Joblessness and persistent unemployment continues to drive the poverty rate higher. The economic damage extends to the broader workforce and the country in general, through lost wages, income and wealth, as well as higher poverty. The national unemployment rate is currently 9.1%, and it has been at or above 8.8% for the past 28 months. The underemployment rate has remained between 15.7% and 17.4% since the spring of 2009, and it currently stands at 16.1% (Mishel). Because of the current state the economy is in, it has been difficult for people to earn a decent paycheck or even sometimes find a job to support their families.
Is going to college really worth it? There is no doubt about it, the rising cost of tuition in this country is making college a worse and worse deal for American students. The college costs are rising faster than health care or gas prices in most cases students tend to say that if a teacher has a top student, he or she is the one who gets good grades. However, according to Education Sector, a non-profit education think tank, only 57 percent of bachelor degree students graduate in six years. Colleges restrict young people’s lives because after college they have debt of $50,000 or more to repay due to student loans.
STEPHEN JOYCE Student Loan Debt It was announced last summer that total student loan debt, at $830 billion, now exceeds total US credit card debt, itself bloated to the bubble level of $827 billion. And student loan debt is growing at the rate of $90 billion a year. There are far fewer students than there are credit card holders. Could there be a student debt bubble at a time when college graduates’ jobs and earnings prospects are as gloomy as they have been at any time since the Great Depression? The data indicate that today’s students are saddled with a burden similar to the one currently borne by their parents.
1. Economists Neumark and Nizalova found people in their 20’s worked less and earned less when exposed to long term minimum wage employment (Henderson, 2006, No. 550). 2. Increased minimum wage for teens without a high school diploma was responsible for over 114,000 fewer employed teens (Even, 2010, p. A15).
In 2008, 15.45 million children, or 20.7%, were poor (Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States, 2009). Declining wages account for a major part in the increase of poverty in families. Therefore putting housing out of reach for many families. Statistics show that households still need to work over 40 hours a
; a surgeon versus a primary care physician), the higher the income compensation. This is partially due to the extensive training and cost associated with becoming a provider of health care and the demand it fulfills for buyers. Even with all the costs associated with education the income more than pays for the education within the first couple of years after practicing. At the point of recession in the nation for the past decade, with unemployment up, and lower incomes for many families, a basic primary care physician still earned $146,405 in 2003. With Medicaid and Medicare payer programs at the top of the list in payments to health care providers it has put a strain on government budgets.
Families suffered a dramatic loss of income during Herbert Hoover's term in office, dropping 35% in those four years to $15M. This put a great deal of stress on families. Some reacted by pulling together, making due with what they had, and turning to family and friends for help. Only after exhausting all alternatives would they reluctantly look to the government for help. Other families did not fare as well, and ended up failing apart.
Education Debt in the United States and Abroad and Finding a Possible Solution “The cost of college tuition has skyrocketed with huge increases over the past five years as college aid has been reduced by states budgets. By every indication, college is now more expensive than it has ever been, making it out of reach of not only poor Americans, but even middle class ones” (Jilani). The debt attained by those seeking higher education in the United States is a far cry from many countries. In contrast, the cost of tuition in the United States has continued to rise to the tune of approximately 1.2 trillion dollars to date with no realistic solution to alleviate the situation. “The average cost per year for attending
Recession & Unemployment in America America, as a whole, has been under an economic recession for over four years. The government is spending much more money than they are making. The government can always make more money. Many American families cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. Prices are rising while the family income is not.
The United States poverty rate is higher than ever. Over the past year, the poverty rate has being bouncing back and forth between 12 and 15 percent. It seems to me that the government shows a lot more interest in the United States defense systems rather than focusing on ways to reduce poverty. I came to the conclusion that we should reduce military expenses and spend more money on education. The government tends to spend billions of dollars on battle ships and fighter jets.