Economic Inequality: Poverty in United States
Introduction Economic inequality is directly linked with the unequal or highly wide gaps in the income levels of different groups. The reason why economic inequality is seen as a threat, regardless of its presence in big numbers, is because it leads to deterioration of the well-being and solidarity of several macro-economic factors. When there is unavailability of equal opportunities for different ethnic groups residing in a country, then economic inequality would keep on ascending. The inequality of income and financial status is sometimes associated with the social problems which are deep rooted within the societies from past. Even after hundreds of laws, acts and welfare programs, the situations stay more or less same. It shows that the efforts required to eliminate the poverty and narrowing income gaps are not honest and are initiated only on temporary basis. It is not possible to completely wipe away the element of economic inequality from any society but the mission should be to provide as much assistance required as possible to keep the economy smooth and running without pushing for any depressing outcomes. Different societies or countries have different levels of economic inequalities, similarly, the causes of pushing this inequality are also not same everywhere. Sometimes, the cause is just social segregation of population in different classes, and sometimes, the cause is unequal opportunities for learning same level
Americans today live in a distinctly unequal society. Inequality is now wider than it used to be in the last century, and the division in income, wages, and wealth are broader than they are in other developed economies of the world. Wealth inequality is the imbalance of wealth or income within a society, and it is one of the most vital economic challenge the US is facing today because the distribution of wealth is more dispersed, making the inequality in wealth distribution at its highest. While the matter has been discussed for many years, the actual income disparity in the U.S. has heightened and is now verging on an extreme gap that portends to impede long-term economic growth. The huge gap between the wealthy and poor is squeezing the U.S. economy, the wealth gap threatens economic growth by diminishing social mobility and producing a less-educated workforce who are not able to compete in the global economy. unrestrained level of income inequality causes political pressures, it discourages trade, investment, and hiring. The present level of income inequality in the U.S. is shrinking GDP growth, and the world's largest economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession.
Homelessness is one of the main problems plaguing the United States today, with low income earners at a higher risk of becoming homeless than previous years. There have been countless laws and ordinances put in place throughout the country in hopes of solving this growing problem but many of them have failed to address one of the main things causing this issue, economic inequality and the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States. Although there are many non-profit organizations working not only to get people off the streets, but to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place, they are facing an uphill battle until the United States government addresses its country’s current unequal distribution of wealth. Throughout this essay I will be discussing the strategies multiple non-profit organizations, including the one I worked with last semester, are using in their battle to combat homelessness, the relationship between economic inequality and homelessness in the United States, and my experiences working with LifeMoves, formerly known as InnVision Shelter Network.
society, the idea of income inequality is a frequent topic of argument. Many believe that a large income inequality distribution has a negative effect on a society, while others feel that it has very minor, nonexistent, or even positive effect. Some of the factors that affect the income inequality in the United States are low minimum wages, education, and discrimination of race and gender. The swelling income inequality gap in the United States has created numerous social, health, and human capital problems. There is a ton of information to digest regarding who the majority of money is split between and who is actually benefitting from it. There are numerous factors that affect the income inequality and the data associated with the results of it are rather
Income inequality has been an ongoing issue that has affects many American citizens for decades. Some Americans are more affected by income inequality than other Americans. This is an unfortunate fact, but there seems to be no easy solution and it seems it is getting worse. American citizens are losing hope in the system, and their voices screaming for change that benefits all, are rarely heard.
Income inequality in the United States has been increasing gradually as from the 20th century where there was economic stability. It is estimated that around a quarter of the American worker population receives not more than $10 in an hour. Through this condition, it creates an income that is below what the federal poverty level demands. Those who receive low income include the fast food employees, cashiers, nurse's aides and many more. Other individuals get good payments which are above $10 per hour. Wealth inequality in America is quite common as there are those who are the major economic block and those who can’t afford even the three meals in a day. The social issues that income and wealth inequality might cause in the United States include poverty, household debts becoming high, high crime rates, no health insurance for the low-income families, high mobility rates, high crime rates and school dropouts.
High income inequality prevents an economy from growing, so the current status of the wealth gap in the U.S. is dangerous to the future of the U.S. economy. In fact, the average income of the top 10% of the United States population is roughly nine times greater than the average income of the poorest 10% of the population (OECD). This widening wealth gap is a problem of extreme importance and failure to recognize it may lead to social problems such as a rise in crime and overall social unrest. A continuing rise in this wealth gap affects all U.S. citizens as the bottom 99% may lose opportunities in education and be exposed to more crime, and the top 1% may lose consumers as no one will be able to afford their products. Furthermore, due to this rising gap, ordinary children of the masses, who are from the bottom 40%, are being denied to educational opportunities because they cost more money (Ingraham). Regardless if a child is born into a wealthy or poor family, they are still born with the same attributes; however, it is income inequality that creates inequality in educational opportunities for children, which threatens the overall educational status quo of the nation. A major wealth gap in any society is strongly associated with significant problems such as greater poverty levels, more crime, and even poor conditions of health (Partridge and Weinstein).
Inequality, a subject that usually focuses on developing countries or communistic governments, is now a topic that no longer focuses predominantly on these foreign nations; but rather one that lies here, on our own soil. The United States has one of the largest socioeconomic gaps on earth. In terms of dollars, our gap is greater than a majority of impoverished countries. In a country like Chad, someone could earn a thousand dollars a year and another
Living in a peaceful world would mean that no one (and I mean NO ONE) would go hungry or be without basic medical care; denying individuals access to food, clean water and basic medical care is both in-humane as well as ignorant. The inhumanity of denying food to individuals who cannot by no fault of their own feed themselves when we have supermarkets, refrigerators, and pantries over flowing a bounty of food. Turning away from a person who is hungry, while the US as a nations spends more on its household pets than it does in donations to local food bangs demonstrates ignorance of our understanding that perhaps the stem of violence both here and overseas could be stymied if we’d only offered not only bags of rice but a safe place to grow
Inequality is a problem that has had an effect on the United States for many years. Although throughout the years the severity of inequality has fluctuated, it has increased greatly within the past two decades. There are many factors that could have influenced this increase. Some of the factors include technology and deindustrialization.
As an American, we revel in our freedoms. Not everything is free, however, we have laws that were created for safety. They help keep everyone happy, alive and well. The foundation for these laws came from the founding fathers; they wished for Americans alive then, alive now, and alive years from now feeling safe and free. However, there are fatal flaws in the documents created by the founding fathers. These documents are not effective in establishing and preserving freedoms of Americans because they confined the definition of a valued American to white males as well as allowed the means of corruption to enter our laws through lack of rigidity.
One of the main topics discussed during this political science course is the political and economic inequality that has recently risen to staggering levels in the United States. Although political and economic inequality seem to be some of the most pressing issues we face today, little has been done to close the gap between the middle and upper classes. By looking at how our government and society behaves, one can see why the inequality barrier is such a difficult obstacle to overcome. Politicians may be more focused on staying in the good favor of their party than their people, but they are still elected by the majority. If more citizens took a more proactive approach to politics, social movements would be more successful and more balance would be brought to the political spectrum; however, money, powerful officials, and a general lack of interest prevent the government from maintaining a system that benefits everyone equally.
The biggest problem in today’s economy is wealth distribution also known as income inequality. Income inequality is the unequal distribution of income across various participants in a nations economy. This unequal distribution can be seen when looking at things such as property, valuable possessions, stock, savings, and investments. While the wealth of the US is clearly distributed unevenly, a “gap” between the rich and the poor continues to grow. Wealth distribution and the gap between the rich and poor is directly related to the concept of unequal opportunity. Economists such as Andrew Carnegie and John Kenneth Galbraith both believed that the economy is unfair and everyone should be given an equal opportunity to become wealthy and successful. People who are more fortunate should also try to help better the community and put there wealth towards society. Other economists such as Thomas Malthus and Garret Hardin believe that there will always be some percentage of humans
The OECD says that since the mid- 1990s more than half of all jobs created in the member states has been in non-standard work. According to the members, households that depend on such work have higher poverty rate than other household and that this has led to greater inequality. In 34 states is says that 10% of the population earn 9.6 times the income of the poorest 10%. Some believe it’s because of the wide gap in education. It is happening in the most unequal countries, which leads to leads effective workforce. There is no difference in inequality but some studies showed that it slowed down during the financial crisis and now it is growing again.
There’s no denying that there are social classes in America. At the top there are the billionaires, and residing at the bottom are those that don’t have a roof over their head. The cause of this huge difference in living is due to income inequality. The gap between the levels is only getting worse. In fact, because of this the middle class is beginning to disappear. However, we can prevent this from happening by placing a strong focus on education, creating more jobs for Americans, and increasing the federal minimum wage.
Nelson Mandela, a South African revolutionary, states, “We must work together to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity, and power in our society.” The “equitable distribution” Nelson Mandela refers to is the ideal that all Americans are able to achieve a fair distribution of income. However, the income gap, the unequal distribution of individual income from the wealthy and poor, continues to be an alarming issue in society. Wealthy individuals not only acquire economic prosperity, but also more opportunities to advance in society. As a result, the poor is affected by the income inequality in the United States, caused by the lack of education and the expanding globalization in the country.