An outsiders perspective on poverty...

Who?

As a full-time college student, I and many of my fellow peers have noticed the ever-growing population of homeless people in and around the city. When I think of the word poverty, the homeless people I see and sometimes interact with are the only group of people that come to mind. While writing this blog I began to realize that it was quite naive of me to think of the homeless as the only individuals in poverty, as those individuals make up a small percentage of the impoverished population. The United States is immensely ethnically diverse which makes it difficult for the average person to gage which group of people make up the majority of a certain population. If I could take a wild guess I would assume that African-Americans make up the majority of the impoverished population in the United States. Don't get me wrong, I have seen people of all backgrounds living in section eight housing or using food stamps at the grocery stores, but I have to say that of those individuals I see, African-Americans make up a majority of the people I notice.

Why?

I can't help but imagine that a great number of poor individuals are in that very position because of 1) prolonged abuse of drugs and alcohol 2) s/he was born into an unfortunate situation 3) hard economic times have cost them their jobs or 4) those who want a free ride. Those who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse have an extremely difficult time budgeting monies, avoiding the temptation of drugs or alcohol, and focusing on important duties such as school or work. It is also extremely sad when innocent children are born and raised into families that have known nothing other than a life of poverty. I imagine that it is rare when a child raised in poverty will go out into the world looking to make something of him or herself, simply because they don't know that there are things that even they can accomplish; despite being poor. As an all too familiar time in the American economy, many people have lost their jobs. Even though many people have saved for years, nothing could have prepared us for the jolt in the economy that we are still recovering from- years later. Lastly, there are some individuals who take advantage of the programs available to those in poverty. They are the individuals who lack morals and take away from people that express a true need.

What is being done?

The United States government has developed programs which are designed to help alleviate poverty. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a popular, federally-funded program which helps low-income women obtain nutrition education, supplemental food, and healthcare for themselves and their babies. Here in the United States, Food Stamps and subsidized housing are also available to individuals making moderate to low income. For those individuals who are in dire need of food and shelter, there are soup kitchens and homeless shelters available to those in need. In some cases, homeless shelters are free only for a few nights, but they will soon charge a small fee to stay subsequent nights. Although there are many other programs in place in the United States that aim to alleviate poverty, I am "out of the loop" on poverty alleviation programs in other countries. China has a one child per family rule to help slow population growth, which can ultimately lead to decreased poverty rates. The United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) is a global relief program that seeks to provide children across the globe with clean water, education, food, healthcare, and emergency relief aid.

What should be done?

I don't have a full list of programs that have been designed to help reduce poverty in the United States and other countries, but I do know that poverty has and continues to be a problem for people across the globe. Whether white, black, hispanic, or asian, there are people of all nationalities and ethnicities that suffer from the effects of poverty. We all see those sunday morning Feed A Child commercials begging us to give to those who aren't fortunate enough to take advantage of poverty alleviation programs that we have here in the states. Let us be thankful for those governmental programs instead of constantly critiquing them.