Breaking the Cycle of Poverty Through Education
Poverty is a germane problem that has plagued America for decades, affecting not only the impoverished, but the country as a whole. The growing portion of the population below the poverty line inhibits growth of the American economy and U.S. long-term competitiveness in global affairs. With each year, increasing numbers of people are falling below the federally designated poverty line, thus increasing this impact, and pushing the coveted American Dream further and further out of reach for a large portion of the American people. Once impoverished, it is nearly impossible and especially unwonted to complete the upward climb to financial success and stability. This phenomenon is appropriately
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Especially for those who are born into poverty-stricken family, obtaining a postsecondary degree or credential can mean the difference between a lifetime of hardship and a halcyon economic future. A study called the Pew Project on Economic Mobility found that the relative mobility, or the probability of an upward climb on the economic ladder (Harkinson, 2014), of children born into poor families who earned a college degree was astronomically higher than those who did not. The study found that “47 percent of those who did not complete a four-year degree remained stuck in the lowest income quintile as adults; just 10 percent of those who earned a four-year degree faced the same fate” (Kelly, 2014). The advantage that a college degree offers in today’s society is incontestable. Without the post-secondary education that quality primary and secondary education makes people likely to avidly pursue, escape from the cycle of poverty is nearly impossible. For this reason, it is overt that leading upcoming generations of impoverished individuals to pursue higher levels of education is the key to diminishing poverty in …show more content…
This is shown in a study called the Perry Project, an intervention that randomly selected children born into poverty for high-quality primary education and followed those students throughout their lives, the project found that “those who attended preschool had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job and had committed fewer crimes than the control group that did not attend preschool” (Semeuls, 2014). As the Perry Study substantiates, early childhood education is crucial in the development of cognitive and social skills that affect life through adulthood. It is crucial that this development starts early in childhood, and is not at all impaired by a family’s socioeconomic background, or the inability to pay. The Abecederian Project was a similar comprehensive early education program that provided low-income families with excellent education for children through age 5; these children had higher cognitive test scores, were more likely to attend a four-year college, and waited longer before having a first child than children in the control group (Semuels, 2014). Provision of free, quality education to young children in poverty-stricken areas, to emulate the results of these studies on a larger scale is the first step in breaking the cycle of poverty.
In my community, El Sereno, college is viewed as an option as opposed to it being the next step in life. Most people in my area either begin working or start a family after they graduate from high school. Not always by choice, but in some cases by circumstance. Students in my neighborhood either lack the knowledge, financial support, guidance or even legal status that would otherwise drive them to apply or even go to college. About eighty-percent of students graduated from my high school, but only about twenty-percent ended up attending a four-year university (NINCHE). One of the biggest reasons for student’s low college entrance rate has to deal with their family's socioeconomic
Undisputedly poverty has been one of the major persistent social problems in the United States for hundreds of years. Poverty does not discriminate against Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, homosexuals, heterosexuals, age, gender, or persons with disabilities. Poverty can strike any population, community, ethnic group, and family. According to the U.S Census Bureau, 43.6 million people were in poverty in 2009 which was an increase from 2008. (Insert citation for website). There are multiple causes of why a family or individual can fall into poverty, which includes but not limited to, disability, unemployment, age, and recessions, as for which we have seen through the 2008 recession and the Great Depression. Throughout this paper I will address poverty as a social problem and its causes. I will also focus on how children and family households headed by single mothers are effected by poverty, and how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families came about to help children and families in poverty.
After substantial decreases in the 1990s, poverty rates stopped their decline in 2000 and have actually started to again creep upward. The great conundrum of how one simultaneously alleviates the multiple causes of poverty has become a central obstacle to poverty reduction. Into this debate comes author David Shipler, a former New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner, with an aptly titled look at the state of poverty in America today, The Working Poor. Shipler's book is more anecdotal and descriptive than analytical and prescriptive. Yet it is a valuable portrait of poverty in America, just as Michael Harrington's landmark book, The Other America, was in 1962. While he does not offer many concrete solutions, Shipler provides readers with an intimate glimpse of the plight of the working poor, whose lives are in sharp contrast to the images of excess w...
Morosely, people hitting poverty level are truly given zero opportunities to advance their education. In America, it 's not common that the A+ education is given to you. It 's not entirely easy to land the greatest job ever with just a high school diploma. But, the cost of college has made the difference between having a job that pays well, and having a job that pays immensely for people living in poverty. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. The cost of living per month for a single, childless person in America is $2,372. Galbraith stresses importance of improving housing across the nation.(Galbraith 405) With unemployment rates remaining high, jobs are hard to find in the current economy. Even if people can find work, this does not automatically provide an escape from
Long ago, receiving education was once something only the rich could afford; it was a luxury. Nowadays it is open to everyone, but many students enter college only to discover that they are underprepared, and in turn they become disenchanted. David Leonhardt’s article, The College Dropout Boom, addresses the issues that are apparent in the education system and how it contributes to the gap between the upper and lower class while Access to Attainment by Abby Miller, Katherine Valle, Jennifer Engle, and Michelle Cooper calls to improve access to college education for today’s students. This is incredibly important because many students either drop out or never attended college and in today’s time, having a Bachelor’s degree has become a requirement
Due to the rising costs of tuition of college, children of parents who are impoverished, begin to be distanced from his or her chance of escaping poverty. With a college degree, someone who has remained in poverty can take the first beginning steps of bettering his or her life. In just four years, this person is able to obtain a higher
It’s considered a rarity now days to walk down a major city street and not come across a single person who is fighting to survive poverty. The constant question is why don’t they go get help, or what did they do to become like this? The question that should be asked is how will America fix this? Over the past year, Americans who completed high school earned fifteen point five percent more per hour than that of dropouts (Bernstein, Is Education the Cure to Poverty). According to Jared Bernstein, in his article “Is Education the Cure to Poverty”, he argues that not only do the poor need to receive a higher education, but to also maximize their skill levels to fill in where work is needed (Is Education the Cure to Poverty). Counter to Bernstein’s argument Robert Reich expresses that instead of attempting to achieve a higher education, high school seniors need to find another way into the American middle class. Reich goes on to say “the emerging economy will need platoons of technicians able to install, service, and repair all the high-tech machinery filling up hospitals, offices, and factories” (Reich, Why College Isn’t (and Shouldn’t Have to be) for Everyone). Danielle Paquette, though, offers an alternative view on higher education. Paquette gives view that it doesn’t matter on the person, rather it’s the type of school and amount of time in school that will determine a person’s
backgrounds, is greater than ever, access and opportunity in American higher education is more complex and a lot less optimistic. Also, the majority of jobs requiring a college education doubled over the past 40 years (Carnevale, Smith, Strohl, 2010). While half of all people from high-income families have a bachelor’s degree by age 25, just
Education has been historically considered as an equalizer of society in America, allowing the opportunity for even the disadvantaged to reach success. Race was once the strongest factor in determining future achievement, but today Stanford Sociologist, Sean F. Reardon, says income level has become more consequential (Tavernise). President Barack Obama was one of the lucky few able to overcome the obstacles he faced growing up being both African American and underprivileged, but most children are not as lucky (Rampton , Nawaguna). In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the Lacks family lived in poverty and struggled to perform well in school, resulting in many of them dropping out even before high school (Skloot). The success gap between high and low income students in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years (McGlynn). The educational achievement of students is significantly affected by their home life, and those living in poverty are much more likely to fall behind academically than children coming from affluent families.
Many people do not realize that there are tens of millions of people in America who are living in poverty because they are stuck on the fact that America is one of the richest nations. People who are living in poverty barely have enough money to survive on basic necessities like food, shelter and electricity. They often have a hectic schedule filled with work, school, or other activities that they have to do in order for them to live a somewhat stable life. Unfortunately, there are others who are living in poverty that may be ill or disabled and barely able to survive even if they are receiving money to help with their situation. There are a few programs that help those in poverty with their financial problems, but they only help them to a certain extent. Changes need to be done to help alleviate the poverty rate because these people should not have to deal with all of these hardships or have such a negative perspective of life. Therefore, America can reduce its poverty by raising the minimum wage, making health care more accessible, and by making child care more affordable. These solutions will be a great start to reducing poverty and they will lead America into a brighter future.
Imagine yourself living on $14,000 each year under the poverty line. One might have trouble paying for child care, medical assistance, or even feeding their own children. One might struggle in finding a stable job or have a difficult time paying for social security income. The following paper will discuss, how welfare and poverty have affected the United States, what type of people are affected in the process, and how one can help provide cash payments for needy families who are under the given poverty line.
Education should never be denied to any child regardless of sex, race, age, or even what country they live in. Education is such an important aspect of life that is needed to be retained to shape a successful future. The issue that is being brought forth pertains to children in poor countries that are not receiving any kind of education. There are several things that are holding poor countries back such as lack of funding in education, having no teachers and no classroom or materials are available.(Global Citizen) In order to help decrease the population of children not receiving education other countries need to step in and save the children's lives. The United States education program as
Hundreds of millions of people around the world do not have access to good education. Without education these people can struggle to function in society, which leads into an endless cycle of poverty. To help move our nation's forward we need to help struggling and developing nations to provide education for communities that are struggling. The first step is helping over half the population learn how to read and write. This would be a huge step forward in helping each other share thoughts and ideas with each other. Considering the numbers when only 27% of the population of South sudan is literate, that leaves a majority of the country unable to communicate in a different form (Oregon MUN). Being able to write and read not only helps with communicating
Poverty is an undeniable problem in America. In 2014, 14.8 percent of the United States was in poverty (“Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet”). There are more people in the United States than it seems that do not have their basic necessities. In an
Currently, relatively few urban poor students go past the ninth grade. The graduation rates in large comprehensive inner-city schools are abysmally low. In fourteen such New York City Schools, for example, only 10 percent to 20 percent of ninth graders in 1996 graduated four years later. Despite the fact that low-income individuals desperately need a college degree to find decent employment, only 7 percent obtain a bachelors degree by age twenty-six. So, in relation to ...