Ben T. Washington

Poverty In America

Poverty is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Dear future Mr. or Ms. President,

I believe that poverty is an issue that is in America and is going to continue to grow. Even though it may not seem like a big deal to those who don’t have to worry about not having enough money, it is a problem for those who have to live in poverty. I believe that this issue will continue to grow unless somebody does something to try to solve it.

There is a lot of people living in America that are living in poverty. According to TalkPoverty.org, in 2015, 13.5% of people fell below the poverty line which is 24,250 for a family of four. That is 43.1 million people in America that are making just enough to survive. I feel that this number will rise because prices to live in America is rising while the jobs and pay is staying the same.

In America most people live to support their families and live a happy life and most people can’t do both. I understand that not everyone can make a lot of money but there should at least be a bigger chance of being able to make money and support a family. According to TalkPoverty.org, the African American poverty rate is at 24.1% while the white poverty rate is 9.1%. This shows that it is affecting African American people a lot because 10 million people is 24% of their entire population in the United states.

However there are people who believe that poverty isn’t a big problem in America. I do understand that our poverty is nothing like other countries poverty but it is still a problem for anybody to has to make just enough to survive. According to galegroup.com, they believe that people in America aren’t truly poor. This is true but people are still living through issues that are caused by not having enough money.

In conclusion, I believe that poverty is a problem that could grow in America and might continue to grow every year. I do think that this problem can be fixed over time if we put our minds to it. I believe that if the future president creates a plan to fix this issue then the poverty rate will drop.

Sincerely,

Ben T.

Steigerwald, Bill. "Poverty in the United States Is Not a Big Problem." Poverty and

Homelessness. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009.

Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Are Our 37 Million Poor Really Poor?"

HumanEvents.com. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

"Basic Statistics - Talk Poverty." Basic Statistics. Center for American Progress, 2016.

Web. 25 Oct. 2016.