FAMILIES IN POVERTY

Families in Poverty

Name of Writer

Name of Institution

Families in Poverty

The single African American male at age 65 lives in a single bedroom apartment in one of the most low class neighborhoods of the city. In the neighborhood, most of the people are living below the poverty line, and are fighting with their lives, and poverty day in day out. Same goes for our 65 years retired male. Although, he is all alone and is doing much better with families with children, but still every day is a life for of struggle for him. He lives on the food coupons and does not have any retirement money. Whatever, he gets from social security goes into his medicine, what ever is left of, goes for the paying of shelter, as shelter is considered to be the basic need, no one can ignore it. The old people usually prefer to stay at home, and prefer not to socialize with any one, but exceptions may still be there. It is all because of the hard work that the man faces through out his life, because of this he encounters a lot of psychological problems as well. An apartment of the poor or a lower middle class person, would not contain anything except for items of necessity, a flat may contain a fridge, micro wave, a small TV and a bit of furniture. Majority of the old people go out of their house to get the grocery or for a fitness walk, to the doctor or for other necessities. Sundays might be the only days when old people go out, that is for religious purposes, going to the church is a common act of prayers for the old generation.. Safety net programs are particularly important to families who are in extreme economic need (Blank and Kovak,2010).

On the other hand, there is another African American male at age 65. However, he is much more stable in terms of finances. He retired as a grade school teacher, and had invested in a retirement plan and lives in a well maintained cramped apartment. In his apartment, he has most of the amenities of life. Though, he does not have any immediate family members, but has few close friends and relatives, that come and visit him time by time. The man also owns a small sub compact car, which he uses to drive around the city, to meet his friends and relatives. He goes out for a walk every morning with his pet dog, which he takes care of and tries to be as active as he can so that he may not fell prey to any illness or disease. He takes a nutritious meal three times a day every day, and has a few plants that he takes care of every day as a hobby. He does go out for dinners and snacks with friends and family one in a while. He also has a savings account in which he saves money every month for a rainy ...