Poverty in America

Poverty in America

Poverty is a great social problem in the United States. The most memorable disaster was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, striking Louisiana and Mississippi. For weeks, the media coverage showed pictures of people stranded on rooftops, homes and vehicles under water, and debris scattered everywhere.  The majority of the Katrina Victims were black and, according to American standards, very poor.  Many of these people lost their loved ones, jobs, homes, and vehicles; all of which led to a bigger problem, poverty.  Poverty has been a serious problem for over 50 years and is still impacting our society.  Poverty is affecting many Americans today, thus the federal government should continue to fund health care programs, nutrition programs, education programs and create jobs to help reduce poverty in America.

Studies show that a significant percentage of Americans will experience poverty at some point in their life (Marger, 2008).  Because of the recession, the year 2009 was one of the worst years for poverty in America in more than 50 years. The total number of Americans living in poverty is about 46.2 million in 2010.  Among the poorest states are Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.  Additionally, what contributed to the increase of poverty is that millions of Americans lost their job, which means they also lost health insurance that was provided by their employer; this left 16.7 percent of Americans with no health insurance (DeNavas, Proctor, & Smith, 2010). Most alarmingly, many of these Americans fell so deeply in poverty that they ended up homeless (Williams, 2004).  Furthermore, the poor in the United States consist of mostly black and Hispanic races, being three times as likely to be in poverty.  In a two parent household, poverty is far lower than in families with only one parent such as single-mother. The social characteristics with the strongest relationship to poverty are ethnicity, race, age, gender, and family structure (Marger, 2008). Therefore the government has an obligation to reduce poverty levels.  According to modern liberals, poverty is an impediment that should be remedied by enacting laws.  Furthermore, modern liberals believe in both natural and economic equality for all (Grisby, 102).

The federal government should continue to fund health care programs to reduce the number of uninsured people.  As the number of uninsured people continues to rise in America, improving access to health care is vital to the well-being at the national level. In 2002, 43.6 million Americans went without health insurance (Williams, 2004).  Yet, health care programs have made strides in providing health insurance especially for children and the elderly.  Especially since affordable employer sponsored health insurance coverage is decreasing.  (Case, n.d)  

Lyndon Johnson declared “War on Poverty” and introduced many programs geared to assist the poor such as Medicare which made a lasting impact in the areas of health (History, 2011).  Medicaid is health insurance that assists many American people who can not afford medical care. Medicaid is available only to people who are impoverish and have a limited income. The following people have benefited from Medicaid: pregnant women, children, people with disabilities and elderly (Case, n.d).  Furthermore, health care reform could have a very significant effect on the poverty rate by expanding access to Medicaid and private health insurance for the poor and making prescription drugs more affordable (Forbes, 2011).  Congress should aggressively promote health care programs such as Medicaid and help millions of Americans who do not or cannot afford to get health insurance.

Another program the federal government should continue to fund and support are nutrition programs.  A national goal is to combat hunger.  With the increase of cost of living and too many low-wage jobs, public support for food helps families maintain some level of nutrition in their diets.  Even though there have been great strides in combating hunger, only about half of eligible families receive support (Case, n.d).  

Hence the food stamp program now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition program and provides assistance to over 25 million people (Case, n.d).  One of President Obama’s antipoverty measures included expanding food stamps which helped lift about 1 million people above the poverty line in 2010.  President Obama goal is to end childhood hunger in the United States and one way to do this is through the SNAP (Sherman, 2011).  If the federal government did not fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, many Americans will go hungry. Additionally, the federal government needs to continue to fund this program to reduce child poverty and the lack of SNAP increases poverty.  Food assistance to the impoverish Americans is vital to feeding the hungry.

One of the most effective programs the United States could put in place is to provide good education to all impoverish Americans.  In today’s economy, an educated person will more likely avoid economic despair and be in poverty.  Thus education is a key component of income security (Case n.d).  The more educated a person is, the more likely they will earn a higher income.  Most of the better paying jobs require at least some education or training.  Sadly, at least half of American youth do not pursue education after receiving a high school diploma.  The income gaps are due to lack of education and training.  Thus the federal government needs to develop concrete career and technical education programs to contribute to closing the income gap (Holzer, 2011).  

        On the other hand, some believe that education is not the cure for high employment or for income inequality.  The debate of whether education enhances income security continues. Whether high unemployment persists is not education and training for those unemployed.  One economist believes the problem is a lack of jobs. Additionally, the increase in wage and income inequality is a reflection of a shortfall in the skills and education of the workforce.  Rather workers face a wage deficit and not a skills deficit. Yet more education and training is essential to obtain the expected growth one desire to provide job opportunities for all Americans.  Some education programs the federal government fund include Adult Basic Education, Perkins and Pell Grant (Mishel, 2011).  Therefore, the federal government should provide funding to states that are willing to invest in education for impoverish Americans living in low-income neighborhoods.

        Some sociologists suggest that factors such as lack of jobs and lack of education opportunities contribute to an individual’s poverty.  One primary reason relates directly to issues in the labor market.  There is an increasing failure of the labor market to provide sufficient paying jobs for families to avoid poverty (Rank, 2007).  Along with funding education, job creation is a key element to promoting economic security.  The changes in the labor market are requiring higher levels of education or more technical skills to obtain a job (Case, n.d).  Also, the United States has produced mainly low paying jobs that are part-time with no benefits.  There are not enough well-paying jobs that will support a family above the poverty line which causes low-income families to depend on government assistance.  Additionally, the amount of labor compared to the number of household earners in the labor market is greater than the number of sufficient paying jobs.  As a result, many individuals have been affected by the failure of the labor market to provide adequate jobs for all Americans (Rank, 2007).

        Macionis, another sociologist states that the loss of jobs in the inner cities is the primary reason of poverty, stating that there is not enough work to support families.  In order to combat poverty and reduce the need for government assistance, the government should fund jobs and provide affordable child care for low-income parents (2009).  Currently the federal government funds workforce development under the Workforce Investment Act of 1988.  The Workforce Investment Act is the largest source of federal workforce development funds.  This act established a universal employment system for the working and unemployed and looking for a new job (Case, n.d).  While using education and training to improve labor market outcomes of low-income families, the track record of funding by the Workforce Investment Act is relatively strong (Holzer, 2011).  Another funded program is the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) which provide cash assistance along with job search and training activities and support to help poor families move into and stay in work as well as promote family stability (Case, n.d).  Therefore it is vital that the federal government provide better education opportunities along with job creation to assist low-income families with climbing out of poverty.  Without better paying jobs with benefits, low-income families will remain in poverty.