The Stanford Center of Poverty and Inequality does an in-depth job of finding causes and capturing statistics on poverty and inequality. This website researches education, labor market, income differentials, legal issues, and incidents of discrimination, as each case in these areas, have an impact on poverty and inequality. For example, in education, activities aim to reduce racial discrimination in test scores, dropouts and suicides on reservations, and equal opportunities at all levels of education, regardless of the social status of students or their parents (Reardon, 2020). Another group of scholars highlights the statistical reflection of poverty and answers questions based on national accounts and tax data (Bloom et al., 2020). This research group focuses on the economic causes of poverty. However, to varying degrees, both education and economics create two of the many underlying causes of these inequalities that are discussed in this paper.
Lack of Financial Literacy
The high debt load of the population, irreplaceable debt obligations, attempts to start their own business – all these factors can lead to poverty of a person or a family. Managing one’s funds is not studied in school, not studied in colleges and universities. According to the widespread opinion, no one, except entrepreneurs, can explain how to use money correctly, accumulate funds and live to the best of his ability without crossing the border. Hence the massive problem of the education of the American population, or rather its absence in matters of financial management. This critical moment requires reforms in the educational system since this problem must be addressed from childhood.
Other problems of inequality in education compound lack of financial literacy. Lacking equal opportunities based on race or social status, children from low-income families cannot make their way to high-paying jobs due to the inability to obtain the appropriate qualifications. As a result, a vicious circle is formed, constantly leaving disadvantaged families poor and providing all the opportunities for the wealthy. In addition, the current knowledge control system needs to be refined to bridge the discriminatory performance gap (Reardon, 2020). The problem already requires both symptom treatment and federal intervention funding education for talented students from low-income families.
It is explained by the fact that children are more susceptible to poverty than adults, which leads to the most damaging results. First of all, this is directly related to physical health, which can suffer from malnutrition, hunger, and the inability to rest. The openness of cafes and restaurants, parks on the streets is accessible to a child from childhood, so the pressure due to the lack of sufficient and tasty food immediately affects the psyche. The child gets the impression of not belonging to a prosperous society, contributing to stratification, discrimination, and other social ailments. Lack of opportunities and constant stress leads to the only possible way out – crimes, including theft, deception, and much more, which negatively affect society.
Support Imperfection
The constant redistribution of financial resources between various social organizations can be dictated by pressing problems and ignorance of the optimal option—the question of what the poor deserve, which groups, and what quantity is very relevant. Misdistribution with signs of inequality can only fuel the already significant ethnic problems in the country. Poverty must be eradicated with the help of the state, and the fight against its root causes must be fought. However, since it has already been admitted, the state must also cope with its symptoms. Left unchecked, the problem of poverty can lead not only to demographic problems caused by poor health, crime, and the inability to feed a family, but also to economic ones, as an increasing number of the population will lose their purchasing power and, consequently, the profits of the public and private sectors of the economy will fall.
Periodic payments are not the only correct solution to the problem on the part of the state. These payments cannot fully cover all the necessary needs of a low-income family, which already encounters obstacles on the education path, not to mention employment. Problems accumulate one after another, leading to the negative consequences described above: crimes, drug addiction, and many more. The best public policy direction should be to look for ways to support non-disabled families near the poverty line in ways consistent with long-standing American values, such as taking responsibility for their actions. More educational and work opportunities will provide more employment opportunities for families, generally improving the allocation and management of human resources nationwide. Realizing the potential of every citizen, regardless of race or social status, the state will be able to focus more on global problems, reducing social security.
Conclusion
These aspects were chosen because they are noticeable and discussed in society among the poor and middle class, while they are not apparent when choosing the leading causes of poverty. Education may be imperfect in its form, but it also requires content refinement to change attitudes towards money and wealth from an early age and to instill values of respect and inclusion. Support for low-income families is often discussed in the media, but programs are often created in the political interests more than the interests of the needy. Lack of financial literacy at an early stage can be associated in the long term with the creation of imperfect social programs due to a shift in values and a lack of proper qualifications among developers. This point of view will allow a better assessment of the extent of poverty based on the fundamental causes leading to such symptoms.
References
Bloom N., Chetty R., Saez, E. (2020). Income and Wealth Inequality. Stanford Center of Poverty and Inequality. Web.
Reardon, S. (2020). Education. Stanford Center of Poverty and Inequality. Web.