Social Problems in the United States

Blog Post 2

What are the five most challenging social problems facing the United States today? Briefly describe each challenge.

The first most challenging social problem in the United States is the unemployment. Since the recession in 2008, the united states is still on the climb back up to recovery. It caused a lot of serious long lasting issues on the economy, finances and government assistance. In January 2016, the overall unemployment rate reported was at 4.9%. However those whom are unemployed long term (for over 6 months) that are not accounted for in this percentage. The pace of economic recovery is slow, which is very frustrating for many people. Lots of people, whom are highly proficient, educated, qualified still struggle to find a job to support themselves and their families.

The second social problem that we see across the United States is obesity. The prevalence of obesity has increased and grown so rapidly over the last decade. In fact 1 in 6 children are considered obese. This obesity epidemic is due to the sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits that have developed for this particular generation. With the extreme convenience of this age from technology and the easy access to cheap junk food, it is almost inevitable that this epidemic continues to grow and flourish. More people are more aware of the importance of healthy living and many vegan, paleo diets are in trend right now. It is obvious that the increasing figures reflecting heart disease, cancer, health problems are all a result of the natural unhealthy lifestyle this generation have accustomed to. 

The third social problem is the recent discussion over legalizing same sex marriage. The united states supreme court officially legalized same sex marriage in June 2015. Now homosexual couples are able to obtain marriage licenses under the recognition of the law. The shift from traditional heterosexual marriage to now accepting homosexual couples has been a pretty dynamic shift for the united states. Only a few counties in 3 states are still unwilling to recognize this marriage union. It has been a cause of controversy between parties that are arguing for equality and equal protection, versus the social impacts of a having same sex parents on the family. The economic impact of same sex marriage is significant as they are much disadvantaged including healthcare costs, benefits, tax, insurance. As the United States Government face the issues of this recent law, we are seeing a shift in societal values and also of social structure.

The fourth social problem is global warming and environmental changes. The united states and many other countries have been very focused on reducing greenhouse gases, and becoming more “green”. Recently unusual weather patterns across the different states have been a bit more of a concern. Floods, droughts, fires breakouts have not only been affecting the economy but also been threatening to the local people. There is no simply conclusion or consensus on the direct effects of global warming on the economy, but the potential threat to human lives as well as crops and animals will be very significant as it gets worse. 

The fifth social problem is poverty. This is an issue that all governments around the world faces. However even though United states is considered one the wealthiest countries, it still has the highest poverty rates out of any western demographic. The wealth gap between social classes are very significant and very large. Many families, especially ethnic minorities, face basic food insecurity problems, housing, education problems. Although on the surface many people seem anything but poor, but even inside a 3000q ft house, a family could be dealing with unemployment, lack of health insurance, high medical bills therefore going into bankruptcy. Even though the face of hunger and poverty is different here, it doesn’t mean that many hundreds, thousands of people are not faced with the issue of basic survival everyday.