Myths Case

Myth 1: People are poor because they are lazy and refuse to work - poor people work 16 years and older 12% work full time year round and 25% work part time.

Myth 2: Most poor people are minorities - 43% of people living in poverty are white. In proportion, however, African Americans and Latinos are much more likely to be poor than Asian Americans and whites.

Myth 3: Most poor people live in inner cities - large number of poor live in inner cities, but the rest live in urban areas outside of the inner city,

Myth 4: Most of the poor are single mothers - 51% are single mothers and their children, but 40% of married coupled families, and 9% father-head of households are poor.

Myth 5: Most of the poor are older Americans - 10% if the people 65 years or older are poor, 35% of the poor are children younger than 18.

Myth 6: The poor get special advantages - The poor pay more for goods and services than do wealthier people. Supermarkets and discount stores are rarely located in low-income areas, and because the poor have limited access to banks or other financial institutions they must often rely on "check cashing stores" that charge high rates for cashing checks.

My myths and refutes

Poor women have more children because of the financial incentives of welfare benefits - states providing relatively higher benefits do not show higher birth rates among their recipients.

Anyone who wants to get off welfare can just get a job - Most welfare recipients do work to supplement meager benefits. With workforce discrimination and the lack of affordable childcare makes working outside the home difficult for single mothers. The low paying wages, no benefit jobs that are available to most welfare recipients simply do not pay enough to lift a family out of poverty.