Why the rich get richer and poor gets poorer.

Essay by monkeyshietUniversity, Bachelor'sA, July 2003

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Rich get Richer and Poor get Poorer

In today's world people want to be healthy, happy and well educated and most want to own some type of capital. They also want to be well paid for the work that they do and they prefer to pay as little tax as possible. While everybody is happier when the rate of inflation is low and when the economy is growing and everyone is getting better off. In booming economic times, such as we recently have enjoyed, the only problem is that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Because company profits have been down but the head executives are still getting all the perks, like, stock options, and bonuses that's capitalism and that is the American dream.

Poverty is a problem the government has been trying to fix. Many welfare programs help the poor, whom are individuals who lack food, shelter, and clothing, with food stamps, and assistance for both transportation and childcare.

From 1996 to recent years the policies on welfare reform have become more stringent on receiving benefits, the government has been working harder on training and placing individuals in the work force.

An article by Martin Hattersley says that one in five children in the U.S. lives in poverty, and 1.3 million are homeless, a 100% increase in the past ten years. Over a fifteen year period, the family incomes of the lowest 20% of the U.S. population have shrunk by more than a fifth. The incomes of the highest 20% have risen by thirty per cent and the poorest fifth of the United States population have less than one twenty-fifth of the country's total income: the highest fifth have approximately half. This means the gap between the rich and poor has broaden throughout the...