How to stop Poverty


America's own Third World

The percentage of US residents living in poverty is on the rise, according to the Census Bureau. We shine a light on the diverse faces of America's underclass.
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America's poor: The grim statistics
U.S. population: 313.7 million (June 2012)
U.S. unemployment rate: 8.2% (May 2012)
Real median household income: $49,445 (2010), down 2.3% from 2009
People without health insurance: 49.9 million (2010), 16.3% of the population



In order to stop poverty, people need to be taught new skills which will provide them with the knowledge to earn a better income. Giving people the ability to help themselves equips them to get out of poverty and not fall back into it. Some programs, such as Teach a Man to Fish, based in the United Kingdom, follow this philosophy.

This organization bases its philosophy on the Chinese proverb, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Teach a Man to Fish focuses training on developing practical entrepreneurial skills designed to lift students and their families out of poverty. Once students have completed training, they are far more employable than they were, and many of them go on to start sustainable businesses which benefit not only themselves, but entire communities.