Inequalities in the Economy

Introduction

The United States of America is one of the largest economies in the world. Being a superpower country everyone believes that America rows on a boat with rosy scent. This is actually not the exact case in this country. Our country suffers some amount of economic malnutrition that cannot and should not be overlooked. As much as a good percentage of our country men live a healthy life there are still some of our nationals who go hungry every day. There are those who suffer server frustrations every day. There are those that have been jobless for a long time. Economic imbalance is indeed a real issue in America. The gap between the rich and the poor is indeed distinct in our country. This has led to a number of social problems, one of which I will talk about now.

Problem

Homelessness has for a long time been an issue of concern in the United States. This problem grew a terrific deal from the year 1980 due to increase in social service cut and deterioration, in the American economy. A homeless person is considered as one who lacks a fixed and appropriate place to spend a night, an individual who only has a temporary nighttime residence (Alam 2011).

It was determined that around 200000 to 500000 Americans were homeless back then. The collection of this data has improved over the past one decade as a result of an initiative by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other NGOs. The Department of HUD has been giving an annual report and statistics on the magnitude of homelessness.

This issue is relevant to us because this country is ours and the problems that face it are our problems. It affects the poor, the mentally ill, and the drug addicts. They are our brothers, and relatives that are in this problem of homelessness (Swenson 2007).

According to Department of HUD, there were around 643067 homeless persons both sheltered and unsheltered in the US as of the year 2009. Around 1.56 million people lived in emergency shelter or transitional housing program in between October 2008 and September 2009. This number suggests that up to 1 out of 200 Americans used the shelter system during that period.  The United States conference of mayors established that homelessness was prevalent as a result of lack of affordable housing (72%), poverty (52%), and unemployment (44%).

Some other causes of homelessness include redevelopment and gentrification. This is where some cities declare low-income settlement areas blighted and demolish them to reconstruct new structures that generate better income. This renders the poor, the elderly and the disabled homeless.  Some homeless persons are in that situation due to mental illnesses or drug addiction. They find themselves in the streets against their wish.

Barriers

In the quest to bring a solution to the problem of homelessness, there are certain barriers that faced. These barriers have suppressed the need to carry out projects to uplift the homeless. First the issue has for some time been considered lightly and no one wants to believe that homelessness is an issue worth concern in America. Negligence and alternatively concentrating on other matters by the government has affected the effort a vast deal (Vostanis and Cumella 1999).

 The attitude of the citizens has derailed the initiative. Citizens complain that those homeless people should not be begging in the streets. They never accept that these people have genuine problems. This gives the effort to help them a hard time to convince a way through. Another factor is unemployment. The low-income citizens may not have a means to acquire and maintain house due to the high cost.

Addiction and mental inadequacy among the homeless make it hard to gather them and make give them a shelter. Those that are addicted do not understand the importance of housing or rather cannot acquire it. Another barrier in creating affordable shelter is that some regions do not allow certain types of houses to be erected just for the purpose of creating low price shelter. They have set construction standards that cannot be bent (Glasser and Bridgman 1999). Poverty is another barrier among the homeless. Those that live to extent of less than a dollar per day may not afford a shelter easily. This is due to their inability to raise money for their basic livelihood.

Recommendations

I recommend that the government should promote campaign programs to encourage its citizens to understand the disadvantaged, to help in raising the lives of the poor. The government should promote education to all and start job creating initiatives. The city authorities should provide resettlement areas to those that are affected by city demolitions.

Trade fairs should be organized for the homeless to share in the causes of their homelessness. The welfare rates should be raised; the rents should be made affordable so as to encourage people to pay rent than trying to uplift them when they fall. The love should be spread around (Zhi Yuan 1998). Developers should spread styles of housing evenly across the region. Facilities should be created to house the mentally ill and addicts because they cannot settle in permanent abodes. The addicts should be given time to heal and later trained on how to be self dependent.

Conclusion

 It is indeed clear that economic inequality is a significant problem in our country. This matter exists within us, and we are all responsible for the path it is going to take. We should all rise up to defend our suffering brothers and our country will no doubt be a real superpower.