Dear The Federal Government of Untied States of America,
My Name is Betty Johnson and I am 30 years old. I am writing to you because I am very concerned with the future of the citizens in this country. Throughout my life poverty has been Americas "Darkest Secret". I never Really hear news Reports on the growing percentage of Americans living in poverty, or the ways the government is trying to fix this issue. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line (Sasha Abramsky, "America's Shameful Poverty Stats"). Throughout my childhood I have watched many friends' families struggle financially. Sometimes my friends would go without eating for a couple of days simply because they could not afford it. I would offer them food but they would kindly decline because they were so embarrassed because of their situation. They would wear clothes that wouldn't fit them because they couldn't afford to buy new clothes. They would miss school to watch their little siblings because their mom was a single parent and had to work all day everyday just so she could feed them. They didn't even apply to college because they knew they had to immediately pick up a crapy job so they could help their mom pay the bills. The list goes on. All of this is happening under your supervision and it doesn't seem like much is affectively fixing this issue. America's lowest percentage of citizens living below the poverty line was 11.1 percent in 1973. It reached 15.2 percent in 1983 then dropped again to 11.3 percent in 2000 (Peter Edelman, "Poverty in America; Why Can't We End It?"). That just proves the government is capable of slightly decreasing the amount of poor people today in this country. What does not help is the fact that half of the nations jobs pay less than $34,000 a year, a quarter pay below the poverty line for a family of four, which is less than $23,000 a year, and 6 million people live with the aid of food stamps only. (Peter Edelman, "Poverty In America: Why Can't We End It?"). How are people supposed to live comfortably with those kinds of incomes or no income at all. Also, 8.3 percent of American citizens are unemployed. This is just crazy to me.
Being an African American Woman, I will always have the short end of the stick. Because of discrimination, Minorities and Women are less likely to get a successful/well-paying job simply because of there race. The odds of an African American single mother getting a well paying job are in their favor. "From 2005 to 2009, inflation-adjusted median wealth fell by 66 percent among Hispanic households and 53 percent among black households, compared with just 16 percent among white households." (The Other America, 2012: Confronting the Epidemic).
Children living below the poverty line have a very hard time succeeding in life. I met a girl named leslie from Red Hook, Brooklyn. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment with her mother and four siblings who were all younger than her. When she got to the 7th grade, she worked two jobs and was a full time student. By the time she got to High School she worked 3 jobs and became a part time student. She eventually dropped out of high school, got her GED and picked up a few extra dead end jobs that would get her nowhere in life. Her mother was unemployed and found it hard to keep a job because she did not go to college. In fact, no one in her family has ever gone to college. She eventually became a Single mother living off of welfare and $9,200 income with 3 kids. She likes to say that money doesn't bring happiness but being poor brings a lot of pain.
The Federal Government of the United States needs to do a lot more to help the 46.5 million people that live below the poverty line. A small amount of welfare money is not going to help. They need more opportunities and way to succeed. "What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of someone who can't afford an education" - unknown.
WORK CITED PAGE
Abramsky, Sasha. "America's Shameful Poverty Stats | The Nation." America's Shameful Poverty Stats | The Nation. The Nation, 7 Oct. 1013. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Abramsky, Sasha. "The Other America, 2012: Confronting the Poverty Epidemic | The Nation." The Other America, 2012: Confronting the Poverty Epidemic | The Nation. The Nation, 14 May 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Edelman, Peter. "Poverty in America: Why Can't We End It?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 July 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Malaia Simms 2/14/14
Pd. 9 Mrs. Hatlen
Dear The Federal Government of Untied States of America,
My Name is Betty Johnson and I am 30 years old. I am writing to you because I am very concerned with the future of the citizens in this country. Throughout my life poverty has been Americas "Darkest Secret". I never Really hear news Reports on the growing percentage of Americans living in poverty, or the ways the government is trying to fix this issue. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan where more than a third of residents live below the poverty line (Sasha Abramsky, "America's Shameful Poverty Stats"). Throughout my childhood I have watched many friends' families struggle financially. Sometimes my friends would go without eating for a couple of days simply because they could not afford it. I would offer them food but they would kindly decline because they were so embarrassed because of their situation. They would wear clothes that wouldn't fit them because they couldn't afford to buy new clothes. They would miss school to watch their little siblings because their mom was a single parent and had to work all day everyday just so she could feed them. They didn't even apply to college because they knew they had to immediately pick up a crapy job so they could help their mom pay the bills. The list goes on. All of this is happening under your supervision and it doesn't seem like much is affectively fixing this issue. America's lowest percentage of citizens living below the poverty line was 11.1 percent in 1973. It reached 15.2 percent in 1983 then dropped again to 11.3 percent in 2000 (Peter Edelman, "Poverty in America; Why Can't We End It?"). That just proves the government is capable of slightly decreasing the amount of poor people today in this country. What does not help is the fact that half of the nations jobs pay less than $34,000 a year, a quarter pay below the poverty line for a family of four, which is less than $23,000 a year, and 6 million people live with the aid of food stamps only. (Peter Edelman, "Poverty In America: Why Can't We End It?"). How are people supposed to live comfortably with those kinds of incomes or no income at all. Also, 8.3 percent of American citizens are unemployed. This is just crazy to me.
Being an African American Woman, I will always have the short end of the stick. Because of discrimination, Minorities and Women are less likely to get a successful/well-paying job simply because of there race. The odds of an African American single mother getting a well paying job are in their favor. "From 2005 to 2009, inflation-adjusted median wealth fell by 66 percent among Hispanic households and 53 percent among black households, compared with just 16 percent among white households." (The Other America, 2012: Confronting the Epidemic).
Children living below the poverty line have a very hard time succeeding in life. I met a girl named leslie from Red Hook, Brooklyn. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment with her mother and four siblings who were all younger than her. When she got to the 7th grade, she worked two jobs and was a full time student. By the time she got to High School she worked 3 jobs and became a part time student. She eventually dropped out of high school, got her GED and picked up a few extra dead end jobs that would get her nowhere in life. Her mother was unemployed and found it hard to keep a job because she did not go to college. In fact, no one in her family has ever gone to college. She eventually became a Single mother living off of welfare and $9,200 income with 3 kids. She likes to say that money doesn't bring happiness but being poor brings a lot of pain.
The Federal Government of the United States needs to do a lot more to help the 46.5 million people that live below the poverty line. A small amount of welfare money is not going to help. They need more opportunities and way to succeed. "What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of someone who can't afford an education" - unknown.
WORK CITED PAGE
Abramsky, Sasha. "America's Shameful Poverty Stats | The Nation." America's Shameful Poverty Stats | The Nation. The Nation, 7 Oct. 1013. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Abramsky, Sasha. "The Other America, 2012: Confronting the Poverty Epidemic | The Nation." The Other America, 2012: Confronting the Poverty Epidemic | The Nation. The Nation, 14 May 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Edelman, Peter. "Poverty in America: Why Can't We End It?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 July 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
