Essays on Poverty

Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and social support needed to live a healthy, productive life. In the United States, the official poverty measure is the poverty threshold" set by the federal government. The threshold for a family of four was $25,100 in 2010. Families and individuals with incomes below the poverty threshold are considered to be living in poverty.There are a number of different ways to measure poverty. The most common approach is to look at the percentage of people living below a certain income level, usually the poverty threshold. Other measures focus on the resources people have available to them, such as access to food, shelter, and clothing. Still others focus on the outcomes of poverty, such as poor health, low educational attainment, and limited economic opportunity.While the federal poverty measure is the most commonly used measure of poverty in the United States, it has a number of limitations. First, it does not take into account the cost of living in different parts of the country. Second, it does not account for public benefits or private income sources, such as food stamps or child support. Finally, it does not account for the fact that some people may have more mouths to feed than others.Despite its limitations, the federal poverty measure is a useful tool for understanding the prevalence of poverty in the United States. In 2010, the poverty rate was 15.1 percent, meaning that there were 46.2 million people living in poverty. The poverty rate for children under the age of 18 was 21.6 percent, while the poverty rate for seniors over the age of 65 was 9.1 percent."