In this article, it goes into depth about poverty and what it means from a sociological perspective and how it affects the human nation, the relation, and the result and consequences of it personally and nationally. By definition, in the article, it states “poverty is a social condition that is characterized by the lack of resources necessary for basic survival or necessary to meet a certain minimum level of living standards expected for the place where one lives” (ThoughtCo. 2018). It explains the social aspect of poverty and goes into depth about the personal income of one and how that stands to show someone’s class and, in this sense, how that affects their social standing. It goes on to explain that from place to place, the poverty levels differ, which makes “sociologists believe that it is best defined by conditions of existence, like lack of access to food, clothing, and shelter” (ThoughtCo. 2018). They explain common experiences of people in poverty and what they typically go through such as hunger, starvation, homelessness, absence of health care, and are usually alienated from mainstream society. Poverty can vary in many different ways including the level of intensity, health-wise, and where the poverty is located.
Poverty is originated from “the uneven distribution of material resources and wealth on a global scale and within nations” (ThoughtCo. 2018). Sociologists say that it is a social condition within societies from an unequal and inequitable distribution of income and wealth. The social mobility is commonly most difficult. As it says in “The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology” that poverty can be defined in relative or absolute terms. From the book, it states that by definition, “relative deprivation is a comparative measure, whereby people are considered impoverished if their standard of living is lower than that of other members of society” (Ferris, Stein 201). All while “Absolute deprivation is a measure whereby people are unable to meet minimal standards for food, shelter, clothing, and health care” (Ferris, Stein 201). The book then goes on to talk about the poverty lines and its rates regarding the differentiation and how it changes so much depending on where people are located. It states, “ The poverty line has often been criticized because of the way it is uniformly applied without regard to regional or other differences” (Ferris, Stein 202). For an example of this specifically, one family living in one state may need two or three times as much of an income compared to a family living in another state that only needs one or two incomes because rent is less expensive as well as health care, child care, transportation, and many more.
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