Poverty Levels in United States of America - Essay Example

America is one of the great nations of the word typically identified as the land for the free and home for the brave. This nation has come along way through much, sometimes painful experiences and other times resounding glories to be the nation we see today. America prides itself with a wide range population of people assembled from different parts of the worlds: simply put as unity out of diversity. Having such foundation, the government has evolved over the many years of its existence to establish strong social and economic policies that drive the nation’s advancement. Today, America is the most advanced nation in the world and commands a large thriving economic base. Name: Class title: Section number: Date Poverty Levels in United States of America Introduction United States of America leads other many nations with strong social and economic policies that cover its citizens. These policies have been designed to make the lives of its people from the infants to the old comfortable. With these structures in place, one would typically expect every one of its citizen enjoys his/her life in a manner some other people can only think about. The shocking news is that poverty thrives among a section of its populace, with some depicting extreme levels. In this regard, this works details, the present poverty status of America giving attention to various groups of interest and further suggests possible remedies. Evidence of US poverty levels Statistical data from the last September’s census have confirmed a high level of poverty in America, the latest data indicating that about one person out of very seven leaves in poverty. This report clearly indicated that in 2012, about 46.5 million people living in America were poor, the highest level of poverty recorded since the census was started 54 years ago. The poverty rate (data that represented the general percentage of poor people living in US) was equally high: 15 percent for all Americans and 21.8 percent for children of 18 and below years. A further study classified another group of persons said to be living in deep poverty. This survey which included all people with an income said to be 50 percent below the poverty threshold indicated about one in every sixteen people living in America fall within this group. The 2012 figures of this group showed that 6.6 percent of American population, or 20.4 million people faced the excruciating impact of living in abject poverty. Populations Most Affected According to this study the groups which showed the highest vulnerability to poverty or abject poverty included: ethnic and racial minorities, women, children, adults with disabilities and households headed by single women. When considering the racial minority aspect, this study clearly indicated black and Hispanics as the most likely to be in poverty or abject poverty when compared to whites. In this case the data provided revealed a stark disparity in the proportion of non-Hispanic whites languishing in poverty when compared to blacks and Hispanics. For instance, in 2012, 9.7 percent of the non-Hispanic whites(about 18.9 million) were shown as living in poverty, while more than a quarter of the Hispanics( about 13.6 million), and 27,3 percent of blacks (about 10.9 million) were poor. These figures give a dreary picture when we further look at it in the light of abject poverty. In this case, Hispanics were shown as twice likely to experience abject poverty and the blacks as thrice more likely when compared to non Hispanic whites. Such is the case that in 2012, 12.7 percent of blacks (close to 5.1 million), 10.1 percent of Hispanics (close to 5.4 million), and about 4.3 percent (8.4 million) non –Hispanic whites lived in abject poverty.(see figure 1) The second most vulnerable group is the children who typically represented more than a third of the total people living in poverty or abject poverty. In 2012, about 73.7 million children living in America (about 23.7 of the total U.S population) represented a shocking 34.6 percent of Americans faced with poverty and a 35 percent of Americans under abject poverty. Generally, about 21.8 percent of children below age 18 or close to 16.1 million American youths lived below the poverty threshold. Despite the steadiness of the poverty rate of 9.1 percent Americans who were aged 65 and above from 2011, the number of older American who was poverty stricken skyrocketed from 3.6 to 3.9 million. Citizens aged 18 to about 64, a 13.7 percent or 26.5 million lived in poverty(see figure 3 ). The third group depicted women issues; simply said households led by women. Here, the same period realized over 5 million more women compared to men as living below the poverty threshold; and a further 2 million more women as men living in abject poverty. When considering women aged 18-64, the poverty rate came to about 15.4 percent in comparison to man of the same age whose rate was 11.9 percent. At 11 percent, the poverty rate indicated by women aged 65 and above is almost twice that found for men of the same age, taken as 6.6 percent. From the study, households led by a single adult show d greater likelihood of being led by women, and such female led families posses a higher risk of poverty. Close to 31 percent of families led by a single women lived below the poverty threshold; a figure that virtually represented a five times increase to the 6.3 percent rate depicted by households headed by married couples. Families led by a single male only showed 16.4 percent as living in poverty(see figure 2) The last group is adults with disability, for which the population living in poverty was a quarter. According to the same 2012 census, disabled Americans aged 18 to 64 depicted a poverty rate of about 28.4 percent (4.3 million) in comparison to the 12.5 percent (or 22 million) Americans of the same age who were able bodied. DISCUSSION Donald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” With 15 percent of the 46 million American population counted as poor, it is almost practical to imagine he might have been right. Past American governments have done a lot in the name of moving towards zero poverty level. This includes the Social Security, food stamps, earned-income tax credit and many other initiatives enacted to keep almost 40 million people from the pains of poverty. The big dilemma remains on why the nation has not achieved with such initiatives. Four reasons have been put forwards that attempt to explain this dilemma. First, many people work at low-paying jobs. This is coupled another related reason for which many families today are led by a single parent, mostly women, a factor that makes it hard for them to meet their daily needs from available jobs. The third reason is the near absence of cash support for the low earning mothers and children; this is usually given in the form of welfare. Lastly, the persistent issue of gender and race mean point to the high poverty witnessed among minority families, particularly those headed by single mothers. REMEDIES The first approach to solving the poverty issue is to create more jobs that pay decently. The fact is that Americas present economy present few of such jobs. It should be noted that the demand for good jobs goes beyond the present issue; people require full-employment policy accompanied with massive investment in the future skill and education development strategies to help break off the present economic constraints. The other remedies address the issue evolving from race and genders. The fact that race and gender play a larger part in determining the course taken by poverty is undeniable. Such is the case that minorities are extremely poor: close to 27% of African –Americans, American Indians and Latinos are poor compared to 10% whites. Disparities in wealth are even wider. In the same line, whites form the biggest portion of the poor. Looking at this fact bears great implications as any measure put forward to increase income and offer work support will likely end up helping more whites as compared to the minorities. Even with this we cannot afford to ignore the factors surrounding this issue. Here the best approach will be to have the rich meet their fair share of driving the nation, increase the minimum wage, offer health care and the like. However, the biggest challenge is how to address the immediate needs. In the minds of people such as Paul Ryan and his close associates, they would cut down everything beginning with Medicare to social security and others based on their ideology, and would go further to hand out more tax break to the rich. In this regard, the most important thing would be to send to the government offices people whose minds are pointed towards reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. CONCLUSION The news of poverty thriving among a section of the American populace, with some depicting extreme levels is shocking considering the well founded policies they have in place. Having been termed the land for the free and home for the brave one is only left to wonder how free people can be when languishing in abject poverty. There is great need to reconsider the nations focus on this matter and establish effective mechanism that will see this situated handled once and for all. In this regard, I believe handling this issue from their root cause, taking into account the interest groups mentioned here will help a great deal. It is not enough to just have good written policies, but concerned parties should try and see if they really apply in the present condition. The American government should come up with strategies to create well-paying jobs for its citizens and further device new policies to drive the nation towards zero poverty levels. Figure 1 Works Cited Edelman, Peter B.. So rich, so poor: why its so hard to end poverty in America. New York: New Press :, 2012. Print. Read More