How many times has one been on their way to the store or on their way to work and saw a person on the side of the road holding a sign saying “Out of work, homeless, single parent, need food, etc.?” There are so many it raises questions on whether all of them really need the help or if they are just using us. Ever wonder how many people are considered to be in the poverty class? According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2013 there were 45.3 million people in poverty (1).
Most people do not become poor by bad habits but by being born into it. Isaak stated, “More children are born into “poverty” in the United States than in any other developed country, millions of workers are without health insurance, and there is an alarming increase in the number of teenage suicides” (111). The ones that are born into it normally stay in it because everything is a continuous cycle, to get a decent college education, money is required, to get a good job that pays well having an education is mandatory. If the money is not there to give how are we supposed to succeed and get further in our career? For example: a …show more content…
According to Associated Press, those in the top ten percent of the income hierarchy still earned 11.4 times as much as those living in poverty ($138,000 versus $12,000) (qtd. in Ming 26). Who in this economy can live off of $12,000? Most people spend that and more on groceries in a years’ time let alone living off of it. With the way prices are today the people that live off of that little amount of money can hardly survive. William Liu says, “Those from poor social class environments are likely to live in situations with increased rates of violence, increased exposure to environmental toxins such as lead, and limited availability of supermarkets” (5-6). Katherine Newman says, “While the urban poor can catch buses or ride the subways the rural poor are in serious trouble if they cannot afford a car”