Poverty in america Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Poverty in america - Essay ExampleConservatives tend to focus on the poor, suggesting their behaviors atomic number 18 the cause of their poverty. Liberals, on the other hand, believe that poverty is created through social problems that cannot be solved by focusing on an individual. Poverty is a social issue and both liberals and conservatives require strong opinions on the topic. Liberal Point of View In their book on the welfargon system and the aspects of social policies that have inadequately approached understanding the problem of poverty, Joel Handler and Yeheskel Hasenfeld suggest that the biggest problem with the system is that it is perpetually built upon a structure of myths that do not accurately represent the problem within the United States. The pervasive insurance policy that causes the worst decision making is that through getting if the barren would just get a job, the impoverished state of a family would be improved. This policy does not take into consideration t he low wages of approximately positions that are available without a college education, the cost of providing a roof, and most importantly, the lack of jobs and the impermanence of low remunerative jobs within the United States (Handler and Hasenfeld 4). This theory does not take into account that there are not abounding jobs for the labor force. The liberal point of captivate embraces the idea that being poor is a state that comes from circumstance, many another(prenominal) of which are out of the control of the individual. This point of view recognizes that poverty affects lives and that not having adequate shelter, food, or resources for health perpetuates a problem that may never be rectified raze if those things are provided due to the economical state of the nation. Handler and Hasenfeld argue that one of the problems with defining poverty in the United States is the assumption that attaining a state above the federally defined poverty line means that a family is adeq uately back up through their own means. However, this is not often the case. The elements that go into to determining the creation of the poverty line are deeply flawed, providing an inaccurate picture of the struggle of financial insecurity within the United States (Handler and Hasenfeld 5). In exploring the liberal point of view, there are many aspects to discuss, but the argument that Handler and Hasenfeld have do about the myths upon which public policy has been built appears to support the basic liberal viewpoint about poverty. citizenry have needs, whether or not they can work. Hunger, according to FRAC (Food Research and Action Center) affects 50.2 million people who are living in food insecure households, with 23.2% of all children not eating on a unfaltering basis. Social support is not about defrauding the taxpayer through welfare, but in trying to find a way to support the needs of people who are starving and in need of basic function for which the state of the econ omy cannot provide. Incidentally Conservative Point of View One of the stronger theories from the conservative point of view which emerged in the 1970s and 1980s on the poor is that of behavioral poverty. Behavioral poverty is based upon the concept that certain behaviors, primarily three behaviors, contribute to the state of poverty. The behaviors that lead to overcoming poverty are completing advanced school, once an adult, get married and stay married (even if not on the first try), and stay employed, even at a wage and under conditions below their ultimate aims