Poverty in Texas and Government Actions - Essay Example

Poverty in Texas The US government has a threshold in which people who lie below it in terms of annual incomes are termed as poor. This threshold helps in identifying people whose incomes are low so that they can be eligible for several government programs such as Medicaid, food stamps or childcare benefits. Most of the families qualify for childcare benefits. There are limits that enable families to obtain different public benefits. Several things that limit eligibility of the poor include vehicles, savings in the bank, retirement benefits or any other qualifying asset. The government set a way to determine the levels of poverty and consequently determine the minimum amount of income that families required to exist. This method is constantly updated to meet inflation rates. However, this method faces criticism for only including food needs and costs in establishing the amount of income the families which are considered poor need. There has been application of another method to measure economic hardship that includes more details such as childcare, clothing, transportation and other necessities in calculating the finances needed by poor families to exist. As of 2010 17.9 % of Texans were considered poor which accounts to 15.3% of the nation’s poor. Most of these poor people are Latinos who are close to the US Mexican border and African Americans. Child poverty is also high in Texas. Most of the poor families with in Texas meet the requirements that brand some of its members as “working”. However, they remain poor because of low wages derived from their work and limited public assistance benefits. In fact, Texas workers are ranked low in terms of having pensions, unemployment benefits, worker’s compensation coverage and health insurance. This attributes to many families being poor despite a member of the family being under full time or part time employment. The government set a poverty level of $22, 350 to represent a family with four people in 2011. The children living in s a family below this level are regarded as poor.However, it is subject to study that close to $44, 700 is the actual amount that can enable to meet the basic needs. This exposes the fault in the outdated method of measuring poverty in the United States of America. 28%of the young children in Texas live in families that are below the federal poverty line.There is full time employment for at least a single parent in poor families where 33% of the young children live likened to 83% percent of children who are not in poor families. A greater number of children have their parents (at least one employee) part-time the least number of children do not have any of their parents employed. Immigrant families that are poor have a greater number of poor children compared to native poor families. It is also noticeable that parental education of parents contributes to them not meeting the federal poverty limit thus a greater number of young children whose parents do not have a high school degree. The number is less for parents hose highest degree is high school degree and lesser in where parents have at least a college degree. Additionally, the most affected children are of Hispanic descent, African American, Asian and white children respectively. Most of these young children in the poor families live in with a single parent. Most of the children in poor families reside in rural areas which is 33% compared to 28% in urban areas. The Temporal Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Cash Assistance program stipulates that the earning of a single parent in a family of 3 has to be below $4,812 in a year as of 2005. A family of two parents also qualifies under the same criteria Also, the assets worth of the applicant and the recipients must not exceed $1000 and $4,650 for a vehicle. Though eligible for state benefits, legal immigrants were not eligible for the benefits if the state rules against them receiving as of 2007. The maximum benefits for a family of three in a month were $223 and $2,676 in a year. This is for year 2005. Under this program, 70,798 families, 134,519 children and 26,287 adults benefited as of 2006. To be eligible for food stamps federal benefits, families of 3 must be earning a net income less than 16,608 in a year. The gross income limit is 21, 588 in a year. Child support income was counted in full. The families must not exceed $2,000 in value of their assets.Vehicles were categorically treated to determine the eligibility of families. As of 2007, the maximum benefits for a family of were $408 in a month and $4,896 in a year. 619,000 families and 1, 418, 000 children benefited which makes a total of $2, 718. 2 million spent on food stamps. These findings imply that the role of the programs is very essential. A good number benefited from the programs rendering these programs indispensable in uplifting the poor families and children. The statistics also show that a huge number is dependent on this aid thus more attention to the programs is needed. The statistics also show that poverty affects many children thus the responsible bodies reserve a responsibility to aid poor families for the sake of children and the families at large. In comparison of Texas with Mississippi and New York for the food stamps program, it is evident that Texas fairs poorly between the two states.The only constant thing is that the federal government applies a constant annual benefit lever per family of 3 as of the year 2004. The spending per person is also the least in between the states. Texas exhibited the highest spending per household in year 2002 compared to the other states. The benefit coverage for households with children served as a percentage of those below 130% federal poverty line as of 2002 was highest in Mississippi(48%) lowest in New York at 40% and Texas centrally placed with 42% For the Temporal Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Cash Assistance program Texas beat Mississippi but was under New York in the benefit coverage for families served as a percent of those Read More