As any other country the United
States has passed through economic crisis, but has also being improved.
However, getting out of the crisis was not an easy task. Now, poverty has been
reduced, but back then it was worse. The United States’ development occurred because
of many factors that must be considered. The crisis that arrived in this
country brought many issues, which were difficult to overcome. The biggest one
was poverty. As everyone know, poverty is about not having enough money to meet
basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty can vary considerably
depending on the situation. For instance, feeling poor in Canada is different
from living in poverty in Russia or Zimbabwe.
One of the effects that poverty causes
is the increment of unemployment. During the crisis, the US economy was not
offering enough jobs and the labor market appeared to be failing. The way to
quantify this is to look at the age employment ratio, which is between 25 and 54
year-olds. In difficult economic times, the ration of employment doesn’t let
people know that some people have stopped looking for work. By that measure,
the U.S. economy is having severe trouble, the amount of all 25 to 54 year old
people who hold jobs was almost 5% lower than it was in December 2007, for men
and women.
Similar problems brought the economy
down and poverty was increasing. Through some research, it was found that in
2010, the poverty threshold was $22,314 for a family of four. “The percentage
of people in deep poverty was 13.5 percent of all Blacks and 10.9 percent of
all Hispanics, compared to 5.8 percent of Asians and 4.3 percent of Whites.”
Poverty affects more on children,
because they are the following generations that sadly have to follow the low
economy that their parents have. “U.S. Census data reveals that from 2009 to
2010, the total number of children under age 18 living in poverty increased to
16.4 million from 15.5 million. Child poverty rose from 20.7 percent in 2009,
to 22 percent in 2010, and this is the highest it has ever been since 1993.”
The effects of child poverty:
·
Poverty
has a particularly adverse effect on the academic outcomes of children,
especially during early childhood.
·
Chronic
stress associated with living in poverty
·
Greater
risk of behavioral and emotional problems
·
Depression,
marital distress and exhibit harsher parenting behaviors
·
Unsafe
neighborhoods may expose low-income children to violence
·
Low
birth weight
·
Poor
nutrition
·
Exposure
to environmental contaminants
According to the National Alliance
to End Homelessness, it has been estimated that in 2009, there were 656,129
people who experienced homelessness in the United States on a given night. In
addition, it is estimated that about 2.3 to 3.5 million Americans experience
homelessness at least once a year. Poverty can arrive in any home, doesn’t
matter what, if we don’t know how to operate our economy. Homelessness affects
people of all ages, places, occupations, and nationalities.
Despite the several definitions we
can find in order to define poverty, there is one thing we can be sure about;
poverty is a complex societal issue. No matter the way poverty is defined, it
can be agreed that it is an issue that requires everyone’s attention. It is important that all members of our
society work together to provide the opportunities for everyone, so we can
finally be closer to reach the full potential our country can have. We should
never forget that it helps all of us to help one another.
