Poverty Is Not A Personal Choice Sociology

Poor people are not poor by choice. According to the article, Poverty Is Not a Personal Choice, “The idea of poverty being a cultural issue—the poor are poor because they are lazy—rather than a policy issue has become dominant in this country in the past few decades.” People of poverty are frequently categorized as uneducated or unqualified when this is clearly not the case. Opportunities are only offered to the educated which automatically lessens the poor’s chances of extricating oneself from poverty. In the United States, poverty has escalated due to the failure to increase minimum wage, cost of living, and lack of government assistance.

Failure to increase minimum wage

Statistics shows that increasing minimum wage can decrease unemployment

in the United States. If the amount of minimum wage increases, businesses may not be able maintain the same number employees, and will be forced to cutback spending to stay in budget. In fact, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago study, “10 percent increase in the minimum wage lowers low skill employment by 2 to 4 percent and total restaurant employment by 1 to 3 percent.” The government has a logical point, raising minimum wage can cause conflict in our society. However, raising minimum wage can also benefit the United States. Increasing minimum wage could be served as an act of Economic Stimulus meaning that if wage is risen minimum wage workers would have more to money expend which also means more money ripples throughout the economy as minimum wage employees are able to spend more” (Halvorson). Also, turnover rates can be reduced. If minimum wage increases, employees are more likely to be pleased with their incomes which would cancel out the number of employees who quit because of the low pay; making it less money dispersed to hire and train new employees. Minimum wage should be equally disputed giving the poor opportunities to survive in this economy.
Cost of Living
Low minimum wage is one thing, but what about the increasing cost of living which is putting more people in poverty? The cost of living is constantly increasing in the United States. How are minimum wage workers expected to pay these increasing costs while making the minimum pay? The cost of living is practically putting more low middle come families into poverty. According to an online article, “These households live on such critically low wages that they are prevented from "participating in society" in economic terms, beyond the rudiments of purchasing food, shelter and clothes” (Brinded). These families are not poor by choice. Mortgages and/or rents are averaged at about $700 or more a month. Some parents are working 40 hours a week, getting paid two times a week and still cannot make ends meet. These parents are sacrificing basic living essentials just to feed their children. Is poor still really a choice?