Week 1: Defining Poverty

uHow do you define poverty? Do you distinguish between those you think are deserving of help and those that aren’t? If so, why?

        I define  poverty as the inability to survive (food, clothes, shelter) without assistance. With the corruption among welfare recipients, I am skeptical to believe that even those "deserving" poor should receive assistance. (which I think in itself undermines the term deserving) by definition I would believe the deserving poor would be single mother struggling to balance a full-time career and family life. A working family that are unable to make an living wage off two paychecks. Deserving poor are people who try to better themselves and their situations despite the struggles they face.

uHow do you think different historical events, circumstances, and values affect how people view poverty? What current historical events, etc. do you think are influencing how people view the poor?

        Ronald Reagan coined the term "Welfare Queen," which is modern times evokes a lazy -often African American- woman milking the system by having more children, not working, and more. At my internship today we discussed "entitlement programs" and their definition which is simply that an American citizen is entitle to receive those benefits. In some people's mind entitlement programs have become synonymous with people living-off the system. And there are some political and social groups that have perpetuated those beliefs. I think the recent news spectacle about the massive mob of people waiting outside of the East Point office to receive an application to get on the waiting list. The police were called. The ambulance rescued several people who passed out due to the heat. After a thorough evaluation of the news report, one could see how the people were being treated, workers handed out applications from on top of cars. There was absolutely no organization, or concern even for the applicants.

uIf your friend asked you what you learned in today’s class, could you tell them the difference between an absolute and a relative measure of poverty ? If not, please review this again (and read your book!)

       I would describe to them that an absolute measure of poverty is like food. It is a standard necessity, and because the price changes constantly over time due to forces like inflation it is a constant that should be closely evaluated. 

      A relative measure of poverty could be a cell phone. As technology evolved, we as a people became more mobile and less stationed in one place such as the house. Cell phone became almost a necessity, so much so that people who receive food stamps qualify for a free cell phone.

uWhat poverty measure do you think is the most realistic and/or accurate? Why?

–What do you think about how the U.S. measures poverty? Should it be changed? Why or why not?

–What would you do? How would you measure poverty?

–What is your definition of poverty?

     I define poverty as the state of being poor or impoverished. The inability to provide the basic necessities for oneself and family.