Running Head: Poverty

Poverty in America
Kyle A. Lynch
Wayne State University
February 2015

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Poverty is a major issue in the social welfare system.

In

2013 there were 45.3 million people in the United States who were
considered to be in living in poverty.

This means that 14.5% of

all Americans are living below the poverty line.

To be

considered living in poverty, a family of four must earn less

than $23,834 for the year (Gabe, 2014).

The measure of poverty

currently in use was developed some 50 years ago, and was adopted
as the official U.S. statistical measure of poverty in 1969.
(Gabe, 2014).
The poor in our area have many programs that can aid them in
surviving with little resources.

The Michigan Department of

Human Resources has many programs available for people in need.

There is opportunity for food assistance to help feed those who
are hungry. There is also cash assistance to help people who are
unable to work a job.

One program available to the community is

P.A.T.H. which stands for partnership accountability training

hope.

This service give cash assistance to individuals who are

unable to earn enough to survive.

Another program available from

the MDHR is the Child Development and Care program or the CDC.
This program provides a way for low income individuals to obtain
child care for their children.

A client can even get medical

insurance from the resources provided.

These services include

Medicaid, Michild, and local services such as Genesee Health Plan

(DHS, 2015).

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Through the Michigan Bridges program there is even more
assistance available.

A client can apply for emergency

assistance if they are unable to pay their bills for a period of

time.

Here one may apply for Medicaid or MIchild.

Using these

programs a client can minimize the stress of living in poverty.

These programs are open for anyone to apply and are approved
according to a case by case basis.

A client must begin the

application process on the Michigan Bridges website.

Each program has income limits and some have an asset limit
- limits vary with each program. If you need help with past,
unpaid medical expenses, your coverage may begin three
months before your application month. Ask your DHS
specialist for more details. Once you have been determined
eligible for Medicaid you will receive a mihealth card. Each
member of the family receives his or her own card. Most
people who receive Medicaid must join a health plan. You
will need to show your mihealth card and your health plan
card when you receive medical services. (DHS, 2015)
The Michigan Bridges program is a resource that provides services
to many in need of many types of services throughout Michigan.
In the United States, there is a large population living in
poverty.

9.7% of all whites in America lived in poverty in 2012.

In 2012, 25% of all Hispanics were surviving below the poverty

line.

Sadly, 27.2% of African Americans were living in poverty

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in 2012. Of all Americans living in poverty, 21.8% were children.
The percent of adults living in poverty from the age of 18-64 was
13.7%.

In the senior citizen group 65 years old and older, 9.1%

lived in poverty (Poverty, 2013).

These are the people who

social welfare programs aim to help.

Poverty is an issue that has affected society throughout the
course of history.

Over time, there has been many transitions in

the treatment of the poor.

Through all these changes, the thing

that remains the same is a stratification of the classes in a

society.

The rich are at the top and hold the control, while the

poor are at the mercy of dominant society.

From feudalism to our

current social welfare system, poor people live in the bottom

rank of class.
In the Middle Ages society functioned on a feudal system.
In this system there was a hierarchy with the Lord on top, and
the peasant on bottom.

The article Middle Ages for Kids

describes life in a feudal society, Small communities were

formed around the local lord and the manor. The lord owned the
land and everything in it. He would keep the peasants safe in
return for their service. The lord, in return, would provide the
king with soldiers or taxes (Middle, 2015).

Life as a peasant

was hard, and didnt hold much promise.

Around 90 percent of the people worked the land as peasants.
Peasants worked hard and died young.

Most were dead before they

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reached 30 years old.

The kings believed they were given the

right to rule by God. This was called "divine right".

Lords and

Barons swore oaths of homage and fealty to their kings.

The Lord

held absolute power over the fief or manor including holding

court and deciding punishments for crimes (Middle, 2015).
Life during this time did not have much to offer anyone who
was not part of the select few at the top of the feudal
hierarchy.
period.

While this is true, private welfare endured this time

There were provisions for children to provide for their

father, and also for widows although they were encouraged to

remarry. (Day, 2013, p. 93).
In 1349 the Statute of Laborers, the first significant law
aimed at the poor was enacted.

In the book A New History of

Social Welfare the authors Day and Schiele explain the effects of
this law. Originally, the law was developed to benefit the poor.
By placing people where labor was needed the poor, in theory,
would have employment for life.
a price.

Unfortunately, this law came at

If a worker was found away from their assigned

community, he or she was punished.

The punishment included being

whipped, branded, stocked, and sent with anyone who claimed the
worker.

This law also classified the poor in two categories, the

worthy and unworthy.

These categories changed the view of

poverty from a societal crisis, to a personal one. (Day, 2013, p.

98).

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Another Law was enacted in 1536 to target the poor.

This

law was the Act for Punishment of Sturdy Vagabonds and Beggars.
Day and Schiel write about this period of time in their book.
According to them, there were severe penalties for begging, and
casual alms giving.

Children from the ages of five to the age of

fourteen were taken from their homes and indentured.

The

government charged the churches and mayors on Sundays, holidays,

and festivals.

Giving was voluntary, but the government was

involved in securing funds.

Funds were redistributed from the

rich to those in need, but due to the high rate of poverty, riots
and protests were common.

By 1572 voluntary giving had given

way to a tax system. (Day, 2013, p. 103)

During the 1590s between one third and one fourth of the
English population could not find work.
Poor Laws were established.

In 1601 the Elizabethan

Marjie Bloy Senior Research Fellow,

the Victorian Web explains the laws in detail.

She writes;

The Elizabethan legislation was intended to help the 'settled'

poor who found themselves out of work (for example) because of
illness, or during a hard winter or a trade depression. It was
assumed that these people would accept whatever work or relief
the parish offered, whether that was indoor or outdoor relief.
Neither method of assistance was seen as punitive or harsh. It
was intended to deter or deal with the 'sturdy beggars' who were

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roaming the roads, robbing travelers and generally posing a
threat to civil order. (Bloy, 2002)
With the Poor Laws of 1601, two overseers were elected from
each parish.

These overseers were responsible for determining

how much money was needed for the poor, and set the rate at with
parishioners would be charged.
who the aid would be dispersed.

They also determined how and to

There were two types of relief.

Outdoor relief, which is when the person would remain in their

home and receive a supplemental income.

Indoor Relief was when

the poor would be taken to the local almshouse, the ill would be
taken to a hospital, children to an orphanage, and the idle poor
were taken to a work house to earn their keep. (Bloy, 2002)
Part of the 1601 Law said that poor parents and children were
responsible for each other, so elderly parents were expected to
live with their children for example. However, everyone in need
was looked after at the expense of the parish, which was the
basic unit of poor law administration (Bloy, 2002).

These laws

made changes to the social welfare system that influenced the way
poor people were treated.
In the early years of America, the cost of passage to the
new world was very high.

Because of this cost, many people

entered the country as indentured servants.

These people would

work for a family for a set period of time, in exchange for their
traveling expenses.

In early history these servants were the new

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peasant.

The difference being that there was a light at the end

of the tunnel for these dependent people. An inequality between

work and labor allowed for the practice of indentured servants.
(Day, 2013, p. 131)
Early American Poor Laws according to John E. Hansan, came
from the Elizabethan Poor Laws.

In his article Poor Relief in

Early America he writes,

In time, colonial legislatures and later State governments
adopted legislation patterned after these English laws,
establishing the American tradition of public responsibility for
the care of the destitute while also requiring evidence of legal
residence in a particular geographic locality (i.e., town,
municipality, county) as a prerequisite for receiving assistance.
The most popular means for caring for the poor in early American
communities using public funds included: the contract system,
auction of the poor, the poorhouse, and relief in the home, or
outdoor relief (Hansan, 2011).
As time continued the popularity of poor houses declined.

By

the middle of the nineteenth century, the conditions and

reputation of poorhouses had deteriorated significantly. There
was growing evidence of unseemly rates of death and disease,
illicit births, lack of discipline, graft, and mismanagement
(Hansan, 2011).

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In the beginning of the 1900s the social welfare system
began to transition in to a more charity based service.
Nonprofit organizations began to sprout up.

As this transition

occurred, the responsibility was taken from the individual or the

parish and was given to the government and charity organizations.
When the great depression hit, the government stepped in to help.
According to Wlefareinfo.com,
Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act
was enacted in 1935. The act, which was amended in 1939,
established a number of programs designed to provide aid to
various segments of the population. Unemployment compensation and
AFDC (originally Aid to Dependent Children) are two of the
programs that still exist today. Welfare history continued to be
made in 1996 President Bill Clinton signed the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Under the
act, the federal government gives annual lump sums to the states
to use to assist the poor. In turn the states must adhere to
certain criteria to ensure that those receiving aid are being
encouraged to move from welfare to work (Welfare, 2015).
Although there are many changes that could be addressed with our
welfare system, it is clear that we have come a long way.
Over time, the treatment of people living in poverty has
changed.

Historically poor people were looked at as less

valuable than people who have wealth.

People viewed class as

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divinely ordained meaning that god chose the place you would
have in society.

In the past poor people were the responsibility

of the church or the community.

As time has progressed, we have

moved more in the direction of government assistance with a goal

of offering poor people a chance to be self-sufficient.

Though

changes have made life of the poor more livable, social stigma
and discrimination of the poor remain in todays society.

People

look at the poor as being lazy, and less worthy than people of a
higher class.

Because of these stigma, it is often hard to get

people to offer assistance for the poor.

Personally, I think that poverty in America is ingrained at
the institutional level.

The stratification of class causes

discrimination against the individuals in the bottom rankings. As

the rich continue to get richer, the poor continue to get even
poorer.

As the gap between classes continues to grow, the middle

class seems to be disappearing.

When the middle class fades, the

upper class gains the control of society.

what causes this cycle to continue.

This break in class is

In the end the poor are left

with little resources to gain control of their own fate.

The

poor continue to be poor and the rich continue to be wealthy.

Social work as a field is a helping profession.

The poor

are definitely a population which needs a lot of help.

workers abide by the Social Work Code of Ethics.

Social

The Code of

Ethics clearly states the mission of the social work profession.

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The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance
human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all
people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of
people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty
(Code, 2008).

Helping people living in poverty is part of the

primary mission of social work.

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References
Bloy, M. (2002, November 12). The 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law.
Retrieved February 28, 2015, from
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html
Code of Ethics (English and Spanish) - National Association of
Social Workers. (2008, January 1). Retrieved March 25, 2015,
from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp
Day, P., & Schiele, J. (2013). Feudalism and the Welfare State.
In A new history of social welfare (7th ed., p. 93, 98).
Boston: Pearson Education.
Day, P., & Schiele, J. (2013). Social Welfare Moves to the
Americas. In A new history of social welfare (7th ed., p.
103, 131). Boston: Pearson Education.
DHS - Department of Human Services. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30,
2015, from http://www.michigan.gov/dhs
Gabe, T. (2014, September 25). Poverty in the United States:
2013. Retrieved January 30, 2015, from
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33069.pdf
Hansan, J. (2011, January 19). Poor Relief in the Early America Social Welfare History Project. Retrieved February 26, 2015,
from http://www.socialwelfarehistory.com/programs/poorrelief-early-amer/

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Michigan.gov - MI Bridges - Access to Eligibility. (n.d.).
Retrieved January 30, 2015, from
https://www.mibridges.michigan.gov/access/
Middle Ages for Kids: Feudal System and Feudalism. (2015, March
1). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from
http://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal_system.p
hp
Poverty in the United States: A Snapshot. (2013, September 1).
Retrieved January 30, 2015, from
http://www.nclej.org/poverty-in-the-us.php
Welfare Information. (2015, January 1). Retrieved February 26,
2015, from http://www.welfareinfo.org/history/