The Correlation Between the Recession and Poverty in the United States Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines poverty as "The

state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions (1)." This definition stimulates the question, "What is a socially acceptable amount of money?" According to an article in the online version of the Wall Street Journal, "The poverty line as of 2010 was set at $22,314 for a family of four , which affected 15.1% of Americans (2)." Therefore, we can assume that this figure is an acceptable amount of money. However, most people would agree that a family of four needs substantially more money than this to thrive in society. For example, "The middle income of a household was $49,445 in 2010 (2)." This figure is twice as much as the poverty line, and in reality, still is not a large amount of money for a family. We already know that 15.1% percent of the population was living in poverty as of 2010. Additionally, "22% of children were living below the poverty line in 2010, which was the biggest percentage since 1993 (2)." The major claim for this increase in poverty is obviously the economic downturn that began four years ago, which has affected people who were once well above the poverty line. The article points out an example of a couple who were well above both the poverty line and the middle income level. According to the article, "This couple lost one major source of income, which lasted for two years. As a result, the couple had to downgrade their lives dramatically due to the lack of an acceptable amount of money during that period (2)." According to the dictionary definition mentioned earlier, for two years this couple was living in poverty. Therefore, simply saying poverty is the condition in which a person lacks a socially acceptable amount of money is nonsensical. This issue is brought to light in a New York Times article entitled "Reading Between the Poverty Lines." This article introduces a new formula, called "The supplemental poverty measure (3)." This new formula states that "The poverty line for a family of four is $24,343, which is slightly higher than the poverty line noted earlier (3)." Under this formula, "16.1% of Americans fell below the poverty line in 2010, while 31.8% were considered low income (3)." If you do the math, this means that 47.9% of Americans fall below

the low income line. Therefore, it is safe to assume that poverty is a major issue in the United States. This article claims that, "Until the economy can recover from its current state, antipoverty programs (food stamps, jobless benefits, Medicaid) must remain for those who need them and be kept out of budget cut discussions (3)." It also claims that, "the American people need a foolproof method of creating jobs and allowing workers affected by the recession to be retrained (3)." Some Americans have become active in getting their claims heard. The latest movement of disgruntled Americans is known as "Occupy." This movement started on Wall Street and has since spread throughout the country. According to the website, "Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1% (4)." In an article featured on the website of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the eviction of an Occupy group in Atlanta led to an article entitled "25 Years of Poverty vs. Power." This article claims that, "The loss of public housing in Atlanta has left citizens with few choices and no hope (5)." Atlanta has always been well known for its large homeless population. However, "he recent increase of impoverished Americans has also increased the homeless population, and shelters continue to shut down (5)." In addition to children being affected by poverty, senior citizens are also being impacted. According to an article in USA Today, "9% of seniors were living in poverty as of 2010 (6)." Millions upon millions of Americans are feeling the impact of the recession, old and young alike. Most claims involve governmental intervention to find solutions to the problem. The old way of thinking about poverty was in terms of lethargy, drug use, and irresponsibility. However, millions of Americans who stand impoverished today did nothing more than buy into a broken economy, and you cannot fault them for that.

Works Cited
1. "Poverty - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary

and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/poverty>.

2. Dougherty, Conor. "Household Income Falls, Poverty Rate Rises - WSJ.com." Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904265504576568543968213896.html>. 3. Tritch, Teresa. "Reading Between the Poverty Lines." Nytimes.com. The New York

Times, 19 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/reading-between-the-povertylines.html>.

4. Occupy Wall Street | NYC Protest for World Revolution. Occupy Wall Street. Web. 15

Feb. 2012. <http://occupywallst.org/>.

5. Cramer, Bob. "25 Years of Poverty vs. Power | Ajc.com." Atlanta News, Sports, Atlanta

Weather, Business News | Ajc.com. Atlanta Journal Constitution, 25 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ajc.com/opinion/25-years-of-poverty-1240903.html>.
6. Bello, Marisol. "As Seniors Climb from Poverty, Young Fall in" News, Travel, Weather,

Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. USA Today. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-16/child-seniorpoverty/53107636/1>.