Public Policy, Poverty

Public Policy, Poverty

The U.S. has implemented various policies to fight poverty which include; the income maintenance policy, public policy to health, food assistance policy, housing, energy and utility subsidies, education and childcare assistance law (Institute of Medicine and National Research Council., 2013). These policies help alleviate poverty by providing food, shelter, education, healthcare and money to their citizens. For instance, social programs help U.S. citizens to save for their retirement. These programs focus on improving the living standards of low-income families to maintain a standard healthcare, education and live above the absolute poverty line. The education sector, for instance, is improved by providing funds for primary, secondary and college tuition

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Following the implementation of these public policies, the poverty levels in the U.S. has dropped to the lowest level. The health policy has reduced the infant mortality rate by about 20 percent and increases life expectancy by about 47 percent (Institute of Medicine and National Research Council., 2013). The social security policy increased the minimum benefits of 12 million senior citizens and put them above the poverty line. The overall child poverty has been declining since 1993, recoding its lowest level in 1999 among African American children. The aggregated spending on social programs is associated with better health outcomes (National Academies (U. S.) et al., 2013).

Mooney et al., (2007), writes that public policies bring considerable mobility among white and black children, as well as aid them to escape poverty in early adulthood. Mooney continues to say that public policies adopted by the U.S. continue to help the poor and low-income earners to become economically independent, which is essential to aiding them to cater for their children education and other household expenses. Lastly, education policy provides students both in lower and upper education levels with grants to fund their school expenses.

References:

Mooney, L., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2007). Understanding social problems (5th ed., pp. 182-199). Wadsworth.

National Academies (U. S.), Institute of Medicine (U. S.), Woolf, S., Aron, L., Steven H. Woolf., & Laudan Aron. (2013). U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health (1st ed., pp. 216-218). National Academies Press.

Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2013. U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. Wahington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://dio.org/10.17226/13497.

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