When we talk about privileged and under-privileged, the first question that hits our head is how to decide who is privileged and who is not? With a simple definition of privilege and unprivileged, we can say that a person having or showing a special advantage is privileged. And, the person lacking basic facilities and the primary social advantages that most people have is underprivileged.
In a survey in 2013, it was found, the top 3 percent own 54.4 percent of America's wealth, which was an increase of almost 45 percent since 1989. And the bottom 90 percent own only 24.7 percent of the wealth, which was a drop of 33.2 percent over the same period. This gap between the upper class and lower middle class shows how the gap between privileged and unprivileged is also increasing.
Indeed, money cannot buy happiness, but money can give people many opportunities and privileges to get materialistic things and better education. And a less privileged or unprivileged person limits opportunity along with education.
It's not that the underprivileged one always gets the shorter end of the stick; in many life lessons, they are more privileged than the economically privileged person, like surviving in fewer facilities, showing gratitude towards whatever they have or receive, and many others. However, Americans need to understand that inequality is not the decided side effect of capitalism, and we can reduce inequality even with economic growth. So, it is essential to lessen the gap between the privileged and underprivileged to bring a common stage for every person in the country and create equal opportunity for every person.
There can be many ways to bridge the gap between the two, but education is the most influential step towards this.
An American Educator published research by Betty Hart and Todd Risley, showed that on an average, low-income parents speak much less to their children than the higher-income parents. As a result, an average low-income child had heard 30 million fewer words than his higher-income peers when they were just three years old. The obvious question: If this early word gap is a major source of the subsequent school achievement gap, what should be done? High-quality early education programs can make up for some of the difference.
Making education the same for every child opens the door for lots of opportunities for him. Moreover, education is the backbone of a growing country, and when the backbone becomes similar for every child, the country's future becomes more prosperous.
Apart from education, even the Government is also trying to lower the gap by making strict policies that can help. The six significant policies made by the American Government are:
- Increase the minimum wage for the lowest-paid workers as it doesn't hurt employment nor the country's growth.
- Build assets for working families by encouraging higher saving rates for working and middle-class households.
- Investing in education can increase economic mobility, contribute to increased productivity and decrease inequality.
- Expanding the earned income tax can pull more children out of poverty and provide more economic support for the working poor, especially single parents entering the workforce.
- Ending residential segregation by income and race can boost economic mobility for all. However, segregation by income mainly isolates low-income households and significantly reduces levels of upward mobility.
- Make the tax code more progressive. Savings incentives structured as refundable tax credits should treat every dollar saved equally, and will provide equal benefits for lower-income families.
If ever you see a child deprived of education due to their parents' financial condition, do show him the path of reaching us, or you can even inform us, and we will reach them. We at Safe Heaven Care, are on a mission to make every child privileged in terms of education and thus provide a better platform to rise.