Poverty Increasing Everyday

Michelle Pornsiritara

Pas 113b

Prof. Broadous

March 22, 2012

Poverty Increasing Everyday

            In America, the number of the poverty population is rising. Back in the 1960’s, it was a problem that only African Americans had faced. At that time, schools were overcrowded in some neighborhoods; many people relied on health care plans, stood in long lines to apply for a job, and went to shelters to receive food or for a place to stay. Their inadequate wages and the unemployment rate had caused a poverty issue in the African American community. Up until today, poverty is now affecting all races all over America and still is a problem because people lose their jobs. There are about 16 million children in poverty today (60 minutes). This is the fastest fall in the middle class, as there is now a big gap between the high class and low class. Homeless people and those in financial needs go to rescue missions, family housing, and other shelters to seek help. Inside each place is crowded as about thirty beds are cramped together into the room. The spaces of these people are limited as they don’t have much choice; their clothes and food are from donations they receive. Each person in poverty contributes to the socially, psychologically, and economic problems. These social, psychological, and economic problems they face imply how the world views the homeless and lower class in a broad sense.

            There are currently about half of Americans who are suffering financially (Smiley). In society, people look down upon homelessness as being unsanitary and unclean. There are negative degrading sayings that people in poverty are close to losing their homes. They are said to be people who steal, don’t want to succeed, and give up on life. Society puts on stereotypes of the people in poverty that they lack motivation in life. Their limited space to have enough access for financial help contributes to their poverty. There are many excuses though as to why people are in poverty and why they become homeless. “As McAdam notes, excluded groups lack conventional resources and inducements to affect change but must rely on negative inducements and reduction” (Cohen). It is a generation to generation problem, and they can’t find a way out easily as there are barely any resources for them. As a family is at a poverty level, their child falls into the poverty level too. They can’t seek much help when the environment they are in doesn’t provide them with enough support such as money, shelter, or food. Children, especially who are raised in poverty would be living in poverty with their family. There are 25% of children in poverty since the Great Depression (60 minutes). A child born into poverty makes it difficult for them to break the cycle. They usually stay in poverty to their adulthood. The only way out is education, but college level education prices are high. Another factor that leads to homeless is someone who lost their job, this causes them to lose their home, and seek help from shelters. As the issue of poverty arises, we should look at the problems that caused the people to fall into the homeless category, not by socially implying what kind of people are homeless.

            In poverty environments, living in crowded spaces, struggling to have meals each day and fighting everyday just to live on without enough necessities is difficult. Some people in poverty have to adapt to the environment they are in. Children in poverty at a young age face problems like starving, sleeping uncomfortably, and not being given the proper care by their parents at a young age could lead to future problems. People in poverty are looked at by society as having post-traumatic stress disorders, mentally challenged, being traumatized, and other psychological problems. The space in which these people lived in could lead to this problem. People in poverty feel hopeless, powerless, negative, and inferior. “The loss of stable shelter, whether sudden or gradual, may produce symptoms of psychological trauma. Second, among those who are not psychologically traumatized by becoming homeless, the ongoing condition of homelessness—living in shelters with such attendant stressors as the possible loss of safety, predictability, and control” (Goodman). Their limited space doesn’t give them much opportunity to live life comfortably. Their space in the shelter provides them with only the necessity to live, like a place indoors to sleep and just portions of food to live on. At San Fernando Rescue Mission where I volunteered at, some people seemed very grumpy, unhappy, and I came across someone who was mentally ill as she spoke to herself continuously. When we served food to them, some were very eager to eat as if they haven’t eaten for days. Although they can survive, it isn’t very convenient as many prefer to live with more comfort. The people in poverty would therefore feel unhappy and unmotivated. Especially homeless young adults are in a lot of stress. They are separated from family support networks; lack enough food to eat, and lacking a comfortable place to sleep on. If they lack coping skills, they could have future psychological disorders. Some parents don’t raise their children well in poverty; children are sometimes being abused by their parents if their parents are mentally-challenged. This causes the child to be traumatized. Since their space is limited, people in poverty are more trapped inside as they are less likely to see a way out.

            The economy of America has risen out of the Great Depression in the 1930s, but why are there still poverty issues from the 1960s up until today? Currently, the middle class is disappearing, and soon there predict to be only the high class and low class. The top wealthy class of the nation sits at 4% (Smiley). People become invisible as they fall into the poverty level, which is hard to get back up. The government money doesn’t go on to improve the poverty issue. As a parent loses their job, they lose their houses, as many houses now are going into foreclosure. Their children fall into poverty too. Their children will have to cut back on what they eat to save up money. If families are in so much need for financial help, they will go into shelters to seek help and the life struggles continue on. They affect the economy by relying on welfare, but still it doesn’t cover for that long. Even with welfare, larger families would still struggle financially. Still it isn’t enough to lower the poverty problem, as there are limited jobs and it is hard to find a stable job to support a family. The recession and poverty rates today are being compared to that of the Great Depression as to whether over time the economy is actually get better or worse. The economy does affect how people live, if they can’t afford to live comfortably, their space is then limited to another space that is smaller.

            As more fall into poverty, programs like rescue missions, shelters, and housing centers could only provide limited space for people in poverty to stay at. The place that people in poverty live in is definitely limited as the environment is more packed. They couldn’t live comfortably, like eating full three meals in a day, sleeping as much as they want, or having the option to choose what to wear. These programs are usually non-profit that does not use any money support from the government. Having a limited space in a shelter environment prevents them from doing what they would please. Having their own space like a house, it has a sense of belonging and warmth. As a shelter only provides space with the necessities to be able to live, but an actual home would provide a space that provides enough to relax and enjoy. When people in poverty lack that space, they don’t have enough to go beyond to live fully well.     

Works Cited

Cohen, Marcia B, and David Wagner. "Acting on Their Own Behalf: Affiliation and Political  

            Mobilization Among Homeless People." Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 19.4

            (1992): 21-40.

Goldstein, Adina. "'A Place of My Own' Homeless Families in the New York City Shelter

            System: The Long-term Stayers. a Comparative Study of Homeless Families Headed by

            Women." Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences,

            68.11 (2008): 4863.

Goodman, Lisa, Leonard Saxe, and Mary Harvey. "Homelessness as Psychological Trauma:

            Broadening Perspectives." American Psychologist, 46.11 (1991): 1219-1225.

Hard Times Generation. Interview. 60 Minutes. CBS. WCBS, New York: Nov. 2011. Television.

McChesney, Kay Young. "Homeless Families, Homeless Children: How Family Poverty Leads

            To Homelessness." Society for the Study of Social Problems, (1988).

Smiley, Tavis. “Remaking of America.” PBS.org. 2011.