Poverty in America and the Effects and Consequences of Impoverishment (Essay Sample)

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Poverty in America
The living standards in America have been relatively fair, with few cases of people living in poverty as it is a developed country with opportunities that are key to eradicating poverty. Poverty can be described as a pervasive human condition of not meeting his or her basic needs efficiently. Poverty exists in every country, only it is in varying degrees. The United States of America is considered the wealthiest country globally, yet it has millions of its residents living in adjacent poverty. America's GDP has been consistently increasing over the years, which translates to better living standards among residents. However, living standards among some citizens have stagnated and are considered poor by the country's poverty standards.
A standard way was developed in the 1960s to measure poverty and has since not been amended. Based on this standard, poverty is measured in two methods; absolute and relative poverty (Rank pp. 889). One is considered absolutely poor by looking at the goods and services they cannot obtain. Absolute poverty is the standard determinant of one’s least requirements to afford the minimal standards of life essentials like food, clothing, education, access to healthcare, clean water, and shelter. The standards of measuring absolute poverty are just about the same over the years and in different countries. On the other hand, relative poverty is measured by looking into the necessity and how a particular social group compares to other groups. In simpler terms, relative poverty is a measurement of poverty due to inequalities as it measures disparities of wealth distribution among income groups. Such is where households in America are considered impoverished because they have a refrigerator, television, and an air conditioner with an income that falls below the threshold. However, with such items in some countries, one is considered wealthy. With these two primary considerations, people in the USA living in poverty are those who earn less than the federal governments’ official poverty threshold, people working at minimum wages, seniors living on fixed incomes, and wage earners who suddenly find themselves out of work.
Poverty in America influences different aspects of the residents ranging from social to economic factors. The center for American progress in their 2014 study found that in every seven Americans, more than one, which translates to 46.7 % of people living below the standard federal poverty level. Often, people are not considered poor individualistically rather than based on a household. Therefore, an individual after the total family pretax income for a given year goes below the poverty threshold with aspects of family size and age composition in consideration, then one is deemed poor. In simpler terms, all persons living n the same household have the same poverty status. Given the seriousness of poverty and its tremendous effects, it is paramount to look into the factors that lead to this social status in America.
Welfare programs are a known cause of increased poverty in America. Welfare programs were initiated to assist people who are