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Katie Watson

Mr. Pace/Mrs. Ragoza

D Block

October 29, 2023

Poverty Affecting The American Dream

The American dream is that everyone should have the equal opportunity to do anything to

be successful. Poverty is a major factor on how people are not achieving the American dream

because of how people are affected. Poverty is the main reason why people are not getting paid

or not being able to get the bills paid or getting food on the table. Poverty acts as a barrier to the

American dream, with those who are impoverished having limited access to employment,

healthcare, and education.

Poverty is a reason why people are being affected by not achieving the American Dream

because of their jobs and living lifestyle. The reason why people are in Poverty is because of

them not making the right amount of money that has to do with their jobs like a firefighters in

Pennsylvania is working 3 jobs all throughout the night and are still not getting enough money

and is still not helping them get those certain needs that they need: “The anxiety and suffering it

causes is likely to intensify in this era of fiscal hysteria, economic doldrums, and budget cuts”

(American Dream, American Nightmare: Poverty Today). This can affect people because money

is limited and they aren’t making as much money to pay for things like food, car and house bills.

Living in Poverty affects how people are living without having enough money and trying to

make things work with what they have. This is demonstrated in how people have trouble being

able to get healthcare and afford healthcare because of their complications with their jobs.

Healthcare is a major factor in how people can’t afford the basic needs that they need for
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themselves or their children.“People with limited finances may have more difficulty obtaining

health insurance or paying for expensive procedures and medications” ( Poverty). Because with

not being able to afford or have the insurance to get what they need and that can lead to stress or

your health declining.

Not having the right healthcare can affect people's health because it causes them to lack

the right resources to get them the stuff they need to get better. Living in Poverty and the effects

of healthcare connects to not pursuing the American Dream because of having a limited amount

of access to the healthcare system because of their jobs and the rise of the health care costs and

jobs not providing the insurance. Poverty is the barrier that affects people from the American

Dream because of their limited access to employment and healthcare because people are not

getting the right amount of income that can help them afford healthcare and not be successful

with their jobs.

People in Poverty is affecting education for children because of their living conditions

and money. Education is something that is hard for people in Poverty because of limited access

to money to have their kids go to school and get education. “Public education is something every

child is entitled to, regardless of their family’s income or situation. Unfortunately, not all

children receive the same level of educational opportunities” (How Poverty And Homelessness

Affect The American Public Education System). The opportunities that children don’t get

because of poverty can be their limit to education because it mostly affects people with low

amounts of income and race. With living in Poverty and not having the proper access to

education can be hard for people to achieve the American dream because without the right

education can affect how a child can learn properly because when it one to going to poorer

schools they have less resources that can affect how children are learning and that can led to
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them struggling to understand school work. This is demonstrated in other schools that have more

money than people in poverty live and how they have more access to more resources than people

in poverty.

Compared to people that live in poverty, people that are at richer schools have more

access to more resources. “If you live in an area where property values and taxes are high, your

schools are getting more funding, and students are likely to perform better overall and get into

better colleges” (How Poverty And Homelessness Affect The American Public Education

System). Because when you live in a place that has a better education system than a place of

poverty you have more freedom to a better education. Compared to people who live in poverty

who live in areas that have lower tax incomes, when it comes to having the right equipment

which is old and used, teachers who are getting paid less and they are getting less funding. It

isn’t fair for those students who live in place of poverty because they’re not having the right

education that they deserve. The different in education between poor and richer communities is

because it doesn’t give the equal rights for children to succeed with them achieving the American

dream, because for poor people they have less of an opportunity with their education because

they have less compared to the rich, and for the rich kids, they have more of an opportunity

because they are in a more populated area and have more access to resources and things to make

them successful compared to people in property. With Poverty acting as a barrier to the American

dream, with those who are having limited access to employment, healthcare, and education.

Because it can lead to people feeling discouraged to be able to pursue the American dream

because they’ve always had less than other people and making them believe that they can

achieve it.

In conclusion, Poverty plays a major factor in people achieving the American dream
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because they can lack the amount of their financial needs to contribute to the basic things that

they need like healthcare and education. The takeaway from people in poverty is that they are not

able to afford the basic needs that everyone needs to live and it is not fair to the people that are

less fortunate than others. With this info furthers the problem of poverty and how people are

treated in smaller communities and don’t get paid as much as other people.
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Works cited:

Ayers, Ryan. “How Poverty and Homelessness Affect the American Public Education System.”

eLearning Industry, 8 Dec. 2022,

elearningindustry.com/how-poverty-and-homelessness-affect-the-american-public-education-sys

tem.

“Poverty.” Poverty - Healthy People 2030,

health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/poverty

#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20people%20with%20limited,for%20expensive%20procedures

%20and%20medications.&text=In%20addition%2C%20neighborhood%20factors%2C%20such

,influencing%20health%20behaviors%20and%20stress. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.

Woods , Leslie G. “American Dream, American Nightmare: Poverty Today.” Reflections, 1 Jan.

1970,

reflections.yale.edu/article/womens-journeys-progress-and-peril/american-dream-american-nigh

tmare-poverty-today.