Poverty in America: Trends and New Patterns - Term Paper Example

Poverty                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Course                                                                                                                                              Period                                                                                                                                              Teacher                                                                            Date (you began)                                                                               _______________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction Poverty is defined as lack of the minimum food and shelter necessary for sustaining life. Specifically, such a condition is referred to as absolute poverty1. Currently, it is estimated that over 35 million Americans rated as 14 percent of the total population live in poverty. However, there are variations in the percentage with respect to the absolute poverty definition, and this has shifted attention to relative definition of poverty2. Accordingly, relative poverty views the poor as those who lack what is needed by most Americans to live better since they earn less than half of the nation’s median income. Based on relative definition, over 20 percent of the American are thought to live in poverty with the 60 percent falling within the working class poor that is in line with statistics over the past forty years. For this shocking discovery, any discussion of social class and mobility would be ineffective without discussing poverty. The trends of poverty from the late 1960s through the 1980s became inexorable and more concentrated in inner city neighborhoods worsening conditions in cities with the 1990s being the mostly hit. However, fluctuations in concentrated poverty are not solely due to population growth or reduction in a fixed set of neighborhoods3. There is a persistent movement in and out of poverty cycles by people that automatically offset each other. Poverty is a threatening social phenomenon and efforts to discover its causes is equally difficult. The stereotypic and simplistic clarification persist- that the weak are responsibility for poverty based on the impression that anything is possible in America. Some theorists charge the poor of having little apprehension for the future and fancying to ‘live for the moment’; others have accused the poor of indulging in a self-defeating conduct. Additionally, other theorists have described the poor as pessimists, quitting themselves to a culture of poverty in which nonentity can be done to change their economic consequences. In such a generational culture of poverty, the underprivileged feel deleterious, passive, feeble, hopeless and mediocre. The concept of ‘blame the poor’ is a stereotype and inapplicable to all of the underclass. Not only do the impervious capable and enthusiastic to work hard, but also they do so when opportunity ushers. The daunting challenge results from minimum wage and lack of access to the education that necessitates the acquisition of a better-paying job. Indeed, sociologists have stressed on the theories of poverty based on the flight of the middle class, including employers, from both the suburbs and cities. Other theorists attribute the willingness by the poor rather to receive welfare payments than work in poor positions as maids or in fast-food restaurants. Consequently, the welfare system has come under increasing attack in the recent years. Interestingly, there is no simple explanations for or solutions to the problem of poverty existence and despite the many theories, sociologist will continue to pay attention to this issue in recent years. Causes of poverty are individual and collective based. Individually, poverty is caused by amount of education, skills, experience, intelligence, health, handicaps and ages. In addition, work orientation, culture of poverty and time horizon are also key instigators of poverty. Also, discrimination based on sex and age accounts for poverty. On the other hand, collective causes of poverty are based on the two theories; case and generic. Case theory accounts for all poverty illustrated by individual theories, equivalent to aggregate poverty. Aggregate poverty is thus the summation of individual poverty. On the other hand, Generic Poverty theorists attribute aggregate poverty to aggregate economy-wide problems such as inadequate non-poverty employment opportunities, low national income in LDCs and inadequate overall demand (macro problems and policies). 1. Roles and Responsibilities of Parties in Alleviating Poverty Individual citizen The individual citizen directly suffers from the effects of poverty. For this reason, an individual must proactively learn to be self-reliance without dependent on the other agencies such as government and charitable organization. An individual must ensure that effective strategies are in place to cater for oneself such as indulging in subsistence farming, education, entrepreneurial arrangements, as well as saving and investment. An individual must acquire the necessary skills required to match job opportunities in order to benefit from the employment opportunities that may arise. Government agency Address food insecurity and nutrition-related health problems The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities based on national origin, color, disability, age, and race. In addition, the prohibition extends to sex, parental status, sexual orientation, marital status and genetic information since all or portion of individual income results from any public assistance program4. Through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the government of United States try to reduce poverty through food stamps and food assistance. SNAP is key in the social safety net in United States. The government tries to remove Poverty through the Food Stamp Program. The strategy emphasizes on the specific problems of food insecurity and nutrition-attached health problems both of which are the challenges of poverty broadly understood. The government focuses on the improvement of Food Stamp Program, one of the principle of anti-poverty struggles in the United States. Such a policy is inspired by the fact that Food Stamps are extensively used and attract large public and political support. In addition, Food Stamps Programs builds on the fact that nutrition, obesity and diabetes are severe challenges midst the long income groups as well as that the Food and Nutrition Service is in a position to deliver a catalyst for community’s addressing these issues. The government does this by lessening the procedures in applying for and using Food Stamps. The aim is to increase the use of electronic technology and multiple techniques of accessing the systems. The government aims at making possible for FS applicants and recipients to access such systems electronically from home computers and kiosks located all over the place. In addition, electronic technology is also essential in preventing abuse and fraud; hence eliminating the need for a trade-off between ease of application and utilization and integrity. Ensure Collection of Taxes The government main source of revenue is the taxation. The revenues collected are spent to provide for the well-being of the underprivileged. The poor can get the transfer income from the government in order to meet their basic needs. It is, for this reason that the government has a role to collect taxes of to ensure that individual citizens’ wellbeing form their major concern. Creation of Job Opportunities Many theorist are in a convention that the major approach to alleviate poverty is to put able-bodied people to work. The simple fact is that many young workers cannot get steady jobs that pay satisfactorily to support a family. Such people are faced with seasonal unemployment and short tern reliance on government assistance and culminating into considerably worsened circumstances. Accordingly some have become demoralized and have subsequently drop out. Despite American growing economy which is vital, there still persist few decent-paying jobs for unskilled workers or those whose skills do not match the current needs by the industries and business. Subsequently, the government-sponsored employment training programs should be provided since the money spent in to provide young workers with employable skills will eliminate much larger subsequent expenditures on welfare besides enhancing such workers’ lives5. The government should ensure enough jobs are created for the growing elites and professionals. Many citizens graduate yearly but are unable to find job placement beside their willingness. The government should, for this reason, try as much as possible to avail job opportunities at better wages. Provide Security Wars are the major cause of poverty among the people. Stability is a key role for the government to ensure that preventive measures are in place to control the possibility of destructive wars and wrangles that culminate in the massive loss of lives and property. Charitable Organizations Charitable organizations have the responsibility to ensure that poverty is alleviated. The Non-Governmental Organizations have empowered the poor through creations of awareness on possible ways to eliminate poverty. In addition, the NGOs provide grants for the challenged that supports them in building their houses, educating their children and food. The charitable organizations have also added to the government actions to provide private social amenities such as schools and hospitals in order to ensure that the public can have access to health care services. Party that bear the primary burden of alleviating poverty The individual citizen bears the greatest burden of alleviating poverty. There is a need for the individual to develop a culture of hard work since they are the most hit should the other players such as the Charitable Organization and Government Agency fail. Individual citizen must engage in entrepreneurial, agricultural and other forms of income generating activities. In addition, the individual citizen must attend schools in order to acquire the necessary skills needed to match the job opportunities created by the government since it would be difficult for the government to directly assist the individual without the required skills to match the skills required. Besides, the individual must pay the taxes since the government’s main source of revenue is through taxation. Such revenues are thus diverted to other sectors to fund projects aimed at reducing poverty. 2. Causes of Poverty Structural Advancement Theorists are in agreement that structural adjustment is one key factors leading to poverty in America. Cutbacks in health, education and other key social services globally have resulted from structural adjustment policies set by IMF and the World Bank as a condition for loans and repayment. In addition, developing nation governments are required to open their economies to compete with superior and well established industrialized nations. In order to attract investment, poor nations enter a spiral race to the bottom to assess whoever can offer lower standards, cheaper resources as well as reduced wages. Such competitive strategies lead to increased poverty and inequality for many people. In addition, it forms the bedrock to what we currently call globalization. Consequently structural adjustment upholds the historic unequal rules of trade. Tax Avoidance and Tax Havens and Undermining Democracy Taxation forms the main source of the government revenues around the world. Through tax havens, transfer pricing and many other illegal and legal policies, billions of dollars of tax are avoided. Such avoidance could have availed the necessary funds required by governments and states to help both developed and developing countries to provide essential social services for their citizens. Interestingly, some tax avoidance is legally avoidable, regardless of how morally horrible it may be to some critics. In addition, the global super-elite can hide away trillions of dollars, leading to the massive losses of tax revenues for cash-strapped governments that consequently burden the ordinary citizen further with severity measures during economic crisis. In addition, the super elites are usually influential in politics and business and hence can undermine democracy and capitalism simultaneously6. Many countries have suffered a blow from the global financial crisis, confronting tax avoidance would help target the more likely to have contributed to the challenge while avoiding unnecessary severity measures that hit the poorest hard-pressed. However, counteractive measures to avoidance of tax does not seem too high on the agenda of a number of governments as one might expect. Agricultural Cycles Many people who depend on agricultural produce such fruits and vegetables thy produce for household food consumption (subsistence farmers) are frequently adversely affected by cycles of relative abundance and scarcity. Such citizens have periods immediately prior to harvest characterized by hunger. During hunger periods of scarcity, many households lack sufficient resources to meet their minimal nutritional needs. Understanding such cycle enables practitioners to anticipate and prepare for periods of serious need for assistance. In addition, drought and flooding cause massive destruction to crops and animals besides natural catastrophic events such as environmental forces and hurricanes. Agricultural production is also affected adversely by natural disasters such as earthquakes resulting in food insecurity around the globe. Warfare Warfare is a major contributor to the world poverty based on its massive destruction of human and property. For instance, between 1990 and 1993, that encompassed the Desert Storm, Iraq’s per capita income fell from $3500 to $761. The drop in average income, while striking representation of the drop in the welfare of the average Iraq citizen in the result of the war never captured the broader damages to the infrastructure and social services like access to clean water and health care. 3. Social Mobility in America Social class in America is a contentious subject described by fiercely competing models, definitions as well as divergences over its very reality7. American rely on a simple three-class model that includes the rich, middle class and the poor. Indicators such as wealth, income, education and occupation as well as membership in a particular social network or culture discriminates social rankings. Social mobility (relative or absolute) in American society incorporates the movement of families, people, and households within and between social strata. American faces the greatest challenge in social mobility, and many researchers have concluded that social mobility has festered and may be declining and that America depicts the lowest rates of social mobility in the developed world. The difficulty stems from the fact that America falls amongst the most racially prejudiced as well as the disadvantage of being a lower class. In addition, America demonstrates the largest minority population of the developed world and thus it is hard to move through the social class based on race and intense discrimination. Blacks are whispered to be virtually three-folds less socially mobile than their white equivalents in American society. Accordingly, for blacks born into a poor family are nearly three times likely to agonize in a state of poverty into maturity. Racism in America ceteris paribus genetic inferiority is responsible for the worsened class inertia has inhibited class mobility to a considerable percentage. There is a need to identify a set of policies that would culminate to increase social mobility in America especially the poor and millions of other Americans. Such policies should encompasses increased minimum wage, increased income support measures (Earned Income Tax Credit, reviewed attention on unionization and a mechanism of life-long learning). In addition, there is a need for a national commitment to drive these policies in order to tackle poverty through such initiatives to help underemployed cohorts get in or back into the workforce as well mechanisms to enhance asset building8. 4. Abraham Lincoln ‘Let not him who is a homeless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring his own shall be Safe from violence when built.’ In my view, Lincoln was proposing the adoption of a culture of hardworking and self-reliance without being envious of one’s own hard earned possessions. Accordingly, I am firmly a supporter of this particular quote as it promotes independence making one to acquire his own without the need to hurt others and this leads to development. In this case, whoever is homeless refers to the poor and that having could be some middle class or high-class individual. When an individual owns a property, it is better than depending on others. The quote is an encouraging to those who may not take seriousness in their endeavors to alleviate poverty. Depending on relief and charitable organization may not provide an everlasting support leading to food insecurity and thus the vicious cycle of poverty. Alleviating poverty must start from an individual’s effort before reaching out to others. People must develop a culture of working hard to sustain their lives. However much the government and charitable organization may try to cater for the poor, such efforts may only be supportive and not adequate as individual demand is endless while the population growth rates have always been positive. Conclusion Food security is key in proactive preparedness to poverty. Alleviating poverty is a collaborative task that incorporates government agency, the individual citizen, and charitable organization. The individual citizen must understand that they are the most hit during the periods of hunger and thus must take the best initiatives and efforts to be self-reliance. The primary burden, of alleviating poverty among the poor, instigates from the individual citizens. However, the government also takes the lions share in ensuring that its people live a sustainable life. Some of the causes of poverty are preventable by the government by ensuring corruption-free governance, democracy, security as well as issuing incentives and subsidies to farmers. In addition, the government must ensure enough jobs are created for the unskilled, semi-skilled as well as skilled workers in order to prevent the cases of overdependence. Additionally, charitable organizations have greatly contributed to the alleviation (elimination) of poverty through direct grants to the poor as well as offering education in entrepreneurial skills and agricultural activities that have inspired the culture of self-reliance. To sum up, alleviating poverty is never a single entity’s task and, for this reason, each stakeholder should effectively contribute towards such programs and strategies that lead to reduced poverty. Work Cited Allard, Scott W. "Poverty." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2015. Web.  27 Jan. 2015. Cohen, Philip N. "Social class." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2015. Web.  27 Jan. 2015. Jones, Charles O. "Corrupt practices." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2015. Web.  27 Jan. 2015. Kingsley, G. Thomas, Pettit, Kathryn L. S. Concentrated Poverty: A Change in Course. Neighborhood Change in Urban America. Urban Inst., Washington DC. May. 2003. Mark Greenberg. Understanding the Challenge: Making Poverty History. May. 2007 O’ Hare, William P. Poverty in America: Trends and New Patterns. Population Reference Bureau, Inc., Washington, D.C June. 1985. Rupp, Richard E. "Domestic policy." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2015. Web.  27 Jan. 2015. Read More