Term Papers on Poverty Vs. The Economy

Term Paper Title	Poverty Vs. The Economy
# of Words	1435
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.74

Poverty vs. The Economy

          Poverty is a lack of goods and services necessary to maintain a
minimal adequate standard of living.  The definition of the term adequate varies,
however, with the general standard of living in a society and with public
attitudes toward deprivation.  No university accepted definition of basic needs
exists because poverty is a relative concept.  In poorer countries it means
living at the brink of subsistence, while in our country few improvised families
confront starvation, although  many suffer from undernourishment.
          A key issue in the area of poverty is inequality.  Inequality has been
a problem in all societies.  No society distributes income evenly.  Despite all
the conceptual and technical problems of measurement,  the government has
devised a widely cited poverty index that reflects the different consumption
requirements of families depending on their size and composition, on the sex and
age of the family head, and on weather they live in rural or urban areas.  Based
on past surveys, the designers of the poverty index determined that families of
three or more person spend approximately one-third of their income on food.
Thus, the poverty level for these families was, therefore, set at three times
the cost of the economy food plan.  For smaller families and persons living
alone, the cost of the economy food plan was multiplied by higher factors in
order to compensate for the larger fixed expenses of smaller households.  The
poverty thresholds are updated every year to reflect changes in the consumer
price index but overall rises in standard of living.  (levington, page 147)
          Another issue is that the poverty index has several flaws.  First, it
does not allow for regional variations in the cost of living or for higher costs
in the central city areas, where many of the poor are concentrated. Second, the
flood costs for the budget were designed for temporary or emergence use and are
thus inadequate for a perment diet because they provide only the barest
subsistence.  Finally, the government statistics fall to take into consideration
nonmonetary benefits and assets in determining the number of poor.  If these
were counted, the numbers in the official poverty ranks would be reduced.
          The growing gap between the poverty level and median family income
demonstrates the inaccuracy of adjusting a poverty level for price increase but
not for rising living standard and productivity gains.  Alternative definitions
and concepts also have a major impact on the poverty estimates that if transfer
payments or income support programs such as social security are not counted,
then about twenty percent of all American families lived in poverty during 1988,
Government income transfers are, however, included in the official poverty index,
and this fact reduced the relative number of destitute Americans.  If in-kind
programs such as Medicaid, subsidized housing, and food stamps were also
included, then the percentage in poverty might have been further reduced,
(Fitchen, page 97)
          Another issue is that some particular groups are more likely to
experience poverty than others.  For instance, blacks are three times as likely
to be poor as whites.  Families headed by women are nearly five times more
likely to be poor than other families.  Families where the head has no more than
eight years of schooling are nearly five times as likely to be poor compared to
families headed by college educated person.  Minority and female headed units
are not only more likely to be poor but less likely to escape from poverty.  The
poor face multiple impediments to self-sufficiency, including joblessness, less
than a high school education, and dependence on welfare.
          Their are four different major groups of poor people.  They are the
elderly, children, employed working-age adults, and unemployed working-age
adults.  Each of these groups has different problems that are addressed by
different programs.
          Few elderly people ...

This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Digital Term Papers. Please register below now!

Digital Term Papers has over 63,000 essays, term papers, and book notes online. Many paper sites will charge you hundreds of dollars for a single paper. Digital Term Papers only charges $14.95 for a one month membership with instant account activation!

Don't waste anymore time! Join NOW!!!

1 Month (automatic renewal) ($14.95)

3 Months (automatic renewal) ($29.95)

6 Months (one-time billing) ($39.95)

Pay by: