Important Issue Facing America

America, like every other country in the world, faces a number of challenges that pose a threat to its people. Several significant challenges confront America today, ranging from economic to non-economic in nature. The entire range of these issues has culminated in a schism in America over what is the most critical thing for the government to solve. However, I agree that insecurity among American citizens is the most pressing problem confronting the country right now.
Unemployment is a critical concern because it determines the country’s GDP and is heavily affected by the economy. During a recession, the unemployment rate in America grows, although it declines during a period of economic growth. As of June 2017, the unemployment rate in America rises while during economic prosperity it falls. As of June 2017, the unemployment rate in America stood at 4.4 percent posting an increase from the previous 4.3 percent. The number of unemployed people is approximated to be around 7.0 million individuals (Ferreira para.1). Although, unemployment is a result of the economy it also has a significant impact on the overall economy of a nation (Worstall para.2). Unemployment leads to financial instability which reduces the consumer spending capabilities making the economy to lose a considerable part of its principal drivers for growth.

A job usually determines the place of a person in the society, and happy life is a result of productive work. Therefore, persistent unemployment often poses a danger to the individual and the society. Long-term unemployment can lead to strife in the marriage, depression, illness and even suicide in some cases due to the financial, emotional and psychological destructiveness of unemployment. Consequently, the effects of unemployment are not felt by only those who do not have jobs but people around them also feel the impact. For instance, employment provides an individual with a means of income which they use to fulfill their financial needs. However, when people are unemployed, they are unable to accomplish some of their financial needs. For instance, due to unemployed an individual may be unable to pay for their mortgage leading to foreclosure (Krulick para.2). Foreclosure often lowers the value of property in the region hence the neighborhood will not get a good value when they sell their homes.

Furthermore, unemployment in the community leads to homelessness. Many people who are homeless are unemployed hence they cannot are unable to provide shelter for themselves. As a result, they end up squatting in the neighborhood leading to the rise of a homeless yard. The growth in homeless leads to the growth of informal settlement in the region. The impact of the informal setting and unemployment then leads to an increase in crime in a specific are. The individuals dwelling in the informal settlement have financial needs, and when these needs are not fulfilled, they may turn to crime so that they can be able to provide for their needs (Krulick para.4). Lastly, the emotional destructiveness of unemployment can lead to drug use by the individual. The impact of drug utilization in an informal setting is the growth in crime rate in the area. Therefore, unemployment is an important issue facing America that should be addressed because of its far-reaching adverse effects on the society and the nation in overall.

In a survey conducted recently by Gallup, 19 percent of Americans believe that economy-related problems are the most important issues facing America. Additionally, 6 percent of Americans as of June 2017 felt that unemployment is the most important issue facing the country that should be addressed (Gallup para.1). Additionally, President Donald Trump during his campaigns claimed that many Americans were struggling with the problem of unemployment and there was an urgent need to address the issue.

The government as a whole tries to tackle the problem of unemployment especially when it rises above 6 percent. The government has a monetary policy that is controlled by the Federal Reserve Bank which aims to control the supply of money in the country to stimulate the economy and create more jobs. In case the monetary policy fails, the government employs the fiscal policies to combat continuing high level of unemployment (Krulick para.7). Some of the commonly employed fiscal policies include cutting taxes to increase spending and stimulate the economy, hiring workers to provide infrastructure upkeep and repair, increasing government spending in a particular industry so as to encourage employment in the industry, and providing benefits to unemployed people to reduce the impact of unemployment in the society (Krulick para.8).

Even thou the government tries to lower the rate of unemployment in America, most of its strategies are usually activated when the level of unemployment reaches a higher rate. For instance, the monetary policy is enabled if the level of unemployment is above 6 percent (Krulick para.7). As a result, there are no continuous efforts in place aimed at dealing with the issue of unemployment especially when the economy of the country is prospering hence the country quickly slumps back into the high level of unemployment with a downward trend of the economy. Therefore, there is need to develop specific policies that can be used to ensure that the level of unemployment does not increase at all. The first recommendation for dealing with unemployment is cutting taxes. The government should cut taxes for individuals and specific organizations that provide employment for its citizens. The cutting of taxes will promote more spending by the organizations hence the industries can keep opening new branches all over the country hence offering consistent employment. Another recommendation is that the government should increase its spending in every organization in the country to stimulate economic growth that will ensure there is a constant need for employees in these organizations and production industries hence reducing the number of unemployed Americans.

Works Cited

Ferreira, Joana. “United States Unemployment Rate | 1948-2017 | Data | Chart | Calendar.” Tradingeconomics.com, 2017. Web. 13 July 2017. Available at:< https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate>

Gallup, Inc. “Most Important Problem.” Gallup.com, 2017. Web. 13 July 2017. Available at:< http://www.gallup.com/poll/1675/most-important-problem.aspx>

Krulick, Al. “U.S Unemployment.” Debt.org, n.d. Web. 13 July 2017. Available at:< https://www.debt.org/jobs/unemployment/united-states/>

Worstall, Tim. “America’s Jobless Claims and Unemployment Problem in 4 Charts.” Forbes.com, 2017. Web. 13 July 2017. Available at:< https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2017/05/18/americas-jobless-claims-and-unemployment-problem-in-4-charts/#5d13af7f13ce>