Final Paper Progress

The global issue that I chose for research for my final paper is Poverty and Income
Inequality. Specifically, I will be looking at the relationship between poverty and income
inequality. The research will aim at establishing whether income inequality dampens growth
effect on poverty, by looking at the U.S. growth elasticity argument holds that increase in income
inequality has a weakening effect on the effect that growth has on poverty reduction. The
dampening effect refers to the negative effect that income inequality has on the growth elasticity
of poverty. The research will focus on the U.S. County data and will analyze poverty rates and
the level of income inequality in relation to real median household income. Inequality can have
an indirect effect on poverty as it affects economic growth. In turn, economic growth influences
poverty. Small changes in the distribution of income could largely affect poverty. Further
research on this topic is important because there is a need to identify how income inequality
affects growth. Besides, economic growth has a minimal effect on the reduction of poverty in
countries where income inequality is high. Thus, income inequality and poverty are intrinsically
linked. Progressive policies such as reducing tax on the personal income of people within low-
income brackets can help reduce income inequality, which will in effect, enhance economic
growth and reduce poverty rates.
Poverty and income inequality negatively affect communities, families, and individuals.
The specific population that I am looking at is children. Poverty affects children’s physical and
mental development. The effect of poverty on children is actually detrimental as it stunts their
growth and development. A report by the Council on Community Pediatrics states that infants
and young children from poor backgrounds in the U.S. are more likely to have lower levels of
development compared to their counterparts in non-poor communities (Nasir & Mridha, 2017).

The disadvantages of growing up poor multiply as children advance in age, and continue living
in poor conditions. Some of these disadvantages include attending inferior schools with fewer
resources, living in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, where their security is compromised, they
also have unmet health needs, and multiple other hardship challenges. Poverty exacts a heavy toll
on children.
Research provides shocking data on the impact that poverty has on children. Children
from the bottom quintile of income are more likely to commit a crime when they mature into
adults. Economic theory suggests that people tend to commit a crime when the proceeds exceed
the cost. Poor individuals have a higher rate of return to commit a crime. Street crime
victimization cost per annum is $700 billion and it is estimated that $140 billion is attributed to
childhood poverty (McLaughlin & Rank, 2018). Thus, the cost of childhood poverty is very high.
Further, poverty contributes to very high rates of child homelessness. At some point in 2013,
there were about 2,483,539 homeless children (McLaughlin & Rank, 2018). The level of income
in a household is highly related to child maltreatment. Therefore, the poorer a child is, the higher
the likelihood that they will be maltreated. The fact is that childhood poverty has an economic
burden on the U.S. the potential of children is undermined if they grow in poverty. Greater
human development gaps are experienced by children who tend to grow up n poverty. The ability
of children who are impoverished is diminished hence reducing their likelihood to contribute to
economic growth and development.

References

McLaughlin, M., & Rank, M. R. (2018). Estimating the Economic Cost of Childhood Poverty in
the United States. Social Work Research, 42(2), 73. https://doi-org.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/10.1093/swr/svy007
Nasir, A. B. M. & Mridha, H. A. (2017). Does income inequality dampen growth effect on
poverty? evidence from the US county data. The Journal of Developing Areas, 51(4),
167-177.