Poverty in America

1. Poverty Policy Issues
BY: CHEYENNE SHORT & SHELLY ST. HILAIRE

2. History of Poverty in America
 Industrialization brought a new kind of poverty to America in the 1820’s.
 These changes created a new industrial working class extremely vulnerable
to poverty.
 New York State bans children from poorhouses with the Children’s Law of
1875.
 Poverty Rates blasted through the roof during the great depression and
people were left with no money, no food, and no shelter.
 Come the early 1960’s but poverty rates increased again when welfare wasn’t
available to two parent families in the 70’s, and in the early 80’s food stamps
and welfare cut their program by about $20 billion dollars.
 Late 80’s Congress tried to pass JOBS (Job opportunities and Basic Skills)
Act to provide assistance for the poor to transition out of poverty. But
unfortunately in 1996 $27 million dollars was again cut from the food stamps
program.
 9 million in poverty in 2010. America’s Government assistance has kept 40
million people out of poverty, close to 20 million from Social Security alone.
 In 2013, 45.3 million people were in poverty.

3. This map shows that
almost half of our
country is living in
severe poverty.
Vermont being one
of the more “lucky”
states. More
populated states
suffer from much
severer cases of
poverty, especially
around big cities.

4. How Poverty is Measured
 Poverty guidelines are issued
by the Dept. of Health and
Human Services. This
department uses this to help
determine what eligibility
they will get for federal
programs. The poverty
threshold is set by the
Census Bureau and are used
to measure poverty level.
 Poverty Thresholds is what
the Census Bureau uses to
determine a family or
persons poverty status.
Poverty Measure Concepts Official and Supplemental
Official Poverty
Measure
Supplemental Poverty Measure
Measurement Units Families and unrelated
individuals
All related individuals that live at same
address, including any coresident
unrelated children who are cared for by
the family (such as foster children) and
any cohabiters and their relatives
Poverty Threshold Three times the cost of a
minimum food diet in 1963
The 33rd percentile of expenditures on
food, clothing, shelter, and utilities of
consumer units with exactly two children
multiplies by 1.2
Threshold
Adjustments
Vary by family size,
composition, and age of
householder
Geographic adjustments for differences
in housing costs by tenure and a three
parameter equivalence scale for family
size and composition
Updating Thresholds
Consumer Price index: all
items
Five year moving average of
expenditures on food, clothing, shelter
and utilities
Resource Measure Gross before-tax cash
income
Sum of cash income, plus noncash
benefits that families can use to meet
their needs for food, clothing, shelter,
and utilities, minus taxes (or plus tax
credits), minus work expenses, minus out-of-
pocket medical expenses and child
support paid to another household

5. Measure of Need
 Poverty Thresholds Dollar amount used to determine poverty status
 48 possible thresholds, each member of family is assigned one
 Thresholds vary according to: Size of family and age of members
 The same threshold is used in the entire U.S. The threshold is updated annually
for the inflation by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers
 People who CANNOT be determined are:
• Unrelated individuals under age 15
• Prisoners
• Military barrack
• Homeless

6. Ratio of Income to Poverty
 A family of five members: two children, mother, father and great-aunt.
 Their threshold was $28,498 in 2013. Equation being: [xls-48k]
 Suppose the members’ incomes in 2013 were
• Mother $10,000
• Father $9,000
• Great-aunt $10,000
• First Child 0
• Second Child 0
 Total Family Income $29,000
 Take the total income with the family threshold: Income. Threshold-$29,000/$28,498 = 1.02
 Since the income was greater than their threshold, the family is not, “in poverty” according to the official
definition.
 The measurement is the 48 contiguous states and D.C.
 Alaska and Hawaii have their own poverty guidelines.

7. Health Insurance in America
 Medicaid: A health insurance provided in many states to cover low income people
such as children or people with disabilities. The services that are covered are
preventative, well child visits, vaccinations, hospital care, and medications.
 Medicare: A health insurance provided by the government for people who are 65
and older or have disabilities, or end stage renal disease. This insurance covers
doctor, hospital, home health, hospice, skilled nursing and some have prescription
coverage.
 Medicare: A health insurance provided by the government for people who are 65
and older or have disabilities, or end stage renal disease. This insurance covers
doctor, hospital, home health, hospice, skilled nursing and some have prescription
coverage.
 COBRA: An insurance you can get in most cases to cover you if you leave your
job. This is insurance that you pay for to cover temporarily while you get other
insurance.
 CHIP: A health insurance for children. This is a free or low cost health insurance
for low income children.

8. Affordable Care Act
 A law passed in March, 2010, that gives all Americans the right to health care coverage and choice of plans that are
affordable.
 This law mandates that all children under the age of 19 years of age have coverage.
 Until age 26 years you can remain on your parent’s insurance plan.
 You have the right to appeal a decision of denial of coverage to be reconsidered.
 There is no lifetime limits on healthcare plans anymore
 Insurance companies must justify increases publically.
 Most of what you pay is required to be spent on the healthcare not the administrative costs
 No cost preventative care for all
 The right to choose your primary care doctor
 You can receive care from an outside emergency facility
 15 million Americans have enrolled that were not covered before by health insurance as of April 2014.

9. Promise Zones
 2013, President Obama announced that he would
title 20 Promise Zones.
 Urban, rural, and tribal communities where the
Administration would partner with local leaders to
create jobs, increase economic activity, improve
educational opportunities, and reduce violent
crime.
 On January 9, 2014, the first urban, rural, and
tribal Promise Zones were announced
 They are located in: San Antonio, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Southeastern Kentucky, and the
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
 The federal government will partner to help the
Promise Zones access the resources and expertise
they need.
 To date, there are twelve federal agencies working
in close collaboration to provide resources and
expertise to urban, rural, and tribal Promise
Zones.

10. Wealth Inequality in America- This video shows just
how our wealth in America is distributed from person to
person, Showing just how severe the problem with
poverty really is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

11. Sources:
 U.S. Census Bureau, How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty, (HTML)
 (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/measure.html)
Accessed 7/9/2013
 U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, What are the Differences between the
Poverty Guidelines and the Poverty Thresholds? HTML,
(http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/faq.cfm))
 U.S. Census Bureau, “How does the U.S. Census Bureau define ratio of income to
poverty? (HTML, (http://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id+5000&faqld=275)) Accessed
7/9/2013
 http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/how-poverty-measured-unites-states
 http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/index.html
 Content last reviewed on October 21, 2014
 http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Health/HealthInsurance.shtml
 http://obamacarefacts.com/insurance-exchange/vermont-health-insurance-exchange.
php
 "Promise Zone." Promise Zone. U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development,
n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.