What is poverty?  “Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, but also “intangibles” such as the opportunity to learn and to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens. Ongoing debates over causes, effects and best ways to measure poverty, directly influence the design and implementation of poverty-reduction programs and are therefore relevant to the fields of international development and public administration.” -wikipedia.com

 Census Bureau released their annual report last year showing there are nearly 35 million Americans suffer from poverty in 2002. It was a slight increase from the year before.  The following are facts about people defined as “poor”

• 46% of all poor households own their own homes.
• Nearly three-quarters of poor home owners own a car.