Describe What you Think are the Top Three Social Problems

Pressing Social Problems
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The social problems affecting the U.S cut across various demographic groups, as they affect the social fabric and economic situation of the people. Typically, these concerns are in the public realm, but there are divergent views how to tackle family disintegration, ineffective healthcare, poverty and unemployment. Improving the social well-being of American is a concern to policy makers, legislators and the society in general. Identifying the most pressing issues is crucial then to undoing the damages associated withe destabilization of family structures that have occurred with increased poverty levels, family breakdowns and rising healthcare costs.
Poverty especially in families with children, is a social problem that makes it difficult for subsequent generations to eliminate the vicious cycle especially when there are structural vulnerabilities (Hong & Pandey, 2007). There are various causes including lack of marketable skills, homelessness, discrimination, lowly paid jobs and expensive healthcare. Since the 2008/2009 financial crisis, the country has not fully recovered, forcing families to take up more debt. Hence, more families are in a debt trap while there is also need to reform the welfare system to avoid leech-like behavior. There are different proposals to alleviate poverty including reducing the cost of health care, raising wages and eliminating taxes, but personal responsibility also influence the peoples’ decisions.
Family instability is another problem that is affecting the American society, and the disintegration has occurred gradually since the 1960’s. Stable two-parent headed families offer the best platform for children to growing in a stable environment. The family breakdown causes other social problems that have largely been ignored in the media. For instance, disintegrated families are more likely to live in poverty, with children at a higher risk of exhibiting anti-social behavior (Lundberg & Pollak, 2007). For people to contribute positively to th...