Poverty is on the rise in America and has been a part of human civilization for a very long time. So long as humanity maintains social systems that reward luck of birth and other intangibles with other higher social status, we are going to have inequality and poverty. There are some solutions to this problem we all need to look at and think about putting into affect. The U.S. Government is already working to address income inequality and poverty in some ways. There are people who feel they should do more and there are some that feel they should do less. In this paper we will look at what the government is doing and not doing to take on this growing issue of poverty in America. In the United States, we have tried two means of reducing poverty. …show more content…
In fact it has some distinct benefits. It ends poverty as we know it, it reduces the cost of policing the current system and it provides opportunities for people to increase their income by working for the “extras”. However, this idea will be highly unpopular with the wealthy people because it will have to come partially out of their pockets. I feel that we should create infrastructure jobs paid for by the wealthy in taxation. Corporations are currently given tax advantages while they send jobs overseas. I feel jobs should be kept in America instead of companies outsourcing them overseas. They should also be heavily taxed if they do so. In conjunction with these ideas we would need to adjust our basic income every time the wealthy decide to raise prices for their own profit. But most importantly the government should be forcing corporations to pay their taxes and omit loopholes because trickle down economics doesn't account for endless …show more content…
Lower-income earners pay a much higher percentage in combined state, local, income, property, sales, and excise taxes. When all taxes are considered, middle-income and upper-middle-income earners pay about as much as the richest 1 %. Not to mention the richest top 1% are also receiving nearly $900 billion a year on tax expenditures alone. They receive these as subsidies, special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, and loopholes.( ) Loopholes that allow wealthy individuals and corporations to pay nothing in taxes have to be closed. That's it! The tax system must be made more progressive, like it was in the earlier decades. Right now, it is the middle class that pays the highest tax percentages, not the wealthy. The highest tax rate on the middle class is near 30 %, whereas the highest tax rate on the wealthy is maxed out at 15 %. This needs to be reversed. The amount of money being paid out to these companies alone could make a huge impact alone on the poverty level in the U.S. Running some figures and taking a look at what the U.S. government spends on five of the big programs that people think of as welfare today these are estimated
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreEnforcing a bigger taxation on the upper class will demote them and make a reasonable fair social class. This big chunk of what comes out to be the average Americans compared to the rich man is a lot different from the viewpoint of how much it seems to another. NPR.org a online news website states the average spending of these two. The money thrown down the drain on entertainment such as expensive Super Bowl tickets or making a
The current anti-poverty polices do not help the poor citizen to get away their economic and social status, a working anti-poverty policy is needed. The United State has tried to fight against poverty since the 19th century. President Johnson tried to “cure, and prevent” the poverty in the future in 1964. President Ford signed the Tax Reduction Act of 1975, which include the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and President Reagan who believed that the EITC was the best anti-poverty policy. President Clinton expended the Earned Income Tax Credit in 1993 and signed the Welfare Reform Act in 1996 (Hungerford & Thiess, 2013). However, the policies do not “cure” the issue. There were 45.3 million American who lived in poverty in 2013. The number of
There has always been discussion and debates as to why there is poverty in America and that it should not exist because we live in a developed country that has one of the largest economies in the world. So why is it that poverty is still such a big issue that we face, and more specifically, why does poverty seem to affect minority groups (African-Americans and Hispanics) more so than the majority group (of European Descent/Whites). Social capital refers to the norms of reciprocity. This reciprocity allows for mutual benefits to each party, and “is dependent on trustworthiness of the social environment and the extent of obligations held.”(Coleman 102) Poverty and the associated problems persist in the communities, as discussed by Massey and
Poverty is based on the equality of political right. The decades after the Civil War changed the face of the United State. The industrialization of the nation changed us from “a new baby” to the top industrial power in the world. However, this created wide gaps in society between low class and upper class. People called it “the Golden Age”, but it actually was “the Gilded Age” with a thin layer of gold on top. People from outside got blindfolded with the term “American Dream” and immigrated to the United States with hope for a brighter future. Between 1870 and 1900, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived. However, the truth is hurt, they had to work 6 days a week, 10 hours per day with the under wage and working in unsafety condition. There was
The U.S can no longer hide from its deep poverty problem. Most people believe that the extreme poverty problem for example the United Nations has vanished from America and no one in America is surely not as poor as someone in Nepal or Ethiopia. Even though there isn’t extreme poverty in America like the other countries America still has pretty bad poverty. For example we can not stop the people from sitting on the floor hoping for people to give them money and America can no longer stop this.
The impoverished communities of America are in shambles. “The urban populace is becoming increasingly Latino and Asian, with a slight increase in black residents,” (RACE). Racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally dealt a bad hand have filled the inner cities. In order to combat poverty rates in these neighborhoods the federal government must: make more programs in the community to help the youth, be more proactive in creating job opportunities and provide equal educational funds to the public school system. People claim that those that are living under these circumstances need to look deep inside of themselves, instead of blaming the government for their downfalls. On the other hand, it feels as if the government has left these people trapped and have not provided any aid.
Not all people are wealthy. The word poverty has many meanings. There are an abundance of people around the world without jobs and money, which leaves them poor and living in the shadows of the streets. Poverty is when people are living in hunger, living without a home, not being able to live up to the basic human needs. Citizens living in poverty get sick and there won’t be a doctor they can go to because they do not have the money to afford anything. In addition, many families don’t have the financial support to pay for their child's education and so, that generation will have a hard time earning money as well.
Poverty is a serious problem in society today. Many people are living in poverty, unable to meet basic needs and working more than forty hour weeks. It’s difficult to distribute aid when there aren’t the resources for everyone living in poverty. Many single women raising children are in poverty, along with homeless veterans, and anyone who is disadvantaged because of their race, gender, religion, etc. A poverty line was actually created in 1955 to determine who was in poverty. It was based upon the fact of people spending 1/3 of post-tax income on food. Obviously food is an important necessity to everyone, but there is also proper housing, education, healthcare, and clothing that will most likely dissolve the rest of the 2/3 of post- tax
Many Americans blame the poor for their own poverty. They stereotype the poor as lazy alcoholics or drug abusers who would rather stay in the welfare system than get an education and a job. I believe that question: Are the poor responsible for their own poverty? Can easily be debatable, first you must define who/what is considered poor. This definition alone varies amongst individuals and their opinions as well as statistics with specified numbers. Here, for the sake of not doing outside research we will consider someone who is poor to live in unruly circumstances, possibly someone without a job, someone who works very little, or although they work minimum wage just isn’t enough. We live in an entitled society where we blame everyone else for our misfortunes but ourselves.
Poverty in America is a serious problem because of the inequity of wages between the higher paying jobs and the low-paying jobs that only pays the minimum wage in each state which could be up to the amount of nine dollars an hour which unfortunately is not enough to maintain the basic needs for American families. Each family must prioritize where to spend their income which normally will go to their immediate needs of food and shelter. For example, Karger & Stoesz (2014) writes, " for most Americans, poverty is a fluid rather than static condition in which people cycle in and out" (p. 98). Moreover, it is hard for family who is just getting by and could not even afford basic medical needs or insurance. The people in question can be categorized as working poor. .
The biggest challenge not only in America but in the world today is poverty. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor and being insufficient in amount. Poverty happens all over the world, and effects how many people live. According to www.globalissues.org, three billion people in the world make less than $2.50 a day. That is nothing compared to what a months rent in New York City is like. The number of people that face poverty a year is rising, and with prices of daily necessities increasing, poverty is never going to end. Two major problems of poverty are that it leads to hunger and health issues that cause death throughout the world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/14/) need peer reviewed citations not popular media. Time magazine termed the first years of the new millennium as “The Decade from Hell,” (Time Magazine, December 7, 2009).need peer reviewed These years have been rocked by terrorism and wars, and natural disasters from hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. The economy has faced a quagmire recession, stagnation, real estate inflation and collapse, and finally a “Great Recession.” Look up APA citations for quotes
When I think of the word Poverty, I ponder on the lack of resources, educational attainment, oppression, discrimination, and all the “isms” that prevents growth and equality. Poverty is an issue that I have always been passionate about, and I believe that as a future social worker, I will have the ability to advocate on a state, local and federal levels to members of Congress who represent us.
Poverty and social inequality are nothing new to our society. They have been around for hundreds of years, and for the most part these issues will continue to exist until the end of time. And while America may be one of the richest countries in the world, we still have some of the poorest people and some of the harshest inequalities. Our assigned videos (Waiting on the World to Change: Poverty in Camden, New Jersey and Bill Moyers Journal: America’s Growing Economic Divide) took a more profound look into these issues.
In the idea of capping the income to rich people, my first reason is if we do not stop or limit the amount of income that rich people get it will create more poverty. This is because people in the lower class will receive less income which transfers most of the money into the rich system. For example in 1979 and 2007 corporate profit increased to 13% per year causing households income to increased 275 percent for the richest percent of households. Which is a total different story when you view everyone else because the rest of the people income had shrunk 2% which was caused throw the great gain from major incorporated companies.