What causes poverty?

Question

A quickie survey for my Soc 101 class - 2 questions...
1. What is the cause of poverty in the US
and
2. Who are the poor in the US?

Thanks!

Answer 1

As a sociologist I can tell you that in the US there are more poor white people because there are more white people. However, as a ratio of the population, minorities and women find poverty much more overall than white counterparts. There are strong demographical variables that predict poverty such as educational attainment, race, sex, parent's educational level, where you live (economics), and even health as new research shows obese people earn on average 5000 less per year. Women across all races make less than men across all races and educational levels commonly called the "glass ceiling". There has been recent interest in the impact of social capital, or social networks as a measure of income too and the work is quite valid. Poverty tends to be cyclical within generations of a family because it is rare for people to break the cycle and normally escape environmental factors such as crime, drugs, poor educational opportunity and habits, as mentioned health. Further, we know that many teenage parents specifically females have great restraints because they tend to get poorly educated or drop out thus impacting their income. Race and Sex however are the two general predicators overall. Right now too the incredibly low minimum wage with outrageous inflation occuring with no adjustment to base pay is not only increasing poverty but also making the middle class the new working poor. Lastly, the expense of living, housing, food, health care, and transportation cause many social mobility barriers for the population. The working poor and non working poor have many conditions to overcome to obtain true monetary stability.

Answer 2

My opinion is based solely on US poverty. My belief is that many factors cause poverty. Lack of education-it is no secret that educated folks make more money--people without a college degree end up with the lowest paying jobs. Irresponsible procreation--why is it that the poorest people feel the need to knock out 12 kids? In most states medicaid will pay for your tubal ligation or vasectomy. With welfare reform having babies is no longer the "cash cow" it was. Our "system" encourages laziness--people who come for medical care who are on medicaid or welfare (so they don't have to pay the ER bill) will come for a headache when they haven't even tried taking a tylenol!! The parents of kids will balk at taking over the counter cough and cold medicine because medicaid won't pay for it--BUT you see them at the store purchasing cigarettes! I know at some point there are people that start out with the best of intentions of having a job and participating in society--and something or things happen to ruin it all. Who are the poor? Depends on where you are at--some people don't have a lot of money but they make ends meet, they have a happy family.

Answer 3

I don´t live in the US, and i love that country. But from outside, and by the experience i have by traveling to that country, i can say, for sure, that most of the poor people in the US is caused by the huge debts they have and the high consumption of the population. Everything goes to the Credit Card with no meaning of saving money... For example: everyone can have a nice and luxury car of the year, but it isn´t yours, because you have to pay it from now to 20 years... and if you add to the new car; the new house, the swimming pool for the house, the boat, etc... at the end, you will have a huge debt and a big headache. Nothing of that is really yours, and all the money you earn, you have to give it out to pay the debts... result? you´re more poor...

Answer 4

Poverty is caused by a generation of people that do not care about the life that they live or who it may concern.
The poor are the ones that cannot go out and buy groceries without worrying about how much money they spend.

Answer 5

Poverty in the US is caused by many things, but look at the high taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and gasoline, and their is a huge culprit. The spend a much greater per capita than the rich on these things, and lawmakers will only raise these taxes , never lower them.

Answer 6

1. Unequal distribution of wealth
2. Define poor?? lol...seriously though, economically speaking, those who are below a certain annual income as determined by the government are considered poor.

Answer 7

economy causes poverty .. and the poor are the working poor class

Answer 8

Ever have a girl friend, and been broke? Women cause poverty, here and around the world.

Answer 9

The message of the Gospel has always appealed to the poor. And it's well known that those who are doing really well economically tend to forget that they need God. So are you trying to prove the truth of Scripture here or what?

Answer 10

A state of mind. I would rather have 1 true friend and 0 dollars that to have 1,000,000 dollars and a truckful of rainy day friends.