Economic Inequality In 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.

Amongst all of the presidential candidates of the 2016 race, one in particular stands above the rest. Bernie Sanders, running as a democrat, holds the highest capability to better the nation amongst all other candidates.

A deafening and persistent roar reverberates against the glass walls, around the stone columns and through the rows of American flags, which billow above the financial hub of the United States. A sea of tens of thousands of American citizens begins below the iconic black and white sign that reads “Wall St”, and extends beyond the end of the block, filling each and every square inch of space in-between. Over and over again, in unison, they chant “We are the ninety-nine percent!” and collectively form a voice that is heard not just throughout the stock exchange, or the city of New York, but throughout the entire country and the world. Occupy Wall Street was a movement that brought together members of the “99%” — the bottom ninety-nine

Income inequality is one of the greatest problems facing the United States today. It is important for everyone to understand what this means and why this is a problem.

Without realizing it, most of us live in a bubble. This impermeable layer makes us oblivious to what's going on in the world and ignorant to the truth. The media is powerful, but there is a huge difference between seeing something, and experiencing it in person. After 17 years of living in that bubble, I finally popped it and opened my eyes to a world I had never felt before. Colombia, like many developing nations, faces rampant income inequality that acts as a huge barrier for the country to make a leap towards economic prosperity. But to truly understand this great monster in our world called "income inequality", you have to experience both extreme living conditions. And during the summer, I was able to do just that. In 24 hours. With an

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.

Single Black Female BA Seeks Educated Husband: Race, Assortative Mating and Inequality is an article that addresses income inequality in the United States by presenting how people choose their spouses. Rodrigue and Reeves (2015) show the correlation between choice of a spouse and education, income level, and race. They further present data on existing marriage gaps in relation to education, race and income level in the United States. Key in their argument are two issues: “assortative mating” and “marriage gaps”. This paper explores the authors’ arguments on “assortative mating” and “marriage gaps” and presents opinions on how “marriage gaps” can be addressed.

Income concentration in United States has changed along with the spending patterns of the individuals. This has induced and widened the pay gap between the wealthy and the middle class. One individual’s demand is now another’s necessity which is why the income ladder is hard to grab now. Although financial aid by the government does help the middle class students to acquire good quality education, but this is not enough as the wealthy can get what they want even if they possess lesser prospects.

Income inequality in the United States has been increasing gradually as from the 20th century where there was economic stability. It is estimated that around a quarter of the American worker population receives not more than $10 in an hour. Through this condition, it creates an income that is below what the federal poverty level demands. Those who receive low income include the fast food employees, cashiers, nurse's aides and many more. Other individuals get good payments which are above $10 per hour. Wealth inequality in America is quite common as there are those who are the major economic block and those who can’t afford even the three meals in a day. The social issues that income and wealth inequality might cause in the United States include poverty, household debts becoming high, high crime rates, no health insurance for the low-income families, high mobility rates, high crime rates and school dropouts.

An article in The Nation claims that some inequality of wealth and income is unavoidable and to an extent, it is necessary. In a well-functioning economy, individuals need a reason to work hard. This is where some inequality is necessary to motivate people. However, the article states that at some point, these inequalities can be harmful to our economy and traditional American values.

Living in a peaceful world would mean that no one (and I mean NO ONE) would go hungry or be without basic medical care; denying individuals access to food, clean water and basic medical care is both in-humane as well as ignorant. The inhumanity of denying food to individuals who cannot by no fault of their own feed themselves when we have supermarkets, refrigerators, and pantries over flowing a bounty of food. Turning away from a person who is hungry, while the US as a nations spends more on its household pets than it does in donations to local food bangs demonstrates ignorance of our understanding that perhaps the stem of violence both here and overseas could be stymied if we’d only offered not only bags of rice but a safe place to grow

Social inequality exists in the United States through the Elite’s power to maintain their dominance in the United States capitalist system. The Elite Ruling class is made of the upper class and this class of individuals share similar ideology and are the members of the United State’s Superstructure. The Elite Ruling Class members of society are the decision and policy makers in the United States. Research and history has proven that many policies and decisions made by the Elite Ruling Class serve their own interest and promote their ideas. These decisions are the source of the inequality in the United States and it contributes to their ability to maintain their dominant status. The inequality is trickled down to the other classes through social policy and social institutions that affect our lives everyday citizens. A major example of this social inequality can be seen in the United States housing market or home ownership. A significant amount of studies, statics and data supports the evidence of social inequality within the US housing market or home ownership. The following passages will discuss social inequality in the United States as it is connected to Karl Marx’s theory of capitalism’s power and influence of the Elite Dominant i.e. the Ruling Class view as it relates to homeownership within the United States. Karl Marx’s theory however focuses mostly on economic s and the difference between upper and lower class not race. It is also important to point out that the Elite

Is the standard American adage of “if you just work hard enough, you’ll be rich” still true?

The main key idea in this film is that America’s economy has nearly doubled, yet almost all of the benefits have went to the top 1%. Robert Reich touches on the growing inequality between the middle class Americans and the top 1%. He talks about how in the last 30 years America has just been getting richer and richer. Despite all the success our country has been having somehow the middle classes rates have flattened out and they are being taxed much more than the richest people in the nation. He also talks about how the average middle class citizen has some form of debt and it is continuing to grow. The reason this is happening is because people in the middle class keep digging themselves deeper into debt just to live comfortably. If America keeps heading down this same path than eventually there will be an economic crash.

The fact that the 1% global elite owns 48% of the world wealth, is an issue which should no longer be ignored. It is a problem that everyone knows is prevalent, but still people are ignorant to its intricacies. Surfing through the internet I found an article composed of edited research gathered by Oxfam, an international organization who battles global poverty. Its main point was, that America has been suffering from extreme inequality. The problem has corrupted the government and stunted economic growth. There are only a handful of people holding onto the wealth through gaining political power. This power allows them to escape paying the proper taxes, and hoard their wealth. Oxfam revealed that, extreme wealth has been able to be passed