Poverty in America

Poverty is a problem that affects people greatly. In 2002 the number of people below the poverty level in the United States was 34.5 million. Poor people are often thought of as lazy people who don’t want to work, but that’s not always the case. Many people below the poverty level have jobs, and still are struggling to make ends meet. People have bills to pay, and most people have children as well. Children, who has well as themselves need clothes, food, and a place to live. All these things add up and the people below the poverty level don’t have the best paying jobs in the world. There are also some people below the poverty level who are living off of retirement, disability, social security, or some other form of government aid. Having lived with my grandmother for six years who receives a retirement check and social security I know what it’s like to live below the poverty line. Luckily we had family that helped us whenever we needed it, but there are some that don’t have that kind of help. As we discussed in class the government isn’t going to write policies that hurt their status, so what is being done about the issue of poverty? One thing is that minimum wage was increased from 5.15 to 5.85. While 70 cents may not seem like much according to an article I read the increase will lift as many as 1.7 million people above the poverty level. That doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be able to live comfortably, and be able to afford all the things they need, but I guess it’s a start. Here’s the website that I read the article from. It also has a lot of other information about poverty. http://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/