Essay About Poverty In America

I agree that the way poverty is measured now is not the way it should be. Income levels are different all across the country and needed things all across the country have different rates and expenses. Like it says in the article, a family could get by on $40,000 a year in one area, and need $90,000 to make it in another part of the country. I believe that rent and other bills and utilities need to be taken into consideration because sometimes people are over the poverty limit but only have enough money to make sure all the bills are paid. And then they have absolutely no money for food or other “extra” expenses such as gas. In the article is said that over half of Americans don’t have a small emergency fund of even $400. With taking income and subtracting all the persons bills it would be a lot more work on the welfare end, but it would help families out that cannot provide for themselves beyond bills. On the other hand, people can use this to get a bigger house than the need/can afford just so they can receive more benefits if the system where to change. Any

I can’t always agree with the fact that they choose to have these luxury items over needed items for their family. The article lists things such as air conditioning, a microwave, cable tv, or internet access. I don’t agree that these are all luxury items because these are things that can come included in/with an apartment and the family does not actually own. There are also things on the list that can be given to them by family or friends, or they had some spare money to buy a used one from goodwill or a thrift store. I think we all need to understand that our country is focused on “keeping up with the jones’” and that’s sometimes more important than having a nutritious meal, and it really should not be that wat and unfortunately it