Kris Offerman, a 38 year old mother of two, starts to break into tears. Unable to cling to any strand of hope, she lies there helplessly as she repeats to herself, “It’s like there is no way out.” Once earning wages of $100,000 a year with her husband, Kris now relies on Willow Creek Care Center, waiting for the shipments of food to help feed her family. After losing her job, house, car, and money, Kris Offerman was once a strong member of the middle class of America that got deprived of her once fantastic life. She now lives in an apartment, stuck in the endless cycle of poverty, unable to jump out of the hole she was thrown in. Everyday, millions of people have to struggle through these hardships, yet many are…show more content… With a lack of education and job opportunities, finding a suitable job that pays is rare, leaving many people in poverty unable to bounce out of it. Peter Edelman, who was a former Clinton administration official, says, “There are literally millions of people… out there working… not getting out of poverty.” Although there have been some remarkable stories with people breaking the chain, it is rare and extremely difficult to do so because the economy has been declining for a long time. Since jobs for even the educated middle class are hard to come by, people in poverty have little hope to find a welcoming workplace. The National Employment Law Project states in “Below the line: Poverty in America”, that “Since 1979, the American economy ‘has lost about one-third of its capacity to generate good jobs.’” This statement demonstrates the idea that since the 1980’s, America has slowly had a declining job market, and that less and less jobs are being produced for American citizens. This results in an influx of poverty because people are left jobless, and unable to do anything about it. Another issue is the government’s system for assisting people in poverty. The government’s system does not help support people to get back on their feet, but rather to help them for short periods of time. Missy Nash from the article “Below the line: Poverty in America”, said “‘Once you're making enough to make ends meet, they pull all your food stamps and child care and you’re back to Square 1.’” She also went on to say, “‘We have poverty but no proper bridge to get people out. It’s a vicious cycle.’” This shows that poverty is incredibly difficult to overcome, and that the government doesn’t assist low class people to obtain jobs due to various laws. Once someone makes just enough money to survive, the government takes away
