1st Reading: America’s Child Poverty Crisis

The text extensively examines the issue of American Child Poverty crisis as one of the biggest social justice challenges the country is facing and cuts across the country in almost all states. The author starts by putting it clear that child poverty among the black is among the top issues causing the increased tension between the police and the black communities living in urban centers. The issue is examined regarding its current context in American considering the extent in which child poverty has stricken the country, the effects, steps are taken, and what the country can do to address the issue. A sharp comparison is presented on how the United States has and is handling the child poverty among the black people and how other countries deal with the issue and any possibility that some fruitful approaches can be adopted. Hence, the text addresses the United States government with the purpose of presenting an accurate picture of the state of black American child poverty and the way the issue can be handled in the best ways.

In the United States according to the survey, between 10 and 17 million children who fall below 18 years live in poverty. The number is much higher when compared to other developed countries since the UNICEF 2012 report indicates that on the international platform, one in every five children in the United States lives under poverty representing twenty percent of children population. The high number has attracted a lot of research in the root cause of the child poverty among the black communities. The black men are most victims of imprisonment; arrested for drug abuse, locked up and the children left only under the only care of their mothers.

The most familiar outcome of child poverty is the social dysfunction which has mainly been characterized by poor health outcome and the high rate of confinement or imprisonment of the black communities. Studies have indicated that many cases of behavioral problems, delay learning and language, and disease infections are found among poor children. Their performance at school is poor, and experience high rates of school dropouts and girls get early pregnancies. Due to stress, the children born out of young teenagers developing mental complications.

Consequently, America has not taken the issue of child poverty with a lot of keens but instead ignored which has been costly to the country. Yearly, the country has been incurring high cost over $500 billion as a result of lost productivity, high expenditures on health, and controlling of the crime rates which are on the rise. Still, there is no large scale solution to this issue apart from limited programs such as home visitation for low-income families though, the program since its inception has only reached less than 120,00 families.

However, there are better direct ways towards eliminating child poverty and which have reduced it including Earned Income Tax Credit, food stamps, Child Tax Credit, and food subsidies among others. The combined application of these programs has seen child poverty reduced by twelve percent leaving a substantial number of children under poverty. British and Canada have established programs through which they give cash allowances to families with needy children, and this has proved working where British child poverty was reduced by half. The same can work in the United States amidst the increasing issue of child poverty.

2nd Reading: The Range of Poverty in America

In this article written by Steven Pressman, the writer brings a broader picture of how poverty ranges in the entire American fraternity rather than just children and the black community. From the message in the article, it is evident that the author is addressing various government departments responsible for multiple groups to take action towards reducing the poverty range. The article starts by highlighting multiple reports on a survey carried out about poverty with the latest indicating that 12.3% of Americans were poor in 2017. Unlike in the previous article, this article indicates that 1 out of 8 Americans lives in poverty though this rate has been reducing yearly.

The same reports indicate the latest data on poverty range, the poverty rates among women was higher than in men, and the same trend was recorded between the minorities and the whites. The reason being the women earn less than men and minorities have lower wage when compared to whites. Lower poverty rates were recorded among the adult married household than those headed by single women. Regarding age, the poverty rates among adults above 65 years and those at prime age were recorded lower and have been going down. However, higher poverty rates were recorded among the children with the highest being among children from the single-female-headed household. This data aligns with the information in the first reading that indicates the poverty rate among children in America is high.

According to data provided in this article, the high cost of buying basic needs such as food and the low level of income among people are some of the leading causes. However, the provided data has been subjected to a lot of criticism due to its failure to regard income and payrolls. The intervention of the government to combat poverty has also been ignored though it contributes highly to controlling poverty.

 
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