Working but Still Living in Poverty

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Teresa Graham English 111-0DJ Oct. 19, 2011 Teresa Graham English 111-0DJ Oct. 19, 2011 Working but Still Living in Poverty Many Americans work full time jobs but are living in poverty because of the recession, rising food cost, and government cuts. These situations are making it hard for Americans to make it in everyday life. They have to even sometimes beg for food for their families. So many people living in the United States have full-time jobs but the pay is minimum wage. With the economy in the shape it is, it makes those full-time jobs seem like only part-time jobs. “We are spending more money fighting poverty than ever before, yet poverty is up,” said Michael D. Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. “Clearly we are doing something wrong.”( Poverty Stats Show the Damage) Specialists say the government needs to rethink their calculations of poverty. According to Carol Morello’s article, “Poverty Stats Show the Damage,” about 44 million Americans (one in seven) lived in homes at the poverty level. For a family of four that level is $22,000 annually or less. The thing, is a lot of people have to live way under that level because the jobs that they can get do not pay much at all. Many high school students are dropping out of school to get restaurant jobs to help their families out. Also, people who want to go back to school to better their lives can’t because the cost is too much and there is not enough aid to pay for college. Because of the recession many Americans are forced to leave their houses and move in with family. The rising cost of utilities, food, and housing is making it hard for them to make ends meet. Some reporters have done stories of multiple families living in one house because of losing jobs and other things. They spend their days in the unemployment lines and walking the towns to

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