U.S -Poverty within the U.S is nothing new, it has its long roots that have more or less spread throughout the streets of the ‘Super Power’ beginning with The Great Depression of the post war 1930’s. At times it declines and at other times it arises, nevertheless it is amongst the problems within this very society which ‘We the People’ live in. Knowing what the problem is, does not necessarily always mean knowing who suffers from it however great it may be. With that said, it is obvious to point the fingers, and of course as always the fingers point towards the underclass population of the very society.
The poor, the needy, the hungry, the beggar, all of these names if you will, are indeed the underclass of the society, in other words they are people living below the poverty line with limited to no participation in the labor force.
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It is not strange to find on the streets of America people begging, looking for work and/or even dying because of hunger and apparent malnutrition as a result. Also robberies, and violence within such a structured society happens increasingly due to the economic crisis.
According to the latest Bureau of the Census, estimate poverty in the U.S is cyclical in nature with roughly 13 to 17% living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time. Approximately 40 per cent fall below the poverty line at some point within a 10 year time span.
“My husband makes decent money, and we’re still not making it,” said Michelle, a local resident living in New York.
“So I don’t know how any family could survive on minimum wage. The cost of Poverty within the U.S is nothing new. It has long tentacles which have spread throughout the streets of the ‘Super Power’ from The Great Depression of the post war 1930’s. At times it declines and at other times it arises, nevertheless it is amongst the problems within this very society which ‘We the People’ live in. Knowing what the problem is, does not necessarily always mean knowing who suffers from it however great it may be. With that said, it is obvious to point the fingers, and of course as always the fingers point towards the underclass population of the very society.
The poor, the needy, the hungry, the beggar, all of these names if you will, are indeed the underclass of the society, in other words they are people living below the poverty line with limited to no participation in the labor force - living here is just so high.”
The Lower Middle Classes
Not only are the poor suffering due to these problems, rather the lower middle-class are stuck in this mess as well. The U.S economy has one foot stuck deep within debt due to overspending, and another in foreign affairs that have backfired big time, thus impacting on the economy on a bigger scale.
One U.S citizen, Christina Mattson, says she earns about $7.50 an hour as a cashier for a retail chain, and her fiancé, James Mariana, earns twice that much as an overnight retail stocker. But their combined wages are barely enough to cover household expenses, let alone pay a baby-sitter for their four children — as a result they work opposite shifts, staggering their sleep schedules as needed.
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“We’ve been struggling a lot lately, especially with gas prices going up,” Mattson said.
“This winter’s going to be tough, because we have fuel heat, but I don’t even want to think about that yet.”
However, yet on the other hand, according to the government’s definition of poverty, as yet again measured by the U.S. Census Bureau, neither of these families are poor. The official poverty threshold for a family of four is $19,806 in annual income, which translates to a full-time hourly wage of about $9.50 in a single-income family.
That is the situation of the lower middle-class, then how about the class below them? The very poor and jobless citizens barely able to survive.
The Poor and Jobless
One homeless man living on the streets of Toronto who goes by the name ‘Thomas’, said he is incapable of finding a job, the life on the streets has worn him out, having no shelter, proper clothing, and more importantly enough food for survival, he says it is ‘ugly and tough.’
“Well, first of all, you don’t get paid for looking for a job because you’re not at your panhandling station. So how am I supposed to get food when I’m looking for a job” he replied when he was questioned concerning work.
“I’ve got a bad back, my knees are killing me and there is my collar bone. So I can’t do stuff with lots of walking or lifting things like I used to. I used to deliver those big phone books. You should try carrying eight phone books on your shoulder going straight uphill,” Thomas said.
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Living Below Poverty in U.S
Under 18 years of age 26,154.256
Working Population 21,793.183
Ageing Population – 3,521.829
Last Statistics Courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau
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One may argue that it is easy to help the homeless when you actually do not meetthem and or offer them sincere help from the heart. Yet most people ignore them, and or are not aware of them, others just simply are too stereotypical of them.
Thomas said that it is normal for such people to have a careless attitude as such whentimes are going good.
“Anyway, just have those folks walk in my shoes for one day. Then you’ll understand what it’s all about,” he says.
If this is the situation of this very nation and of these very people, one simply then questions, how about the other nations, and the people around the world?
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