Dear next president,

Poverty is a serious issue that has been spreading across the country rapidly. These people are forced to live on the streets asking for food or money or live in a homeless shelter. We need a change from this awful lifestyle most of the country is living in.

Above all, in the states that seem to have a higher percentage of poverty you should create laws against the amount of children you can have based on the amount of money they’re making. Children in poverty (according to “Child Poverty Is a Critical Problem” by Marian Wright Edelman) “poor children having more health problems, greater high school dropout rates, increased criminality, and greater economic insecurity as adults.” If children are at such a risk of those problems in the state of poverty, any parent wouldn’t want this! It’s awful anyone would have to live in this type of conduct. If you were born into this horrible crisis, wouldn’t you want a change from being clustered and get to live a normal life like everyone else? In the article “Poverty Impacts Rural Communities” by Tamara Thompson it states how “In the United States, people living in poverty tend to be clustered in certain regions, counties, and neighborhoods rather than being spread evenly across the Nation.”

Ending poverty lets the people have a better future. Currently people in poverty are under the risk of having more health problems, greater high school dropout rates (depending on their age), increased criminality, and greater economic insecurity as adults (as i’ve mentioned) and without poverty these problems will decrease. Health problems are caused from poverty because they don’t have the money to pay bills from going to a doctor, so they just decide not to go to the doctor because they can’t pay for it, or pay for any type of bills, therefore, unable to get help when they’re sick. Greater high school dropout rates happen because of poverty because “Poor children are more likely to go hungry, which is associated with lower reading and math scores, greater physical and mental health problems...One study found children who were poor for half of their childhood were nearly 90 percent more likely to enter their 20s without completing high school than never-poor children.” (taken from the article “Child Poverty Is a Critical Problem” by Marian Wright Edelman). Without all these problems, it would be better for the economy.

Children in poverty are more likely to be in poverty when they’re adults because that’s they way they were raised and the only lifestyle they know of. According to “Child Poverty Is a Critical Problem” by Marian Wright Edelman “Those who experienced poverty at any point during their childhood were more than three times as likely to be poor at age 30 as those who were never poor as children.” The longer they are in poverty during their childhood, the more likely they will be poor in the future. The counter argument is that they don’t want to help the poor because some people believe that all they need to do is go somewhere and apply for a job.

Not doing anything about poverty will not fix anything at all. The people in poverty can’t defeat this by themselves. The thing is, is that people in poverty can’t get a job to earn money, because they most likely don’t have the education, experience or skills for a job. They can’t own a house, pay bills or have food because they don’t have and can’t get money if they can’t get a job all because they most likely don’t have the education or skills for one. In “Child Poverty Is a Critical Problem” by Marian Wright Edelman, it explains how “Poor children...are less likely to enter school ready to learn and to graduate from high school. One study found children who were poor for half of their childhood were nearly 90 percent more likely to enter their 20s without completing high school than never-poor children.” And that would change if they were never in poverty.

In conclusion, I believe that in the states that seem to have a higher percentage of poverty you should create laws against the amount of children you can have based on the amount of money they’re making. We need to help them so no one ends up in poverty and have a chance at a better future. Not only will helping the poor improve the economy, but it will also save lives.

I hope that you will take these ideas and do what you can to help end poverty. I know you cannot fix everything since there are so many things you already have to do as president. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I appreciate any efforts you can make in ending poverty. Thank you and good luck running our nation.

Sincerely,

Zoe Jaine Diaz