BY HEIDI KAIBETONEY SOCIOLOGY 1020 America’s War on Poverty

According to the U.S. Census Bureau the poverty rate has increased to 15.3 percent in 2010 and the number of people living in poverty has risen to 46.2 million. There are approximately 3.3 million more people that are living in poverty in just one year from 2009 to 2010.

While no state has had any significant decline in the poverty rate or the number of people in poverty, there were thirty- two states that had an increase in both the number and the rate of people living in poverty during the one year period between 2009 and 2010.

As the poverty rates increase we see a division of whether or not current social service programs work in the fight against poverty.

Currently poverty can be measured by comparing annual income to the poverty guidelines that is determined by family size, and cost of living. The poverty guidelines are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services

Conservative views on poverty supports the idea that people should be responsible for their own personal wellbeing. Conservatives believe that society gives plenty of opportunities to anyone that is willing to take advantage of these opportunities. This may include long years in school and on the job.

Liberal views support welfare and see it as a safety net that provides for the needs of the poor. The view shows that there are categories of people that are at a higher risk of living in poverty such as single parent households.

Today in the war on poverty we have our country spending large amounts of money on war and less money spent on social welfare programs to help those that live on American soil. We have corporations that have the ability to lobby congress and form PAC's (Political Action Committee's) to send chosen elected officials that have agreed to lobby congress to establish their own priorities that include bailouts and tax breaks and incentive for the rich.

There are families that are underpaid and divorce rates and single parent households are at an all time record high. As a result of families and their situations, people that live the life of poverty turn to patterns that are destructive such as drugs and alcohol. Which includes debating the right to be able to drug test those that receive government assistance. It would only seem fair to also drug test judges and politicians that also get government funds to support their own families.

Despite today's debates over drug testing welfare recipients, we need to join our efforts to come up with some solutions to further help the 42 million people that live in poverty. Instead of using politics to debate over the deserving and undeserving poor we need to shift away from the question of who deserves support and think about what works and what does not work and find creative ways to rid poverty in America

While there is no obvious resolution to this war on poverty our understanding of the complex problems of poverty in the United States has been shaped by both conservative and liberal views in the form of bills and legislation that has made social welfare what it is today. The future welfare legislation that congress approves will give state governments a greater incentive and opportunity to find solutions to approach the war on poverty.

Of course the system isn't perfect and it is constantly developing to meet the needs of those that live in the realm of poverty there is hope in making sure that every single American has enough money to provide a meager meal or two and has the opportunity to go to bed at night in a safe home.