Increase Social Services for persons living in poverty.

In 2006 the United States Census Bureau reported that persons at the ages of 18 and under have higher rates of poverty than any other age group in the US and have had since 1975. That being said, we are able to see where the problem lies and just who needs to be helped to fix a large portion of it. It is because of that fact that my partner Evan and I stand in firm affirmation of the resolution the states: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States. Observation 1: Harms Sub Point A:: Having Children in Poverty not Only Hurts the Individual but also Hurts the U.S. The Economic Costs of Poverty (americanprogress.org) Subsequent Effects of Children Growing Up Poor By Holzer, J. Duncan, and Ludwig, January 24, 2007 But there is also an economic case for reducing child poverty. When children grow up in poverty, they are somewhat more likely than non-poor children to have low earnings as adults, which in turn reflects lower workforce productivity. They are also somewhat more likely to engage in crime and to have poor health later in life. Their reduced productive activity generates a direct loss of goods and services to the U.S. economy. Sub Point B: Poverty is on Rise Why Poverty Persists NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) June 2006 Specifically, they find that the unemployment rate, median wages, and wage inequality in the lower half of the wage distribution all are significant determinants of poverty rates. Overall, increasing the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point increases the poverty rate by 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points. Bureau of Labor Statistics THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION – AUGUST 2009 Sept 4th 2009 In August, the number of unemployed persons increased by 466,000 to 14.9 million, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 9.7 percent. The rate had been little changed in June and July, after increasing 0.4 or 0.5 percentage point in each month from December 2008 through May. Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.4 Million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.8 percentage points. Sub Point C: U.S. is Experiencing a Shortage of Skilled Laborers By Teresa Watanabe April 21, 2008 Los Angeles Times Shortage of skilled workers looms in U.S. With baby boomers preparing to retire as the best educated and most skilled workforce in U.S. history, a growing chorus of demographers and labor experts is raising concerns that workers in the nation lack the critical skills needed to replace them. Observation 2: Inherency Sub Point A: The cost of day care is too high for families in poverty to meet. NACCRRA Price of Child Care Report 2008 According to the report, in 2007, the average price of full-time care for an infant in a center was as high as $14,591 a year. For a 4-year-old in a center, parents paid up to $10,787 a year for full-time care. Parents of school-age children paid up to $8,600 a year for part-time care in a center Sub Point B: College has become too expensive. National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education Report says college is too expensive Dec 5th 2008 A new report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education suggests that soaring college costs threaten to make college unaffordable for the majority of Americans. College tuition and fees rose 439% from 1982 to 2007 while the median family income rose just 147%, without adjusting for inflation. Sub Point C: There is a shortage of space for daycare. The SunTimes Prescott James, The Daily Graphic March 2009 Daycare facilities around the country have a shortage of space available for the care of young children. April Krastel is the executive director for the Portage Day Care Centre Inc., and as a childcare professional, she recognizes the shortage of space for children who need care. The affirmative team proposes the following plan to help the impoverished and decrease the number of families in poverty by addressing the problem at its root source. The affirmative team will allow for all persons living in poverty to receive free daycare as paid for by the government. In addition, the affirmative plan will allow funding for persons living in poverty to also obtain up to $7,000 for college tuition for as many years as needed in exchange for 500 hours community service hours per year (or 1 and half hours per day.) Should the work not be completed during the college years there is up to a one year grace period to pay back all of the money. In addition, should the student quit college or not pursue the hours needed, the money will become equivalent to that of a loan where they will be required to pay back the money by their own means. The plan will be funded by adding an additional ten cent tax to every dollar spent on cigarettes, alcohol, and all published pornographic material, (i.e. magazine, movies, etc…) The affirmative team claims the power of FIAT. Observation3: Solvency Sub Point A: Education helps countries get out of poverty. UN Works 2009 http://www.un.org...... Every day, Romsaas Wang sees children die of preventable diseases because their mothers could not read and write. "If you really put effort into education it will influence all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It's more risky not to invest in education because education helps countries get out of poverty." Sub Point B: Providing Day Care will increase the amount of jobs in the US. Investing In America's Youngest Children Is Essential for an Effective Stimulus Plan and a Long-Term Boost to Economy STEVE BARNETT, Jan. 8 2008 Early childhood programs not only will free parents to take new jobs, they can directly contribute in many other ways to the positive effects of a stimulus package. Multipliers for child care are 1.91 for total output (91 cents in additional economic activity on top of each dollar of federal investment) and 1.50 for employment (1 additional job created for every two new jobs created by federal investments in child care). Sub Point C: People with a College Education are less likely to be in Poverty 2004 American Community Survey The more education a person has, the less likely they will live in poverty. The poverty rate among people who earn a college degree is much lower than the poverty rate among people with only a high school diploma. And those who earn a high school diploma do much better than those without one. Advantage One: Early Education helps kids later in life. Investing In America's Youngest Children Is Essential for an Effective Stimulus Plan and a Long-Term Boost to Economy STEVE BARNETT, Jan. 8 2008 In addition to improving early learning and development, high-quality early education decreases school failure, increases economic productivity and decreases crime and delinquency. Advantage Two: Universal Childcare increases the quality of child care. Universal Childcare, Maternal Labor Supply and Family Well-Being Michael Baker, University of Toronto and NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) April, 2008 In addition to increasing the quantity of places, there has been some emphasis on increasing the quality of care. Part of this has come through regulatory changes. Formal qualifications were raised for both CPE and family caregivers. The government has also implemented new wage policies in the sector to make it a more attractive profession: phased in over a four year period. In addition, it resulted in an average wage increase of 38 to 40 percent.