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Research Paper

Introduction:

Poverty is the term that refers to the poor living conditions that are unfavorable for living for the individuals. It is characterized by the hunger, lack of shelter, healthcare, education and basic necessities of life. America is one of the world’s largest economies which is unable to control its poverty rates. Rates of homeless adults and children are on rising in America. Causes of poverty are numerous and its effects are horrifying for the public. According to 2017, poverty rates in different states of America vary from state to state. However, the factors contributing to the economy are numerous and are often unanimous. In research paper will discuss the various factors that are contributing to higher poverty rates in America and its long term impacts on the public.

Research Methodology:

This research paper has gathered facts regarding the prevailing poverty in America from secondary resources, that are based on the research articles from credible resources.

Discussion:

Millions of the American population is based on the working class that works really hard to support their families. Despite their determination and effort many of them work at the lowest wages, but still are unable to support their families, which is making it harder for them to survive financially. Quality of life decreases when individuals can’t afford the basic necessities of life. Overall the US economy has shown sign of recovery and the unemployment rate has reduced from 9.6 percent to 4.4 percent in 2017 in a span of seven years. However, the rate of wages is 200 times below the average poverty level. Despite this economic recovery rate of families working at lower wages is growing at an alarming rate. According to stats 3 in every 10 families from the working class in the United States is poor and is working at a low-income rate. Each of these families can't afford basic living needs. About 60% of this low-income population comprises of the minorities and ethnic groups. Income inequality is also on the rising in America, working families that are headed by the minority races are twice likely to be poor and earning low income in comparison to the non-Hispanic whites ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"fhv1gD0M","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Jarosz and Mather)","plainCitation":"(Jarosz and Mather)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1754,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/X5T8XATX"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/X5T8XATX"],"itemData":{"id":1754,"type":"article-journal","title":"Low-Income Working Families: Rising Inequality Despite Economic Recovery","page":"13","source":"Zotero","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Jarosz","given":"Beth"},{"family":"Mather","given":"Mark"}]}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Jarosz and Mather).

Demographics of poverty

Poverty is independent of demographic factors and hits every factor independently. The poverty rate in women is 16.3% that is higher than the poverty rate in men in America that is 13.8%. Similarly, the poverty rate in a married couple is 5.1% but poverty rate in single-parent families is higher, in families with no wife it is 13.1% and in families with no husband present, it is 26.6% ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"IUulpaFw","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Poverty USA})","plainCitation":"(Poverty USA)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1755,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/6LS6QHGU"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/6LS6QHGU"],"itemData":{"id":1755,"type":"webpage","title":"Poverty USA","URL":"https://povertyusa.org/facts","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,9]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Poverty USA). Poverty rates also vary in different ethnicities. Native Americans have the highest rate of poverty, 27.6%, Black population has 26.6%, Hispanics have 23.4 %, whites have 12.4% and the lowest is among the Asian population, 12.3% ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"U0q2OxTD","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Poverty USA})","plainCitation":"(Poverty USA)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1755,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/6LS6QHGU"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/6LS6QHGU"],"itemData":{"id":1755,"type":"webpage","title":"Poverty USA","URL":"https://povertyusa.org/facts","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,9]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Poverty USA).

Causes for poverty in America

Unemployment:

Of the total poor working population, about 56.1% of them is from age 18-64 years. About 40.8 percent of this population work for some time in the year and many of them are jobless due to paid work issues. About 18.9 % of the disabled population is jobless.

Defense budget:

The US spends a huge amount if its budget on its defense. Trump's administration has added $200 million above in the defense budget. After taking his new position Donald Trump added $15 billion the FY 2017 budget and proposed the budget of $639 billion. This increased military spending is often associated with increasing poverty. According to research, military spending during the peacetime are the major contributing factors in the increasing US poverty rate which causes inequality and unemployment ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"d4zOvayU","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Henderson)","plainCitation":"(Henderson)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1759,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/UZWSYCWB"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/UZWSYCWB"],"itemData":{"id":1759,"type":"article-journal","title":"Military Spending and Poverty","container-title":"The Journal of Politics","page":"503-520","volume":"60","issue":"2","source":"JSTOR","abstract":"This article examines the extent to which military spending is associated with poverty in the United States for the period 1959-92. The relationship is complicated by macroeconomic factors such as economic growth and unemployment. Increased military spending is associated with increasing poverty; however, there is an inverse relationship between wartime military spending and poverty and a direct relationship between peacetime military spending and poverty. Also, military personnel spending is inversely correlated with poverty while Operations and Maintenance (O&M), procurement, and Research and Development (R&D) spending are directly correlated with poverty. These findings suggest the antipoverty policy alternatives of increased social welfare spending, defense conversion that is poverty sensitive, or increased spending on military personnel, which is usually only accompanied by war mobilization. The last option is untenable as social policy and the first option is unlikely in the present political climate; therefore, the poor must rely on more \"efficiently targeted\" conversion initiatives.","DOI":"10.2307/2647920","ISSN":"0022-3816","author":[{"family":"Henderson","given":"Errol Anthony"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1998"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Henderson).

Literacy rate:

Higher literacy rates help to combat poverty. According to 2017's National Report Card, 36% of the school going children of grade 4 were able to read proficiently. 1 in every 7 adults in America is functionally illiterate, which is horrifying.

These illiterate individuals often can’t find the high paying jobs and become a liability to the National economy and exploit the tax payer's money. 3 out of every 5 persons in the US jails cannot read and write, these individuals not only become a burden on their communities but also on their families. Tax-payers end up paying for the prison costs of these individuals.

Immigration

It is a common belief that the US has imported poverty in the country in the form of immigrants and immigration policies. After the immigration reforms of the 1960s, millions of the immigrants were given entrance and residence in the United States of America. Many of these immigrants have lower education and low skill levels. A majority of the immigrants that traveled to the US has families and low skill levels. Those immigrants were ready to work on the lower wedges. Different opinions exist regarding the relation of immigrants with poverty. Some consider that immigrant's works on lower wedges thus they contribute to the country's economy while others consider them liability and reason for lowering the wage rate that is causing poverty in The United States.

Impact of poverty

Literacy and politics

Population with lower literacy rates lacks the understanding of the information that is necessary to make decisions in the elections. An illiterate person can’t even read the voting information. Such people are easy to fool and often end up choosing the wrong candidates. Selection of wrong politicians is one of the leading cause of increasing poverty as these people make decisions and policies regarding the budget and economies.

Increased crime rate and health decline

Poverty is not only about a lack of resources but it also affects the other aspects of life. Criminal rates in the US are higher in the poor population than in the other social classes. Many turn to illegal means for earning money and become a liability on the country. Inability to afford healthcare is another product of poverty that is one of the leading causes of deaths in America. Some mental illness also increases the tendency of crime in the affected individuals, which results in enhancing the crime rates.

Increased homeless population

Homelessness is another product of poverty that is exceeding in America. Report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that around 553,000 people are homeless and about 65% of the individuals stay in public shelters due to unemployment and poverty.

Conclusion

There is no particular constraint responsible for the increasing poverty in eth United States of America. Many factors at various levels contribute to poverty despite the demographics. From racial differences to immigration, poor governmental policies regarding the budget allocation for defense and literacy are some of the reasons responsible for poverty in America. However, the relation of immigration with poverty cannot be proved as limited research exists regarding the relationship. The governmental policies can play a vital role in eradicating the poverty rate in America. It won’t only result in lowering the unemployment rate but it will result in reducing the health rate, literacy rate and decreasing the crime rate in America. It will increase the usefulness of the citizens and they will be able to contribute to the stability of the America.

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Henderson, Errol Anthony. “Military Spending and Poverty.” The Journal of Politics, vol. 60, no. 2, 1998, pp. 503–20. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/2647920.

Jarosz, Beth, and Mark Mather. Low-Income Working Families: Rising Inequality Despite Economic Recovery. p. 13.

Poverty USA. https://povertyusa.org/facts. Accessed 9 Apr. 2019.