1003_Group_P1

Position Paper – Part One

Name:Jaime Dubon

Instructions: Please use this form as an organizer for writing your portion of your group position paper. You will be writing the opening paragraphs of the paper. You should clearly and thoroughly identify the problem that you are addressing. You may use your own research and the research from other members of your group. Be sure to follow the MLA citation format that you used when completing your JRP. Your portion of the paper should be a minimum of one page in length.

I. There is a problem in society today. That problem is Our country is going through a period of recession and our economy is not doing well. Many people don't make enough money to cover their fixed expenses and to support their own and their families' needs. Unskilled workers barely make enough money to survive and to keep up with the rising cost of living. These workers need to have more than two jobs or they have to work more than 40 hours a week to completely cover their families' expenses. Also, this problem directly affects the economy of our country. If people only make an income to cover their most basic needs such as food and housing, then they don't have money to spend in other parts of the economy. Also, people who don't make a considerable amount of money tend to get into debts, and eventually they don't have the opportunity to pay those debts which only become larger.

II. Facts that demonstrate that there is a problem are: (You may use your own sources and the sources of the members in your group) Throughout our investigation, we found very interesting facts that show the existence of this problem in our society. According to the article "The Working Poor Are Not Getting By in America," in 2004, Katrina Gill, a 36-year-old certified nursing aide, was making 14,400 and like many workers in United States, she didn't receive health-care benefits from her job. So she and her mechanic husband had to pay $640 monthly for a policy that left them with 160,000 medical debts from their youngest son Brandy's cancer care (Conlin & Bernstein, 1). The article also makes the next statement, "Today more than 28 million people, about a quarter of the workforce between the ages of 18 and 64, earn less than $9.04 an hour, which translates into a full-time salary of $18,800 a year—the income that marks the federal poverty line for a family of four” (Conlin & Bernstein, 1). This statistic demonstrates that many workers are not making enough income to be over the poverty line established by the federal government. Also, the article shows a very shocking statistic. According to the article, 63% of U.S. families below the federal poverty line have one or more workers. Most of this people have high school diplomas and even some college, which 30 years ago would have been considered as middle class (Conlin & Bernstein, 1).