America has always dealt with the issue of poverty. During the Great Depression, many programs were made to provide assistance to the poor. The Works Progress Administration put millions of people to work. Also, Congress passed the Social Security Act, establishing a tax to provide benefits for people in need (Axelrod-Contrada,2010). In the course of four decades, the War on Poverty created programs such as Head Start, food stamps, Medicare, and Medicaid, all of which still provide benefits to the poor today. Although many reforms have been made, poverty is still a major issue in America, with an estimated forty-six million people living in poverty today (Edelman,2012). What is society doing wrong? Why are so many people still living in poverty?
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Although the cost of living is increasing, minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009. In result, many people can barely afford to pay the rent. "In many cities where the cost of living is high, he explains, these workers would have to earn two to four times the minimum wage just to be be able to afford the average rent of a modest apartment." (Roleff,86). Recently, there has been a lot of controversy over the topic of minimum wage. Many people have used the argument “minimum skills equals minimum pay” and stating that fast food workers do not deserve as much as a person with a medical degree. The problem with this argument is people are demanding a service while simultaneously degrading those who provide for them. Another argument is that the jobs that pay minimum wage, which are commonly referred to as “fast food” jobs, are for high school or college students and not for middle-aged adults providing for a family. However, when a single mother is working three part time jobs to provide for her family but still is behind on rent, there is obviously a problem. There is also an extreme wage gap between minimum wage workers and CEOs. “As the AFL-CIO notes, if a minimum-wage worker's pay has grown as fast in the past five years as pay of CEOs of American corporations, it would now be $49,000-$23 an hour." (Roleff,87). In summary, a person cannot get out of poverty with an unrealistic living wage and extreme wage
Although the cost of living is increasing, minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009. In result, many people can barely afford to pay the rent. "In many cities where the cost of living is high, he explains, these workers would have to earn two to four times the minimum wage just to be be able to afford the average rent of a modest apartment." (Roleff,86). Recently, there has been a lot of controversy over the topic of minimum wage. Many people have used the argument “minimum skills equals minimum pay” and stating that fast food workers do not deserve as much as a person with a medical degree. The problem with this argument is people are demanding a service while simultaneously degrading those who provide for them. Another argument is that the jobs that pay minimum wage, which are commonly referred to as “fast food” jobs, are for high school or college students and not for middle-aged adults providing for a family. However, when a single mother is working three part time jobs to provide for her family but still is behind on rent, there is obviously a problem. There is also an extreme wage gap between minimum wage workers and CEOs. “As the AFL-CIO notes, if a minimum-wage worker's pay has grown as fast in the past five years as pay of CEOs of American corporations, it would now be $49,000-$23 an hour." (Roleff,87). In summary, a person cannot get out of poverty with an unrealistic living wage and extreme wage