Heal the World of Poverty | Teen Ink

Heal the World of Poverty

May 21, 2018
By ohthatssoph BRONZE, Houston, Texas
ohthatssoph BRONZE, Houston, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Eva Anderson owned a business and earned enough money to live an adequate lifestyle, until her business was hacked into. Her rent was increased by too much, she couldn’t find work in three different states, she was unable to pay for her car so it was repossessed, and shelters were overcrowded. Therefore, she became another one of the many homeless people living in poverty.  We must conclude our fight with impoverishment, or else the majority of the U.S. population will end up as indigents. Brainstorming solutions is the simple part; the exhausting part is implementing the solutions into society.


People tend to blame the people who fall victim to hardship and deprivation for their situation. These accusations can be aimed towards people who resort to drugs, are lazy, criminals who made the wrong choices, and etc. On the other hand, there are people who do work to try and get out of poverty, but can’t because of the economy. We, the resources that help build a successful economy aren’t available every have to face the fact that there are problems with the economy too. For example where, the government doesn’t focus on poverty, there aren’t enough opportunities for decent jobs or education, and unexpected life situations all contribute to the amount of people in destitution today in our country.   


Jan L. was one of the people in poverty and was homeless a few times growing up, and she blames the lack of income as the cause. Jan said, “five out of six people are paid less than what they need in America” and “wages must reflect the real need.” The minimum salary that average workers receive isn’t enough. Prices for items such as food, clothing, gas, and etc. have increased so much over the past few decades that many people can no longer afford basic life necessities. Minimum wage must reflect a living wage. The adequate income has to be enough for a person to purchase food, clothing, pay for rent, and other everyday needs of an average person. 
Bambi recalls a time when he was a little boy and his family could afford unlimited eggnog during Christmas even though they were poor, but now things have changed. Bambi barely earns enough money for him and his daughter, yet he still wanted to purchase eggnog for Christmas. When he went to the store he said the price rose too much for him to afford it.  The price of almost everything rose up except for people’s salary. Business owners should lower their costs, so at least half of the population will be able to afford their needs. The increasing costs of products equals less customers which can lead to less profit earned. Thus, decreasing the value of merchandise would benefit the consumer and seller.


In addition, we need to start supporting pay equity. Men have been paid more than women for working at the same job with equal experience and it’s unfair.  Many single mothers are in poverty, but if they received an equal amount of income then they would struggle less. Some people may say that women need to marry the father of their child, but if she were to receive additional money then, there’s no need for her to force a marriage. Pay equality not only affects poor women, but it is also an equal rights achievement for women all over the United States.


The amounts of job opportunities available are diminishing. If someone doesn’t have a job then they will most likely end up being poor. Therefore, the government should invest in job creation strategies. The government “should build on proven models of subsidized employment.” Subsidized employment is a type of program that provides jobs to people who can’t find any work, and the government employs them while paying for some if not all of their income. If federal unemployment insurance was extended in 2014 two hundred thousand new jobs would’ve been created. However, it wasn’t which led to 1.3 million Americans and their families living without it. With that in mind the government needs to extend federal unemployment insurance.


Furthermore, the government’s spending budget has to decrease. In 2015 they spent a total of 3.8 trillion dollars. There is a “discretionary budget” (a portion of the budget that is decided by Congress through a yearly process) and a required spending budget. The required budget spent 2.45 trillion dollars in 2015 on social security, unemployment, labor, Medicare and health, food and agriculture, veterans’ benefits, transportation, and other areas. The total amount of the discretionary expenses were 1.1 trillion dollars which were spent on the military, government, education, Medicare and health, veterans’ benefits, housing and community, international affairs, energy and environment, science, social security, unemployment, labor, transportation, and food and agriculture.
All the money the government receives to use comes from taxes and borrowing which causes us to be in debt. The amount of money being spent could amount to a larger sum than what is in 2015. The government doesn’t need to spend around that much every year.  They have to stop using that money for unnecessary things like war, corruption, and etc.   Ever since the government started to spend heaps of money they became in debt, and because they are in debt they can’t help out with world problems such as poverty, as much as they could have if they weren’t in debt.


Poverty must be reduced or come to an end soon unless we want an event like the Great Depression occurring sometime in the future. We must motivate others, so our solutions can be successful. Intrinsic motivation is the key to making all of the solutions effect and decrease the amount of destitution. With that being said, people that may end up in Bambi’s situation and even Bambi himself would highly appreciate it if they could receive the assistance they are in need of.


The author's comments:

This piece was a part of an assignment from my teacher, but this topic means a lot to me because I see many people struggling daily. I decided to inform people about how hard it is to be poor, and I want to inspire them to help fight to end this monstrosity. 


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