Structural Functional Theories Of Poverty In The United States

According to sociologists they have different theories of poverty. Structural functional theory of poverty describes more so that poverty motivates people to climb higher up, poverty and inequality serve as a specific function in society, and everything in society has a purpose and a function. The conflict theory of poverty on the other hand deals with proletariat and bourgeoisie, gaps in wealth, and conflicts causing change. One of the more entrenched sources of poverty throughout the world is social inequality that stems from cultural ideas about the relative worth of different genders, races, ethnic groups, and social classes. Ascribed inequality works by placing individuals in different social categories at birth, often based on religious,

Numerous people in the United States are out on the streets with no food, clothing, shelter, education, respect, employment, or even safe drinking water. Half the world, nearly three billion people, live on less than two dollars a day (Shah). These issues of poverty are caused by a number of different things such as low labor productivity, recession, structural changes in our economy, personal factors, demographic trends, budget cuts, and other personal factors (Brux). There should not be, in my eyes, so much Poverty in the United States. In 2009, 43.6 million people were in poverty, with the official poverty rate being 14.3% (Poverty). The number of people in poverty in 2009 is the largest number in the 51 years for which poverty estimates have been published (Poverty). How are we suppose to educate people in this world, receive better jobs, broaden our society, or do other important things if the issue of people being in poverty and not having enough money to live is constantly a problem? Poverty is not fair to our society as a whole. With school being so expensive, it is hard for everyone to gain a valuable education. The average cost per year of tuition, fees, room, and board at a four-year public college in 2004/2005 was $11,354 (Kraybill). This is not fair, something needs to be done so everyone has an

Reducing poverty requires us to look at what the government needs to do and what individuals should also do. There needs to be both a combination of responsible behavior and policies. One proposal to fixing poverty is better welfare programs. Encouraging and rewarding work is a very important thing, it could reduce many problems we have today. We need to find more ways to provide additional health care and childcare assistance, and a higher minimum wage in which all these things will support low income working families. The programs that we do have are food stamps; general assistance; Medicaid; the State Children’s Health Insurance Program; Supplemental Security Income; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; the Earned Income Credit; and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Brux). Pros of having better welfare programs are they can be simple, valuable, and provide food, shelter, or