Topic Brief: Poverty

by Bill Thompson

Preface: While the point of this brief is not to advocate for Universal Healthcare, it is not an unfair expectation to suggest that children should NOT suffer medically because of their socio economic status.  According to the US Census Bureau 34% of those in poverty in 2007 were children.

It is entirely possible that there is no task more daunting than trying to explain “Poverty” in a single extemp brief.  Before I begin I would like to preface that I have a larger investment in this issue than most who will read this.  For the last 7 years I have worked with homeless and abused teens in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.  I have seen firsthand the toll that poverty has on its victims and the gravitational pull that it emits, making it at times like a blackhole pulling in those who get too close to it. Poverty is also not just an issue because of America’s current economic woes.  “From 1975 to 2001, the U.S. child poverty rate did not go below 16%. For much of that time, the child poverty rate was at or above 20%.” (National Center for Children in Poverty, Low Income Children in the United States: A Brief Demographic Profile, March 2003)

I suggested this brief to Logan because in the 16 years I have judged extemp I can count on one hand the quality extemp speeches I have seen on the topic.  This is due to a few causes: 1. Most extempers have an aversion to the subject that causes them not to take poverty questions or write them when they become coaches. 2. Those who do take poverty questions address them in a very narrow manner and do not understand the many facets of this subject.  I say this because there is no way in a single brief that I will be able to adequately navigate all the causes and effects of poverty.  However, it is my hope that by first addressing what poverty is and how it is measured and next the side effects of poverty on American citizens that those reading will have a better understanding of poverty and it’s toll on America.

In order to have a concise idea of what poverty is I will defer to Mollie Orshansky who developed the measurements used in the US to determine poverty.  Mrs Orshansky states that “to be poor is to be deprived of those goods and services and pleasures that others around us take for granted.”( Schwartz, J. E. (2005). Freedom reclaimed: Rediscovering the American vision”. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.) While a simple definition it does point to the essence of poverty.  It is also important to realize that poverty can be separated into two parts; situational & generational poverty.  This is a concept that has been discussed in numerous articles and books on the topic.  Concisely, situational poverty is a person(s) that find themselves in poverty due to an event (eg. Layoff, accident, house fire, etc..).  In instances of situational poverty the effects are much more short term and easily rectified.  Primarily this is because those in situational poverty have adequate support systems (family, friends, etc…) that are able to help them financially.  Generational poverty is the term referring to those who were born in to poverty and that currently find themselves in poverty.  Sometimes this is referred to as inherited poverty.  Typically generational poverty is much more difficult to transcend because of the centralization of poor in both rural and urban areas.  It is for this reason that when I get to the solutions portion of this brief I will primarily deal with combating generational poverty.

I. Defining Poverty

In terms of measuring poverty the USFG poverty thresholds are:

2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 15, January 23, 2008, pp. 3971-3972

Keep in mind that this is just to meet the legal definition of poor. Imagine getting by in any city in the US on $10,400.  To put this in perspective “The medium income in the United States for a family of four is $43,318.  12.5% of the population is living below the poverty threshold (That is 7.6 million families, 35.9 million people).The number of people living in poverty has risen by 4.3 million since 2000. Experts suggest that a more realistic poverty threshold would be $30,000. Therefore nearly 30% of the US population would be living in poverty.” (http://www.wsana.org/id79.html)

Additionally, it is important to remember that these measures are based on a system devised by Orshansky in the 1960’s.  While there have been numerous proposals to change the matrix used to determine poverty, by and large the Orshansky model has changed very little since it was developed a half century ago.  If you have an interest in looking at previously proposed alternative measures for determining the threshold for poverty, I would suggest http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/contacts.shtml#g .

It is necessary to establish a brightline in determining where poverty begins and ends.  However, there are undisputable correlations between areas of poverty and topics like drug dependence, crime, suicide, homelessness, health, etc… I mention this because these are all topics that are the focus of many domestic extemp rounds, but few speakers reference poverty when answering these questions…

II.  Side Effects of Poverty

1. Housing

It is estimated that on any given night in America that up ‘to 2 million people are homeless, according to estimates of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (http://www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/homeless.shtml). It is further estimated that there are another 2 million Americans living in inadequate housing (http://www.wsana.org/id79.html) .  The same site goes on to point out that half of low income or poor families spend more than 50% of their income on housing, while anything less than 30% of a household’s income is considered affordable.  Clearly poverty and no/poor/inadequate housing go hand in hand.  Nationwide as America experiences a housing collapse it is predictable, if not inevitable, that these numbers will only become more alarming when they are released for next year.

There are numerous theories as to why there is a concentration of poverty in America. Undoubtedly the centralization of public housing contributed to this phenomenon in urban areas across the US.  Additionally, the centralization of poverty has been seen in rural areas such as Appalachia, the southwest, and elsewhere.  In most areas there is a scarcity of resources in rural areas, so once an area has been established as an area in need of resources, more people migrate to that area in hopes of obtaining these services for themselves and their families.  In other words, there are instances when poverty eradication efforts can increase the amount of poor entering an area.

Statistically, areas of concentrated poverty have higher crime, drug use, violence rates.  This correlation further emphasizes the need to address poverty in a comprehensive manner.  While there is no causal relationship that can be clearly determined between poverty and the previously mentioned issues, it seems unrealistic to not include the idea of poverty when answering questions on these subjects.

1. Health Care

While there is a general lack of consensus in America with how to solve our nation’s health care issues, it is undeniable that poorer Americans do not receive equitable health care.  In 2006 CNN posted a story stating that, “In 2005, 40 million Americans had gone without insurance at some point. Additionally the report went on to cite CDC reports that as wages decrease individuals are less likely to have healthy lives.” (http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/08/29/poverty.health/index.html)  Further, a Cornell study titled, “Childhood Poverty Leads to Health Problems, Lower Life Expectancy in Adulthood” was released on 11/07/07.  The study found that the longer people spend in poverty as children the worse there health will be as adults (regardless of their socioeconomic status in adulthood).

While the point of this brief is not to advocate for Universal Healthcare, it is not an unfair expectation to suggest that children should suffer medically because of their socio economic status.  According to the US Census Bureau 34% of those in poverty in 2007 were children (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/perindex.html). While most states have Medicaid for children in poverty, there are many parents who do not obtain this insurance for their children.  Whether this lack of insurance is due to parental oversight or an inability to navigate the social services system, the point remains that children without access to healthcare pay the price for their entire lives.

1. Education

In terms of education there have been numerous studies that show a direct correlation between poverty and low test scores.  Perhaps no study has more decisively established this relationship than The International Mathematics and Science Study for 2003 (Gonzales, P. & Guzmán, J. C., Partelow, L., Pahlke, E., Jocelyn, L., Kastberg, D. & Williams, T.(2004). Highlights from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003. (NCES 2005–005). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved Nov 28, 2005 from: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005005.pdf).  Theories concerning the cause of this correlation range from access to resources, expectation levels of schools and students, to the difference in educational levels between poor and rich parents.  While there is no clear explanation for the cause of the achievement gap between poor and rich students, it is still necessary to acknowledge the gap and to attempt to address it.

One of the first forays into exploring and combating this issue was done by Ruby Payne in her groundbreaking “A framework for Understanding Poverty”.  While in recent years this book has received criticism on several levels, this criticism does not negate the importance of the initial work.  The mere fact that Payne addressed the issue and took a stab at narrowing the educational gap between poor and rich students was ground breaking for its time.  If nothing else Payne’s work attempts to illustrate cultural and communicative differences between socio economic statuses that transcend racial lines.

III.  Conclusions

It should not come as a surprise that a Google search for “US poverty eradication efforts” does not produce a domestic link until page 6.The clear message is that most Americans prefer to think that poverty is a problem for the rest of the world. Clearly there is a basic need for most Americans to become more aware of Domestic poverty and it’s far reaching implications.  The southern Poverty & Law Center is doing some of the most progressive work in this area through their site http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?ar=875&pa=1 .  In recent years the SPLC has expanded its vision from antiracist activism to promoting tolerance on many fronts.  It seems apparent that combating poverty will be impossible without first acknowledging the prevalence of poverty in the US and understanding the pervasiveness of the issue.

While understandings are important to dealing with the issue there are some other issues which would help in more effectively combating this issue.  It seems preposterous that the formula for calculating poverty has remained largely unchanged for over a half century.  Taking a broader look at what it means to be poor and defining accordingly could be of benefit to lawmakers and those who are poor. If poverty includes lacking those things that others take for granted there should be numerous layers that go in to calculating what it means to be poor.

In recent years there has been a push to do away with the large housing complexes that abounded in urban cities until the mid to late 1990’s.  While breaking up these enclaves of poverty will present some immediate benefits, there is a risk that just moving people will not solve their poverty issues and will displace them from the resources and agencies designed to help them.  While moving to neighborhoods with more employment opportunities and better schools is an unquestionable improvement, this will not break the cycle of generational poverty in a few weeks, months or years.

Currently in America there are no safety checks to insure that kids have medical insurance.  Aside from mandatory vaccinations to attend school, there is no guarantee that kids go to the doctor outside of these occasions.  While I am not suggesting a big brother state or suggesting that universal health care that is extended to adults is necessarily the solution, it is obvious that all kids deserve an equitable start in life.  In light of the long term effects of poverty on a child’s development and life expectancy that were previously mentioned, it would be helpful to pursue progressive legislation that better meets the health needs of our younger citizens.  If 34% of the poor in America are children (previously cited) not meeting their medical needs today will cost our country on many levels in future generations, even if those who are currently in poverty are able to pull themselves out of poverty in later years.

While “No Child Left Behind” and Ruby Payne have been criticized in recent years as being ineffective or out of touch, it is clear that there is an achievement gap between rich and poor in the US.  Not doing anything is also not an answer.  There is groundbreaking work being done nationwide in schools like Portland’s “Open Meadows” (www.openmeadow.org ).  A large part of the schools success is due to their pursuit of competitive grants from corporations and philanthropies.  Schools like Open Meadows work primarily with youth that have not experienced success in traditional classroom settings and help them to become successful.  While education is not a one-size-fits-all affair, it would be beneficial to look to schools that are successful working with youth in poverty in order to establish best practices for US schools.

Undoubtedly I am biased by my interactions over much of the last decade working with youth and families in poverty.  While this paper does not propose a singular solution to eradicating poverty or even a precise framework for defining it, my hope is that extempers who have read this are now more aware of some of the far reaching effects of poverty on our nation.  While I don’t think this paper will lead to a plethora of people choosing to do poverty speeches, it would be nice if poverty were mentioned in speeches that dealt with the housing crunch, health care, or even education.  I encourage each of you to follow the extra links provided and do further research on this issue on your own.  With pending economic woes our country will more than likely be forced to deal with this issue sooner than later.  It is for this fact alone that I hope that this brief helps to prepare you for this topic and causes you to start thinking of possible solution to dealing with this issue.  In a few years it WILL be up to you to solve in the real world.

Thanks to Logan for your patience with this brief and the opportunity to address this issue that most extempers avoid like abortion and