WHY IS THERE POVERTY IN AMERICA?

Why is there poverty in America?

Why is there poverty in America?

There are several reasons due to which there is poverty in USA. It might shock and surprise many to learn that America is yet to get over the problem of hunger and poverty. The U.S poverty benchmark in 2004 was $18,400 but as can be well imagined the rising bills compounded by inflation can hardly meet the most basic of needs with some 18,000 bucks. Of course the official America would deny poverty or hunger in their nation. They would deny "hunger" but admit "food insecurity". Prior to 2006, the word "hunger" was not a taboo. It is only after 2006 that "food insecurity" replaced hunger in their lexicon. According to the latest census, one in every ten American is poor. (Bradshaw, 2007)

The only solace the poor in America have is that they are better off than poor people in the third world nation that are denied access to clean water, food and shelter. However, barely scraping through and having to forgo meals not out of choice but out of financial constraint is certainly not an enviable condition to live in. According to official figures 35 million Americans could not put food on the table at least a part of the year. It is unlikely that the federal minimum wage set to rise in 2009 will make a dent on poverty in America for it is contestable whether the first ever wage rise in 10 years will match corresponding inflation. It is not the poor in America like the developing nations are unemployed, but their employment is at extremely low wages. Poor people are forced to work at several jobs that impacts children and family life. According to USDA some 35 million poor people or 12 percent of the population go hungry or could not put food on their table part of the year. The official US goal is to bring it down to six percent. The word "hunger" no longer exists in the official U.S lexicon but nobody can take away the fact by obliterating the word for it. The phrase "food security" tied up with qualifiers alone explains everything from plenty to poverty. The official phrases that explain issues linked to food are high, marginal and low food security. (Dionne, 2008)

Earlier the phrase "food insecurity with hunger" described people that were forced to change quality or quantity of food under their budgetary constraint. The same is now described under "low food security" to depict those that had to cut back or skip meals on a frequent basis for both adult and children. Poverty is the world's worst human rights crisis." There was one author who wrote passionately and authoritatively, a heartrending book, advocating for a human rights approach for the approximately three billion human beings living in poverty on less than $2.50 a day. That statistic translates into almost half of the world's population. Approximately twenty thousand children around the world die each day ...