Question

in 6 or more sentences answer this question. How do sociologist explain why there is poverty in the U.S.?

Answer 1

• Poverty describes the state of not having access to material resources, wealth, or income. The United States officially defines poverty using the poverty line. The poverty line is set at an income level that is three times the approximate cost of a subsistence level food budget. This definition has been in use in the United States to track demographic changes and allocate welfare aid since the 1960s.
• Near poverty is the term for an income level that is just above the poverty line; it refers to incomes that are no more than 25% above the poverty line.
• Relative poverty refers to economic disadvantage compared to wealthier members of society, whereas ” absolute poverty ” refers to a family (or an individual) with an income so low that they cannot afford basic necessities of survival, such as food and shelter.
• According to the definition of relative poverty, the poor are those who lack what is needed by most Americans to live decently because they earn less than half of the nation's median income.
• By this standard, around 20 percent of Americans live in poverty, and this has been the case for at least the past 40 years. Of these 20 percent, 60 percent are from the working class poor.
• Sociologists have focused on other theories of poverty. One theory of poverty has to do with the flight of the middle class, including employers, from the cities and into the suburbs. This has limited the opportunities for the inner‐city poor to find adequate jobs.
• According to another theory, the poor would rather receive welfare payments than work in demeaning positions as maids or in fast‐food restaurants. As a result of this view, the welfare system has come under increasing attack in recent years.
• Poverty is a consequence of the uneven distribution of material resources and wealth on a global scale and within nations. Sociologists see it as a social condition of societies with an unequal and inequitable distribution of income and wealth, of the de-industrialization of Western societies, and the exploitative effects of global capitalism.
• Poverty is not an equal opportunity social condition. Around the world and within the U.S., women, children, and people of color are far more likely to experience poverty than are white men.
• Concentrated collective poverty occurs when the kind of collective poverty described above is suffered by specific subgroups within a society, or localized in particular communities or regions that are devoid of industry, good paying jobs, and that lack access to fresh and healthy food.
• For example, within the U.S., poverty within metropolitan regions is concentrated within the principal cities of those regions, and often also within specific neighborhoods within cities.
• The income level that determines poverty is different from place to place, so social scientists believe that it is best defined by conditions of existence, like lack of access to food, clothing, and shelter.