In a first world country where we live there are so many elements that contribute to the issues of

poverty here and as well as around the world. Poverty may be simple just a lack of material
means. The World Bank Defines poverty more specifically as follows: Poverty is pronounced
deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the
inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also
encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation,
inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better
ones life.
We have so many different obligations that consume our time and keep us so focused on our
lives and all that is right in front of us. Though beyond what is in front of all of us are various
problems for those who live in poverty. Those living in poverty doesnt just affect their life but
ours as well, because it has an effect on our nation as a whole. Those affected by these issues are
not just individuals but communities, and vast numbers of people.
Those who are affected are put into various groupings or categories depending on which scale is
being used. Different places around the world have different classifications for poverty. For
example, the world bank classifies poverty as being moderately poor or extremely poor. How
people are placed into one of these two categories of the world bank is defined that extreme
poverty as those living on less than US$1.90 per day, and moderate poverty as less than US$3.10
a day. Another example of classification is the poverty threshold line for the United States. To
fall below this line, it has been found Some of these may simply be called low-income families.
Rather than someone in poverty.

1. A View on Low-Income Families in the United States

In the United states there is a federal poverty line, also referred to as the poverty threshold. To
fall below this line for a family of four you must make below $23,834 annually. As seen in the
image about nationally about one in five kids lives below the federal poverty line (Sutter).
Thought the rate in each state varies. The following information will give further insight about
how several states compare in the struggle of poverty.
With different issues around our Nation many reports have been written from various states like
California, South Minnesota, Utah etc. many of these bring information about poverty with
diverse stories and with many causes to the poverty in each state.
In an article about the poverty in
California offers great statistics not only on the
state but on the nation as a whole. One
gathered from United Nations International
Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
(Adamson) From the research held in the table
to the right it can be seen that the USA has the
developed worlds second highest rate of child
poverty. That percentage being 23.1 percent.
Comparatively, Californias poverty rate is 23
percent. In one area specifically called Silicon
Valley it is one of the wealthiest places in the
country and that can be seen by the comparison
of household income around the nation
compared to Silicon Valley. The median
household income in the U.S. is $53,046, in
San Mateo County $88,202, and in Santa Clara
County $91,702. These two counties are part of
Silicon Valley. Even with this wealth it has
been claimed that even in one of the richest
areas of California one in three kids is at risk of
hunger. (Sutter) This is one cause to poverty in
this specific area and one other is the median
rental price in San Mateo County being $2,975 per month. Coming out to be $35,700 a year.

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Taking that away from the median household income of the US leaves only only $17,346 dollars
for food, schooling, and any other things needed throughout the year.

For example, in the Carsey Research article a demographic showed the cost of living
regionally explained as follows the cost of living for a family of four with two working adults
is roughly $60,000 in SW Minnesota, compared to over $82,000 in east-central Minnesota and
over $92,000 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. (Mattingly) Additionally,
contributing to poverty in SW Minnesota is that there is a large offset by lower pay to those who
live in that region. The hourly wage there is $15 an hour compared to nearly $20 for the rest of
the state. With this lower wage to live in rural areas of SW Minnesota has created poverty to be
higher in these areas causing one in five children to be poor. Each article has its own aspects and
even classifications to poverty. Some may be followed by the poverty threshold and living
beneath it. In this article it expounds more to show the difference between not only Low in-come
homes, but also the poor and deep poor in these regions of the state. Other than the minimum
wage in SW Minnesota there are some other challenges that are not only found here but in
California, Utah and throughout the whole nation. This issue being the English-Language ability
of foreign-born residents. (Mattingly) This limits those who are deep poor, poor, and part of low-
come homes because they do not have as many opportunities for work and education as do those
who are fluent in speaking English.

Governor Gary R. Herbert commented on the poverty in Utah saying Utahs overall
poverty rate decline by two percent over the last three years and the states child poverty rate of
13.3 percent is significantly lower than the national average Utah has one of the nations lowest
poverty rates 10.2 percent, seventh lowest in the nation. One big issue in Salt Lake City is the
affect of the homeless around Rio Grande. Do to so many issues going on, an operation has been
put in to campaign to focus on eradicating the homeless called Operation Rio Grande (ORG).
(Anderson) The project will have four stages. Phase one public safety and restoring order. This
will be the law enforcement taking greater efforts to clean up the streets. Phase 2 will be

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assessment and treatment. Stage 3 will be dignity of work. There are various issues not only in
Utah or the states above but through out the whole world. Different programs trying to solve and
focus on certain issues etc. For much of the rest of the world that struggles in poverty remain in
poverty because they are not considered to be part of the world that are still not developed. The
next segment will focus on a different view of poverty in a different part of the world struggling
in poverty.

2. The Poor in South America

In South America many who live below
the poverty threshold are those who live
off their own gain. Being farms and
those who live far away from cities.
These civilizations, communities, and
individual families do not have great
sources for education, medical attention,
or pure water sources. All of these issues
contributing to make a culture that is
blinding to the privileges these people
dont have. The poorest country in South
America is Bolivia. I first hand had the
opportunity to go to Bolivia and
experience what life is like in a third
world country struggling in poverty. I
myself had no clue to the issues there.
To show a perspective first hand from
someone living in these conditions I
spoke with a man I met in Bolivia and
asked him a few questions. One detail to
keep in mind during the interview is that
Bolivian currency is referred to as
Bolivianos one boliviano is equal to
US$0.14.
Images taken by Derick Sanders, Riveralta, Bolivia 2015

An Interview with Carmelo Colque Cuellar

Q: Do you consider yourself as poor?
o A: Yes, when I was younger I did not see it as so. Until there came a time when I
had to help support my parents at a young age to help provide for my siblings, and
even my nieces and nephews
.

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 Q: What did you do to provide food and water?
o A: Here we have the opportunity to fish in the rivers and provide food that way
but many times we have to go out to the jungle to gather almonds. We give these
almonds to big industries that gives us a low wage for our gatherings. The time
period away from the family is heavy. We are normally away 8 months out of the
year gathering almonds.

Q: What work do you do when not gathering almonds?

o A: Here the most common work as taxi drivers, receiving about 2-3 Bolivianos
per ride. In a day we might gain from 15 to 25 Bolivianos a day.

Q: What do you think of United States?

o A: A land of money and the opportunity to work.

Q: What specifically would give you the desire to go to the United States?
o A: The chance at a new life. The opportunity to not have to worry whether I will
be able to provide food for my family each and every day. A chance to maybe
gain an education greater than the one I have and get a career. So much could
happen.

3. Poverty Around the World

This is an image of human poverty in the world. This specifically at first looks confusing but the
inflammation or bubble-like countries are those most struggling with poverty according to
worldmapper.com. The human poverty index demonstrated in the image above uses indicators
that capture non-financial elements of poverty, such as life expectancy, adult literacy, water
quality, and children that are underweight. This shows the different levels of poverty around the
world and how it changes between cultures and of course the progression of each nation. This
image alone allows us to have a different look on poverty beyond that of an economical image
but a rural image. As we look at this diagram disregarding what has been presented earlier in this
piece this presents that the east part of the world is struggling in greater ways than the western
part of the world that dose not relate to wealth. The following images will give a comparison of
wealth and development throughout the world.

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This image gives a representation of life
expectancy, literacy and educational
achievements, as well as financial wealth. It
can be noted in the two images that Africa is
one of the most affected continents by poverty.
In this image being smaller and thinner
especially the bottom part shows that the
wealth in this area and education is low.
This graph below shown from World Bank data takes
in a share of global poor by region percentile.
Though this specific graph has been derived from a
large database of household surveys in 89 developing
countries that provides insights into this issue by
facilitating a demographic profile of the poor at the
US$1.90 poverty line. (World Bank Group) This
poverty profile reveals that the global poor are
predominantly rural, young, poorly educated, mostly
employed in the agricultural sector, and live in larger
households with more children. Some of the specific
data found by the world bank presented this data
o 80 percent of the worldwide poor live in rural
areas
o 64 percent work in agriculture
o 44 percent are 14 years old or younger
o 39 percent have no formal education at all.

Poverty goes beyond the lack of income. So much contributes to poverty not just economic
issues but social, governmental, and geographical issues. The poor are deprived of opportunities.
They lack the income the resources. Jobs are difficult to access and even markets due to the lack
of development in parts of the world that suffer from poverty. There is limited access to
education which limits the poor in gaining jobs and obtaining crucial knowledge that could
improve their quality of life. The structure of societies and institutions around the world have
numerous organizations in effort to eradicate poverty to inform the world and all those around of
its effects on not only those living in it but how it effects everyone in the world.

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BIBLIOGRAHY

Adamson, Peter. "Measuring child poverty." UNICEF Innocent Research Centre (2012).

Anderson, Taylor W. "Operation Rio Grande, the campaign focused on homelessness in

Utah, will now try to find jobs for those without homes." Salt Lake Tribune (2017).

Mattingly, Marybeth j. "A Profile of Youth Poverty and Opportunity in." CARSEY
RESEARCH (2017): 10.

Sutter, John D. "Poor kids of Silicon Valley." CNN (2015).

World Bank Group. "Taking on Inequality ." World Bank Group (2016).

World Bank, Overview, http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview November

19, 2017
Currency Conversion, Bolivian Boliviano (BOB) Currency Exchange Rate Conversion
Calculator, https://coinmill.com/BOB_calculator.html#BOB=1 November 19, 2017
List of South American countries by GDP per capita,
http://statisticstimes.com/economy/south-american-countries-by-gdp-per-capita.phpBio,
November 19, 2017
Poverty Statistics & Facts, https://www.statista.com/topics/781/poverty/, November
19,2017
Utah Governor Gary Herbert, Utah.gov, https://governorblog.utah.gov/2016/02/working-
toward-solutions-for-utahns-in-poverty/
Utah communities action,https://www.utahca.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-
NXPBRB4EiwAVNRLKjpqKtC1I-uX1gRclumO-wbkmnNei8zTjKQYMtrTp11m3-
U75_RTxxoCUJEQAvD_BwE
Images Sources:
Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before, Worldmappermapping your
world as you've never seen it before - find out more at www.worldmapper.limited,
http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=174, November 19, 2017
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnewrivercommunityaction.or
g%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2Fchild-
poverty.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnewrivercommunityaction.org%2Fpoverty-
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eJ1VgjlM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjWp4qluszXAhXowlQKHTHzA8kQMwhgKBkwGQ..i
&w=600&h=300&bih=682&biw=673&q=1%20in%205%20kids%20live%20below%20t
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wGQ&iact=mrc&uact=8

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 https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc10_eng.pdf
https://operationriogrande.utah.gov/
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/25078/9781464809583.pd
f#page=55