what is poverty 
the term poverty refers to the state or condition in which people or communities lack the financial resources and other essentials for a minimum standard of living as such they cannot meet their basic human needs people and families who live in poverty may go without proper housing clean water healthy food and medical attention each nation may have its own criteria for determining the poverty line and counting how many of its people live in poverty poverty is a socioeconomic condition that is the result of multiple factors not just income these factors include race sexual identity sexual orientation and access to education among others understanding povertypoverty refers to the lack of adequate financial resources such that individuals households and entire communities don t have the means to subsist or to acquire the basic necessities for a flourishing life this absence of means can result in struggles to obtain food clothing shelter and medicine poverty is both an individual concern as well as a broader social problem at the individual or household level not being able to make ends meet can lead to a range of social physical and mental issues at the societal level high poverty rates can be a damper on economic growth and be associated with problems like crime unemployment urban decay poor education and poor public health governments often put social welfare programs in place to help lift individuals families and communities out of poverty some countries have stronger welfare states social safety nets than others for instance the united states tends to be much more individualistic and has relatively limited welfare programs european countries in comparison have a much broader range of welfare programs and supports for those in need according to the latest census the number of people in the u s who lived in poverty in 2022 or 11 5 of the nation s population 1aspects of povertypoverty status in the u s is assigned to people whose income falls under a certain threshold which is set by the department of health and human services hhs 2 u s poverty rates or the percentage of the u s population living in poverty are calculated by the u s census bureau 3