Poverty is one of the primary sociological issues affecting the US despite the fact the North American is considered the richest country globally. In 2019, the country's poverty rate was 10.5 percent, with thirty-four million Americans being considered impoverished (Semega et al., 2020). Such individuals include those with a yearly income of around $12,700 and below. Currently, there are around forty-four million Americans who are impoverished. This figure is likely to rise due to the ramifications of COVID-19 on the country's economy.
Sociological Perspectives
Sociological perspectives offer a powerful lens for viewing poverty and, in this case, can allow us to disentangle it from a variety of similar concepts such as inequality. Perspectives such as the conflict, functionalism, and interactionalist views offer unique views on the concept of poverty. The functionalist view perceives poverty exists as a tool for ensuring society's stability and continuity (Korgen & White, 2010). Society stability is essential to guarantee a strong society. The view assumes that poverty is inevitable due to the presence of stratification. Sociologists point out that stratification exists since it serves vital functions for society. Each stratum, including that of the impoverished, contributes in some way to the stability of the overall system. According to this view, poverty arises from the presence of different jobs requiring different skill sets. Sociologists point out that some jobs are more vital than others since the former require more skills and knowledge than the latter. In addition, they also indicate that only a few individuals have the capacity to acquire the knowledge and skills that are required to perform the essential, highly-skilled jobs. Society needs to provide incentives such as higher incomes for individuals to accept to carry out the vital, highly skilled jobs. In this case, given such a view, there are bound to have higher remuneration than others. There are people who will have less income than other individuals. Some income levels will be below $12,700, meaning that there are poor individuals. From this perspective, it is evident that poverty is unavoidable. The perspective implies that if individuals are poor, they are in such a state since they do not possess the capacity to obtain the knowledge and skills needed for the essential, high-paying jobs.
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The conflict perspective views poverty as an individual's lack of opportunity due to bias and discrimination against the poor. It derives its view from Karl Marx's model of class societies. Marx asserts that there exists a conflict between the needs and interests of two groups, the powerful and the weak (Korgen & White, 2010). There is a gap between high-status individuals who earn high incomes and low-status individuals who receive low earnings. The competitive system contributes to the increased division between the high-status and low-status individuals. The pervasive inequality can also be in terms of race or gender. Conflict theorists argue that poverty is created and maintained by individuals. The competitive nature denies the poor from benefitting from similar opportunities enjoyed by the rich. The rich exploit their positions at the top to ensure they maintain their top status, even if it leads to the oppression of those at the bottom. In this respect, poverty is unavoidable due to the presence of low-class individuals and their lack of progress.
The interactionist perspective views poverty by examining individuals' interactions while trying to understand how they live their lives. Unlike the other two views, this perspective does not strive to explain why poverty exists in the first place. However, it evaluates how poverty affects people's lifestyles and their associations with other individuals. Individuals typically develop their roles as they interact since they do not learn the roles bestowed on them by society (Korgen & White, 2010). As the interaction takes place, individuals decide on their situation definitions in which they find themselves. Moreover, they socially construct the real nature of their situations. In this regard, they significantly depend on symbols, including gestures and words, to obtain a shared understanding of their interactions. The social problem of poverty arises from the interactions of people. Individuals who carry out socially problematic acts normally learn such acts from other individuals. People also learn their views on social problems such as poverty from other individuals.
Solution
Based on the functionalism perspective, solutions to the sociological problem of poverty should take the form of social reform instead of sudden change. One key solution is the creation of jobs. In this case, the government can federal government should focus on gradual job-creation strategies, for instance, rebuilding the country's infrastructure and adopting renewable energy sources (Haymes et al., 2014). In addition, social reform can focus on renovating people's houses and revitalizing neighborhoods. In this case, job opportunities will be created, and individuals will be provided with excellent openings to earn a considerable amount of income. In addition, the government can also raise the minimum wage to ensure those that are below the poverty line are moved to a level above the line. In this case, they cannot be regarded as poor anymore.
The conflict theory mentions that successful solutions to the poverty problem must incorporate far-reaching change in society's structure. In this case, discrimination and structural racism should be addressed to ensure there is a change in society's structure. Whites dominate high-paying jobs, leaving the low-paying jobs to minorities. The minority communities should not be excluded and should be given better access to resources, including learning institutions and social capital. Exploiting such resources would ensure that they possess similar opportunities to whites, and, in this case, poverty is likely to end. The criminal justice framework should also be reformed with the new policies geared towards supporting successful re-integration into society. Individuals who have been incarcerated and released are likely to poor due to the lack of employment opportunities given to them. The background checks limit their job openings. In this case, such barriers to employment should be eliminated to ensure individuals with criminal records are provided with opportunities to earn money. In this case, the income they receive could assist them in evading poverty.
Conclusion
Overall, poverty is a thorny issue in the US. Perspectives such as the conflict, functionalism, and interactionalist views offer different perceptions of the sociological problem of poverty. The functionalist perspective views poverty as unavoidable due to the fact that there are individuals who earn less money than others. The conflict perspective views poverty as a consequence of the lack of openings due to the presence of competition, discrimination, and prejudice. The interactionalist view perceives interactions between individuals as the primary way of knowing about their poverty level. The issue of poverty can be resolved by increasing the number of jobs available, raising the minimum wage level, reforming the criminal justice framework, and addressing structural racism.
References
Haymes, S., De Haymes, M. V., & Miller, R. (2014). The Routledge handbook of poverty in the United States . Routledge.
Korgen, K. O., & White, J. M. (2010). Sociologists in action: Sociology, social change, and social justice . Pine Forge Press.
Semega, J., Koll'ar, M., Schrider, E., & Creamer, J. (2020). Income and poverty in the United States: 2019 . The United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html .
