(Valentine: 1968, 13). .
Poverty is not something that has just recently become an issue; it has been around for many years. The economy has been a major influence on the levels of poverty in our nation. In 1973, poverty increased because then the economy worsened. Real wages and productivity decreased, and the economy could not grow fast enough to absorb the large number of potential workers, which caused unemployment to increase (Katz: 1989, 154). Ever since then our government has tried to reduce the poverty in our nation, and so far has had a hard time. In 1996, Bill Clinton addressed the welfare bill, and that resulted in an estimated one million children being thrown into poverty (Egendorf: 1999, 19). However, assistance from the Government has also been helpful. Programs such as Social Security, Food stamps, housing assistance are safety nets that has helped lower the .
high risk of poverty. Without these added benefits, people would be a lot worse than they are now. The safety net programs reduced the child poverty rate from 24% before the benefits were counted down to 16% (Egendorf: 1999, 19). Supplemental Security income, local general assistance, and earned income tax credits have also been popular components of income in the United States (Lynn, McGeary: 1990, 235). .
Education levels are not as high in urban areas, which means that the people who are living in these areas are not qualified for the high paying jobs. High skilled jobs are beyond the reach of those who live in areas of concentrated poverty, and those who are going for the high skilled jobs, are finding their way out of these areas of concentrated poverty. Higher standard of living also attracts immigrants, which makes it hard for people living in urban areas to find good paying jobs, because the immigrants will work for lower wages. .
What about the myth that America is the land of opportunity? With such a high standard of living, many believe this is not true (Shein: 1998, 13).
