How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 1

How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question

Hannah Fritts

Loras College
How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 2

Abstract

Poverty: the state of being extremely poor. This definition doesnt even start to explain what

poverty means or how it effects families who are currently suffering through this act of living.

Millions of Americans are on or below the poverty line and we have yet to fix this. If more jobs

were created in the United States, there would be a better economy and also take millions of

families out of debt which in return would hopefully get them out of poverty as well. Poverty is

an issue that can be solved in many different ways. Creating more jobs in our economy would

not only lower the unemployment rate, but would also make our economy better; therefore,

creating more jobs in the United States and around the world will solve the concern we have

today of poverty.
How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 3

Peter Cove who wrote the article titled Work: The only answer to poverty seems to

believe work is the only possible answer to poverty.

Cove goes onto explain:

Today, America spends over $600 billion a year on welfare and poverty-related programs.

They do not work. They create, rather than lessen, dependency. For just $155 billion, we

could establish a proven, subsidized employment program in the private sector and Works

Progress Administration-type effort that would employ 11 million dependent individuals.

These jobs could pay a salary of $20,000, lifting millions of families out of poverty. (p. 1)

As we can see from this quote, the idea of creating more jobs for a fairly reasonable price would

create and employ over 11 million individuals. Poverty is an issue that can be solved in many

different ways. Creating more jobs in our economy would not only lower the unemployment

rate, but would also make our economy better; therefore, creating more jobs in the United States

and around the world will solve the concern we have today of poverty.

The definition of poverty from dictionary.com is: the state of being extremely poor. That

seems a little too broad doesnt it? Poverty and the working poor make up 15% of America

according to the United States Bureau of the Census; they measured poverty by comparing

household income to the poverty threshold for a household of a given size. Even though 15% of

anything doesnt seem like a lot, think about 15 out of 100 people being in poverty. There isnt a

clear idea on what exactly poverty means. When pondering about the word poverty, many

thoughts probably come to mindwelfare, child care assistance, shelter, food, clothing, jobs, etc.

The working poor is also included in this number. According to Wikipedia, the working poor is

defined as: working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line. Depending on how
How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 4

one defines "working" and "poverty," someone may or may not be counted as part of the working

poor.

Most people assume the working poor do not have jobs, but the fact is, most of them do

have jobs, but these specific jobs only pay minimum wage which would not at all suffice a

family. It is hard to live off of minimum wage just by yourself, let alone a family. In Shiplers

book titled The Working Poor, he states:

most available jobs had three unhappy traits: They paid low wages, offered no benefits,

and led nowhere. Many who do find jobs, the Urban Institute concluded in a 2002 report,

lose other supports designed to help them, such as food stamps, and health insurance,

leaving them no better off and sometimes worse off than when they are not working. (p.

40)

The problem and reason why we are continuously seeing the numbers of poor people rise is

because being born into poverty can really have a huge effect on the rest of your life. This is

known as the Cycle of Poverty. A person who is born into an impoverished family has a difficult

time getting out of poverty because the lack of resources available to them. This starts out at a

very young age. A child who is born into a low income family may not have the same education

as some of their peers. Someone who is not as educated is going to have a more difficult time

finding a job in the future. Another factor that goes into being in poverty is who you look up to

and respect. We all look up to our parents, when poverty is all you know growing up, it becomes

harder to make decisions on your own because you can just as easily follow in your parents

footsteps. Many people think it is easy to get out of poverty, especially because they get all these

benefits, right? Wrong. Although this is not always the case, it seems to be a reoccurring factor

to those who suffer from poverty.

How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 5

On February 2, 2013 The Week, wrote an article about who the working poor are. They

go on to explain through many numbers and facts that even though someone in the family might

be employed, it is almost impossible for a family of four to live off of this money. They go

further to explain:

Some 46.2 million Americans now live in families where someone is working but earning

less than the poverty line: $11,702 a year for an individual or $23,021 for a family of

four. Many economists have a broader definition, saying that the working poor are those

whose incomes do not cover basic needs: food, clothing, housing, transportation, child

care, and health care. (The Week. p. 1)

So as we can see from this passage, this is a step up from unemployment and people are still

struggling. When looking up what the unemployment rate is for the United States, the Bureau of

Labor Statistics Data shows that we are at 5.6% as of October 2014. This unemployment rate is

something we, as Americans really need to be paying attention to. Some even say that

unemployment is better than the having a job and still struggling because without a job you

receive more benefits. We need more benefits for people who are working, because that will

give them the encouragement to go out there and find a job. Andrew Sum and Joseph

McLaughlin write an article titled: The Massive Shedding of Jobs in America, they talk about

how we need more jobs in America to solve this issue of poverty.

Profits are rising sharply in the United States, but wages are not. The unemployment

rate remains high, and a rapid increase in jobs is not forecast. Clearly, American business

has shed jobs in short order. The resulting rise in productivity is not being shared by workers.

(p. 1)
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They go onto explain that ever sense the recession in 2007, many families have been out of work

because there are little jobs available. Our main issue to solve poverty can be solved in one way:

create more jobs. The unemployment rate will obviously start to drop; therefore, the percentage

of families in poverty will also begin to come down.

Others might believe that poverty will always be around and that there are no options to fix

this problem in the United States and we need to be spending our money elsewhere, providing

care for third world countries. We need to fix our own country so we can then help others in

need. How can one expect to help others when your own country is suffering from the same

thing? According to Berlin, to implement any programs that would help our poverty situation,

it would cost nearly $30 billion a year when fully implemented. (p. 1) Money doesnt grow

on trees but sometimes we think it does, dont we? Especially when around 90% of our

population hasnt lived a life in poverty. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting

poorer. Berliner disagrees with this idea that there is no way to solve poverty:

To those who say that poverty will always exist, it is important to remember that many

Northern European countries such as Norway and Finland have virtually wiped out childhood

poverty. United States history also says that government policies have eliminated much of

the poverty that characterized the nation in the past. (p. 6)

We, as a nation can come together to fight poverty, we have decreased unemployment and

poverty rates in the past and can continue to do this. We need to inform the younger generation

of this problem so they are willing to help and start organizations that will create more jobs.

Poverty is an issue that can be solved in many different ways. Creating more jobs in our

economy would not only lower the unemployment rate, but would also make our economy

better; therefore, creating more jobs in the United States and around the world will solve the
How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 7

concern we have today of poverty. This is an extreme problem we cant allow to keep happening.

We, as Americans, need to take action and solve this problem as a whole. Just like Hastie states:

There are multiple alternative proposals for alleviating poverty, but unless these receive

public support they are unlikely to be implemented. (p. 1)

Its a long term process that is going to take time, but by taking these steps we will work on

alleviating poverty.

Reference Page
How to Solve Poverty: The Unanswered Question 8

Berlin, G. L. (2007). Rewarding the Work of Individuals: A Counterintuitive Approach to

Reducing Poverty and Strengthening Families. Future Of Children, 17(2), 17-42.

Berliner, D. C. (2013). Inequality, Poverty, and the Socialization of America's Youth for

the Responsibilities of Citizenship. Theory Into Practice, 52(3), 203-209.

doi:10.1080/00405841.2013.804314

Cove, P. (2013, February 11). Work: The only answer to poverty. Retrieved January 6,

2015, from http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/work-answer-poverty-article-1.1259031

Hastie, B. (2010). Linking cause and solution: Predicting support for poverty alleviation

proposals. Australian Psychologist, 45(1), 16-28. doi:10.1080/00050060903469008

Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Knopf, 2004.

Print.

Sum, A., & McLaughlin, J. (2010). The Massive Shedding of Jobs in America. Challenge

(05775132), 53(6), 62-76. doi:10.2753/05775132530604

Working, but still poor. (2013, February 2). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from

http://theweek.com/articles/468159/working-but-still-poor