Poverty in America Essay

pauperisation has incessantly been with us from beggars forthside the gates of Jerusalem to the mentally ill dispossessed woman in the park. America is kn knowledge for our huge difference in culture and class. This is due partly to the dynamics behind the political decisions of this inelegant. The chairperson himself admits that America is more unequal than its been since the great depression and any(prenominal) of his own supporters say he has failed. America now has, by more standards, the lowest mixer mobility of all of the high-end countries, meaning that a child natural into pauperisation is standardisedly to grow up as a inadequate adult. This is surprising for a country that non only prides itself as macrocosm a middle class society, nonwithstanding as the society where any iodine chiffonier cook up it and where social mobility is so high. In some places now, it is hard to intrust that America is an economic giant. One in four young children lives in wan t in the richest nation on earth. (Kindle, 2012) This is a fact that goes neglected by most Americans. P all overty in America has become a circular phenomenon and it has been shown to affect definite communi sequesters while it breezes by others.The Poverty dragSome 46 cardinal Americans live in pauperisation. That is the third highest poverty respect among developed nations, ahead only of Turkey and Mexico. (Kindle, 2012) We might wherefore ask, what is poverty? Where is the poverty line? For 63% of Americans, ages 16 and over, working is a necessity. From working ingress train jobs in retail and fast food, jobs in manufacturing and farming, to banking and health c be. These similarities, however, end in that location. This becomes quite app atomic number 18nt especially when it comes to hours worked and their compensation. For example, the come entry level wage in late Mexico is $8.02 an hour or $16,673 a year, before taxes. As opposed to an experienced worker or a c ollege educated iodine, $22.93 an hour or $47,692 a year. This is lower than the national level of $17,867 annual for an entry level job and $66,248 for the experienced and educated. Unfortunately there are some that work as many hours and are give less. Since 1938, there has been a federal law requiring employers to pay their employees a nominal wage. It was 25 cents. (Williamson, 1980) In 1938, the gap between nominal wages and authentic wages was quite wide compared to now where they are fairly pen up to each other and it is predicted they entrust mirror each other in the near future. Currently in California, the state minimum is $8.00, which is non a bargain considering the rising cost of food, housing, and energy.According to 2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines, a family of 4 making $21,200 before taxes is considered to be scurvy. (Iceland, 2012) There are social programs that are set up to help people in this quandary however, it does not help them conquer out of th e circumstance. The average food cutter benefit is $21 per week. (Kindle, 2012) This is not nearly nice to support your average American. The aid programs are set up to bring down the distressing by on a day to day basis and are not set up to improve their social mobility. There should be cash spent on programs that lay off those in poverty to improve their facts of life and careers. What makes people miser adequate people? Is it wishing of opportunities? Is it lack of education and skills training? Is racial discrimination and sexism? There are a wide variety of opinions on why people are poor. There is a sense of ignorance when bringing to economic aid the issue to those un moved(p). Those that are unaffected could help but they do not know which right smart will help not only with the poor today but to decrease the poverty in the future. What is surprising is that a lack of education opportunities is often mentioned as reasons for poverty.According to the US discussi on section of education, 9.3% of the 37 million students ages 16-24 are high school drop outs. This is ironical considering that public high school is available to all. It mindms creating jobs is the consensus and it makes sense especially when you seek at the unemployment rate. Nationally the unemployment rate is 6.1%. What is the reason for this number? The loss of non regimen jobs, mainly in the manufacturing sector. This had a domino effect to other businesses like retail and construction. In the past years, weve heard how the economy is on the termination of collapse and this is the worst since the great depression of the 1930s. (Ross, 1967) We shake a languish way before we are in a depression. In 1935 the unemployment rate was the highest at 24.9% in 1959 it was 5.5% the highest since that time was at 1982 at 10.8% We are not taut to another depression but we do stimulate intense poverty amongst us.Poverty in America has been rapidly growing in the past decade beca m ap of poor political decisions. There is an positive select between the social classes in America. Most people belong to the 99%. The 1% is some of the richest people in the word and has cornered the market. They own 1/3 of US net worth. The US has over four hundred billionaires, which is the most in the world. (GAO, 2007) Lack of money is not the reason for the extreme poverty rates in America, greed is. There is distinctly enough money to go around the US multiple times but no one wants to help those in need. There is this sense of extract of the fittest that is an ongoing theme when looking into poverty here.Race and Class sequestrationAmerica is deeply divided. We can agree that poverty is more distributive among minorities, children, female-headed families and people with less education. It has been shown through true statistics that there is a definite disparity between escape and class when dealing with poverty in America. But why is American poverty still colored in the twenty-fifth century? Neighborhoods that are organized around work where evidentiary percentage of the adults is working are significantly unlike from localitys that are jobless, which are neighborhoods that include a significant percentage of people that are not working. Jobless neighborhoods are a lot more dangerous because they fashion and breed other problems like crime, gang formation, and drug trafficking. (Iceland, 2012) This leads back to the move issue with Americas lack of social mobility. It seems that once one person is in poverty, it becomes a vicious cycle and no one is willing to do anything to help. Thats why poverty is passed down to the alike races and the same classes because they get stuck in that predicament. There are 50 million Americans without health insurance. (Iceland, 2012) This does not help our problem with poverty. America is a country that deals with problems as they come and never with preventing them. Those that are born into a poor fam ily virtually always end up the head of a poor family. This fact has shaped America and has almost made it impossible for those that are born into less fortunate homes.Dealing with PovertyThe facts are as stands if a person was to walk down the streets in any which neighborhood in America, 1 out of every 6 people passed could be living in poverty. This issue is rarely talked about for these outstanding numbers. severally year the number of poverty in America goes up. The new poor are the former middle class, and the middle class is disintegrating. There are becoming only two classes a lower class and a higher class. Bottom line America needs to reverse the cycle. through education and assistance programs, America will be able to close the gap between the two classes. Recent unemployment rates have dropped approximately and the economy is showing some signs of growth but only some Americans are gaining from it. Almost a million American children sometimes go hungry and tent c ities are springing up across the country. The worlds economic power house has a sickness. While both sides agitate each other, America cannot fully admit their poverty, and are certainly not dealing with it.Annotated BibliographyIceland, JohnPoverty in America A Hand ledger, with a 2012 Pre compositors case. Berkeley, Calif. University of California Press, 2012. This deem allowed me to understand soften poverty in America. It focuses on early views of poverty in America and where the poverty in America originated. This book alike describes the causes and characteristics of poverty as well as why poverty cadaver high in America. I chose this book so that I would have a timeline of poverty from the beginning as well as poverty now. I would be able to compare and contrast the social and sparing times between then and now. I will compare the different ethnicities in America and compare the different ways that they have been affected by poverty over the years.Kindle, Peter A. Book Review of So Rich, So Poor Why Its So Hard to block off Poverty in America by Peter Edelman Edelman, Peter. 2012. So Rich, So Poor Why Its So Hard to End Poverty in America. New York The New Press. $24.95, 208 Pp., Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-59558-785-5. Poverty & Public insurance 4.4 (2012) 241-43. Print. This is a journal that gave me facts about poverty in America. I was able to link the problems with true statistics and use them in my paper. I found this journal to be very helpful when deliberating what should be in my paper and not. It was easier to glance over than the books and really got me interested in the topic.Ross, Arthur M., and Herbert Hill. Employment, Race, and Poverty. New York Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967. Print. This book talks about the employment, race, and poverty in America and gives me statistics that are quotable for my paper. It is important to figure out how all these three aspect tie together and it allows me to relate race to poverty in America . This books also paints a picture of what it is like to be unemployed, a minority, and in poverty in America throughout many decades. I will use this mention to also explain the unemployment issue and how the unemployed got to where they are and how it affects their families. I will talk about the vicious cycle of the unemployed and how it will almost always be passed down to their children and what other types of issues (jail time, drug dealing, etc) are caused because of the unemployment of certain classes.The Other America, 2012 Confronting the Poverty Epidemic The Nation. The Other America, 2012 Confronting the Poverty Epidemic The Nation. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. This settle helped me to form my conclusion. It allowed me to formulate my thoughts and wrap up my ideas. I was able to see how other people looked at poverty and what their stance was on the issue. I also used this site to add some facts to my paper and get more of an emotional effect with my word play.Unite d States. Government answerableness Office. Poverty in America Economic Research Shows Adverse Impacts on Health Status and Other Social Conditions as Well as the Economic Growth Rate Report to Congressional Requesters. Washington, D.C. U.S. Government business Office, 2007. Economic research suggests that people living in poverty face an increased risk of adverse outcomes, such as poor health and criminal activity, both of which may lead to reduced participation in the labor market. It also shows that limited access to health care as well as a greater exposure to environmental hazards affects the heath of those living in poverty. I will use this book to seek the effects that poverty has on issues like health, social conditions, and growth rate. The preliminary book allowed me to examine exactly what poverty is and this book will allow me to see the affects the poverty has had over time. I would like to go over the economic growth rate and see what ethnicities have suffered the most and which have substantially improved, if any.Williamson, Jeffrey G., and Peter H. Lindert. American Inequality A Macroeconomic History. New York Academic, 1980. Print. This book solely focuses on the history of the inequality of class and race in America. The information found in this book will fix my paper off with facts about how the poverty came to be what it is today. American inequality is highlighted in this book and we are able to see where the inequality started and how it is shortly affecting America. It is important to explain the macroeconomic history of America for the readers to get an idea of how the inequality in America originally startedRevision syllabusI. Thesis I changed the focus of my thesis to relate more to the lack of social mobility in my paper. I felt that it was the basis of my paper and what I was most interested in. My thesis originally was not very puissant but after using Pearsons writing guide I was able to change my course around and c reate more of a strong stance.II. Organization My paper was completely unorganized. It is hard for me to organize my thoughts and to better blend my ideas. I had to make index cards and organize them that way in order to figure out the best order of my ideas.III. fend and Development of Ideas Adding quotes helped better support my ideas. It added facts to what I already had and also helped with smoothing out my ideas.IV. Style I changed the ardour of my paper from MLA to APA. I had never done a paper in APA but it made sense to use this format because we were told to include an abstract and an authors note which followed the guidelines of an APA style paper. It was different but it turned out to look a lot cleaner than the MLA. V. Mechanics Using the Pearson writing components really helped develop my paper. I knew what to focus on and what was unimportant in the process. I tried to make the issue clear by painting a picture with my words to help better understand the points I was trying to make.