Poverty is associated with laziness, and we always imagine we can cross the poverty line by working extra hard. However, in America, the story is quite different. Those who work full-time and sometimes in multiple jobs are the poorest. Amidst the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, we can’t help but focus on the millions of Americans working poor.
Most hourly workers in America are struggling to prove even the most basic needs for their families. It’s so disheartening that one can work so hard and still live in poverty. Some of them even stay on the job while sick just to get the little income.
But where is the nation failing? To say the truth, there isn’t a solid answer to this. However, somehow, policies such as the minimum wage policy are working against the people in poverty.
The CEO of New York City-based philanthropic organization Robin Hood, Wes Moore says, “When you have a situation where you have people who are working in some cases multiple jobs and still not able to do the basics of supporting their family, we’re not valuing work.”
“We’re not valuing effort,” Moore adds. “We’re not being honest about what it means to be able to support people in this environment.”
According to Moore, raising wages is one of the solutions to this problem. At least it will increase the value of work and push people beyond the poverty line.
When talking about poverty in America, you can’t overlook racism. While it’s not something we like talking about, the truth is, you can’t ignore social classes and racism in America.
Blacks form the biggest percentage of the American population living below the poverty line. Statistics show that the very worst places in terms of economic opportunity better for whites are far much better than the very best places for economic opportunity for blacks in the country.
At least 50% of people living in poverty in big cities like New York are blacks. Regardless of whether they’re born poor or rich, blacks will always earn something less than whites. Not that they’re limited in terms of skills, but that’s where the society has placed them.
So, to address the issue of poverty, we must to the roots of the problem – racism.
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