Poverty Vs. The Economy Essay -- Poor Poverty Economics Essays

Poverty vs. The EconomyPoverty is a lack of goods and services necessary to maintain aminimal adequate monetary standard of living. The definition of the term adequate varies,however, with the general standard of living in a society and with publicattitudes toward deprivation. No university accepted definition of basic necessitateexists because poverty is a relative concept. In poorer countries it meansliving at the brink of subsistence, while in our country few improvised familiesconfront starvation, although some(prenominal) suffer from undernourishment.A key trouble in the area of poverty is inequality. Inequality has beena problem in all societies. No society distributes income evenly. scorn allthe conceptual and technical problems of measurement, the government hasdevised a widely cited poverty index that reflects the different consumptionrequirements of families depending on their size and composition, on the sex and bestride of the family head, and on weather they live in rural or urban areas. Basedon past surveys, the designers of the poverty index determined that families ofthree or more person spend approximately one-third of their income on nutrition.Thus, the poverty level for these families was, therefore, set at three timesthe cost of the economy food plan. For small families and persons livingalone, the cost of the economy food plan was multiplied by higher factors inorder to compensate for the larger fixed expenses of smaller households. Thepoverty thresholds are updated every year to reflect changes in the consumerprice index but overall rises in standard of living. (levington, page 147)Another issue is that the poverty index has several flaws. First, itdoes not allow for regional variations in the cost of living or for higher costsin the central metropolis areas, where many of the poor are concentrated. Second, theflood costs for the budget were designed for temporary or emergence use and arethus inadequate for a perment diet because th ey provide only the barestsubsistence. Finally, the government statistics fall to take into considerationnonmonetary benefits and assets in determining the number of poor. If thesewere counted, the numbers in the official poverty ranks would be reduced.The growing gap between the poverty level and median family incomedemonstrates the inaccuracy of adjusting a poverty level for price ... ...easy. Birth control and maternal care, designed to clear childrena give start in life, also leave the mother in a better position to becomeeconomically self able or, at least, contribute to her own support.Similarly, the difference between cash subsides and rehabilitative programs isoften blurred, for instance, stipends are necessary for the poor if they are tocomplete an effective learning program. These various strategies for helpingthe poor complement each other. Not only must todays poverty be alleviatedthrough cash and in-and aid, but steps must be taken to reduce it in the futureby bet ter preparing young people and by giving the poor a better chance in thejob market.BibliographyFitchen,Janet M.(1981). Poverty and Rural America smart York,York Random house Publishing Company.Jansson, Bruce S. (1988). The Reluctant Welfare State, AHistory of Amercians amicable Welfare Policies. Belmont, CaliforniaWadsworth Publishing Company.Katz, Michael B. (1990) The Undeserving Poor the War on Poverty to the war onWelfare, New York, New York.Levitan, Sar A. And Shapiro, Issac. (1987), Working But Poor. New York, NewYork The free Press.