Modern Poverty
What It Means To Be Poor
By Daniel Muniz

The Heritage Foundation analyzed Census Bureau statistics and other available data about poverty which revealed the following attributes about the poor in the United States:

● Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
● Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
● Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
● The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
● Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
● Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
● Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
● Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

Although one cannot say that poor people have it easy, most of them living in today’s environment definitely have it so much better than the poor of previous generations. In fact, compared to how people lived during the Great Depression, the poor of today would probably be considered to be well off.

There are plenty of reasons to why poor people are so much more affluent than ever before although the advent of cheap electronics (like cell phones, television sets, etc) and inexpensive household appliances has tremendously improved the lives of the impoverished. Items that were once considered a luxury a generation ago are now commonplace even among those who we consider to be poor.

As a result, I have always been puzzled by how modern society defines poverty.

The second time I went to college, I lived in an apartment. Although I did live on campus the first time I was at school, I didn’t mind dorm life when I was in my late teens and early twenties. However, now that I was a bit older with a full time job and paying my own bills, I no longer felt part of the college crowd, nor did I have the need to be enjoying the college experience again since I had now lived out in the real world.

Consequently, the place I did live in was rather Spartan since in many ways I was starting all over again.

First of all, I didn’t have a VCR. DVD players hadn’t yet dominated the market at that time because they were still outrageously expensive although VCRs had become ridiculously cheap so just about everybody had one except me. I also didn’t have cable even though the price of a basic cable package was fairly reasonable. Besides, all of that didn’t matter to me because I didn’t have a television set.

I also didn’t have an Internet service provider for my telephone. Broadband was still in its infancy and not fully available at that time although dialup services were plentiful and cheap although AOL had begun to muscle its way to the top of the market at that time. Getting connected to the net was all the rage in this time frame especially among college students and the youth but it didn’t matter to me because I didn’t even have a telephone.

And during that time, I didn’t have a cell phone either although they were just then becoming commonplace as the rates became more affordable but it wasn’t like every elementary school kid had one as they do today.

I also didn’t have a stereo but I did have a clock radio.

In my apartment, whenever I ate my food, I sat down on the floor to eat it since I didn’t have a table. In fact, I didn’t have any furniture like a couch or an entertainment center but I did have a simple bed frame and a mattress to sleep on. As for appliances, I didn’t have a washing machine or a dryer so I simply used the laundry center that was in the apartment complex. The apartment also came with a dishwasher which I did use.

I also had air-conditioning and central heat although I seldom used it. I was a full time college student and I still worked 40 hours a week at a full time job. I was also a cadet in the army ROTC at my university which meant that I always had to be at the field for PT before sunrise during the week and I was usually doing a field training exercise at a nearby military reservation during the weekends (which meant sleeping out in the woods in a sleeping bag). As a result, my electric bill was pretty low because I was rarely at home to use it except at night.

During that time frame, poor people sure had it better than I did and I am not basing that observation on the above Census Bureau statistics, but from my own personal experience because as a kid I grew up in the barrio. Growing up, I was surrounded by people who were on some type of government assistance. And even though my neighbors didn’t have any money, there was a television set in almost every house as well as plenty of household appliances.

I suppose I really didn’t know what true poverty was until I was living in that apartment during the second time I was at college. But interestingly, I never considered myself to be poor even though I had less then (which was almost nothing) than what I had when I was living in the barrio.

Perhaps it was all about perspective because by the time I entered high school, my parents had moved to a nice house in the suburbs and enjoyed a much more comfortable lifestyle. Consequently, I viewed my harsh financial condition as a place in time instead of as a destination. My parents worked hard, made good decisions, and exercised good judgment so they got out of the barrio.

Accordingly, I never imagined myself remaining in such a destitute condition because I simply knew that I wasn’t going to stay there forever. Of course I made mistakes and endured needless financial hardships but my parents already laid the groundwork that helped prepare me for a professional career. And I am grateful that my parents did instill those values in me because it made all the difference in the world in determining what kind of future I was going to have.

As for poverty, it is time for society to examine what it really is and what it isn’t. Poverty is certainly not what most people think it is and it is certainly not a destination unless you make it one.

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