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

Poverty vs. The EconomyPoverty is a escape of goods and services necessary to maintain aminimal adequate beat of surviving. 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 basal needsexists because poverty is a relative concept. In distressinger countries it meansliving at the brink of subsistence, while in our country few offhand familiesconfront starvation, although many suffer from undernourishment.A key issue in the ara of poverty is inequality. Inequality has beena problem in entirely societies. No society distri merelyes income evenly. Despite allthe conceptual and technical problems of measurement, the political sympathies activity hasdevised a widely cited poverty index that reflects the different consumptionrequirements of families depending on their size and composition, on the sex andage of the family head, and on weather they en dure in rural or urban areas. Basedon one-time(prenominal) surveys, the designers of the poverty index determined that families ofthree or more someone spend approximately one-third of their income on food.Thus, the poverty level for these families was, therefore, plant 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 consumer expense index but overall rises in standard of living. (levington, page 147)another(prenominal) issue is that the poverty index has several flaws. First, itdoes not allow for regional variations in the cost of living or for higher bein the central city areas, where many of the poor are concentrated. Second, theflood costs for the budget were designed for temporary or emergence use and arethus inadequat e for a perment diet because they provide hardly the barestsubsistence. Finally, the government statistics fall to take into considerationnonmonetary benefits and assets in determining the number of poor. If thesewere counted, the come in the official poverty ranks would be reduced.The growing gap mingled with the poverty level and median family incomedemonstrates the inaccuracy of adjusting a poverty level for charge ... ...easy. Birth control and maternal care, designed to give childrena break start in life, also leave the mother in a better position to becomeeconomically self sufficient or, at least, contribute to her own support.Similarly, the difference between cash subsides and rehabilitative programs is a great deal blurred, for instance, stipends are necessary for the poor if they are tocomplete an effective bringing up program. These various strategies for helpingthe poor complement each other. Not only must todays poverty be alleviatedthrough cash and in-and aid, bu t steps must be taken to reduce it in the approachingby better preparing young people and by giving the poor a better chance in thejob market.BibliographyFitchen,Janet M.(1981). Poverty and verdant America new(a) York,York Random house Publishing Company.Jansson, Bruce S. (1988). The Reluctant public assistance State, AHistory of Amercians Social Welfare Policies. Belmont, CaliforniaWadsworth Publishing Company.Katz, Michael B. (1990) The unworthy 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.