United States has been seen as the World super power since the end of WWII. Due to this idea of dominance and being the hegemon among other races, it is hard to picture US as a country with people living in poverty. According to one of the researches done by the national center, more than ten million children in America face hunger levels due to living in poverty (The World Bank). In most cases these people can hardly afford a good source of education, housing, food and many other basic necessities that one need to live comfortable. This issue has hardly been addressed due to the sense of pride among Americans as they want the global world to view their positive status such as giving humanitarian aid, militant capabilities among others. However, due to poverty strikes the US economy has been stagnant and lagged behind due to high poverty level. According to the World Bank, many people of color are ranked as lower class as a result of the growing gap between the rich and poor (World Bank). High poverty has resulted to low production in terms of labor, which affects the economy of this country in the long run. This paper will discuss some of social problem that come about through poverty and how these factors have affected the lives of many children.
The term poverty can be used to define a number of thing in the society. Thus it is important to understand that being poor does not necessarily mean one not enjoying the basic necessities for the human race such as food, healthcare, and education but it points to those who live below the poverty line of a certain country. This idea is important to understand because one can have a job and strives to afford some of the basic needs for her survival but still be tagged as living in poverty. According to the US Bureau of statistics, it asserts that one’s standard of living is measured by one’s annual income and the number of people in the family one need to support with the income (US Census 2012). This mean that the US government bases its statistics on one’s ability to comfortably cater of the family’s basic necessities. The US bureau of statistics writes that in the tear 2012, 15% of Americans lived at or below the poverty line. In 2012, US government has put a threshold of $23,492 for a family of four (US Census 2013). This indicates that the threshold shifts according to the number of people in a household in that one has to be able to cover the basic needs of the family unit.
The recent census conducted in 2012, there are 45.5 million Americans that are at or below the poverty line. Out of this number thirteen million are children. This number has significantly changed by 2.5% since 2007 due to the recession that took place. The recession heightened the unemployment level, which in turn increased the number of people living in poverty in America. This means that there is a huge number of people into the welfare program because of high poverty levels. Though the welfare programs are essential in the society, the government has increased its debt as they have to support the welfare program for the sake of the poor. In turn, the poor does not take the responsibility to looking for a job so as to move away from the welfare programs (Women watch, 2013). This means that the government has to create incentives that will make people become productive and look for a job so as to get off the welfare program. Thus, one can conclude that one of the social problems increasing the poverty levels are high unemployment levels and government welfare programs.
Children born out of wedding lock have contributed to the percentage of children living in poverty in America. The high child birth among different races, especially the African Americans has increased by about 64%. This means that most kids are raised by a single parent. As a result, the level at which children are prone to poverty has raised to seven times higher. Due to the lagging economy, a parent has to work multiple jobs so as to enable them to afford the basic needs in the household. In addition, it is important to note that when a child is being supported by one parent, there is a higher chance of the child facing poverty in that the single parent may lose their job (Shipler, p.48, 2004). This is evident through the economic recession in the US where social status of many deprived forcing families into poverty. On the contrary, when a child is brought up in a marriage institution, the child will most likely enjoy basic necessities due to combined income between the father and the mother. This means that it far more likely that children raised in a marriage where both parents work, are less likely to suffer from poverty. One of the ways that married couple enjoy benefits from the government is that the parents do not have to be taxed twice as individuals but pay tax as one unit (Rector, p.98, 2013). This indicates that there are reduced taxed for the married couple, which means a higher income pay. In addition, men are mainly paid more than women in many institutions where when a man earns $1, women earn $.65 (Women watch 2013). This unequal pay tend to boosts men more in that they enjoy a higher pay, which can be used to support the family at large.
The level of education is another factor that promotes that poverty levels. This is because most people living in poverty can only afford being hired at the minimum wage due to lack of education. Education is one of the pinnacles to having a successful life where when one has a college degree they are likely to be hired by many institutions because of their knowledge. Thus, some people can be able to escape poverty through getting an education or supporting their children to get a better education. This is because the average income of people who attended college is about $90,000 whereas those who got a high school degree is about $30,000. Whereas people who dropped out of school have low working skills, which makes it a barrier into acquiring a good job opportunity (Research on poverty, 2013). Thus people with little schooling are mainly paid minimum wage, which is quite low and are either forced to live in poverty or pick up multiple jobs to support their basic amenities. This means that education nourishes and enriches one’s life not only by acquiring knowledge but also getting a higher pay. One of the things that will pull the poor families from poverty is through acquiring an education and supporting the children to attend school so as to have a better tomorrow. As a result, rate of child poverty is closely related with the level of education the parents acquired.
The current socio-economic and political status of the American society has impacted child poverty through some of the actions taken by the government. The American economic system is still recovering after a backlash from the Iraq war (Renken, p87, 2004). The government’s funds have been pumped into the military to ensure safety of all Americans (US Bureau, 2013). On the other hand, the deteriorating economy has greatly affected the middle class families and the lower class families. Though the government is trying to create more jobs and giving funds through the welfare program, it has not been enough to protect children from poverty. Some of the welfare programs such as the ARRA have been closed down in 2012 due to lack of government funds (Madison, 2013). This indicates though families may want to escape poverty, they do not have much of a choice as the level of unemployment is high. This has been a nightmare to low income families in that loss of job and less government welfare means living below the poverty line as it become hard to enjoy basic needs.
References
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