Poverty and Unemployment in North America
Poverty and Unemployment in America The wet snow has been falling for two continuous days now. A large three-story building, which has not been kept in good condition, is located at the outskirts of town in a run down neighborhood. No tracks are visible from the front window, either meaning that no one has visited the house, no one has left the house, or the snowfall is so thick that it covers any sign of tracks instantly. In this case, the family has not made any attempt to leave the house. Until the weather warms up somewhat, the family will be staying inside because they can not afford proper winter wear to survive the cold weather.
With ten people in the family, it is often difficult to support everyone. After the father was cut from his previous job, the family moved to my hometown during the fall in hopes to start over again. Because the community is small, the job opportunity is limited; thus making it difficult to find a way to support themselves. The family, therefore, is living off of welfare and food stamps. The children attend school as often as they can; their ages ranging from kindergarten to junior year in high school. One of the girls happens to be my age and in the same class. When they are not present in school, we can often assume that they are either working to help support the family or at home with the two little ones because they have no money to afford a babysitter.
Hunger is a part of this family 's daily life because sometimes there is not enough money to buy the amount of food they need. Money is so scarce that they often have difficulties paying their bills each month. I noticed that stealing became a second nature when members of the family wanted something. Instead of working towards or asking for it, they would steal anything from food to money to clothes. The clothes that they did have were thin and patched. Most of the clothes were handed down from older children after they grew out of them. They wanted to be
With ten people in the family, it is often difficult to support everyone. After the father was cut from his previous job, the family moved to my hometown during the fall in hopes to start over again. Because the community is small, the job opportunity is limited; thus making it difficult to find a way to support themselves. The family, therefore, is living off of welfare and food stamps. The children attend school as often as they can; their ages ranging from kindergarten to junior year in high school. One of the girls happens to be my age and in the same class. When they are not present in school, we can often assume that they are either working to help support the family or at home with the two little ones because they have no money to afford a babysitter.
Hunger is a part of this family 's daily life because sometimes there is not enough money to buy the amount of food they need. Money is so scarce that they often have difficulties paying their bills each month. I noticed that stealing became a second nature when members of the family wanted something. Instead of working towards or asking for it, they would steal anything from food to money to clothes. The clothes that they did have were thin and patched. Most of the clothes were handed down from older children after they grew out of them. They wanted to be
Cited: Peterson, John. "Poverty and Unemployment in America." 11 Dec. 2003 "Poverty," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004. 11 Dec. 2003 © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.