Poverty in the Wealthiest Country

Poverty in the Wealthiest Country

People often say that money cannot buy happiness. However, this statement is not applicable to everyone. Bare minimum financial revenue is actually necessary to provide well-being and happiness. When the concept of poverty comes up, usually the first image in our minds is people living in developing countries such as those in Africa; however, first-world countries are not safe from this issue. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 14.5% of the United States’ population are living under the poverty line; that is, 45.3 million people struggling everyday to afford essential life items such as food, healthcare, transportation, clothes, and housing in the world’s wealthiest country (Income and Poverty in the United States). Poverty has distressful effects on the poor as individuals and on the society as whole. It poses health and financial hardships on the individual; and threatens the safety and productivity of the society. The root causes can be classified into three categories; economic factors being the primary, social and educational factors being the secondary.

Poverty is a serious issue that has been traumatizing and spreading despite the efforts being made to combat it. Impoverished people suffer from the lack of jobs and education that would otherwise improve their situation. They are subject to greater physical and mental health risks such as malnutrition and depression. Children suffer the most; they are deprived from their basic rights of accessing food and education. In 2010, 22% of children under the age of 18 lived in food-insecure households, which increases their risks of malnutrition affecting their physical and mental development (Effects of Poverty). In addition to health, children living in poverty have a higher rate of school dropouts because they are more likely to have to work to support their families (11 Facts). Even though only the poor feel the pain of poverty, the effects of it extend to the society as a whole.

Poverty creates social unrest in the society because it becomes divided into the minority who has massive wealth, the middle-class who are constantly afraid of falling into poverty, and the lower class that are well below the poverty line. This social unrest is represented by the higher crime rates associated with poverty. When people are afflicted with unemployment, financial conflicts, hunger, and homelessness, they may be forced to steal to feed their families and therefore threaten the safety of society (Ward). To society the poor may seem as a burden, but if poverty were to be demolished, they would in fact improve the economy and flourish the society. Poverty has many adverse effects on both individuals and society, but the root causes are easy to identify but are yet to be resolved.

Economic crisis is one of the major factors that lead to poverty in any country; it brings up a shortage in jobs, which results in massive layoffs. During the great recession in 2007 many people were laid off from their jobs without knowledge of how or when are they going to be able to work again. Take Detroit for example. Detroit, the capital of US industry and especially automotive industry, was one of those big economically active cities that were severely affected and paralyzed by the recession in 2007 with more than 20% of unemployment leading to a massive increase in poverty rates (Ghosh). Bertha Davis, in her book ‘Poverty in America’ points out that many liberals assert that the nation’s economic system does not always create enough jobs or the right mix of jobs, so that all able-bodied who want to work could not find a job that would satisfy their needs and will be forced to accept part time jobs to survive (Davis). Therefore, poverty exists, in part, because “the economic system is organized in ways that encourage the accumulation of wealth at one end and creates conditions of scarcity that make poverty inevitable at the other” (Johnson).

In addition to economics, social determinants affect the rates of poverty in the United States. Changes in family structure have driven many Americans into poverty. Many married-couple families rely on two adults working together to afford a decent living. However, high divorce rates, failing marriages, and non-marital births has increased the number of children living in single-parent families whom struggle to afford childcare and living expenses (Haskins). Another social factor is racism. This century-old disease that was and is still present in America has caused millions of people to go through poor education, isolation from society in small ghettos, prejudice, and discrimination in employment. All of which is reflected in the fact that only 9.9% of Americans living in poverty are non-Hispanic White, while the other 90.1% are from ethnic minority groups such as African-Americans and Hispanics (Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance). The increasing trend of family dissolution and the continuing discrimination are causing the poverty rates to increase resulting in more people struggling through their days.

Poor education can be both a cause and an effect of poverty; it plays a key role in the vicious cycle. Due to the lack of education, many impoverished people are unable to get jobs that would enhance their financial situations, but at the same time they cannot get an education due to the expensive cost and the lack of money. Some of their children are forced to work, therefore cannot get an education and the cycle goes on to the following generation. Getting a college degree is very costly; public four-year institutions’ tuition has increased by 17% from 2009-10 to 2014-15 (Tuition and Fees). With skyrocketing college tuitions, it has become extremely difficult