The New Poor

Poverty is a loaded term. It conjures images of deprevity and isolation and often is accompanied by stigmas and stereotypes. This polarizing issue divides society by casting people in certain terms that have many presuppositions. We hear the term poverty and a certain picture dances in our head.

Perhaps a hungry child or a family living out of their automobile. A man or woman fighting the logistics of the unemployment office or quietly eating lunch at a shelter or rescue mission. I think these are all demonstrative of the products of poverty but it runs deeper than this. Poverty is the result of a broken system that needs more than a subtle tweaking; a massive overhaul is called for.

The thing about poverty is that it creeps up and can engulf a person a little at a time. A missed shift at work, here... an unexpected, uninsured medical emergency, there... Poverty is not confined to black and white glossies from the Great Depression era found in our children's school books. I did some research and found these staggering numbers relating poverty to the average American income for families living in the Lower 48 states (apologies to Hawaii and Alaska!). The number on the right represents the total number of people in a family and the income level on the left is the benchmark for what is considered the poverty level for a family that size.

1 person           $11,170
2 people           $15,130
3 people           $19,090
4 people           $23,050
5 people           $27,010
6 people           $30,970
7 people           $34,930
8 people           $38,890

There you have it. A familyof 4 is considered below the poverty level if their income is less than $23,050. I know many hard working, socially contributing, personally moral people who fall well under the poverty level for their respective family size. They are in their current situation because of low wages or having to work multiple part time jobs to take care of their children. They are not drug addicts or alcoholics or gamblers or frivolous with their finances. Rather, they are working the best they can within a system that can trap a person just as easily as it can advance them.

Our residents at Samaritan House meet the criteria for living in poverty, but they are part of a larger family that deals with it every day. This is not a call merely asking for donations or help. Rather, its a reminder that we all are in several boats together whether we are homeless or housed or working or unemployed. The need for empathy and charity toward one another is only surpassed by the frightful prospect that many of us are living paycheck to paycheck.

Poverty and homelessness are communal and societal problems that affect millions and they require societal and communal solutions!