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Poverty in America
Lauren McCaskill
SOWK 441
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Poverty in America
The social problem that I have chosen to talk about is poverty in America. Poverty is a
big issue in America, and it affects roughly 37.9 million Americans, which is about 11.6% of the
total population. There are multiple different factors that accompany someone being in poverty
such as race, gender, disability, etc.
Population
In America, structural inequalities have stranded millions of working families in poverty,
especially populations that are historically marginalized people, such as Black and Brown
immigrants and refugees and women and children. Populations with the highest percent of
poverty in America are adults not working (31%), adults without a high school diploma (25%),
adults with a disability (24%), single moms (23%), foreign born non-citizens (19%), Black
Americans (17%), and Hispanic Americans (17%).
The poverty rate for seniors is 10.2%, which is only a little lower than the population
which is at 11.6%. The rate of poverty for seniors is lower because of programs such as Social
Security and Medicare. The poverty rate for children is 15%, which means one in six children are
in poverty.
The poverty rate greatly varies by race and Black Americans have the highest percentage
of poverty. Black Americans have a poverty rate at 17.1% while White, non-Hispanic Americans
have a rate of 8.6%. The Hispanic population has a poverty rate of 16.9%, while the Asian
population has a rate of 8.6%.
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Main causes
Poverty in America is seen in families that are in rundown housing in large cities where the
industry has moved away. The true face of poverty is found in rural areas of the South and
Southwest regions of the United States where living conditions are even more run down and the
industry never really started up.
Education is a huge part of higher percent poverty rates. The more advanced your education is,
you have a greater chance of securing a better economic future. High school graduation rates for
African American and Hispanic students are almost 20 percentage points lower than other ethnic
groups, while their poverty rates greatly exceed other ethnic groups.
Government programs. Although poverty is a big issue in America, there are
government programs that help people out of poverty. These government benefits keep millions
of Americans out of poverty. The main groups that are helped are women, children, and the
elderly. One program is Social Security, and it alone keeps roughly 27.3 million Americans
above the poverty line, including 17.9 million senior citizens that are 65 or older.
Refundable tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit
kept 7.9 million people out of poverty, and food stamps have close to the same numbers at 3
million people. Combined, Earned Income Tax Credit and Child tax Credit kept 9.2 million
families from going into poverty.
Although these are only a couple of government programs there are many more that the
government provides. These programs include Community Services Block Grant, Head Start,
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance, Medicaid, Medicare, family planning services, SNAP,
WIC, National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, legal services, and jobs corps.
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References
Poverty in the USA. Oxfam. (n.d.). https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/countries/united-
states/poverty-in-the-us/
Lee, J. (2023, March 7). 37.9 million Americans are living in poverty, according to the U.S.
Census. but the problem could be far worse. CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/why-poverty-might-be-far-worse-in-the-us-than-its-
reported.html
U.S. Poverty Statistics. Federal Safety Net. (2023, September 13).
https://federalsafetynet.com/poverty-statistics/
Poverty in the United States. Debt.org. (2021, October 12). https://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-
in-debt/poverty-united-states/
