Introduction
One of the main problems in the world is the problem of poverty, which means the inability to provide the simplest and most affordable living conditions for most people in a given country. High levels of poverty, especially in developing countries, pose a serious threat to national and global sustainable development. The U.S.A. is one of the world’s richest, most powerful, and technologically innovative countries; the UN expert stressed that neither the country’s wealth nor its strength nor its technologies is used to help 40 million people who live in poverty. In order to investigate this phenomenon in the U.S.A., this paper aims to define the problem, provide evidence, suggest a hypothesis, and represent data collection and analysis methods.
Problem
The problem of poverty is a complex multidimensional problem, the causes of which are both national and international. Economically, the United States is a powerful power, and the GDP per capita in this country is one of the highest in the world. In the USA, the income gap has been widening greatly since the 70s of the twentieth century (Van Heuvelen & Brady, 2022). According to the US Federal Reserve report, in 2020, the total wealth of one percent of the richest Americans amounted to 30.5 percent of all household assets in the US, and the condition of the poorest 50 percent of the country’s population was only 1.9 percent. In the USA, there are about 40 million beggars, about 500 thousand homeless, and more than a million people are malnourished (Creamer et al., 2022). The concern caused by the problem is explained not only and not so much by the fact that it hinders global development, diverts funds from more profitable areas of capital application from the point of view of economic efficiency.
Literature Review
The rapidly widening gap between rich and poor in the United States is a sign of a deep crisis of the neoliberal capitalist order. Privatization, marketization, and liberalization are quite active in the country, which meets the interests of the rich and their groups of influence and not the wishes of the majority. American politicians like to use the concepts of “equality” and “justice” to prove the superiority of the American system (Van Heuvelen & Brady, 2022). However, the facts show that American interest groups pay attention only to protecting the interests and improving the condition of the rich, without putting the poor in anything.
The monetarist concept of the United States has led to the fact that poverty in the country is becoming more and more commonplace every year. Currently, due to the next economic crisis in the country, the unemployment rate is rising sharply, and several tens of millions of Americans live below the poverty line – about a third of the US population (Desmond & Western, 2018). According to the latest data from the US Census Bureau, published in September 2017, more than 40 million people live in poverty in the US – one in eight Americans; 18.5 million US citizens live in extreme poverty (Creamer et al., 2022). Neither the country’s wealth, nor its strength, nor its technology are being used to help the 40 million people who live in poverty (Creamer et al., 2022). It means that the USA, which is a “land of opportunity”, is turning into a champion of inequality.
Hypothesis
If the return on capital corresponds to productivity growth, the poverty level is likely to diminish. The dependent variable here is poverty, as its degree entirely depends on return on capital which is the independent variable, and productivity growth. The connection between these variables is conditioned by the idea that the more money and the less efficiency there are, the more people are exposed to unemployment as the upper class rules the capital.
Data Collection and Analysis
The research will incorporate qualitative and quantitative data that will be collected from local community residents. The sample of 150 individuals will be given a questionnaire to assess specific tendencies, including their perception of their lifestyle, employment, education, and others. This will help address the qualitative component of the research. Based on the gathered information, numerical data will arise, providing statistical information about the general tendencies in the chosen community. The percentage will be calculated to measure the potential trends in poverty development in the country.
Conclusion
Poverty is one of those global challenges, the search for an answer to which the world community will have to search for more than one decade. It is projected onto the economy, social relations, politics, and culture; it directly affects such basic characteristics of any person’s life as health status and level of education. Due to high market capitalization, almost 40 million people are affected by it in the U.S. The current research aims to evaluate the problem of poverty in the U.S.A. showing current trends using a local community sample – individuals who will be given a questionnaire. The primary attention will be paid to the actor of capitalization and employment as the hypothesis concerns the level of return of capital and productivity growth affecting the degree of poverty.
References
Van Heuvelen, T., & Brady, D. (2022). Labor unions and American poverty. ILR Review, 75(4), 891–917. Web.
Desmond, M., & Western, B. (2018). Poverty in America: New directions and debates. Annual Review of Sociology, 44, 305-318. Web.
Creamer, J., Shrider, E., Burns, K., & Chen, F. (2022). Poverty in the United States: 2021. United States Census Bureau. Web.