The Faces of Poverty How Is Poverty Defined In Our Country? Who Is Affected By Poverty? What Kinds of Affects Does Poverty Have on Children and Families?

How Poverty Is Defined- Government Definition A family of four is considered at poverty level if they make $19, 350 a year or less (according to 2005 Federal Guidelines) This translates to a $9.30/hour job forty hours per week The poverty guidelines are based on a 1960’s cost of living formula In reality someone would have to earn 150% to 200% of poverty level to survive

Who Is Affected By Poverty? Nationally 12.7% of people live in poverty The largest absolute number of people who live in poverty are white African Americans and Hispanics have the highest percentage of people in poverty as a percentage of their total population

The “Near Poor” In addition to the 37 million people who live in poverty according to the federal guidelines, there are another 50 million who are nearly poor (make between 20,000 and 40,000 per year for a family of four) Anthropologist Katherine Newman calls this groups “the missing class”

The Poor and Near Poor in Your Community You can get poverty information on your school district by going to the following website and selecting your school district: Realistically, when we include the near poor to the number of people in your community who are estimated to be living in poverty, the number who are struggling financially is at least twice as many as you identified in the US Census Figure above.

How Does Poverty Affect Children and Families? 67% of parents in poor families are working an average of 1.7 jobs The average HS/GED earns $17,000 a year. Education beyond HS translates into much greater earning potential. Lots of hours at work = less time at home Lower social class translates to lower job expectations White people in poverty often get blamed for their poverty leading to shame and destroying self- confidence

How Does Poverty Affect Children and Families? Hard choices must be made between needs (do we buy food or pay the electric bill?) Credit is never established and the poor are forced to use non-traditional financial institutions (like check cashing stores who charge fees) Lack of financial literacy leads to uninformed and potentially unwise decisions (i.e. predatory loans) Present time orientation vs. future orientation…future planning is a luxury because one can only think about what is happening now

How Does Poverty Affect Children and Families? People in authority are seen as those who take away (the police, the gas company, etc.) not as those who give or make life better There is often a big disconnect with school (a lack of relevance) There is often shame and humiliation that is internalized about being poor Life feels out of control