Poverty Here?
A 2017 study by OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) measures the US poverty level at 17.8%, which is worse than Mexico (16.6%),Russia (12.7%), and Denmark (5.8%) . When it comes to child poverty, things are even worse. A UNICEF report found that the United States ranked 34 of 35 developed countries – only Romania had a higher child poverty rate.
Inequality?
It is interesting that when comparing income inequality before taxes, the US is similar to most other developed nations, and even ranks less unequal than countries like Sweden or Denmark. What happens after taxes? Countries such as Sweden and Denmark use their higher tax rates to reduce income inequality by funding much more generous social programs than the United States. Sweden and Denmark invest in their “human capital.”
For a moment, suspend political loyalties and consider that 55 million people in the US live below the poverty line. One in six persons in the US is poor.
Children?
The government cannot make children be successful, but it can promote equal opportunity through public services, including safety net supports and quality education. Children should have the opportunity to achieve because of their talent and effort. All children should expect this opportunity!
As noted by Melissa Kearney for the Brookings Institute: “… in our modern capitalist society – characterized by tremendously high rates of income inequality, regional and local disparities, and extreme cultural and institutional divides – children from different family backgrounds do not have anything close to equal opportunities.”
What is the cost of poor children?
Obviously, there is a heavy burden to those who fall into or are born into poverty. Children suffer physical and psychological health costs inflamed by poverty. Society also bears a heavy burden. Poverty costs us in unrealized productivity and extra expenses for health care, criminal justice, homelessness and child abuse. Michael McLaughlin and Mark Rank published in Social Work Research a calculated cost of childhood poverty in 2015 in the US of $1.03 trillion. This represents 28% of the federal budget for 2015. Their study projected that for each $1 spent to reduce poverty, the country would save $7.
Fear of “Welfare Queens” not withstanding, reducing poverty makes cost benefit sense!