The Changing Face of Poverty & What Does it Mean to be Poor in America?

If you take a look at the statements that Blank mentions at the beginning, it would seem as if the answer to all the questions is true. However, they’re all false. I think we all perceive poverty and “poor” people as the statements that Blank had stated. These were things that were true in the 1960’s and I think it’s something that our society is still stuck on. We have this idea of what poverty is and who is poor but real poverty in America is a very heterogeneous and mixed group. The way the economy is going now, anyone can be at the poverty level at any time.

Like I said above, we have this idea about poverty and what it means to be poor. This group is extremely diverse not only in terms of race but also with age. Surprisingly, whites have the highest amount of people in poverty but this is only because whites are a bigger proportion of the population. The poor are black and white and Latino and Native American and every other race you can think of. Although one race may have a higher amount of people in poverty than the other, we can’t just focus on one group. We have to think that every ethnicity has “poor” people. Age is also varies in terms of poverty. We fail to remember that families with children with married couples can also be poor (40%). Poverty still remains high for children. This is because of the rise of single-mothers. A single mother with children has the highest probability of being poor. I completely agree with Blank on this because these days you can’t really afford anyting without two incomes coming in the house. How is a mother that has children going to be able to afford everything on their own? It will be very hard to have a good job to pay for bills, the house, most of the time childcare, food, etc.
We not only care who is poor and why they are poor but how long it takes them to escape poverty if they are ever able to. Those families that experience short-term poverty, we are less worried about. The families that experience long-term poverty are who we are worried about. These families experience its most constant effects and feel trapped as if they won’t ever escape poverty. Taxpayers are also worried about these long-term poverty experiences because their tax dollars are going to help these “poor” people. We all know that everyone who is on welfare doesn’t really need it. People take advantage of the government and become greedy. Some of these people are just lazy and don’t want to work. I mean, if I could get free money and not work that would be great! However, I couldn’t bring myself to stoop that low that I have to cheat the system to take away from those who actually need it.
Approximately half those that are ever experiencing poverty, will only have to deal with it for one to three years. About 5% are poor for ten or more years. According to Blank, changes in economics create more poverty than changes in family composition. No one wants to be poor, we’d all like to have money for the things we need and want. Personally, when I happen to see a homeless person on the street I always wonder how they ended up in that situation. You never know if it’s because of a decision they made or if it was a major negative change in their life. Especially with the way the economy is these days, anyone can end up on the streets.
Blank does a good job to uncover the stereotypes and explain the real idea of poverty in America. This article was a good way to show us not to judge the poor because it can happen to anyone. No one plans it and no one wants it.

Maya Federman: What Does It Mean to Be Poor in America?

The answer to this question is simply having cash income below the official poverty line for a given family size. There are seven categories that describe living in poverty: income sources, spending patterns, housing, consumer durables and utilities, crime and neighborhood, health and nutrition, and education. In the first four categories the results are presented by family characteristics. In the last two categories, the results are presented by the individual. Crime and neighborhood has measures of both family and individual characteristics.
The average poor person lives in a family whose income is about a sixth as much as the family income of the average nonpoor person. The nonpoor person usually receives most of their family income from wages, salaries, and self-employment earnings while most of the income from a poor family is from public assistance and welfare.
The nonpoor people will obviously have more money for owning a house than the poor. Seventy-eight percent of the nonpoor people live in homes that they own while only 41% of the poor own their houses. The poor are at a greater risk of being evicted from their home or apartment. These days, this isn’t just true about the “poor” people but also the “nonpoor” families. The way the economy is going, families are losing their homes left and right.
When it comes to utilities both the poor and nonpoor families have access to utilities. Any home or apartment will come with a stove and refrigerator. The only difference is the paying of the utility bills. The poor will have a harder time to pay for cable, water, and electricity.
The neighborhood you live in also has an affect on your safety. Those that live in a poor neighborhood are twice as likely to be victims of a violent crime. Poor mothers have a higher chance than the nonpoor mothers to experience problems in birth and pregnancy. When it comes to education, poor kids are more likely to have repeated a grade and to be expelled from school. However, the poor and nonpoor students both have high expectations that they will attend and graduate from college. Poor students and nonpoor students that actually attend either a 2- or 4- year college is 48% and 70% respectively.