Uniting the Nation- Rethinking Adversity of the Poor

Abstract

A root cause of today’s social tensions and divisions rest with poverty. Studies suggest that that individuals who grow up in poverty-stricken families are much more likely to be in poverty during their early adulthood, and the poverty rate in African American children is astoundingly high. This paper adopts data science approaches to identify drivers behind childhood poverty in the United States, and finds that these factors tend to reinforce each other and go hand in hand with poverty. Specifically, common factors are found to be driving childhood poverty, a weak healthcare system, inadequate education resources, lack of public safety infrastructure and insufficient job opportunities.

The current social safeguard framework, supported by both the government and private institutions, appears fragmented and lacks the necessary alignment across healthcare, education, public safety and job creation. The study shows that barring a systematic approach to address the drivers of childhood poverty, the poverty problem is unlikely to be fundamentally addressed. Building on these findings, the paper calls for a number of mutually coherent policies, including introducing a more effective financing scheme for the children in poverty, creating an enabling job market environment for the poor, reforming the funding pattern of schools, creating a safe environment for all children, and enhancing health services for those living in poverty.