Poverty definition

What I think poverty means without looking at a definition is not having enough money to live a basic life. What I mean by basic is having a roof that is yours to live under and to have food to eat and pay your bills. Now to break down what I mean is in order to have an "basic life" you pay your bills and have a home to live in. That does not mean a nice home or nice things but as Jose stated in the interview last week you are homeless if your name is not on the lease. But being poor can make you have none of the above or sometimes only one thing. Being in the life of poverty is not a pleasant sight. You wonder how you are going to get your next meal, when you will be able to wash your clothes, where will you sleep, where to find a job, and what do I do now. I never realized how poor my family was until I got older and realized that if it was not for the help of my grandparents my family and I would have probably been on the streets. My mother had two jobs and barely could do anything for herself or her three kids. I consider us having a basic life because we had a roof over our head and we were able to eat and pay some bills. Luckily my family is great and there are not that many families that are there or can help. Poverty is a huge issue and makes the world a harder place to be in. You can loose all hope, become an addict and even not want to live any more. I know people that have been poor and have gotten back on their feet but I also know and hear of people that get so far caught up in their treacherous lifestyle that its easier to stay a failure than to try and make something out of themselves. So to recapture what I just said in a sentence; my definition and how I view poverty is that your are considered poor or at the poverty level if you cannot eat with your own money nor have a roof over your head that is under your name. If you have to start getting welfare and food stamps to survive then you are considered at the poverty level.

The definition of poverty on answers.com states- The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts. Another website webworldbank.org says- Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. Now looking up the technical term opens my eyes in a broader perspective. Not only do you not have food and shelter but you also lack in education, likely succeeding in the future and getting in trouble with drugs. And the most crucial one is not being able to go to the doctor not even for a regular check up. If we could even get free health care we would probably reduce the dying rate and diseases by 50%. I think that there is no right answer to the word poverty because some people are not exposed to much worse conditions than some others and I think that they could think their lifestyle is the worst. I feel that everyone's answer is right according to what you know and where and how you were brought up. The definitions that I recently discussed should and are the proper way of describing what poverty is.