Dear President,

Have you ever experienced poverty? Some of us have. Others of us have only driven past it on the street. How closely you have seen poverty, supported it, experienced it, can kind of give you a picture of what it is like to actually live in poverty? Poverty has been going up in the past few years.

What does it mean to be living in poverty today? Living in poverty means to be willing to not get the same chances and fighting for their needs. It also means that every day is hard and giving up is easier. Living in poverty can also be hard to pay for your needs and setting food out to eat. It also means that you have to work extra hard to earn money. Most people living in poverty are in search of an affordable home. Research says if you find a house there is usually a waiting list for a year or more. During that time, the families usually have to buy a dangerous home, depend on relatives, or become homeless.

Who is affected? Poverty can affect basically anyone. People who don’t have a job or good education can be affected. Unemployment, illness or family separation can lead to poverty. Parents who don’t have children are more likely not to live in poverty since they didn’t have to pay for the birth prices, food for the kids, healthcare, and clothing. Single parents are also more likely to live in poverty than couples. People with disabilities are also more likely to live in poverty. Anyone can live in poverty, though. All it takes is a flip in their life.

Why does child poverty matter? Child poverty matters because children who live in poverty have a better chance of dying and have a low birth weight. Also, they cost our society $130 billion in future economic output as poor children grow up to be less productive. They also have a bad attitude since they get so stressed and confused. Boys growing up in poverty are the most likely to be arrested in their late teen's and early twenties. Girls growing up in poverty are the most likely to get pregnant before marriage. Also, kids growing up in poverty may not be treated so well by the parents since they are so stressed.

Why does family poverty matter? Families struggle to pay for food, clothing, education, healthcare, and the basic needs. Poverty blocks the way for the parents to perform good parenting. That can lead to the children feeling worthless since they are not getting attention from the parents. In poverty both the mother and the father work to help their family survive. Families that are likely to live in poverty live in a bad neighborhood, have no friends to play with, are not involved in any sports or music, and do not participate in any special occasions.

Poverty can be caused by being born into it because if your parents are in poverty. Also, the government is bad. The government is bad because the government doesn’t realize how bad poverty is. ThinkProgress asked respondents to estimate the official poverty line for a family of four ($23,550 in 2013) and Americans on average believe that it takes just more than $30,000 in annual income for a family of four to be considered poor — nearly $7,000 higher than the official measure.

People who live in poverty have a more likely chance to have health problems. Also, infants who are born with poverty have a higher chance of dying before their first birthday. People living in poverty are likely to have low nutrition and low blood sugar. Also, kids get a bad attitude and make not so good choices. Research also says that consequences of poverty include homelessness, substandard housing, inadequate nutrition, hunger, starvation, and lack of access to education. Do you really like to see people suffer through all these things?

Why should we care? We should care about poverty because we hate to see people suffer. Over half of America lives in poverty today. How do you think that makes America look? Not so good, huh? We want America to be good today. And we believe in equality. So everyone can be treated fairly.

We think the government should fix the schools because education is very important in getting a well-paid job. We also think the government should get more jobs, affordable healthcare, and education. We think the government should expand the opportunities. Poverty needs to have an end now.

Sincerely,

Jacie and Mandi

Citations:

http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html

http://www.worldhunger.org/hunger-in-america-2015-united-states-hunger-and-poverty-facts

http://www.pursuegod.org/causes-of-poverty-in-america/

https://dianeravitch.net/2013/07/31/poverty-in-america-why-it-matters/

http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents/AhmedPovertyFamilyStressParenting.pdf

http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/who-lives-poverty

https://www.reference.com/world-view/causes-effects-poverty-51004c600dd7b640

https://thinkprogress.org/why-poverty-is-a-much-bigger-problem-than-the-government-thinks-c07ea20f0310#.ny4w8pswv

http://occupywallst.org/forum/50-years-after-lbjs-war-on-poverty-1-class-war-on-/