Poverty and Homelessness

In our society we find that a large percentage of people live in poverty. There might be many reasons why they are living in those conditions, but the fact is that many of the people that live in poverty are receiving some sort of government aid like food stamps and welfare. Nevertheless the government is helping out the people that live in impoverish conditions, but it is helping them in a wrong way. The government is helping in a way that does not give incentives to the people to better themselves. Instead many are taking advantage of the government aid and become dependent on it. Instead of the government providing aid like handing out money, they should help the people living in those conditions by helping them become independent and changing the way welfare hands out money. They should give incentives to people to go out and find help, not just hand these people money so they can continue depending on the government’s aid.

According to the article Poverty in America some of the factors that lead to people living in poverty are the welfare system, drug abuse/addictions, poor/lacking education, too many jobs being part-time or low-wage, too many single-parent families, illnesses, too many immigrants, poor people lacking motivation, a decline in moral values, and overpopulation. The welfare system is not helping improve the living conditions of people living in poverty. On the contrary, many become dependent on government aid and for many, this kills the incentive for them to find a job that will better their living status. Drug abuse and addictions are also something that leads to homelessness and poverty, because the person with the drug addiction will do anything to get his or her hands on the drug. They do not care about anything other than they need the drug. Poor and lacking education is a factor that is causing homelessness and poverty because nowadays many need a higher education to continue operating in their job and finding a good job.  Too many jobs are part-time or low-wage which ties with the poor who lack education because many do not have the education to get jobs that pay more than part time and low wage jobs. Too many single-parent families is a factor that leads to homelessness and poverty because there is only one parent supporting the family, which means that the single parent is going to have to work harder to make enough money to live a normal life. Illness is a factor that leads to homelessness and poverty because medical bills and medicine can be very pricey causing many to go into huge debts which leads many to living in poor living conditions. A shortage of jobs is a factor that ties with too many immigrants and overpopulation which leads to homelessness and poverty because due to the large population in our society it is very hard for each individual to find a job. Poor people lacking motivation and decline in moral values is a factor that leads to homelessness and poverty because many of the people living in poverty have lost hope in bettering themselves due to the fact that they can end up being in the same situation countless of times. These are some of the factors that lead to poverty and homelessness in our society.

The welfare system is a major factor that ties with all other factors in which instead of helping people get out of poverty it is actually keeping them living in poverty. For instance, according to Poverty in America, “The government says that a family of four with an income higher than $17,029 is not poor. However, more than three in five Americans (64%) say that a family of four with an income of $20,000 is poor, and two in five (42%) say a family of four earning $25,000 is poor.” (NPR) This shows that many people think of poverty in different ways but the fact is that the majority of the people are falling below the poverty line because they find themselves in a situation where they make less than what they are supposed to make and cannot make ends meet. In the long run this means that many will try to get welfare to make ends meet while still living in poverty. By the end many find themselves becoming dependent on the government aid and continue to live in poverty. In addition, the article continues on by stating, “About half say poor people today have easy lives because they get government benefits without doing anything in return.” (Poverty in Amer.) This shows that welfare instead of getting people out of poverty, it is making it easy for people to live in it because they are getting government aid for just being poor. The welfare system is not giving people incentives for them to better themselves because instead of struggling to find a stable job and bettering themselves, they would prefer to continue living in poverty and just being handed government aid. Furthermore on the contrary, the article talks about how there is a new welfare law that is improving the conditions of giving aid, it states, “The most important reason they give for why it is working well is that it requires people to go to work. Americans appear to value work so strongly that they support welfare reform even if it leads to jobs that keep people in poverty.” (Poverty in Amer.) This shows that the new welfare laws are actually giving incentives to get people to get and keep a job but the problem is that most of the jobs that these people get are low paying jobs which still keep many in poverty. The reason is that many people stay satisfied with just having a low-wage job as long as they still get government aid. This is why welfare should change the way they hand out aid, they should provide help to the people to help them become independent as a way to better themselves and not depending on government aid.

            There are many ways Organizations are helping people living in poverty better themselves. For example the organization The Heartland family service has “Two major components of this program, Hardship Assistance and Housing, provide immediate as well as long-term survival assistance to residents in specific areas of our community.” This shows that The Heartland family service organization is helping people living in poverty in a way that teaches them to become independent as a way that most of them will not even need the help of government aid. In addition The Heartland family service organization also states, “Housing stability combined with supportive services helps parents gain skills that lead to independence.” Again this shows that The Heartland family service organization is doing what it is suppose to do because they are teaching independence to the people that need it the most. Furthermore they provide, “fixed housing [which] allows them to cope with other financial pressures.” This shows that they are really helping these people to their feet’s and they are doing it in a way that will help them cope with financial problems. The way to really help the homeless and the people living in poverty is by helping them gain independence, tools and knowledge to better themselves and continue improving their life style.

            If one really wants to help someone get out of poverty they need to help them by giving them the tools and the knowledge to become independent. Giving incentives to the poor to find help and get a job does help out but without the tools and knowledge they will never gain independence in where they do not depend on government aid. If one just gives the poor money like welfare does it is killing the motivation for many to become independent because they would rather be handed free money instead of working to earn a decent living.

"Poverty and Homelessness â Heartland Family Service." Poverty and Homelessness â

Heartland Family Service. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.

<http://heartlandfamilyservice.org/programs/poverty-and-homelessness/>.

This organization talks about how there are many families, adults and children that in some point in time they found themselves some form of poverty and homelessness. The Heartland Family Service provide help to those in need in many ways to help bring the family or the person to their feet. The website provides success stories where someone living in the streets got help by this organization and they helped him to his feet and helped him find a stable job to get out of living in poverty. They have donation centers and shelters to help the people during tough times.

"Poverty in America." NPR Online. NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Poll. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.

<http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/poll/poverty/summary.html>.

The Author of this article talks about the major problems of poverty in America, many do not think homelessness and poverty is a big problem but they are wrong because now a family making below $20,000 is considered poor and that’s what 64% of Americans are making. The article talks about the major factors which are drug abuse/additions, too many jobs being part-time or low-wage, too many single-parent families, illnesses, too many immigrants, the welfare system, poor people lacking motivation, a decline in moral values, overpopulation, and  poor/ lacking education. The article also talks about how the new welfare laws are making and encouraging people to work to continue receiving government aid.