Poverty: What Does It Mean To Be Poor?

Poverty has become an ambiguous term. What does it mean to be poor? According to Dictionary.com, poverty is defined as “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support” (“Poverty”). Expanding upon the dictionary definition, poverty is to lack a certain amount of material possession, such as food, clothes, shelter, education, and healthcare. However, the focus has moved beyond traditional measures. Now it involves many dimensions. Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is having an immense desire to study but not being able to afford an education. Poverty is feeling sick and not being able to buy medicines. Despite the substantial growth of the global economy over the past decade, many people are still living below the poverty line. I cannot really speak from the experience of this tragedy, but I have seen people who have suffered from it. For this reason, my idea of being poor is lacking even basic …show more content…
They are bound to work in unhealthy working conditions. For example, when my uncle arrived in the United States, he had to work all night standing up in a weapon factory. He was paid little, and it was difficult for him to feed his family. He had no other option but to search for another low income job. My uncle 's situation is similar to the living situations mentioned in Barbara Ehrenreich 's text "Serving in Florida." Ehrenreich states that "I start out with a beautiful, heroic idea of handling the two jobs at once...” (Ehrenreich 137). She discusses the struggle to eat healthy food, as well as to rest during short breaks, similarly, my uncle also struggled to eat healthy food, as well as to rest during short breaks, and as a result, he started having knee problems. Even though my uncle is still not physically fit, he still works day and night to feed his family because he has no other