Haves and Have Nots Seminar - Moody Middle School

"Before the impact of tax and spending policies is taken into account, income inequality in the United States is no worse than in most developed countries and is even a bit below levels in Britain and, by some measures, Germany. However, once the effect of government programs is included in the calculations, the United States emerges on top of the inequality heap." This article discusses how income inequality is definitely a factor in our country, but before government programs are included in the calculations it is no worse than many other countries. Yet the US lands on top with these programs included. It suggests that the government can have a major impact on this issue especially with possible solutions.

"Inflation-adjusted earnings of the bottom 90 percent of Americans fell between 2010 and 2013, with those near the bottom dropping the most. Meanwhile, incomes in the top rose." This article talks about how the income of the lower class in dropping, and how the income of the upper class is rising. Inequality is increasing in America because the gap between the upper and lower class is slowly expanding.

This article addresses the issue of income.  It has statistics and discussion of the statistics.

Various The Economic Times articles on income inequality in countries like India and China.

"A new United Nations report finds that almost half of public education resources spent in low-income countries of the developing world goes to benefit just 10 percent of the best-educated students, who tend to come from affluent families. The report from the United Nations Children's Fund, also known as Unicef, was released Thursday at a press conference with former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Unicef allies at the World Economic Forum."We need to radically revise current practices by providing more resources and allocating them more equitably," Yoka Brandt, Unicef deputy executive director, said.The trend documented by the report shows poor, developing-world countries mimicking a trend in the United States, which stands out as one of the only industrialized countries that devotes less public money to educating students from low-income families than on educating students from high-income families. " The article is about how a lot of the public education resources goes to Rich Kids in low-income countries. This is have or have not if you live in this countries because if you come from a rich or poor family it will affect you ability to get a good education. Since the majority of people in low-income countries are poor they don't have a chance to be educated and make a change or even get a well paid job to support their families.

"Around the country, high-achieving recent high school grads have unpacked their shower caddies, flip flops, and smart phone chargers, and begun to settle in at elite colleges like Columbia, Amherst, and Stanford. On campus they're discovering countless resources, bright peers, and illustrious faculty. And for the rest of their lives, they'll enjoy the benefits of having a top university tattooed across their transcript and resume. But many high-achieving students are left out of this experience. Those excluded come disproportionately from families on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. One recent investigation reported that students from the bottom 50 percent of the income distribution comprise just 14 percent of the undergraduate population at the United States' most competitive universities." This article explains some of the reasons why lower-class students with excellent grades aren't applying to elite colleges. One reason is that students fail to learn about these colleges from their local high schools, so they depend on their families to make the best decision about college. Lower-class families look first at the admission to get into the prestigious colleges, and this immediately turns them away.

This article talks about how Republicans have started to care about income inequality in preparation for the 2016 presidential elections. It is important because income inequality will be a major factor in the 2016 elections.

"Scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children were analyzed in a sample of 7-year-old twins from the National Collaborative Perinatal Project. A substantial proportion of the twins were raised in families living near or below the poverty level. Biometric analyses were conducted using models allowing for components attributable to the additive effects of genotype, shared environment, and non-shared environment to interact with socioeconomic status (SES) measured as a continuous variable. Results demonstrate that the proportions of IQ variance attributable to genes and environment vary nonlinearly with SES. The models suggest that in impoverished families, 60% of the variance in IQ is accounted for by the shared environment, and the contribution of genes is close to zero; in affluent families, the result is almost exactly the reverse."

Colleges are accepting more students with the ability to pay than those who are more likely to require financial aid. Only 46 colleges accept students solely based upon qualifications.

"Today, more people than ever are going to college, yet the nation's overall college graduation rate has remained low. Only 59 percent of students who began as freshmen at a four-year college in the fall of 2006 received their diplomas within six years. Meanwhile, the high school completion rate reached a historic high: In 2012, four out of five students graduated high school within four years. College students who come from low-income backgrounds, such as Kellam, 19, see the least chance of college success. They are less likely to begin college, less likely to finish." This article discusses the ever growing gap in education, with one of the main reasons being income equality. It talks about students with low-income families and the hardships they go through when they attend college. It touches on the amount of students that are able to pay on time and the amount that has to stop college for a while to find funding.

"Yet despite the broad disparity in the relative concentration of the ultra-rich, every single state showed a pronounced and growing chasm between the wealthy few and the great majority of society. In Alaska, which has relatively high wages and few billionaires, the incomes of the top one percent were on average more than fifteen times higher than the bottom 99 percent." Throughout the article, there were many statistical maps and values that compared the income between the top 1% and lower 99% in each state, which provided evidence that the economy gap has increased over the years. It explained possible reasons for the increase as well as the wide income differences among the states.

"Income inequality has grown in every state in the US in recent decades, according to a new study published this week by the Economic Policy Institute. The report, entitled The Increasingly Unequal States of America, found that, even though states home to major metropolitan financial centers such as New York, Chicago, and the Bay Area had the highest levels of income inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased in every region of the country." This article talks about the growth of income equality and almost every single state. It talks about the average income and the gap between the rich and poor in numerical terms as well. The article also goes into specifics and looks at the average income in different states.

"Currently, Richmond's youth in low-income neighborhoods do not have equal educational opportunities. They lack essential resources for academic learning during the summer and after school time that more-resourced families and communities are able to provide. Schools in Richmond's high-poverty neighborhoods do not have the capacity to provide critical, individualized attention, and rigorous, out-of-school time learning opportunities to children who are motivated to learn. Lacking these supports, low-income children are ten times more likely than their affluent peers to drop out of high school." This article thoroughly explains how low-income communities can't afford the necessary resources for a good education, especially in Richmond. Also, it explains the consequences of this. For example, a bright student in one of these communities will lose a great educational opportunity due to economical hardships.

"In targeting income inequality, Mr. Romney joins a growing group of potential 2016 candidates who have listed the issue as a top concern. " This article by the Wall Street Journal goes over what Mitt Romney, a presidential candidate, thinks about the income inequality in the United States.

Short-term economy is looking up, but inequality has worsened, according to Romney.

"Mr. Romney signaled that a potential third campaign for the White House would focus in part on lifting Americans from poverty. He said that while the economy in the short term was "looking up," income inequality had worsened." This article, published in The Wall Street Journal, addresses the affects of income inequality on the overall economy of America. It states that income inequality, is a problem that needs to be addressed. Stopping the chain of poverty in the USA, is necessary to keep the economy going up.

""It's now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next 15 years, and for decades to come," he said. "Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?"" This article is about how President Obama is handling income and inequality issues. The sentence I tagged really portrays his stand and opinion on how if everyone makes an effort and then everyone will receive the benefits. I agree with this statement. 

"Nonetheless, there is growing anxiety in America about higher education." This article talks about how even though America has one of the best schools and colleges, education-wise it is decreasing. The article says this is because how students have to be extensive and expensive tuition, loans, etc.

"22 years after the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act, we have an unemployment rate among people with disabilities approaching 67, almost two-thirds" This article discusses how the unemployment rate of those with disabilities is astonishingly more than that of non-disabled people. Senator Tom Harkin talks about how the "haves" should take responsibility for the unemployment rate of the "have-nots." He also mentions the reason for his concern is that after the Americans With Disabilities Act there should not be this much of a gap between the unemployment rate of disabled and non-disabled people.

This article is about the opportunity gap in American schools. Mainly, it states that children raised in low income households or people of color (mainly black or hispanic children) have less of an opportunity to go to a good school. Their research states that high-poverty districts in New York have "significantly fewer high-quality teachers" as well as black and hispanic students are four times less likely to be enrolled in a good school.

"The gap between rich and poor narrowed after World War II as unions negotiated better pay and benefits and as the government enacted a minimum wage and other policies to help the poor and middle class." This article tells us a little about income difference and how it was controlled in the past. This article helped me figure out how to manage the income difference between classes.

"Japanese students spend 240 days a year at school, 60 days more then their American counterparts" This article shows the differences between Japanese and American schools. It provides many examples of how Japanese schools are more standardized than American ones thus having more people with the same knowledge.

Many low income people struggle with managing their money. This articles talks about how a licensed financial coach in Houston named Danita Wadley help with people's finance issues. In this particular article Wadley is helping a recovering drug addict,  McMurtry, get back on her feet. It also discusses how millions of families face a financial insecurity due to many factors, but with a financial coaching many people can get  back on track which is important to building a better economy.

"The best place in the United States for pay equity is Washington, D.C., where women were paid 91 percent of what men were paid in 2013. At the other end of the spectrum is Louisiana, the worst state in the country for pay equity, where women were paid just 66 percent of what men were paid." This article is about the gap between what men and women earn. It is made by a feminist organisation but it is not biased. It shows how unfair this gap can be in some states.