Poverty In The United States

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The definition of poverty, as stated by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.” Some main causes of poverty include disease, natural disaster, over population, and lack of education (Causes of Poverty). According to “The World Bank,” over 1.2 billion individuals live in extreme poverty, under 1.25 dollars a day, and approximately 2 billion live on less than 2 dollars a day (Poverty Overview). Many organizations today exist with a goal of quick eradication of poverty, however, I think that if the goal allows countries to gradually improve their economy and workforce, the level of people living in poverty will significantly decrease. For the remainder of this paper I will discuss people, and their attitude towards the past and future of poverty. …show more content…
Most of these organizations work through the United Nations to supply food, water, shelter, and more to communities in poverty. Since 1980, the amount of people living in extreme poverty has gone from 1.8 billion to 1.2 billion because of the large amount of awareness these organizations are raising, but there’s still a lot of room to grow. People can, and have, learned from others with the same goal. One of the largest nonprofit organizations fighting poverty is called the Mercy Corps. The Mercy Corps “exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities” (Rozzi). Although the global amount of people living in extreme poverty has gone down, wage inequalities in the United States, among other countries, have increased. Also in The United States, 21% of children live in poverty. Awareness of issues like these will encourage people to care about