Research the issues below. Some suggested links are included below each issue, as well as a quote from one of the links to start you thinking about the complexity of the issue. Select five issues and write at least one paragraph about each.
Children/Family Issues: In terms of overall rights, how are children regarded in the United States? Are there child labor laws? How are children considered in the U.S.?
There are child labor laws in the U.S., though many children fall through the cracks and are forced to work on farms in squalid conditions for long hours, earning less than half of minimum wage. In 1938 the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) was passed, protecting workers from long hours and unfair pay (where the 40-hour workweek and minimum wage were established). It also protected children in that one had to be at least 16 years of age to work in most nonagricultural industries. Children can work on farms in some states as young as age 9 with parental consent, but in many cases are overworked, underpaid, and exposed to many dangerous chemicals and equipment.
Numerous studies show that children do better when two parents are involved in their upbringing, but many custody laws make it extremely difficult. The concept of joint custody was introduced in the early 1970’s to try to fix the imbalance of growing up with only one parent, but it still is not particularly common. Children who do not live with both parents are proven to be twice as likely to drop out of school, twice as likely to end up in jail, and twice as likely to need help for behavioral or emotional problems. Children immigrating to the U.S. without a parent or guardian will be held in juvenile or county jails and face deportation, often to countries where they will be persecuted.
Gender Issues: Women continue to be treated unequally in many countries. In the U.S., how are women treated? Are they treated equally compared to men? Do they earn as much as men do?
Women in the U.S. have many Legal rights, including but not limited to: equal representation under the law and rights to ownership and inheritance; the opportunity to take part in the drafting and implementation of constitutions and legislation, the right to vote in elections, to run for public office, to participate in government, to organize politically; access to primary education, the right to not be barred from attending or teaching in secondary schools and universities; the right to the same employment opportunities and criteria as men, protection from job termination because of pregnancy or marriage, right to equal pay and to equal treatment and respect at work; general health care, disease prevention, and prenatal care, etc. Women have made many improvements in their rights and in how they are treated throughout history, but some inequalities still remain. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2005 that women over the age of 16 make up 59% of the workforce but only earn 77 cents for every dollar their male counterpart earns. Another challenge for women is the dilemma of time spent at home versus time in the workplace. Maternity leave is available but isn’t always a choice for some mothers in certain companies, as they risk losing their job if they choose to take maternity leave. A study by an economist showed that 42% of corporate women are childless by the age of 40, but only 14% planned to be.
The Environment:
What are some of the environmental issues in the U.S.? What are some of the causes of environmental problems in the U.S.?
One of the largest environmental problems the U.S. is dealing with today is the issue of Global Warming and air/water pollution. People realize that reducing carbon dioxide emissions through cutting the usage of fossil fuels is crucial to improving these issues. (The U.S. alone, according to the US Government's Energy Information Administration, consumes about 400 million gallons of gasoline every day, or about 20 million barrels of oil every day.) Throughout the U.S. people are pushing towards using “clean energy,” such as wind and solar power, and are researching new biofuels and renewable energy resources for the near future.
Health Issues:
What are the biggest health issues facing the U.S.? What can be done to prevent this problem from becoming worse? Do people have access to clean water and sanitation?
Many of the biggest health issues facing the U.S. are caused not by environmental factors, but by unhealthy lifestyle choices. Smoking, drinking alcohol and overeating cause certain types of cancer, heart disease, obesity, etc. Other health issues are caused by environmental factors and pollutants, and still others by different factors. Health care in the U.S. is readily available, even for those who can not necessarily afford regular health care. The U.S. spends more on health care per person than any other nation in the world! The U.S. , however, is the only wealthy and industrialized nation that does not have universal health care. In the United States, around 84.7% of citizens have some form of health insurance; either through their employer (59.3%), purchased individually (8.9%), or provided by government programs. Certain publicly-funded health care programs help to provide for the elderly, disabled, children, veterans, and the poor, and federal law mandates public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Clean water is readily available in most parts of the U.S., and most water supply is continuous, under good pressure and in conformity with the norms of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Sanitation quality is mixed throughout the U.S., with overflows into creeks and streams remaining a problem.
Economic Issues:
What is the present economic climate of the U.S.? Is it stable? What can be done to help improve it?
The U.S. has gone from being the world’s number 1 creditor nation to the number 1 debtor. For the past 15 years, Americans have been indulging in foreign-made consumer goods, refusing taxes on these things and putting our country into debt, basically running up a huge tab for future generations. “As a nation, Americans spend more than they earn, consume more than they produce, and go deeper and deeper into debt each year” (“Terminal Decline of a Nation— U.S. economic problems”). To improve this trend, there may soon be “a Japanese or European economist appointed to oversee all major American economic decisions as prerequisite for more cash from abroad.”
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