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Poverty Guideline For VA Poverty always was an actual problem, but in the modern world this question has especial importance. Nowadays the significant part of the population is below the poverty line or close to its border. It is especially appreciable on a background of strong stratification of population when the difference in incomes of poor and rich people makes tens, hundreds and thousand times. And this process has dynamic character. That means that poor people become poorer and the rich one become richer. It is necessary to give a definition of concept poverty to consider the given problem in more details.
Poverty it is the characteristic of an economic situation of the individual or a group at which they cannot pay cost of the necessary blessings. The United States of America is not exception of the list of the countries where the problem of poverty is actual. Among all industrial countries, the USA has the highest level of poverty. Poor people in the USA are officially persons, whose annual income does not exceed "poverty line." It is defined proceeding from cost of the goods and the services necessary for satisfaction of the most vital needs (officially, the average that the poor man spends for himself is less than 1 dollar per day).
Over third of poor men in the USA make incomes less than 50 percent of the sum determined as "poverty line." Under information of the US Census Bureau, during the period from 2000 till 2002 (it is the last accessible data) the level of poverty in the USA has grown on 7. 1 %. In 2000 there was 11. 3 % of the population of the country below the poverty line, in 2002 - 12. 1 %. For the last 13 years it is the first case when the number of poor Americans grows two years on end. From 1992 till 2000 the level of poverty has been decreased on 25. 2 %. On the data of American Progress Action Fund, in 2002 in the USA there were 34. 6 million of inhabitants with the lowest level of incomes. There are 12. 1 million children among them.
These data include the data of all the cities and states, including data of Chesapeake, VA. Chesapeake it is the city which is situated in the central part of Virginia. By calculations for 2000 there are 200 thousand inhabitants in this city. It is one of the largest cities in the region. It occupies area of 886 sq. km.
Chesapeake was founded in 1963 by merging of the South Norfolk and Norfolk County. The average income for each working man in this city is about 40000 $ and 30000 $ for each working woman. But there is a problem of poor people too. The part of the population is in a condition of complex social depression. They do not live. They are trying to survive.
Under the information of Census for 2000 there is 6. 1 % of population that live under the poverty level. Among them there are 23 % of families with no husband. This problem also exists among pensioners. 9 % of people that are over 65 years old live below poverty level. On the data for 2002, the poverty guideline in Virginia per person is 8, 860 $. This number makes 18, 100 $.
for family that consists of four people. For family units with more than 4 members, add $ 3, 080 for each additional member. The same increment applies to smaller family sizes also. Also there is such concept as the cost of residing. This definition means the average amount of money needed to buy goods and services to provide a given standard of living in a certain area. This parameter differs for each state and city.
In Chesapeake this parameter is lower, than in New York or other large cities of the USA approximately in 2 - 2, 5 times. For example, if you earn 18000 $ in New York, in Chesapeake you should earn 8, 570 $ to maintenance the same level of living. Everything that was mentioned above specifies that poverty still remains the important problem in our country and all over the world. But the state conducts struggle against poverty, appointing various social benefits and payments for poor people, encouraging of labor activity, strengthening the legislation on social protection and etc. I think, it cannot be eradicated, but it is possible to reduce it. Bibliography: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines. February 14, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 31), Page 6931 - 6933 < web > U. S. Census Bureau. Chesapeake, Virginia < web > American Diabetes Association.
Economic costs of diabetes in the U. S. in 2002. Diabetes Care 26 (3): 917 - 932, 2003. Available online at < web >
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