Poverty in the United States

Poverty in the United States

Many people here in the US or abroad, are forced to live a life in poverty. There are many various types of poverty that exist with several causes. The people who live in poverty are different from the people that don't. These people face many social, physical, and mental challenges that impact themselves and their societies. Many measures have been taken to attack and thus limit the spread of poverty and or decrease the amount that exists. Poverty affects all aspects of life on an individual.

There are many different types of poverty that exist. The first type of poverty is lack of material well-being. In our society you might be considered poor if you made around $20,000 a year, lived in a small house, drove an old, used piece of junk and so on. In other societies you are doing well as long as you can provide the materials needed to survive everyday, which are food, water, shelter and clothing (Harrington 8). As long as you have these four things you can survive. The problem with some poor people is that they don't have these things. That is why it is hard for them to survive. It is very important that people have material well-being in order to stay away from poverty. Basic materials are probably the most important thing needed for survival and also to prevent poverty (Mangum 26).

Another type of poverty is lack of physical well-being. Physical well-being deals with health, strength, and appearance (Harrington 19). Without these things, the poor man is screwed since the body is the only means of making money and surviving. These people are living on a day to day basis. Each day they have to struggle to get money, which is what gets people the basic materials needed to survive. Because they are living day by day, people in poverty have no chance to improve their status. Poor people cannot improve their status because they live gradually, and if they get sick then they are in trouble because they have to borrow money and pay interest (Harrington 22). This is very true, and it also happens a lot because hungry people tend to get sick more easily and for longer periods of time than people that are not hungry. However, once a man losses his health, he loses everything else needed for survival.

Another type of poverty is lack of security. Security, is surviving without worrying about crime, wars between different groups or gangs, lack of police protection, natural disasters, and changes in climate (Harrington 31). People just can't live in a state of constant fear. This isn't as big a problem here in the United States as it is in other parts of the world but the problem is still here, mostly in inner cities. Security is up to the people living in poverty themselves to take care of. Unlike lack of materials and physical well-being, the poor people themselves can stop committing crimes so that people could live in peace