Since I was 17, I have worked at the same job at a coffee shop in Scottsdale. Not only have I become familiar with people’s elaborate coffee inventions, but with their jobs, families and lifestyles. Although numerous people live typical lives with an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. career, I’ve learned that some customers’ lives are not routine.
One of the customers I am acquainted with now lives in the back of his van surviving off of free refills, parking in hotel parking lots and watching television at Best Buy for entertainment. Another customer stays from the early morning until the coffee shop closes. She sleeps in a local parking garage at night and each day relives the same banal experience.
Although poverty is a topic Americans are familiar with, many are not exposed to the mental and physical implications associated with it.
Is America truly the land of opportunity and a promising future?
Each individual has his or her own explanations as to why poverty exists. Whether it is religious, genetic or the government, poverty remains a misunderstood social issue. People overlook those who are struggling financially because they are unable to relate to their burdens.
In 2003, 35.9 million Americans lived below the poverty level, which included 12.9 million children, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Since 2004, rates have steadily increased. In 2008, poverty rates soared, reaching the highest rate since 1997.
In 2008, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 10.3 percent and 8.1 million, respectively, up from 9.8 percent and 7.6 million in 2007, according U.S. Census Bureau.
To assuage the misfortunes created by the economic crisis, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act outlines various investments to tackle the issue of poverty. Some of these investments include “increased income support, including an increase of $25 per week for Unemployment Insurance recipients and incentives for states to expand unemployment insurance eligibility, as well as an extra $250 payment to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries and new resources for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program,” according to the White House Web site.
Although this is a necessary step toward a strenuous recovery, there are still adults, families and teenagers struggling to survive today without the proper resources. Not many people are willing to offer assistance.
Throughout the world, over 3 billion people survive on less than $2.50 each day and 80 percent of humanity exist on less than $10 everyday, according to globalissues.org. Poverty has always been present and will continue to flourish if society does not discover a better solution to addressing the issue. It is a bottomless cup, and although humanity will be unable to terminate it entirely, we can all assist in alleviating the problem.
Reach Morgan at mptanabe@asu.edu
