Research Paper
Research Paper
Research Paper
Kayla Hartshorn
ENG 1201
17 November 2019
Research Paper
Poverty is defined as the state of being extremely poor. Poverty has increased in the
United States and can really have a huge impact on the way individuals feel, act, and their health.
The state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. There is a direct link between
poverty and poor health. The poverty level guidelines for 2019 are as follows. Poverty is
happening everywhere, but not only in the United States. Africa has poverty as well and it is
simply like the United States. In the article, “Walking through a Tightrope: The Challenge of
Economic Growth and Poverty in Africa”, it talks about it is a struggle for the ones that are there
to get a chance to have fresh water, live in an area that is clean, for themselves to be clean, and
many more different things. This is an everyday issue and will not come to an end without the
help and support. By having the help and support it could potentially come to an end.
Poverty has a lot of different meanings behind it, but has to do with more than just how
much money someone makes. The way that individuals are classified based on how much of an
annual income, age, sex, and race. Why are kids in different poverty classes being judged by the
way that they look or act? In the article, “Poverty USA” it talks about how in 2018, 16.2% of all
children (11.9 million kids) lived in Poverty within the United States. No matter what your race,
gender, social status, occupation Americans in today’s society can either live in poverty or not
live in poverty. African Americans, disabled people, women, or a child all have a better chance
of living in poverty. Depending on not whether or not they do live in poverty it all has to do with
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In the image from the article, “What is Poverty”, that is shown below, it talks about the
different family sizes and how much money that is being made between everyone. The family
size does depend on how much money that needs to be made. If there is a family and make
around what is shown below they are most likely going to be living in poverty. If there is a
family that does not make enough money that is around this it is proven that they are technically
considered poor.
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From the image above, “What is Poverty”,the average cost for housing in the United States
ranges from $500 for a one bedroom apartment to $1500 for a 3 bedroom home. Utilities ranges
from $100 to $325 per month. For a single person that is considered to be at or below poverty
level, their average month income is $1040. Statistically speaking more than half of their
income goes to nothing but living expenses. This leaves little to no money to devote to
healthcare. This creates a double edge sword. Poverty is a leading cause of poor health and poor
health is a leading cause of poverty. The cost of healthcare, which includes co-pays, deductibles,
is a significant factor for most individuals to consider. For an individual living in poverty, it
could mean the difference between being able to pay their living expenses and paying for their
needed medical expenses. For a number of individuals living at the poverty level, it is almost
impossible for them to afford the cost of their healthcare premiums. These individuals are
rolling the dice, hoping and praying, that they have no need to seek medical attention.
But why are children having to live this way if they do not even get a chance to make an
income. There is a lot that people do not look at when it comes to poverty. Poverty is one of
many topics that is an everyday issue. Do individuals that live in poverty have health risks? Is
there a way that children that are living in poverty can get the proper care that they need and get
a better education? What are some ways that individuals can help others out and give them a
better view/chance at life? These are just some of the many different thoughts that people are
thinking about. Poverty needs to come to an end but will not change unless there is help for
people in the world. By just giving them a way to smile, a place to stay when needed, food on the
Poverty has been present in the United States for many years now. Individuals are
struggling out in the world. Most of them are living paycheck by paycheck. In the article, “Faces
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of poverty: What racial, social groups are more likely to experience it?” it talks about the ones
that have been in poverty the longest or have a better chance of being in poverty are Hispanics,
women, children, black. This has a lot to do with the fact that women have to support themselves
and will have to provide for a family if there is one. Disabled individuals have a lot of medical
bills that they have to pay for which are not the cheapest, and have to have a lot of care that one
that might not need. Poverty can happen to anyone but has a lot to deal with where you live and
what you do for a living. Depending on where you live depends on how much those individuals
have to pay in taxes. Taxes is one of the issues that people face since there are levies that are
being ran to try and make the taxes increase. Even if it is not a lot it can still go a long way and
really make someone that is either in poverty become living in poverty. Most people in society
choose a low taxed rate place to live so that they can afford to have a roof over their head and
Since a lot of individuals pick a cheap place to live, so that they can provide for
themselves it might not have the best possible outcome. In the video, “How Poverty Affects
Classrooms” it talks about how a formal teacher of two little girls were taken in by the teacher to
try and give them a better life. For example, the two little girls had a lack of social and emotional
skills and had to be reminded to do some things like eating. Most children are not getting the
best care, attention, and schooling that they truly need to be successful in life. If they do not get
the proper care that someone that is not living in poverty gets why can’t we all help each other
out? It would not make that big of a difference for everyone to come together and help each other
instead of being selfish. This could change the way that the world is viewed and possibly one day
make poverty end. If everyone could just come to an agreement and want to be there for each
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other it would make life so much easier for individuals. Education is one of the most important
These two little girls were not getting the best care that they should of been getting and
since the teacher decided to take them in, it got them out of a bad area and put them into a home
that they could really grow in and have a chance. If we could get more people to act like this
teacher in the education department it would really bring the way that some of the individuals are
living. This can be very life changing and can end poor education.
Education has continued to drop and will continue to drop. A lot of kids that are in school
cannot go all the way through high school. This has a lot to do with the fact that they are poor.
Being poor makes it very challenging to be able to pay your way through school and to be able to
get a good job out of it at the end. In the article, “Long-Term Impacts of Poverty on Children:
Health & Education”, it talks about how 30% of poor children do not go all the way through high
school to get their GED. The GED is one of the most important parts in today’s living. Without
having a GED, the individuals will not be able to get the correct job that could support them
enough to put enough into their living. Not having the correct attendance in school, the
preparation for school, and the behavior makes it hard for children to focus. These children are
not getting the correct attention at home or at school. If a teacher were to come together, and get
to know their students more and try to set up a classroom that would be most likely productive to
them to learn in it could possibly change the way that school is viewed in their lives.
While some children are struggling in school, emotionally, and physically it would not
hurt but to help them. Just giving them that notice that there are others there for them and want to
help them or even just be friends with them could change the way that they want to do life. It
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could bring out a true hero to them. By just giving them this and doing something for the better it
would mean a lot to them. Going this far would be a life changing moment for them.
The ones that are living in poverty do not have that great of a view on the way that life is.
In the article, “ The New Poor People’s Campaign Wants to Change How We Think About
Poverty”, it talks about how the ones in poverty look at poverty. Since the way that they look at
themselves is not the way that most individuals look at them, there are different types of
organizations that are offered to help them. These different organizations could really help
someone in poverty. There is no one that is really poor in the world. Poor is just a word that is
used to classify different individuals based on how much money that they have to offer and put
Since there are considered poor individuals in the world how do they afford to pay all of
these bills and medical bills as well. In the article, “Long-Term Impacts of Poverty on Children:
Health & Education” it talks about how there are many different health risks can be taken over.
The brain development can be toxic for the brain. Hearing loud noises is not the best for these
people to hear and could hurt them more and more when they actually hear it. Not having the self
confidence of themself. By them not having this it can lead individuals not feeling good about
themselves and talking bad about themselves. Heart Disease can be bad for their bodies by them
not getting the potential care that they need to stay healthy. There can be a lot of stress that can
lead from not having clean clothes, not eating the way that they should, not having the correct
family care. Like if they are going to be abused by their family/household. Since they did not get
the attention that is needed. Having the adult support can go a long way. By having this kind of
support it builds themselves up and brings out who they really are.
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There are a number of physical and mental health issues are affected by poverty. On
average, those living in poverty have higher rates of arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure,
respiratory illnesses and depression. According to a study conducted by Dr. Emily Callander,
women who developed arthritis were 51% more likely to be at the poverty level in comparison to
women who did not have arthritis. This also rang true for men who had an average of 22%. It
has been proven not enough food, or quality food, can cause obesity, diabetes, high blood
pressure and heart disease. It is three times more expensive to get the energy we need from
health foods than it is from unhealthy foods. There is also a direct link between poverty and
diabetes. Those diagnosed with diabetes, that fall into the poverty level, have been known to
ration their medication, take smaller doses or skipping treatment to help combat the high cost of
diabetes related medication. Diabetes is one of the most expensive diseases to maintain. The
average annual cost of insulin is $9000. This does not include diabetic supplies, such as testing
equipment and needles, in addition to visits to the doctor. These additional expenses can increase
to the cost to well over $15,000 annually. For a person living at the poverty level, it would be
almost impossible to maintain the cost of this disease, while attempting to live.
Poverty can increase your chances of getting ill due to poor nutrition, lack of clean water
and putting your own health at risk in order to survive. Poor health increases poverty by
reducing work productivity and forcing a family to make decisions of covering the cost or
Children, older people, and disability individuals are the ones that need the most
attention. Being any of these three groups of people it is hard to live when you do not have the
potential money to be able to survive in the world. Just because there is the different help out
there does it really mean that individuals are going to take the help and use it the correct way.
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Once someone is living like this it is very challenging to come out of this and make it stop. A lot
of it has to deal with the fact that the individuals are not in the best shape and cannot move
around as easy. That’s why it is important for these groups to get the correct care that they need
In the video, “How Poverty Affects Classrooms”, the two little girls were in a rough
patch. Since they were in a rough patch, they did not know some of the key concepts that they
need to know to be successful out in the world. Just like being reminded where they need to go
when it is time for bed. This is something that most people do not need to be reminded of but the
fact that there are people out in the world that need this help shows that these two little girls had
lots of health issues. Their health issues might of not been noticeable for someone to tell by just
All of these different aspects that have to do with the way poverty is viewed has a lot to
deal with the different types of people. Just because someone is not like another person does not
mean that they should be judged. Just because they are being judged does not give individuals
the right to since they have different ways to be looked at. Some people have a lot going on and
have different shells. There are different shells due to the fact that they are struggling differently.
There could be health related issues that someone might not be able to notice.
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Overall, the way that poverty is viewed is just depending on a number. It does not go on
to the fact that some just like the person reading this is being judged based on a number. The
amount of money that someone makes is depending on how hard they work. They could be the
hardest worker but not make the most money. Since they might not make the most money it will
be hard for them to support their family and give them everything that they need to be successful
in life. This is hard on someone and by just having that one person that someone can go to is nice
and makes them feel good. There does not have to be a need for someone to just give and give
them presents but to just be there emotionally, socially, physically it can go a long way. That’s
why these or organizations need to push for people to go out together and get to the point to
where they are all about helping and giving so that they can make a change. By making this
In conclusion of this paper, this topic has really brought out what it means to be living in
poverty. By living in poverty it can face challenges that individuals do not notice that someone is
going through. Just because someone is going through this does not mean that they are going to
come straight out and tell someone. Living in poverty is not only hard income wise but it is hard
emotionally. If the correct tools are not there to be used while being in poverty then there is
going to be no outcome. From doing more research on this topic it has been brought to mind not
to focus so much on one person. It has been shown that if everyone comes together it can not
only make yourself feel great but it can bring out the best in others. It can bring out others, and it
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