The Epidemic Of Poverty In America

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Richisha Purnell Carol Matthews English 101 19 October 2013 Poverty “In 2010, the poverty rate peaked at 15.1%, and has barely fallen since then. This is the first time the poverty rate has remained at or above 15% three years running since 1965 (Hargreaves 2013)”. When society thinks of poverty they believe that it is a state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support (“Poverty”). Poverty has become an extreme epidemic among the American society and can be defined in many diverse ways such as the lack of or the inability to do something. Poverty is affecting a plethora of people leading them to suicide, depression, welfare assistance, and deviance. Poverty can have wide-ranging meanings such as poverty…show more content…
Alogia is the inability to speak because of mental deficiency, mental confusion, or aphasia (“Alogia”). Poverty of thought and poverty of speech associate because a person has to think of the things to say so that they can speak them. “Alogia is a negative symptom of schizophrenia, and can be characterized by brief and empty replies to questions. It should not be confused with shyness or reluctance to talk” If a person is lacking the ability to speak they are more than likely to repeat what others say because they do not have to think about it; this is called Echolalia and this is commonly found in persons with schizophrenia (Hasmi…show more content…
Government benefits are being supplied to the unemployed, disabled and the elderly such as food stamps or SNAP benefits. SNAP benefits allow a person to obtain food which is provided by the government and it based off the person’s income on how much money they receive. “This was precisely the goal of the welfare reform legislation enacted in 1996, which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Passed on a strong bipartisan basis, and signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, the new law required individuals to meet work requirements in order to qualify for welfare benefits. Mothers on welfare had to participate in state-designed welfare-to-work programs that provided training, job search assistance, or actual work experience” (Haskins 12). The TANF program is providing assistance in the job search process so that people will no longer be unemployed and have to live off of government assistance for a elongated period of time and break away from poverty. There have also been countless amounts of shelters that have opened to get people off the streets and being homeless. Getting health insurance for everybody is also a step that is being taken because people that have been living day by day are not financially stable to pay a doctor or hospital bill to keep their health
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