Poverty in America

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Poverty might mean different things in different parts of the world and to different people, but it is largely defined as being unable to afford a minimum standard of living. The United States has come a long way in addressing the problem, but progress seems to have slowed despite the recent years of economic recovery.

In many ways, the problem has even escalated. Though the economy has added millions of jobs since the recession ended, many of the jobs created are not the same as jobs that were lost. In many areas, the problem of poverty has worsened during the recovery.

Poverty is perhaps the most persistent of problems, with consequences that can span a lifetime, be transferred across generations, and loom in the minds of individuals and families living at the edge of poverty.

Most people, in one way or another, are familiar with poverty or the concept of poverty. From the nation’s largely uncounted homeless population to unemployed Americans looking for work to low-wage service industry workers to single parents working multiple jobs, for millions of Americans, poverty is a daily struggle that often results in deprivation and requires sacrifice. Though the United States was built on the doctrine that financial status is the result of personal merit, religious teachings encourage helping the poor and the work of alleviating poverty has become woven into the fabric of U.S. society.

Poverty extends to practically all aspects of U.S. society, and yet, despite the many anti-poverty policies, it remains largely unaddressed. It is also relatively undiscussed in public discourse and incompletely understood by the public and academics alike.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poverty/poverty-in-america/ss-BBPx94d?li=BBnb7Kz

[samplegirl]

1. Inflation

Is killing most of us! Especially those of us who have lost our jobs and are now working for a much lower wage.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Read $2.00 A Day, Living on Almost Nothing in America

by Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer.

$2.00 a day is a world standard of extreme poverty, and is generally considered to be a third world standard. Unfortunately, too many in this country live that poorly.

I find that since I've read that book, normal poverty doesn't seem so bad.

But all poverty is bad. I've been poor. I've gone on scant food for a few days at a time. I've depended on the generosity of others for clothes. I got essential dental work at a charity clinic. I've scraped together nickels and dimes to buy my next meal. Fortunately, I've never been homeless, and never felt close to homelessness, because I always worked and knew the rent could be paid. When I was a child and dependent on the generosity of others for clothing or a charity clinic for dental work, my mother was a nurse, always worked, and the rent would always be paid. Even now, although I am by many standards affluent, I have the mind set of a poor person. It's a mind set that's hard to shake.

I do volunteer work at my local homeless shelter, cooking meals and feeding our clients. I, and the people I work with, take great pride in fixing good meals. It's all we can do, because we cannot change the homelessness of our clients.