Poverty in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poverty in the US - Essay Example From the table given below it is clear that different norms were there to calculate the poverty levels of different people. People below the age of 65 and over the age of 65 have different criteria to calculate their poverty levels based on the number of children they may have. It is an accepted fact that two people with same revenue cannot be considered as rich if they have different number of family members. 2009 Poverty Thresholds, Selected Family Types    Single Individual Under 65 years   $ 11,161 65 years & older   $ 10,289    Single Parent One child   $ 14,787 Two children   $ 17,285    Two Adults No children   $ 14,366 One child   $ 17,268 Two children   $ 21,756 Three children   $ 25,603 (Poverty in the United States, 2010) A parent with fewer children may have less expenditure than a parent with more children. In other words, population increase is a factor which is affecting the poverty statistics in America. America is a country of paradise for the i mmigrants. People from all over the world are migrating to America in order to achieve better living standards. It is a fact that these people are contributing heavily to the economic growth of the country. At the same time they are increasing American population and subsequently the poverty rates may also go up. The following table provides a brief idea about the poverty rate among children of different communities in America as per the 2008 statistics Children Under 18 Living in Poverty, 2008 Category Number (in thousands) Percent All children under 18 15, 451 20.7 White only, non-Hispanic 4, 850 11.9 Black 4,480 35.4 Hispanic 5,610 33.1 Asian 531 13.3 (Poverty in the United States, 2010) From the above statistics, it is clear that the... Poverty is a universal phenomenon which can affect any country irrespective of their economic power. No country, developing, developed or underdeveloped, is free from poverty. Poverty is one of the major concerns for the sociologists and economists.United States is supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. However, the recent financial crisis has created strong concerns among the public about America’s credentials as one of the richest countries in the world. United Sates faced several accusations when globalization entered the world. Many countries, including China, perceived globalization as a strategy by capitalist countries like America to loot the resources of other countries. However, at present economic experts are unique in their opinion that America failed to exploit the globalization properly whereas China succeeded in exploiting it heavily for their economic growth. Many people are of the view that globalization also played a role in increasing th e poverty rates in America. This paper analyses the major reasons for poverty in America in general and the role of globalization in particular, and proposes some solutions to eliminate it. It is not necessary that the poverty in America is dependent only on the factors inside America alone. In a heavily globalized world, problems of one country can affect other countries also, both directly and indirectly.