Poverty is a widespread problem throughout the world and in the United States. The issue of poverty will never go away, but the situation can always be improved. Over the past few years in the United States, the number of people below the poverty line has been growing. More recently, these numbers have been increasing much more rapidly as a result of our current economic situation. According to data from the 2009 Census report, the poverty threshold for a single person under the age of 65 in 2009 is $11,161 per year, any person earning less than that is considered to be in poverty. The poverty threshold for a family of four with two kids under the age of 18 is $21,756 per year. According to the most recent census report, the poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2%, the highest since 1997. This was an increase over 2007’s poverty rate which was 12.5%. This was the first large increase since 2004 when the poverty rate increased from 12.5% in 2003 to 12.7% in 2004, a much smaller increase than that between the years 2007 and 2008. The census report estimated that in the year 2008 39.8 million people in the U.S. were below the poverty line, up from 37.3 million the previous year. Poverty is a very important issue, as it can lead to many other problems in a nation. The overall health of an economy, as well as the nation as a whole, can be indicated by the number of people that are below the poverty line.
Poverty and homelessness are two issues that are very closely related as poverty often leads to homelessness. Addressing either of these two issues can help out the other because they are so closely tied together. In the United States, home and rental vacancies have also been increasing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, home vacancy rates are 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009. In comparison, the home vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2000 was 1.6%. The rental vacancy rate for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 10.7%, while in the fourth quarter of 2000, the vacancy rate was 7.8%. It is clear that we are facing a problem in the housing market and the economy, indicated by the rising vacancy rates. Poverty and homelessness is looked upon as an issue that needs to be fixed. There are many programs and organizations dedicated to addressing these issues. Poverty also has a way of affecting communities; helping out the poor can have a positive effect on the community that they are in and can often result in greater improvements in an area’s education, house prices, and happiness of the members in that community. People often look down upon those who are homeless or poor because they are often seen as lazy or not willing to work and the visual aspects poverty are not desirable in communities. Many of these people are actually struggling to support their families and could use a little help. An NPR article about poverty in America found in a poll that they conducted that half of those surveyed believed that government programs designed to help the poor are not having much effect on improving their situation. Despite this, people still believed that the government should continue trying to help the poor and supported the government’s programs, however, support dropped considerably when asked whether they would be willing to support these programs through increased taxes.
Part II:
There are many government programs that are in place that are designed to help out those who are in poverty. This issue is getting larger and larger as more and more people fall under the poverty threshold. The Obama Administration and the previous Bush Administration have noticed this and have been trying to address this growing problem. Countless organizations also join in to help out the poor as well. The way that these programs help the poor are very diverse in the ways that they provide aid. The Obama Administration has announced recently that they are going to adjust how poverty is measured. An article from the Washington Post on the subject said that the way that the government determines the standard for whether someone is in poverty is outdated and was created in the 1960’s and was based on data gathered during the 1950’s. This system was based solely on income and the cost of food. The new system would take into consideration that food has become less of an expense for people and families and that other expenses in life such as housing, medical care, child care, and utilities. The old system will still be used, but the new system will also be used to help the government gain a better understanding of who needs economic aid. Community service programs are also a large source of aid for those who are poor or homeless. AmeriCorps is a large community service program created under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and later expanded by President George W. Bush with the Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act which doubled the number of members in the program. AmeriCorps works on addressing a wide range of issues through projects and volunteer work in countless communities. A large number of these projects address both the issues of homelessness and poverty. AmeriCorps members can be found in many projects working on solving these issues. I got to work alongside a couple AmeriCorps members while doing my community service with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is not a government organization, but it received participation from U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1984 and his wife, Rosalynn, took their first Habitat for Humanity trip to New York for the Jimmy Carter Work Project. There are countless other organizations that share a similar goal of helping the poor and the homeless.
Economics and poverty are intertwined as poverty and homelessness are part of our economy. What I learned about how our economy is one big system that is affected by each and every thing that happens in it. The collapse of the housing market was one of those things that are just one crucial part of the economy that affected the rest of the economy. A lot of the increases in vacancies and increase in overall poverty can be attributed to the irresponsible lending of the banks and collapse of the housing market that led to the economic situation that we are currently in.
There are many government programs that are in place that are designed to help out those who are in poverty. This issue is getting larger and larger as more and more people fall under the poverty threshold. The Obama Administration and the previous Bush Administration have noticed this and have been trying to address this growing problem. Countless organizations also join in to help out the poor as well. The way that these programs help the poor are very diverse in the ways that they provide aid. The Obama Administration has announced recently that they are going to adjust how poverty is measured. An article from the Washington Post on the subject said that the way that the government determines the standard for whether someone is in poverty is outdated and was created in the 1960’s and was based on data gathered during the 1950’s. This system was based solely on income and the cost of food. The new system would take into consideration that food has become less of an expense for people and families and that other expenses in life such as housing, medical care, child care, and utilities. The old system will still be used, but the new system will also be used to help the government gain a better understanding of who needs economic aid. Community service programs are also a large source of aid for those who are poor or homeless. AmeriCorps is a large community service program created under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and later expanded by President George W. Bush with the Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act which doubled the number of members in the program. AmeriCorps works on addressing a wide range of issues through projects and volunteer work in countless communities. A large number of these projects address both the issues of homelessness and poverty. AmeriCorps members can be found in many projects working on solving these issues. I got to work alongside a couple AmeriCorps members while doing my community service with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is not a government organization, but it received participation from U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1984 and his wife, Rosalynn, took their first Habitat for Humanity trip to New York for the Jimmy Carter Work Project. There are countless other organizations that share a similar goal of helping the poor and the homeless.
Economics and poverty are intertwined as poverty and homelessness are part of our economy. What I learned about how our economy is one big system that is affected by each and every thing that happens in it. The collapse of the housing market was one of those things that are just one crucial part of the economy that affected the rest of the economy. A lot of the increases in vacancies and increase in overall poverty can be attributed to the irresponsible lending of the banks and collapse of the housing market that led to the economic situation that we are currently in.
Part III:
There is no one solution for poverty and homelessness, as it is a problem that cannot be simply dealt with. We may not be able to completely get rid of the existence of poverty, but we can work to improve this issue. The government has already created many programs to help out homeowners in need of help with paying their mortgages that has not been as successful as promised, but it still helped some that were struggling. If the government were to create a better program for those who are struggling to support their families by providing some sort of financial aid for goods like food. A better way of dealing with food needs of a family might help ease the problem, but it definitely will not solve it. Another problem with a program such as that one is that it would require funds that the government just does not have. That would result in the need for further taxation, and that would not gain a lot of support among the public. Another alternative way to tackle the issue is through the building of more affordable housing. Housing is one of the most important, as well as costly, needs of an individual. It is hard for many to deal with paying for a house and supporting a family while working a job that does not pay much. By providing affordable housing, we can take the burden off the shoulders of those in poverty by giving them a house payment that they can handle. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity tackle the issues in this way. Habitat for Humanity will go into a community that would benefit by the construction of community service. The organization gives the houses to those who qualify for them and works out a payment that that homeowner can handle. Making sure that they give the houses to the right people is important for the success of the program. This ensures that the person that is receiving the home has the desire and will to turn their life around and that the payments for the houses will be made. This method of dealing with the situation provides those in need an opportunity to get out of their current situation by lessening the financial load that they need to cope with. Programs such as this one can work to help change a community in addition to changing the lives of those who get the homes. Another added benefit of a program like habitat for Humanity is that they are not a government program, so there is not a lot of government spending going on trying to keep the program going.
I learned a couple things from working at Habitat for Humanity. One thing that I learned is that there are people out there that actually care about this issue. Never before had I seen so many people, almost all of them volunteers, work together as a whole to help others. What was also amazing was that everyone went throughout the whole day with a smile on their face and enjoyed helping others. Working in that environment made doing community service that much more enjoyable and I could honestly say that I enjoyed myself and had a great time working with and meeting new people. It was very satisfying feeling that I was helping out others and that I got to work among those who were actually going to be living in these houses that we were constructing. If more people would try out participating in organizations that serve to help out communities, I feel that more people would find that they enjoy that kind of work and the satisfaction that it brings. The world could use more people that enjoy helping out others just because it makes them feel good. Experiences like this give me hope that we could help make this issue better through more programs and organizations like Habitat for Humanity which rely on the good will and intentions of people.
There is no one solution for poverty and homelessness, as it is a problem that cannot be simply dealt with. We may not be able to completely get rid of the existence of poverty, but we can work to improve this issue. The government has already created many programs to help out homeowners in need of help with paying their mortgages that has not been as successful as promised, but it still helped some that were struggling. If the government were to create a better program for those who are struggling to support their families by providing some sort of financial aid for goods like food. A better way of dealing with food needs of a family might help ease the problem, but it definitely will not solve it. Another problem with a program such as that one is that it would require funds that the government just does not have. That would result in the need for further taxation, and that would not gain a lot of support among the public. Another alternative way to tackle the issue is through the building of more affordable housing. Housing is one of the most important, as well as costly, needs of an individual. It is hard for many to deal with paying for a house and supporting a family while working a job that does not pay much. By providing affordable housing, we can take the burden off the shoulders of those in poverty by giving them a house payment that they can handle. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity tackle the issues in this way. Habitat for Humanity will go into a community that would benefit by the construction of community service. The organization gives the houses to those who qualify for them and works out a payment that that homeowner can handle. Making sure that they give the houses to the right people is important for the success of the program. This ensures that the person that is receiving the home has the desire and will to turn their life around and that the payments for the houses will be made. This method of dealing with the situation provides those in need an opportunity to get out of their current situation by lessening the financial load that they need to cope with. Programs such as this one can work to help change a community in addition to changing the lives of those who get the homes. Another added benefit of a program like habitat for Humanity is that they are not a government program, so there is not a lot of government spending going on trying to keep the program going.
I learned a couple things from working at Habitat for Humanity. One thing that I learned is that there are people out there that actually care about this issue. Never before had I seen so many people, almost all of them volunteers, work together as a whole to help others. What was also amazing was that everyone went throughout the whole day with a smile on their face and enjoyed helping others. Working in that environment made doing community service that much more enjoyable and I could honestly say that I enjoyed myself and had a great time working with and meeting new people. It was very satisfying feeling that I was helping out others and that I got to work among those who were actually going to be living in these houses that we were constructing. If more people would try out participating in organizations that serve to help out communities, I feel that more people would find that they enjoy that kind of work and the satisfaction that it brings. The world could use more people that enjoy helping out others just because it makes them feel good. Experiences like this give me hope that we could help make this issue better through more programs and organizations like Habitat for Humanity which rely on the good will and intentions of people.
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