Americans In Extreme Poverty Free Essay

Features of the US Poverty Problem

 

Poverty in the United States is on the rise, but the government does not want to agree with the high number of people living in extreme poverty in the country. According to the United Nations, about 18.5 million Americans are living in extreme poverty which requires an enormous amount of resources to fight it. The United States, however, believe that these numbers are exaggerated accounting for only 250,000 Americans in extreme poverty. These contrasting figures have been subjects of debate as to how poverty is actually measured and described in the country, the United Nations and the United States government seem to use different approaches to define poverty.

In measuring and defining poverty, the United Nations Organization made use of the popular census figure which showed that poverty in America had not improved much since the 1960s. The United States government, however, released a survey by Heritage data which based poverty on living less than 4 dollars a day along with government aids like Medicaid and accounts for just 250000 people living in deep poverty. The United States officials believe that the United Nations data does not account for the aid provided by the government. Major bodies associated with the measurement of poverty believes that the numbers released by the United States government are too low and questioned the use of 4 dollars a day as a benchmark for defining poverty. This data by Heritage received further criticism based on the non-reflection of the debts the families have to go into to sustain these government aids. Using another means to measure poverty, by looking at those with less than the median disposable income, about 18 percent of Americans are still living in deep poverty which can be seen to be more than all the developed nations.

Poverty in America is still high whether it is measured based on consumption or the aid received or census data, 250000 is still a very low number, and this can be seen in the poor communities all over the United States. The country does not seem to provide a solution to reduce poverty effectively and as a result, are looking for ways to shrink the poverty data.

References

Stein, J (2018). The U.N. says 18.5 million Americans are in ‘extreme poverty.’ Trump’s team says just 250,000 are. Retrieved on 6 February 2019, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/25/trump-team-rebukes-u-n-saying-it-overestimates-extreme-poverty-in-america-by-18-million-people/?utm_term=.31de0d992231

 

 

 

 

 

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

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[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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