Poverty and Unemployment in America - Essay Example

Poverty and Unemployment in America

There are many cases of people losing jobs and not being able to find a good one. The United States can correct the issue of poverty by encouraging marriage, having interest free student loans, and requiring companies to have 50 percent of all manufacturing within the U.S. Poverty in America is on the high rise and citizens find it hard to pay for emergencies that costs $300. Limited employment opportunities in America are the major cause of poverty. The major social issue regarding poverty is healthcare. Unemployment is always an indicator of poverty in that unemployed people have a likelihood of being poor. Nearly half of the Americans are living from one job to another. Poverty, especially among children is an on-going national issue, although few recognize that its key cause is the lack of married fathers at homes. Despite the several challenges that cause poverty, divorce, and single parent, status leads to inadequate family incomes. Marriage remains one effective weapon that the US can use in reducing the high levels of child poverty. This essay focuses on the ways to solve the crisis, causes, and solutions to eradicate poverty and unemployment.

There are many reasons why the government should try to solve the issue of unemployment. Poverty rates continue to climb and many Americans struggle to find enough money to pay for basic needs of life. First, people who do not have employment continue to receive government benefits that taxpayers have to pay for. The role of the federal government in America should be to improve the conditions of citizens living with relentlessly limited resources and low income. There has been an evolution of the federal priority over time and effective interventions to eradicate poverty have been controversial (US government accountability office 6). Significantly, the life expectancy of any poor citizens in America is comparatively lower than the non-poor families.

Ensuring that the poverty levels deflate is a public good that will see majority of the American people benefit in regards to income level. Among the reasons, the need to solve this social problem is that at the individual level, it increases health risks (Brown 1). The poor children often face lower birth weights, infants face food insecurity, affecting their health. At the US level, poverty is costing the economy billions of dollars yearly as it depletes the limited resources. In the US, child poverty is costing the economy $500 billion annually due to health care costs. Additionally, the government has to deal with poverty since it is weakening the middle-class citizens who are the engine of economic growth in the US, as they slip downwards to join the poor class. Besides, it undermines the US long-term competitiveness, as the poor children underperform academically, do not access higher education, and miss highly skilled jobs (Brown 1). Moreover, it weakens democracy, as the society grows to be of different voices, making the low-income people fail to participate in electoral processes.

The other reason why the government should solve the issue of unemployment rate in America is that lack of employment only means the inability to provide social security and Medicare because payroll taxes pay for them. Economic research reveals that citizens who live in abject poverty are likely to engage themselves in criminal activities, have poor health, and lead to a reduction in the labor market participation (US government accountability office 8). Other research studies suggest that the household wealth of any individual predicts the extent of functionality of that individual in retirement (9). The federal government should provide programs that will help solve the issue of unemployment in America.

In addition, another reason why the government should solve poverty crisis is that job loss can happen at any time for citizens working in both blue collar as well as white-collar jobs. Employment has a huge impact on earnings and poverty. Job loss is one of the factors that trigger entry into poverty (Rynell 8). Citizens who suffer from job loss are the most people who are likely to get into poverty (8). The federal government should ensure job security to every individual working in either blue or white-collar jobs. Besides that, the introduction of technology is destroying jobs and citizens are facing a stagnant income and inequality in the United States (Rotman 1). Many citizens in both blue-collar and white-collar jobs lose jobs due to automation.

Largely, experience has indicated that several donor-supported projects fail to achieve their targets due to the low tenure or obligation to the country. Politics, therefore, matters, since politicians are certainly the decisive arbitrators of growth-promoting, welfare-enhancing, and equitable policies (Brady 28). They are therefore the determiners of the success of donor assistance. It has been apparent that in the US, development has a close relation to political interests, resource distribution, and imbalance in power access. For instance, handling gender inequality and other social exclusion issues involves politics, same to handling matters of transparency and integrity of the public finances. Politicians have therefore failed to provide clear policies that connect reforms and improve efforts on lives (Brady 28). Additionally, corruption issues rob citizens much, similar to the way politicians influence the poor voters with false development promises that they do not put into practice, resulting in the undesired election outcomes that give rise to leaders that cannot assist to solve the poverty issue.

There are a number of reasons and causes for poverty in America. The first cause is lack of manufacturing jobs. This is because manufacturing in the United States is too expensive. As Loeland (51-52) explains, William Julius Wilson contends that the loss of well-paid blue-collar manufacturing jobs from the inner city and the out-migration of middle-class African- American from poor metropolitan areas lead to a rise of poverty among the inner city residents. The federal government should make the manufacturing jobs more accessible to its citizens to reduce poverty crisis.

Tax is another cause of poverty in America. The federal government should calculate poverty by going beyond tax- money income and include in-kind government benefits such as food stamps, housing subsidies, and earned-income tax credit, which allocate cash to low-income working families as part of the tax system (Hoynes, Page, and Stevens 52). The national research council in their report made a number of recommendations in their 1995 report that could eliminate poverty. The council recommended the government to subtract taxes, payroll taxes, out of pocket medical costs, work expenses, and childcare expenses (52). If the poverty line is relatively lower than the minimum wage, then there will be an increase in poverty (Fields and Kanbur 4). Evidently, poverty increases with the minimum wage given to employees.

The second cause is the push for everyone to go to college and reducing the demand on vocational jobs. People who do not want to go to college have no desire to go and they just end up having basic and minimum wage jobs. Most high schools have stopped the vocational track for those who want to learn a skill. Attending college is important because it offers an opportunity for people to acquire skills necessary to get a quality job. Individuals who lack skills cannot get a high-paying job even if they have a high minimum wage.

An additional cause of poverty is the over taxation and regulation of business. Over taxation of businesses creates a likelihood of businesses to evade paying tax and it reduces the overall economic growth and increase in poverty (Reyes and Sawyer 304). It is important for the government to construct business regulations that will achieve the goals and objectives of the regulation without dipping the rate of economic growth (304). Largely, regulations make it had for businesses to make profits and expanding the minimum wage and benefits to employees. The federal government ought to have a framework that regulates activities of business in a way that will improve the social welfare of its citizens. Poor regulatory conditions increase the rate of poverty.

Moreover, the cost of college is a further cause of poverty. Tuition fees keep on skyrocketing each time. Besides that, loans given to students make it hard for them to finish school and spend money once they are out of school. The result of this is that there is little economic spending by students coming out of college. Tuition fees are one of the main drivers in increasing student debts. With the rise of college costs, student from poor backgrounds take debts for tuition as well as living expenses and there is little chance that they will be able to pay for it.

An additional cause of poverty is the weak economy. Weak economy causes an elevation in unemployment rates. Some companies close down, and others look for cheap outside labor while others go out of the country (Anderson 1). The result is a shrink in available jobs, causing poverty. The unavailability of affordable housing is a result of weak economy. Due to the increasing gap between wage earnings and the housing costs, millions of families in the US remain on the streets. The National Low Income Housing Coalition notes that households would need a salary of $15.37 hourly to manage a two-bedroom house, and since most people cannot make to this amount, they remain poor. Additionally, drug use is another cause of this social problem, since approximately 20% of the homeless do drugs and substance abuse. Many people spend all their incomes on drugs due to their addictive nature, which leaves them poor. For instance, a gram of cocaine costs $100, meaning if one uses it per day, it totals to $700 weekly, which exceeds what majority of Americans earn weekly. Medical expenses is another cause of poverty, as a night hospital stay is $350, a simple Tylenol is $14 for each pill and chemotherapy almost $30000 (Shah 15). Furthermore, a majority of the lower class cannot afford education in college and degree levels, leaving them in poverty.

Various solutions can help put an end to poverty in United States. The first solution is to reduce environmental regulations in factories. This solution can work if the government allows factories to use natural gas or let hydroelectric plants to power factories. Another way to reduce environmental regulations in factories is by reducing cap-and-trade penalties and taxes on pollution while maintaining reasonable restrictions.

The second solution is allowing vocational training in schools. The government of America can make this possible by tracing back to elective tracks that allow students to learn at least one skill while in high school. Vocational training schools enable the student to have an opportunity to pursue a career in the skilled trade. Furthermore, vocational training offers an adequate supply of proficient personnel laborers (Virolainen and Stenstrom 83). Findings from a study by Virolainen and Stenstrom (97) in Finland reveal that vocational training programs lead to increased and higher participation in education. Developing the quality of vocational education depends on the voices of the teachers and educational planners.

In addition, the need for a push to let everyone go to college should stop. As mentioned above, college fees are high and the students living in poverty do not get a chance to attend the colleges. The federal government has to look for ways to ensure their citizens acquire skills needed by employers. Pushing everyone to go to college will only increase the levels of debt and lead to economic instability in the country.

More to the point, the government should allow students to attend community colleges free for vocational fees needed by employers. Free community college will reduce the level of student loans across America. In addition, free community college programs could get a number of citizens living in America to get into skilled jobs. Additionally, this program will narrow the ever-growing skills gap in America. This program may increase the employment rates in America thus reduce the rate of poverty. Free community college will enable students to posses the right practical, industrial, and job ready skills to do the work that companies require. Free community colleges will equip students with skills required for jobs needed by employers at little or no cost. Generally, the free community college program will lead to a prosperous economic future.

The third solution is to eliminate the interest imposed on student loans. Reducing student loans will help eradicate student’s debts and lead to economic growth. Right now, students pay up to 4-8% interest to the government and on many occasions the government capitalizes the interest as students go to school. Largely, interests on students loans can add up to 300% overall of the student loans. When the government eliminates the interest on student loans, there will be a reduction on the overall cost of the loan. Evidently, no interest will help students to uphold a good credit and be entitled to buy cars, homes, and other luxuries.

The fourth solution is reducing the business costs. Foremost, the Obamacare will offset about half the affordable care acts costs. Obamacare splits into half the yearly payment to a flexible expenditure quantity (Pipes 8). In addition, reducing workers procedures can help reduce business costs. More to the point, reducing business costs can be possible when the government enacts a reasonable and market based minimum wage. Generally, the government should reduce the overall business taxes and taxes on investment in businesses and jobs.

Marriage has an influence on the family finances. In most states in the US, there are effects inevitable by the law. For instance, in nine of the states, there are community property laws, affirming that any money that a spouse earns or if any of them purchases a property from the money they make, if they are in a marriage relationship, they equally own it (Landes 1). Because of this, even during divorce incidences, the children rarely face poverty situations. Additionally, marriage becomes a solution towards poverty since it brings about two incomes in a household. In a case where there are two sources of revenue in a family, the financial position of the household is far better than when a single parent has to cater for the demands of the children and other family requirements. For instance, when a parent earns $800 weekly, a combination of the family demands would be tiring to this income such as educational requirements, food, medical and other needs. On the other hand, if it were a case of a couple, each earning the same amount and the same number of children, the income level would be adequate to take care of the additional expenses. Therefore, a married couple can, sustain their economic status through a jointed income contribution, which ensures that the educational, medical food and other needs of the household are financially provided for (Amato & Maynard 117). However, this only works if both the parents are working.

In light of these discussions, it is evident that poverty is the main cause of social issues with people living in America today. The main social issue being healthcare, the cost of doctors’ fees and cost of drugs is devastating to the poor families. Poverty mainly leads to inequality and there is no need to have a country where inequality and poverty is on the rise. The government should solve the issue of poverty to provide its citizen’s with social security. The causes of poverty are so disturbing and if the government together with the American citizens works hand in hand, then the problem of poverty can end. Foremost, the high cost of college is a cause of poverty in America. The government should stop pushing people to go to college instead create free community colleges for vocational training. Additionally, Marriage can assist in reducing poverty levels since both couples make some income payment towards managing the family necessities. Therefore, the government should embark on policies to encourage marriages as a way of reducing poverty. On the other hand, the federal government should reduce the taxes and regulations imposed on enterprises to maintain a stable economy. The United States of America is one of the most developed countries in the world and the government should strive hard to eradicate poverty among its citizens. Solutions such as eliminating student loans, reducing business costs, allowing vocational training in schools, and reducing environmental regulations in factories can help solve the issue of poverty. Majorly, with these solutions, and government incentives, the poverty crisis in America can end.