Dear Next President,

Why does the United States have a high rate of poverty despite its extensive wealth and resources? Understanding the causes of poverty is important because it can guide us to the appropriate solutions. This issue affects everyone in some sense. Families living in poverty are forced to make choices that are beyond the comprehension of most people, such as deciding whether to buy food or pay the rent. Poverty isn’t simply about money. A person living in poverty faces a higher degree of stress while dealing with the daily struggle to meet basic needs. Of course, there are different perspectives on this issue. Nowadays poverty isn’t really a topic that is talked about because people are more focused on other social issues that are viewed as more significant such as terrorism, healthcare, education and ignore the fact that over the years poverty continues to expand worldwide. Many attribute poverty to personal failings. The United Sates promotes the concept of self-sufficiency. People are expected to be in charge of their own destinies and display little tolerance to those who are unable to pull themselves up. Since this is a worldwide issue we might think that there is absolutely nothing that can be done to help, but that’s not the case. The government does provide help to those in need, but the problem with this is that only the people who qualify are given economic support. I believe that welfare should be available to everyone regardless of their income.

Sincerely,

Yoselin