Poverty In America: The Overview

1
Poverty In America The Overview
2
Povertyhow do we define it?the governments way

• Since the 1960s, the United States Government has
  defined poverty in absolute terms. This makes
  poverty more easily measurable.
• The "absolute poverty line" is the threshold
  below which families or individuals are
  considered to be lacking the resources to meet
  the basic needs for healthy living having
  insufficient income to provide the food, shelter
  and clothing needed to preserve health.
• A large percentage of the governments poverty
  measurements depend on the price of food.

3
Defining Povertythe relativist way

• "Relative poverty" can be defined as having
  significantly less access to income and wealth
  than other members of society. Therefore, the
  relative poverty rate can directly be linked to
  income inequality.
• Means relative poverty can decline if rich people
  lose a lot of money.

4
Federal Poverty Linetoo dated

• The current poverty measure was established in
  the 1960s and is now widely acknowledged to be
  outdated. It was based on research indicating
  that families spent about one-third of their
  incomes on food the official poverty level was
  set by multiplying food costs by three. Since
  then, the same figures have been updated annually
  for inflation but have otherwise remained
  unchanged.
• Yet food now comprises only one-seventh of an
  average familys expenses, while the costs of
  housing, child care, health care, and
  transportation have grown disproportionately.
  Most analysts agree that todays poverty
  thresholds are too low. And although there is no
  consensus about what constitutes a minimum but
  decent standard of living in the U.S., research
  consistently shows that, on average, families
  need an income of about twice the federal poverty
  level to meet their most basic needs.

5
The Raw Numbers Not Good

• 46 million Americans live below the official
  poverty line.
• One in 5 American children now lives in poverty.
• A family of four is considered poor if the
  familys income is below 22,350.
• One third of all Americans will experience
  poverty within a 13-year period. In that period,
  one in 10 Americans are poor for most of the
  time, and one in 15 are poor for 10 or more
  years. 

6
Its Really Not Good

• Fifteen percent-- approximately 46 million people
  -- now live below the federal poverty line of
  22,350 for a family of four. (A woefully
  inadequate measure that is terribly old and fails
  to account for basic necessities.) That's
  millions more people than in 2000 and the poverty
  rate for children is the highest of all age
  groups. Nearly 90 million people live just above
  the poverty line. (Using the British standard of
  measurement, approximately 30 percent of
  Americans --and 40 percent of American children
  -- are living in poverty).

7
More Raw Numbers

• Eighteen percent of children are in poverty.
• 10.9 percent of working-age adults (between the
  ages of 16 and 64) are in poverty.
• 9.7 percent of the elderly are in poverty.
• 13.8 percent of females and 11.1 percent of males
  were poor

8
The Minimum Wagenot much

• Federal minimum wage is 7.25 per hour  
• Some states and localities have mandated a higher
  minimum wage  
• Minimum wage in New York state is also 7.25  
• Minimum wage in Kansas in 2009 was 2.65 before
  the Federal Minimum wage was instituted

9
Income InequalityViva La Revolution!

• Inequality has reached record highs. The richest
  1 percent of Americans in 2012 held the largest
  share of the nations income since 1929. At the
  same time, the poorest 20 percent of Americans
  held only 3.4 percent of the nations income.

10
Concentrated Areas of PovertyUrban Areas

• Urban areas have a poverty rate of 17, compared
  to a poverty rate of 9 for the suburbs.
• White flight
• No new businesses no jobs
• Higher crime rates
• Higher rates of pollution

11
Concentrated Areas of povertyrural areas

• Poverty rate in the South is 20.
• One in 5 people living in rural America lives
  below the poverty line.
• Poverty rates are higher in rural areas for
  almost every demographic.

12
Concentrated areas of povertyIndian Reservations

• Nearly a third of Native Americans live in
  poverty.
• The country's 2.1 million Indians, about 400,000
  of whom live on reservations, have the highest
  rates of poverty, unemployment and disease of any
  ethnic group in America.
• Indians earn only a little more than half as much
  money as the average American.

13
Characteristics of people in poverty

• Lower education Low levels of parental education
  are a primary risk factor for being low income.
  Eighty-three percent of children whose parents
  have less than a high school diploma live in
  low-income families, and over half of children
  whose parents have only a high school degree are
  low income as well.
• New to the country
• Dont possess marketable skills
• Has a disability
• Single parent households

14
Big Philosophical Question One

• Povertyis it the fault of the individual or
  society?
• People who blame society tend to argue that
  forces like capitalism and racism are to blame
  for domestic poverty.
• People who blame the individual tend to focus on
  factors like individual will and personal choices
  for why domestic poverty exists.

15
Big Philosophical Question Two

• Social servicesare they a right that cannot be
  taken away or are they a privilege that can be
  taken away?
• Are social services like health care and
  subsidized housing and food a human right?
• Governments can provide negative rights and
  positive rights. Negative right something the
  government wont interfere with or take away
  (life, liberty, pursuit of cash).
• Positive right something the government
  provides or gives you.

16
Big Philosophical Question Three

• Povertyis it even possible to eliminate it?
• Even if it is possible, are the cures worst than
  the disease?
• Is there an acceptable level of poverty that we
  can be content with?