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After a financial crisis, a deep recession, and the outbreak of the COVID 19 virus, it is crystal clear that the poverty levels in the United States have been on the rise

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After a financial crisis, a deep recession, and the outbreak of the COVID 19 virus, it is crystal clear that the poverty levels in the United States have been on the rise. In 2021, the Census Bureau reported that the poverty rate was 11.4 percent, a slight increase over the past year (US Census Bureau, 2021). Many Americans were living below the poverty line, and the figures presented by the census bureau were troubling. These figures have shown that we should certainly move to help the needy as we strive to grow the economy.

Welfare refers to government-initiated programs that aim to provide services, goods, and economic support to the unemployed in society. The beneficiaries of these societal programs include the elderly, people with either mental or physical disabilities, and people who are supporting children (Hayes, 2021). Additionally, these programs are advocated for by the government to act as a cushion against the detrimental effects of poverty.

However, incorrect thinking, particularly the belief that poverty is best understood through the prism of inequality, routinely undermines efforts to solve poverty in America. Far too often, lawmakers believe that an increasing gap between the rich and poor Americans is the primary issue to be addressed and that poverty is only a symptom of an enormous wrong. Of course, such concerns about inequality are not without merit. They start with a truth of modern American economics: in recent decades, poor people's incomes have risen at a slower rate than wealthy people's incomes (GlobalPOV, 2013). Some critics argue that rising inequality is both practically and morally harmful, and it might have detrimental effects on the larger society.