Poverty in the United States is a problem that has plagued the nation ever since its inception. The situation is exasperated by the general rule that the more poverty that exists in any particular area the more crime there will be in that area. The reverse also holds true, the more crime that exists in any particular area, the more poverty there will be in that area. Poverty and crime seem to be the two evil step children that have grown up in American society since its inception. In modern America, poverty is prevalent in the cities throughout the country. According to sociologists, poverty is not only the lack of economic status in any particular region, but is also a way of thinking about certain situations that sometimes hold the person in a kind of perpetual limbo of want. Poverty exists, as of the year 2000, at a rate of 11.3 percent in the United States, but has remained at that level for about thirty years, rarely dipping. (Danziger, p.6) The problem of poverty has not been addressed effectively, as proven by the stagnation of the numbers of poverty since the “War on Poverty” began under the Johnson Administration and is indicative of a need for a new strategy to help fight poverty.
As in many instances Americans of minority status are usually the ones that are living in the condition of poverty. These individual families living in poverty have lived in this manner for generations and have come to think of it as a normal condition they are endowed with. They in turn pass on this way of thinking to their children, who do the same thing with their children, and it goes on and on, in essence the lifestyle of poverty is transmitted to the following generations and has become a culture of sorts for dominantly ethnic communities. The acceptance of this lifestyle can be very harmful to the people that engage in it; many times it can bring about the attitude of foot dragging or laziness, and can also bring about violent tendencies in those individuals that may have developed a sense of hopelessness out of their situation. Alcoholism and drug abuse is also very common to the people living in poverty, and only serves to further exasperate the situation. Statistics show that unskilled laborers residing in poverty are ten to twenty times more likely to die of alcohol related problems than someone who is not. (Murali, 2004) This is a reason in itself for combating the problem of poverty, simply to save more lives which can be lost due to the increased chances of substance and alcohol abuse that is associated with its very existence.
American poverty has been combated historically by the institution of welfare. The American welfare system began as a good and humanitarian idea in order to help out fellow citizens who happen to be down on their luck financially or economically. It was originally intended to be a temporary solution until the family was able to get back on their feet. But with the passing of time it has become to millions of families the primary form of financial support, and has become unthinkable to them that someday they might lose it. This has created ac ulture of dependence on the welfare system and a primary reason that those in poverty may not be willing to dig themselves out of their situations. The welfare system has also become a huge financial drain to the American taxpayers. With a high percentage of American families on welfare the tax reserves of the government are being used up at an alarmingly fast rate, and in many instances they are not being replaced. This diverts money away from infrastructure in the US which could be used to create jobs to help out those in poverty and has been seen as a detriment to America in recent times. It can also be attributed as a cause of the problem of poverty because, as previously mentioned, it is not helping that those in poverty seem to be treating it as a crutch due to their being in poverty, and not a tool to get out of it.
As mentioned before in this report the welfare system was started with good intentions, but because of lobbyist that represent the voters that are on welfare, the system has become a way of life which contributes to the continuing existence of poverty in the United States. It has created what Roosevelt feared it would: continued dependence on relief. (Niskanen, 1996) Policy makers have thought about eliminating the welfare system altogether because it has become just too expensive to maintain, this would in fact be an American nightmare. Too many American families have become accustom to the welfare system and the poverty mentality that come along with it and would literally revolt and cause havoc on American streets and cities. These families need to be re-educated and trained to be able to support themselves and their loved one, but first they must want to be. Without their desire for this to be done, they will continue to live in the metal and physical condition of poverty without any hope of change for their lives. They will continue to contribute to the cycle of poverty that will not go away unless intervention is planned. It is time for new policy to take effect to help combat poverty.
Policy can be enacted to help combat the problem of poverty in the United States, but it must not be done in a hasty, or botched manner. The policy that has to be enacted must effectively addresss the problem without hurting those who need the financial support to stay on their feet. The new policy should start with getting rid of the culture of dependency on the welfare system in the United States. It should do this by eliminating welfare on the basis of those who are seen as dependent on it. Perhaps if face to face meetings with habitual welfare users were set up, that it would cause those who abuse it to think twice about their actions. A family could be better evaluated to decide if they need welfare or not and we can go from there. In adition, the state could lower taxes on businesses to give them incentive to hire more workers, and couple that with state run employment agencies which can only serve those on welfare and help them find a job to lift their dependence on welfare. If these were accomplished, we could help to lift the dependence on welfare by removing the culture of security associated with it, give those in poverty an incentive to get a job to lift them out of poverty, and provide them with the tools to do so. Either way, we would be achieving a new method which would open up a new policy in the struggle against poverty.
In conclusion, poverty is an especially difficult thing to tackle, since there are so many complexities to the situation of poverty. Poverty is very real in the US, and plays a role in claiming many lives throughout the course of a year. That alone is reason enough to change the situation in the United States over it. New policy must be enacted to tackle the issue of poverty, and that new policy must give those in poverty tools which will give them access to jobs, but incentive to actually take those jobs and no longer rely on government assistance to care for them. If those in poverty had those, we just might be able to reduce the poverty rate in the US. We must accomplish this to better our country and fulfill a social responsibility that we have to care for the poor, but the poor must be reminded that there is no caretaker like the caretaker of yourself.