on suggest that to understand poverty in America, it is important to look behind these numbers, to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor. For most Americans, the word poverty suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's poor live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago.
According to Rector and Johnson, the following are facts about persons defined as poor by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor b
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