Poverty In The United States: Gap Analysis

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Poverty in the richest country It is ironic that hunger and poverty still persist in the world’s wealthiest nation. About 58.5% of Americans spend at least 1 year living below the poverty line. There was about 643,000 sheltered and unsheltered homeless nationwide in 2009. In 2011 about 46.2 million (15.0%) Americans lived below the poverty line. This was more than 15 million people in poverty, than in the year 2000. In 2011 the median house hold dropped from $23, 201 for a family of four, dropped from 1.5% to $50,054 compared to 2010 and 8.7 percent lower than in 2007. Under the Census’ alternative composition SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program) lifted 3.9 million people above the poverty line in 2011. In November 2012, more than 16%…show more content…
In this country we often use Gross Domestic Product to measure the wealth of the country. The United States has had the highest GDP ever since I was born in 1995. Today the United States GDP is about 15.7 trillion dollars. The United States owns a stock market which is trading goes up and down a lot. The United States has enough wealth to guarantee a high standard of living for every citizen. In Los Angeles we see different amounts of wealth, we have Beverly Hills people, Hollywood actors and they have a different amount of wealth. The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, yet it has the highest rate of poverty. In order to alleviate poverty the government must stop outsourcing jobs, spending so much on the military, and must start taxing the rich. By changing these actions the United States will provide more Americans with jobs, and the country will have less…show more content…
By the end of 2008, the U.S. had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet in 2011 they are spending a little bit less? If an amount of $664.84 billion was spent in the military in 2011, they could cut that into about 5 billion. But wait, why are they spending about the same amount? If it was $900 billion while they were in war, then it shouldn’t be $664.84 while they are not at war, right? If they were to cut it buy that much the economy could be even better because, one it can go for schools, and that way students could get more money from FAFSA. Students’ ranked middle class will have a better financial aid packet as well because, more money will be handed out. Giving students more money for college will lead them to get a better education, which will lead them to get better jobs. Having better jobs will help the economy because more people will be earning and spending money. As discussed in ethnic studies and economics class it will help the economy because they more money consumers have, the more money they will give the economy, and that will also lead to less

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