Comments (add 5): In some ways, the result of all the tax money and charity that has been funneled into the aim at eliminating poverty is baffling. As we continue the conversation, it will become less so.

As a beginning, consider that people in the U.S. have moved out of that deep poverty, yet there are still many who fall into the federal guidelines of the poverty rate while they have cars, air conditioners, widescreen televisions, and other things that most of us do not put into the same category as food, shelter, and clothing.

Class,

What do you think could be some of the reasons for this?

Response one PADM-01

Programs such as SNAP and Section 8 Housing definitely assist low income families financially, but I don’t believe these programs are working effectively to reduce the poverty rate. With the exception of countries like Mexico and Turkey, the United States is one of the highest ranking poverty rates in the entire world.

Poverty cannot be completely eliminated. However, there are several ways to reduce and improve it. One way is by developing and implementing rapid and sustained economic growth policies and programs, in areas such as health, education, nutrition and sanitation. Then, allowing the poor to participate and contribute to the growth.  Another is to allow the impoverished to empowering themselves by involving them in the development and implementation of plans and programs to reduce and eradicate poverty. Their involvement ensures that programs reflect those things that are important to them. Creating and improving access to jobs and income, developing entrepreneurial talent, and providing access to technology/innovation are steps that can be taken toward reducing poverty in the world. The key to reducing poverty is education. Given the strong connection between educational success and economic disadvantage, we might expect education policy to focus on ways to overcome the effects of poverty. The primary question lingering with me is “should alleviating poverty be the primary purpose of our public schools?” I just can’t come up with a clear answer. Yes, poor people absolutely need more education and skill training, but they also need an economic context wherein they can realize the economic returns from their improved human capital. Over the past few decades, the set of institutions and norms that historically maintained the link between skills and incomes have been diminished, particularly for non-college-educated workers. Restoring their strength and status is essential if we want the poor to reap the benefits they deserve from educational advancement.

With that said, I believe the TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) needs a considerable overhaul. States’ primary performance measure under TANF, the work participation rate, discourages states from assisting families in the greatest need.  States are more likely to meet the rate if they assist families that already have some education, skills, and/or work experience and have the best chance of either securing employment or participating in a narrowly defined set of work activities.  States can identify such families in various ways, and many states do so.  As a result, the families that mostly need assistance are the least likely to have access to it. So in essence, I consider the effectiveness of TANF and other social service programs, like SNAP, EITC and Section 8 Housing, to have a minimal to moderate effect. It is imperative that people and governments work together to implement these ideas and others so it’s possible to end poverty once and for all.

References

Butz, A. M. (2016), Theorizing About Poverty and Paternalism in Suburban America: The Case of Welfare Sanctions. Poverty & Public Policy, 8: 129–140. doi:10.1002/pop4.136

Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). Family Poverty, Welfare Reform, and Child Development. Child Development, 71(1), 188.

Brown, J. B., & Lichter, D. T. (2004). Poverty, welfare, and the livelihood strategies of nonmetropolitan single mothers*. Rural Sociology, 69(2), 282-301. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docview/199311278?accountid=8289

Response two PAMD-02

he War on Poverty has been going on for over 50 years. With Trillions of dollars spent to reduce poverty, there may be little data to show if the United States has really dealt with this situation appropriately. A recent poll shows the poverty rate currently is 14.8 percent, which equates to 46.7 million people (Varghese, 2016). However, when the initial programs were created to decrease poverty, the rate of poverty was 14.3 percent (Tanner & Hughes, 2014). The United States has been battling the problem of poverty with money for a long time and clearly, by looking at statistics, it’s just not working. It has been stated that the programs in place need revision on calculating what constitutes poverty. This includes creating an authority that is tasked to revise the poverty measure or formula (Blank, 2008).

Though it is commonly accepted through the United States to decrease poverty, the means in which we calculate poverty may not be accepted and should be revised. The idea that it is feasible to help others is correct in that everyone in poverty is a potential risk and weak chain in our infrastructure as a nation. The cost of these policies seem very high for the lack of decrease in poverty, this means other courses of action should be investigated to see if either less money can be spent or better programs implemented. The negative effects are the amount of money spent on the war on poverty, which need to be mitigated by reevaluating how we calculate poverty on a person or household. This is also an unintended effect over the past thirty years because no one expected poverty to be at the same rate. Every year, the policies should be revised if there is not any sort of decrease.

It is a good program that the United States has invested much time on, but this does not change the fact that there are some serious questions that are raised by the statistics, especially when the amount spent is researched.

References

Varghese, S. A. (2016), Poverty in the United States: A Review of Relevant Programs. Poverty & Public Policy, 8: 228–247. doi:10.1002/pop4.148

Tanner & Hughes (2014). The war on poverty turns 50. Are we winning yet? Policy analysis. Retrieved from https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/war-poverty-turns-50-are-we-winning-yet

Blank, R. M. (2008). Presidential address: How to improve poverty measurement in the united states. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27(2), 233-254. 10.1002/pam.2032

Response three PAMD-02

The war on poverty turned 50 years in 2014 and so far can be described as being moderately successful for example in the early period of war they helped reduce material deprecation (Arloc, 2013). They also included African American women into the task force following the Civil Rights Act which was also beneficial to aiding its reduction. On the downside too many programs have been created, causing concern as they are costly yet have not achieved the fully desired results.

Although over time more budget allocations have been set aside to help in the fight against poverty continues rising and therefore these systems cannot be said to be effective. The main issue with the war on poverty is the lack of creation of new job opportunities as for the most part legislators in Congress allocates more to social programs that help control the living standards of the poor but do not eradicate it. It is notable that the poor people in America have more access to technology and other material things unlike those in the1970s for example as of 2014, 98% of poor households had a television while two thirds had a car which is a drastic change yet they are still living in poverty but just more comfortable (C.E.A, 2013).

 America is focused and working to eradicate poverty through use of Social programs. The country has, and continues to create better opportunities for its people especially those living in poverty with a large number of programs such as food stamps where they get daily access to certain basic foods, public housing in section 8, there is also the Women, Infants, and Children food program and in the health sector Medicaid (Arloc, 2013). Although USA has a large number of social programs compared to other developed countries such as those in Europe there is still more work to be done. That is not to say that they are not improving but through use of the numerous social programs created living standards of Americans in poverty should have improved by now.

The reason for the lack of proper social programs is that unlike Europe, USA programs are both dependent on public and private spending while the latter only focuses on the public sector. The irony is the largest share of the US per capita mostly goes to social programs which makes it the biggest spender yet of all other developed nations but it still has the largest number of people who live in poverty (C.E.A, 2013). This can be attributed to poor economic outcomes such as recession that led to inflation of prices of goods and loss of jobs which continues to increase the level of poverty in the country.                                                                

There are close to 126 social programs and billions are used every year to facilitate them. Medicare is one of the social programs although beneficial and effective it should be more controlled as it has caused states to spend most of their revenue leaving other programs lacking. The federal government should be more involved in issuing waivers and helping out on the situation to ensure that all social programs work effectively. Other programs that have not been successful and need revision are early childhood education program and the substance-abuse prevention program D.A.R.E that has been largely criticized as not beneficial and the money should be allocated to more important issues of poverty (Arloc, 2013).

Using the policy framework, social welfare issues can be described as dependent on the government and private institutions for its success (Gerald et al, 2013). There has been a lot of money set aside for this projects especially since the decision was made on the war on poverty. Social programs lie in the federal government domain and must be passed by the congress for them to be implemented. Local governments are also involved in implementing these programs and can change them for their benefit. Therefore, in conclusion, social programs have been beneficial so far in the war against poverty but some must be revised and more effort should be put in creating better opportunities for those living in poverty.

 

References

Arloc. S. (2013). “Official Poverty Measure Masks Gains Made Over Last 50 Years.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/files/9-13-13pov.pdf

Gerald. A, Gee. G & Turner. N. (2013). “Income Inequality, Mobility, and Turnover at the Top in the US, 1987–2010.” American Economic Review 103:168–172.

Council of Economic Advisers. (2013). “Trends in Health Care and Cost Growth and the Role of the AffordableCare Act.” November. “Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes.”

RESSPONSE FOUR-PADM