The Role Of Poverty In The United States

In the United States poverty is defined as the general scarcity or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a multi-layered concept that includes social, economic, and political elements. Poverty may be defined as absolute or relative. Poverty uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits. The United States government officially classifies 15 percent of the population as poor. Each year, the U.S Census Bureau determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income to a threshold that is set three time the cost of a minimum food diet that is updated annually for inflation using the CPI (Consumer Price Index), and adjusted to family size, composition, and age of householder.

In fact, women are poorer than men in all racial and ethnic groups. There are factors that contribute to these alarming rates of poverty. One factor is that women are paid less than men. Nationally, women earn less than their male counterparts even if they have the same qualification, and work the same amount of hours. Current statistics suggest that women who work full time only make 77 percent of what men make. Another factor is that women are also segregated into low paying occupations. Women are “forced” into what are known as pink-collar jobs. Some of these include teaching, child-care, health-care, cleaning, and waitressing. These jobs typically pay less than jobs that are male