Since the dawn of industrialization, reducing the poverty levels has been a common challenge across nations. Poverty is the unrelenting duty of trying to survive. It is the regular hustle to make ends meet. Some of the few things that can define poverty involves lack of the basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, security and education, which are vital to human life Poverty, is a worldwide concern, which has affected not only developing countries but also industrialized ones. For instance, the United States being one of the prosperous countries in the world has one of the uppermost levels of social wellbeing expenditure per capita (Rank, 2004). However, the poverty rate in the country is alarming. Therefore, in working to eradicate poverty, the U.S has taken measures that do not outspend other nations in government programs but instead promote true well-being and self-sufficiency (DeWeese, 2011). The essay compares poverty rate in the United States to other industrialized nations and elucidates various programs that help to eradicate poverty levels, motives of the programs, beneficiaries of the programs, evolution and improvements of the programs.
The comparison of rates of poverty in the United States to other industrialized countries helps in determining why the rate of poverty in the U.S. despite being the industrialized country. The U.S. is a land that symbolizes opportunity, home of the American dreams, and one of the strongest economies in the world (Rector, 2015). A wide assumption assumes that with the overwhelming skills, resources, and materials, United States is not supposed to have higher poverty level compared to other industrialized countries. Unluckily, poverty in U.S. is a reality, not an oxymoron. In research conducted by Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) to analyze the rates of poverty among eighteen industrialized nations, it has been found that poverty in the U.S. is considerably higher compared to the other developed nations (Maldonado & Nieuwenhuis, 2015). Among the three major aspects looked into in this study are the percentage of people living below the median income, the rates of the elderly and children living in poverty and finally, the general poverty rates for an entity of these countries. In all these aspects, the studies concluded that the United States has extremely higher poverty rates compared to the developed nations.
Since the great economic downturn, the United States has established a set of programs to help eradicate poverty. Some of the beneficiaries of these programs are the children, the elderly and low-income families who are unable to make the ends meet. The United States has enhanced and reformed various programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and early childhood education among others to help reduce the gap between the poor and the rich. The Medicaid program, for instance, was established to provide health coverage and aid those children that were from poor working families. All children from low-income families today are entitled to receiving cash welfare and coverage through this program. It is the main source of financial aid regarding health and medical related matters for the poor backgrounds in America (Sommers & Oellerich, 2013). Since its introduction, such families have access to affordable health and insurance coverage. Consequently, this has helped to reduce poverty levels. For instance, in adults, participating in Medicaid contributes to better health, less household debt and out-of-pocket costs, and lower mortality. In 2010, Medicaid decreased out-of-pocket expenditure for 2.6 million Americans lowering poverty rates hence making Medicaid the third-largest anti-poverty program (Sommers & Oellerich, 2013).
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on the other hand was a program established with the goal of offering aid in nutrition to millions of families that live in poverty in the United States. Also known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP has immensely supported the evolution of the wellbeing to work hence contributing to the success of the welfare improvement. Moreover, it has also provided economic benefits for the communities of the low-income families hence playing a significant role in poverty eradication. According to research, SNAP has improved a long-term self-sufficiency and health.
As SNAP brings short run benefits such as reducing hunger and food insecurity, it also brings crucial long-run benefits in America. For instance, in the early ‘70s, U.S. government introduces food stamps in early childhood and to the expectant mothers that improved the health outcomes of their children in their adult years later. This was visible when U.S. was compared with nations that had not implemented the program. Additionally, women who had access to the food stamps when they were young reported to have improved economic self-sufficiency as measured by their income as well as poverty status.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program is another well-established program mainly for those working individuals with low to moderate income (Jacob France Institute, 2004). It has been a beneficial tool for minimizing the number of people living below poverty line. The refundable nature of this program has permitted people to collect tax credit hence reinforcing the families' incentives and enhancing their overall income. According to research, the EITC program has played a major role in promoting work and encouraging the employment of certain individuals in the community such as single parents.
In America, the federal government allocates funds to each state of America for child care assistance programs (Korpi & Palme, 1998). The allocated funds together with state's funds help the low-income working parents. Childcare assistance programs have reported playing an essential role in long-term job retention for low-income parents. Recent research shows that families that use informal child care arrangements such as having one of the family member serving as a child care provider due to cost concerns are likely to experience child-related work disruptions. In addition, in low-wage workers, informal childcare causes the volunteer member to miss or arrive late at work because of mishaps and as a result, they are likely to be fired from their respective jobs. As a result, this contributes to the high rate of the poverty level in the United States. However, parents can now work dependably since child care assistance subsidies have provided a steady access to a stable childcare.
A number of aspects have played a key role in ensuring the success of Anti-poverty programs in the United States of America. A few of these aspects are political, economic and historical based. Economically, anti-poverty programs have been affected in such a way that the rate of unemployment among low-income persons have steadily been reduced. This is essential since maintaining low rates of unemployment among low-wage workers is a big step to the long-term well-being of the economy. Moreover, expansion of program such as the EITC has greatly assisted in reversing falling labor force involvement of workers with fewer skills (Jacob France Institute, 2004). Involvement in economic aspects such as improving and reforming the educational sector especially post-secondary learning is a contributing factor to ensuring that children are well educated. If these children can get high levels of knowledge, then this will help to eradicate poverty in the long term.
On the other hand, however, political aspects have had both positive and negative effects on antipoverty programs. Politically, as much as these programs have had a positive impact on the eradication of poverty in the United States, and some individuals are supporting these programs for political and personal reasons (Sherman, Trisi & Parrott, 2013). Those who work in the government, for instance, benefit from the expansion of these programs even though they are not directly affected by poverty. Political interference has been a major hindrance in these programs. Some advocates, for instance, those in favor of redistribution and support for assistance programs, have done so for political benefits. On the contrary, others oppose this redistribution, arguing that they add very little to help fight poverty. The political aspect, therefore, has contributed little in ensuring that the anti-poverty programs are successful in the U.S.
It has been more than five decades since the state of union president declared war on poverty in America. Ever since America has invested so much money on anti-poverty programs. Since the Statement issued by President Lyndon Johnson, the U.S. has spent more than $22 trillion on these programs (Haskins, 2012). A number of changes have been made historically to ensure the success of these programs. Building self-sufficiency and breaking down the cultures that lead to independence are among the measures taken to ensure they work (Rector, 2015). Encouraging capable citizens to work instead of depending on these programs is also another change that has been made to ensure that no unnecessary funds are wasted on the programs. Finally, another historic change that has been made is to remove penalties that oppose marriage and taking lasting measures to rebuild those families with low incomes.
As expounded above, the United States is a one of the economically leading countries, but is associated with a higher poverty rate than other industrialized countries. Therefore, while outspending other countries in it programs meant to eradicate poverty, it should also put more focus on reducing the income inequalities. The country should seek ways in which it can campaign on self-sufficiency to be its major arsenal to reduce poverty. This should be by increasing self-reliance and self-sufficiency by healthy marriage and working. Moreover, instead of the federal government focusing itself on how it will solve the matter at hand, it should dig deep to find the underlying factors that cause poverty. Even so, trends in spending and different strategies have been employed to make improvements in these programs. Some of these include Increasing work rates and work supports, increasing human capital, having policies on immigration and enhancing social security programs. Upon employing these efforts, America will contribute to employment, good health, positive education and a wealthy nation in the longer run.
References
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Rector, R. (2015, September 16). Poverty and the Social Welfare State in the U.S. and Other Nations. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2015/09/poverty-and-the-social-welfare-state-in-the-united-states-and-other-nations
Sherman, A., Trisi, D., & Parrott, S. (2013). Various supports for low-income families reduce poverty and have long-term positive effects on families and children. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 1-19.
Sommers, B. D., & Oellerich, D. (2013). The poverty-reducing effect of Medicaid. Journal of health economics, 32(5), 816-832.
