Viable housing is still expensive in America today. Therefore, economic mobility is very difficult for people in poverty due to housing taking up at least 30% of their income (Habitats for Humanity). This devouring of their income leads to people having to make harrowing decisions about other necessities. Consequently, people in poverty cannot leave this cycle due to their low income. However, what does the government have to do
with this? In many cases, the government are the ones to blame.
To say the least, it is time for the government to stop avoiding. According to Casselman, Most Americans Aren’t Middle Class Anymore, about 79% of Americans live in the Lower or Middle Class. If change does not happen, it doesn’t look like things will become any better. With president-elect Donald Trump, he seems that bringing prosperity to America is giving more leeway to the rich. According to Thompson, Things Are About to Get Much Worse for Poor Americans, “Although taxes would be cut at every level, “the highest
-income taxpayers would receive the biggest cuts, both in dollar terms and as a
percentage of income,” according to the Tax Policy Center. The richest 0.1 percent of the country would save, on average, more than $1 million.” In other words, the lower class will have to save on much more while the rich get to prosper. The website also mentions Trump’s ways of reducing more than $6 trillion in taxes– the website states that he will preserve more than half of the government’s budget. Mr. Trump wishes to support the military while preserving Social Security. The other half that Mr. Trump plans to safe is usually used for the poor. ” Medicaid would shrink, as might the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Food stamps would be cut. Federal unemployment insurance spending would fall, as would housing and energy assistance for the poor. The Department of Education would have to be gutted, taking federal student loans with it.” Although no action has been taken yet, the inauguration for Mr. Trump is just around the corner and it doesn’t seem that he will change his mind. However, that does not mean that there is no hope. Part of being in a democratic country means following the people’s opinions, which are usually expressed through Congress.
The Problem with Poverty Today:
There are many ways to become poor, and very few to become affluent. In the U.S. alone, almost 50 million people are poor. Most of this population is in the middle or low class, with very small amounts invested for their children. The government claims that the youth will live with very few debts if they get a proper education (i.e. graduating college), but there are 44.2 million Americans in student loans. Adults find it very hard to get a job, even after graduating college. This is the “norm” for many Americans. What about those who can’t afford to have an education and live day-by-day? In honesty, the government takes no responsibility for this amount of people. Thus, more and more people are prone to becoming poor; to the point where it normal to see people sleeping on the street under the cold, winter sky. However, what does the government do, if not caring for its citizens? Frankly, the government does take action to care for its inhabitants. But, there’s a twist– they are biased towards the upper class. There is evidence that the government has “trusts” for the successful companies, working as partners. According to Studies Show, Congress Favors the Rich, “Jetblue Airways made $615 million in U.S. profits last year, but paid just 0.4 percent of that amount (less than half of 1 percent) in federal income taxes. The toy maker Mattel made $268 million in profits last year, but received a tax rebate of $46 million from the IRS, and Pacific Gas and Electric not only paid nothing in federal income taxes last year, it received a tax rebate of $84 million from the IRS, even though it made $1.8 billion last year.”
Progress Through Poverty 