The question “Why is there so much poverty in the United States?” has such a broad spectrum of issues. There is no simple cure or single cause of poverty. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “the 2011 Poverty Guidelines are $10,890 for a single member household and $22,350 for a family of four” (par 13). In addition, “families’ incomes that fall below the threshold given, means that every individual in the household are considered to be in poverty” (par 13). Poverty is too complex an issue to be the result of just one problem, but we can narrow down the subject, to show the effects of how the lack of education can diminish our countries resources and how that has a ripple effect on future generations. Without an education, people receive lower pay; there is an increased rate of crime, and a higher reliance on state and federal aid, which is draining economically. First, employers find it hard to employ people that lack a high school diploma or general education development (GED) because they lack motivation and drive to finish what they started. Because the individuals not having the necessary credentials, they end up with low paying jobs or unemployed, relying on public assistance to see them through. Often times these low paying positions consist of part-time work, only giving the employee approximately 20 to 25 hours per week. This is a considerable wage deduction from a full-time position of 40+ hours per week. Now let us imagine the rate of pay for the individuals. The employing state determines the minimum pay rates and rarely will this be enough to sustain a household. According to IES national center for education statistics, “ The median income of persons ages 18 through 67 who ... ... middle of paper ... ...s are able to make in their own offspring”(413). Works Cited Rouse, C.E. (2007). Qualifying the Costs of Inadequate Education: Consequences of the Labor Market. In C.R. Belfiels and H.M. Levin (Eds.), The Price We Pay: Economics and Social Consequences of inadequate Education (pp. 99-124). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Federal Register Notice, January 20, 2011 — Full text ] [Federal Register: January 20, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 13)] [Notices] [Page 3637-3638] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr20ja11-76] “Crime Linked to Dropout Rates.” Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. School Library Journal, Web. 27 Aug. 2008. “Inside death Row/ At San Quentin”, 647 condemned kills wait to die in the most populous execution antechamber in the United States. Peter Fimrite. S F Gate. Com, Web. 20 Nov. 2005.
Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,
A high school education is no longer sufficient to succeed in America’s increasingly complex economy. However, because of the high price point of a college education, far too many Americans are unable to afford education beyond high school. As shown in the graph below, the higher level of education received greatly increases the chances for employment and also dramatically increases the average salary potential of an individual.
Poverty is a complex and growing problem in the United States. As of right now there is no solution. There are proposals and acts, such as Obama Care, that were enacted in an attempt to help people in poverty, and there are so many organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and The Hunger Project, that try to aid people when they start to lack the necessities, like food and shelter. College students are graduating college with a large amount of student loans and no way of paying them off, people are being evicted from their homes, and employees are being laid off. The unemployment rate in the United States in 2015 was five percent, that’s about fifteen million people. It’s becoming difficult for people to find jobs, therefore making it hard for people to get back on their feet and start living a comfortable lifestyle. Poverty in the
Education can be somewhat helpful to people headed toward poverty or homelessness. However, new research is showing that education is needed but alone it is simply not enough to help people get jobs and help their situation. Along with their education, the poor need job training in the area of work they are looking towards (Bernstein 1). The training along with the mandatory education helps people excel in something they are good at and improve their job chances. The people who do get their education and job training then run into another roadblock. In the U.S. economy, typically low-wage jobs are more abundant. In fact, the low-wage sector of the economy is the part that is projected to grow the most. In the next ten years, thirty new low-wages jobs are expected to be added to the work force. Of those thirty, half of the new jobs will require very little training (Bernstein 3). This results in a lower quality of work and less pay. Many people on the verge of poverty occupy these low paying job...
Although there has been a one third decline in poverty since 1967, America continues to struggle to maintain the most basic necessities to mankind. The Council of Economic Advisors (2014) states, “In 2012 there were 49.7 million Americans grappling with the economic and social hardship of living below the poverty line, including 13.4 million children” (pg. 2). How is this possible? Where have we gone wrong when so many American Citizens are struggling to survive in this great nation? Government plays a big part in the national deficit, which continues to leave American citizens with an uneasy feeling of helplessness in a dying economy.
According to The Principles of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw, Harvard University, Thomson South Western publishing 2004, many studies have documented that the earnings gap between workers with high skills and workers with low skills has increased over the past two decades. A man with a college degree can earn up to 89% more than one without, for woman the figure is about 70%. The incentive to stay in school is as great today as it has ever been. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s students could graduate from high school with a promising future and many joined the labor force without attending college. Unfortunately as the market changes and the need for skilled labor increases, many adult workers are now faced with a decision. More and more high school students are moving on to college and the labor pool is becoming more skilled and competitive. Although years of experience can be used to combat this reality, many employers do not grant an interview unless a degree is present. If an individual becomes unemployed or would like to be considered for a promotion the percentage of success is rapidly decreasing.
Ladd, H. (2012). Education and poverty: Confronting the evidence. Journal of Polcy Analysis and Management, 31(2), 203-227.
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
One of the main causes of poverty is a lack of money. There are some families that do have at least one person employed in the household but the money earned is not enough to provide for the family. Tough decisions such as paying rent buying groceries become a daily challenge for struggling households. Those living in households headed by people with no high school degree are the most likely to enter poverty. Limited options in the job market make it hard for those without degrees the ability to find jobs that will pay above minimum wage. Many Americans earn less than the nation’s median income which hinders most Americans from living a life free of hunger. Children who grow up in poverty suffer more persistent, frequent, and severe health problems than do children who grow up under better financial circumstances. Children of poverty are at an extreme disadvantage and cycle ends up repeating itself until the pattern is somehow
Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.
Tax revenues are the start of how resident’s, of Texas, education has an effect. With an increase number of less-educated laborers the reduced the average income of Texans becomes. This means that residents begin working at minimum wage paying jobs like McDonalds, Sonic, and Chicken Express because they do not have the education nor work skills to be hired at a job that pays more than minimum wage. Nor do these places of employment expect to pay more for an employee who cannot benefit their company. Empirical studies show that low education levels are associated with lower income levels; therefore, failure to complete high school or college negatively impacts average earnings.
People say one of the biggest reasons people are poor in America is lack of education. But even people who took school through their lives can find them self in poverty. I believe a big reason so many find themselves in poverty is not because they didn’t go but because we weren’t taught the right things.
Subjects talked about incorporate the advantages, costs and financial return of school training, examination for compensation of school graduates, and the ramifications of rising educational cost and falling wages for the estimation of school instruction (Abel, Jaison R., and Richard Deitz. "Do The Benefits Of College Still Outweigh The Costs?." Current Issues In Economics & Finance 20.3 (2014): 1-12. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 1 May
Those living in poverty have a lack of funds to invest in education, thus their schools lack the material and staff to probably train their students for future success. This lack of education is the root cause of poverty, because those with no education can’t compete for higher paying jobs that require basic understanding in subjects like math, such as being an accountant or bank manager. Their lack of education has limited their job opportunities, therefore limiting them from improving their lifestyle. Furthermore, poverty travels from generation to generation like an endless cycle. Also Children living in poverty have a higher number of absenteeism or leave school all together because they are more likely to have to work or care for family members. In addition, Dropout rates of 16 to 24-years-old students who come from low income families are seven times higher than those from families with higher incomes. Also Less than 30% of students in the bottom quarter of incomes enroll in a 4-year school. Among those less than 50% graduate from college(Dosomething). The lack of education and training for well-paying jobs inhabits these people from ever escaping the cycle of poverty. However, the reason many of these people lack the required education is simply that they can’t afford to attend school or earn a degree. Therefore, this allows them to only have jobs that offer little benefit, and
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