Nearly Half of US Poor, Universal Income Proposal Grows - Essay Sample

Nearly half of the United States population is considered poor. Communities from most parts of the world follow suit with low income causing an ever widening growth gap. Scholars and political scientists are proposing that governments globally should implement universal income. Every citizen, regardless of social or employment status, should receive an agreed amount of pay depending on the country's economic state. Employment is becoming unreliable since most of the companies in the manufacturing industries are adopting and implementing industrial automation solutions. To bridge the difference among the affluent and poor, the American government needs to provide the citizens with a monthly stipend that ensures everyone lives above the poverty line.

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Technology has become part of our lives, changing ways people conduct their daily duties. As explained by Dzieza, Josh (2020), the automation catastrophe has arrived. It will take most of the jobs and replace the workforce. To achieve maximum productivity, minimize errors, and enhance quality from employees, business owners, and manufacturers are using robots in managerial to instruct workers around. The automated machines detect insufficiencies which human beings cannot since they work to perfection. Hence, they put pressure on workers. The higher levels of intense work break down humans, causing them to resign and leave work for the automated machines.

The companies have continued to manufacture more programmed machines. Currently, the number of already built and installed robots has doubled. According to U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, the robots are displacing workers at a higher rate. This is because if an organization installs one robot in the manufacturing sector, it replaces approximately two workers. It is projected that in the next ten years, America will lose about one point five million employment opportunities, china twelve million, while other global states will lose three million occupations to automation by 2030, causing an increase in unemployment.

Although automation will cause a crisis in employment, numerous reasons such as insufficient wages explain why the United States and countries around the world need universal income. The American economy has improved since the Great Recession. From the past ten years, economic gauges appear promising. However, some parts of the economy, such as household incomes still drag behind as it has not returned to its average level. It has caused a wide gap between the poorer and more affluent households. According to Fadulu, Lola (2019), the difference causes deadly impacts both to the economy and society.

Income inequality is another reason Americans need universal income. The United States manufacturers' productivity has relatively increased with considerable levels since 1948. Nevertheless, the revenue of employees has remained the same (Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, et al., 2020). The hourly compensation has increased with a percentage of twenty-four as per 2018. On the other hand, the employees' productivity has increased with approximately one hundred and thirty-four percent over the same time. Despite women presenting a considerable margin in the workforce, men remain the majority of top earners in many states. Poor people can no longer manage to cross the bridge to the middle class.

Moreover, universal basic income has countless benefits to both individuals and states. Some of these benefits include entrepreneurialism. People with financial security, who can comfortably provide basic needs to their families take the bold steps of starting businesses. Individuals with no food, education, and health security fear becoming entrepreneurs since they cannot risk losing the little they have. As written in the article Pros and Cons of Universal Basic Income, 2020, for the government to encourage people to start businesses and develop new products, it must guarantee its people basic income in case the companies fail.

Also, according to The Definitive Guide." GiveDirectly, universal basic income will bring about freedom. For people to experience freedom in a country, they must have both political rights and economic security. The basic level of financial security encourages people to exercise their rights. A person cannot take any job just because he or she needs to pay bills. A person can comfortably find meaningful work and follow their passion. People can also avoid working in poor conditions and exploitation. Besides, when people have to work for the right reasons, employers will have no choice but to make the working environment and conditions conducive.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the increase of automated machines in industries will reduce job opportunities in the market at a higher rate. Most of the summer jobs will be taken away by robots. It will be challenging to attain dream commodities and essential home items without an income. Conversely, the level of inequality will continue to rise, and the gap between the poor and the rich will widen. To avoid all these problems, the government will need to provide its citizens with some form of universal basic income. The income will aid people struggling in the lower cross to the middle-income economic class. Despite the negative stigma it provides, the benefits have nothing but positives on citizens. The reform will combat the rising crisis, such as the current pandemic.

Works Cited

"Pros and Cons of Universal Basic Income: UBI." Pros and Cons of Universal Basic Income | UBI, 7 Apr. 2020, www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/universal-basic-income-pros-cons/.

"Robots Will Replace 20 Million Jobs by 2030, Oxford Report Finds." U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2019-06-26/report-robots-will-replace-20-million-manufacturing-jobs-by-2030.

"Universal Basic Income (UBI): The Definitive Guide." GiveDirectly, www.givedirectly.org/basic-income/.

Dzieza, Josh. "Robots Aren't Taking Our Jobs - They're Becoming Our Bosses." The Verge, The Verge, 27 Feb. 2020, www.theverge.com/2020/2/27/21155254/automation-robots-unemployment-jobs-vs-human-google-amazon.

Fadulu, Lola. "Study Shows Income Gap Between Rich and Poor Keeps Growing, With Deadly Effects." The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Sept. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/us/politics/gao-income-gap-rich-poor.html.

Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, et al. "Trends in U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality." Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, 19 Jan. 2020, www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/.