Economic Disparities Of The United States

Homelessness is one of the main problems plaguing the United States today, with low income earners at a higher risk of becoming homeless than previous years. There have been countless laws and ordinances put in place throughout the country in hopes of solving this growing problem but many of them have failed to address one of the main things causing this issue, economic inequality and the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States. Although there are many non-profit organizations working not only to get people off the streets, but to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place, they are facing an uphill battle until the United States government addresses its country’s current unequal distribution of wealth. Throughout this essay I will be discussing the strategies multiple non-profit organizations, including the one I worked with last semester, are using in their battle to combat homelessness, the relationship between economic inequality and homelessness in the United States, and my experiences working with LifeMoves, formerly known as InnVision Shelter Network.

The difference of income and workers conditions has been a timeless conflict present throughout history of the United States. In the past workers were faced with deadly work conditions and around the clock hours for little pay. These unjust conditions dramatically increased during the Industrial Revolutions that the United States experienced in the nineteenth century. The latter period of industrialization produced the organization of the first labor unions in the Country, namely the Knights of Labor established in 1869 and the American Federation of Labor established in 1886. In present day countless unions exist, and are a lot less needed than they were in the early industrial days of the United States (Brinkley, 2012).

The United States is often viewed as a wealthy and stable country, but as shown in 2011, “the richest fifth of American households received about 51.1 percent of total income, while the poorest fifth received about 3.2 percent” (McConnell). There are many sources of income inequality that effect poverty in the United States and the role that discrimination plays in reducing and increasing wages for different people and how the people of the United States are affected by it.

The distribution of income in the United States, is a growing controversy. Far left and far right groups have distinctly differing opinions on income inequality and whether it is beneficial or detrimental to the economic growth of the nation. Mainstream politics, however, tend to be relatively devoid of discussion about the extreme wealth gap. The rising levels, factors, and opinions of income inequality as well as methods of income redistribution will be discussed.

One of the largest social issues in America today is income and wealth inequality. Income inequality is when income is distributed unevenly amongst a population and consists of wages, salaries, interest on a savings account, dividends from shares of stock, rent, and profits from selling something for more than you paid for it (Mendelson). Wealth inequality is the unequal distribution of assets within a population. A person’s wealth is attributed to what a person owns which can include their residence, cash in savings accounts, investments in stocks and bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts (Aaron). Those who are unaffected typically brush off income and wealth inequality as none important. They view those who complain about barely making it by, as lazy and in their position of poverty by

"With more attention being paid to economic inequality in the United States, it’s also worth looking at how the nation compares globally", says Drew Desilver. People tend to want to be wealthy like the upper class because we fear poverty, when in reality it is one of the highest global risk concerns. Reasons are led to believe because of technology, changes in organizations and jobs, and the differences in education. Poverty is the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. The Census Bureau uses two similar versions of money salary thresholds that fluctuate by household size and distribution to determine who is in poverty. If a household total income is less than the appropriate households threshold, then every individual

Therefore, in order to make the American Dream achievable to everyone, income wages must increase for those in the lower class and government welfare should be provided to all Americans in order to increase the opportunity of social mobility. Though income inequality may seem as an inevitable issue that just happens to plague many Americans who choose to work in blue collar jobs, current economic inequality is more realistically the result of unfair economic policies that threaten to worsen if they are not immediately addressed. The poor conditions of the workers who work for long hours with little pay demonstrate that America is at a crucial point, and that without immediate action, the country will continue to plunge further downward into

Rashbrooke argues that inequality in society is often associated with the large income gap; as a result societies are categorised into certain ethnic groups, birthplaces and financial backgrounds. The significant difference between the rich and the poor has widened to a point where the humanity slowing becomes non-existence. The financial struggles of low-income families are more likely to be stress and affect their value of life. The responsibility to allow individuals to be aware of the rising inequality relies on each person in the country to make a change

Adding to the problems countries and people have to face around the world is a well talked and argued topic of economic inequality. To begin with, economic inequality can be defined as the division amongst the rich and the poor. Today inequality exists in minimum wage, taxes, etc. all of these forms of inequality can affect the well-being or family of a person. Like Pope Francis said, “The first task is to put the economy at the service of people. Human beings and nature must not be at the service of money” the economy inequality must be fixed whether it is through taxation or distributing minimum wage equally.

When it comes to the wealth gap in America, let us just say there are several forces in play. One of them is the free market that reaches around the globe. In includes the free markets and this leaves the widen gap between those that have or those that do not have. While 2% of the world's children live in America and enjoy 50% of the world's playthings and games. Compared to children in Nigeria are apart of the workforces this countries, and there are other countries that share in child labor. Although, the U.S. is among the few develop markets, the income gap between the lower and the upper levels of society has expanded. In America a CEO was paid 40 times more than the average worker in 1980. Our society, do accept a much greater inequality than many other countries do. There is more than enough data that shows the widening inequality, this information serves as an incentive for improving an accurate picture of capitalism. (Peng, M. (2012). GLOBAL, 2e, 2nd Edition)

What exactly is wealth disparity? And why does it matter? Using terms such as distribution of assets would give the idea that we live in a socialistic economy. This word seems to be a Taboo in America, but people don’t realize that we are very close to this concept. It is just hidden better. There are many reasons that this disparity needs to shrink. Studies that will be discussed later, will show a correlation of the number of citizens that reside in poverty: crime rates are higher, more children go hungry, and the overall health of the population is affected. Although there are many arguments that will contradict this assessment, there is no disputing the facts. People need to remember that those of us that are fortunate to be rich,

Growing up in a diverse community being surrounded with people of different races, sexuality, gender, and socio-economic class has shown me that we all share different experiences. We all go through different events during our lives that add to our experience and shape us to who we become as people. I took a class about social inequalities in the United States, and it helped me realize that many of us are victims of social injustices, whether it is how someone treated because of their race, or being expected to act a certain way because of gender or sexuality, or even recognizing the lack of opportunities because of socio-economic class. Understanding not only my own, but other’s experiences as well is important to me because it has shaped

The United States has overcome many challenges as it grows; however, it is still far from perfect. One main idea that still exists is social inequality, specifically racial, ethnic, and gender. Before I begin I want to define the three terms I presented above. Ethnicity is “the cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from others “ (Giddens et al. 293). Race is the “differences in human physical characteristics used to categorize large numbers of individuals” (Giddens et al 293). Lastly, is gender, which is the “social expectations about behavior regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex. Genders refers not to the physical attributes distinguishing men and women but to socially formed traits of masculinity

A social issue (social problem) refers to an issue that others recognize as a problem within society. Different social problems in our culture include but are not limited to cultural discrimination, poverty, social inequality, racial discrimination, and urbanization. Social inequality refers to a lack of social equivalence, where individuals in a society do not equal one another because of their communal status. Sometimes when social inequality takes place inherently discrimination, prejudice, and racism take place. Each of these issues differ from one another but the commonality is the mistreatment of an individual based on the individual characteristics either physical or personality. Social inequality includes issues such as voting rights, freedom of speech, and unequal distribution of income/wealth. Society is organized by social hierarchies based on class, race, and gender.

The evidence that Krugman provides for economic inequality in American society rests on various factors.