands at an annual income of $23,550 for a family of four with adjustments for smaller or bigger families of minus or plus $4,020 respectively. The reasons for poverty in the US are diverse and include education levels, low wages, differences of work emolument, having children in a single parent household, an increase in part time employment over full time employment, and racial discrimination in employment. Characteristics that are common among these poor in America include single families headed by women, people below eighteen years of age, ethnic minorities, and those in rural and inner city areas. It is society’s responsibility to help these people because they lack knowledge, guidance, and resources to reach above the poverty line alone. References Danziger, S. & Haveman, R. H. (2001). Understanding poverty. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Iceland, J. (2012). Poverty in America: A handbook. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lawson, R. M., & Lawson, B. A. (2010). Poverty in America: An encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Mangum, G. L., Mangum, S. L. Sum, A. & Levitan, S. A. (2012). The persistence of poverty in the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. United States Bureau of the Census. (2012). Poverty in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census. Read More