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4.2: Measuring Poverty in the United States

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    Measuring Poverty in the United States

    Poverty in America is much different than the poverty in third world countries. The standard of what constitutes poverty in the United States is much different than the global standard of poverty (Iceland, 2013). Even though the United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the effects of poverty are crippling.

    An example of what living in poverty looks like in America is a single parent who works full time, but still can’t afford to pay for food, rent, child care, medical bills, and the costs of transportation to work (Results, 2017).

    Each year millions of Americans live in poverty. The United Sates Census Bureau reports that in 2015, there were 43.1 million people in poverty (Proctor, Semega, & Kollar, 2016). A wide array of Americans from all races, ethnicities, ages, backgrounds, and geographic locations make up the 43.1 million people currently living in poverty. Some groups are more vulnerable to poverty. The most vulnerable groups make up most of the impoverished population (Rodgers, 2015). The groups that are more susceptible to suffer poverty include single parent families (especially those headed by women), minorities, unemployed or under-employed adults, individuals with mental illness or disabilities, and the elderly (Rodgers, 2015).

    Poverty is said to be America’s most serious and costly social problem (Rodgers, 2015). High levels of poverty result in many serious social and political consequences. Individuals living in poverty frequently feel alienated from a conventional society which can provoke social disorder. Individuals living in poverty also often feel overlooked in the political realm, further reducing the individual’s confidence in democratic institutions (Iceland, 2013).

    Each year hundreds of billions of public and private dollars are spent on efforts to prevent poverty and assist those living in poverty (Rodgers, 2015). To many, it may seem that the efforts put forth to end poverty have not made an impact. However, the most up to date data attainable from the United States Census Bureau shows that there have been improvements. In 2015, for the first time in five years, the number of individuals living in poverty had decreased. The official poverty rate was down to 13.5%, 1.2% lower than in 2014, equaling 3.5 million fewer people living in poverty (Proctor, Semega, & Kollar, 2016). Although we may never see poverty completely eradicated in our lifetime, it is hopeful that poverty will continue to decrease in the coming years.

    Attribution: This page titled 1.6: Poverty is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lindsey Bronold via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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    4.2: Measuring Poverty in the United States is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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