Increasingly Severe Human Rights Issues in the U.S.

Although the United States claims to be the greatest power in the world， it has failed to make all its citizens lives comfortable. According to a UN report on extreme poverty and human rights in 2018， the U.S. had the widest gap between the rich and the poor among all Western countries with about 40 million citizens living in poverty， including 18.5 million in extreme poverty.

Since the novel coronavirus disease（COVID-19） pandemic started， the governments ineffective anti-pandemic efforts have led Americans into grave human rights disasters， further highlighting and exacerbating the social and economic inequality in society.

Widening division

A survey by the Pew Research Center in 2018 said the gap between the rich and poor has expanded significantly since the 1970s. According to U.S. Department of Commerce data， the Gini coefficient reached 0.482 in May 2019. The internationally recognized warning line is 0.4. In 2014， the per-capita annual income of lowincome U.S. citizens， who accounted for 50 percent of the population， was $16，200. It was almost the same as in the 1980s， but the top 1 percent high-income citizensincome increased threefold over the same period， according to World Socialist Web data in 2016. The data also showed that in 2014， the per-capita annual income of the high-income group equaled an ordinary workers lifetime income.

The Business Insider reported in 2016 that from 1978 to 2015， the salaries of the CEOs of the 350 largest U.S. companies increased by about 940 percent roughly， while the salaries of ordinary workers increased by only 10 percent.

The size of the U.S. middle class continues to shrink. A Gallup report in 2016 said the percentage of those categorizing themselves as middle or upper-middle class dropped from an average of 61 percent between 2000 and 2008 to 51 percent in 2016. This means the quality of economic life for about 25 million Americans has plummeted drastically.

Adverse effects

Poverty rates remain high. Census Bureau statistics in 2018 showed the number of poor people reached 38.1 million， with a poverty rate of 11.8 percent. However， the Institute for Policy Studies stated in 2018 that there was an underestimation in the officially published U.S. poverty rates， and it estimated that 43.5 percent of the population （about 140 million people） lived in straitened circumstances or had a low income.

According to a report by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality in 2017， the overall poverty rate in rural areas in the south was 20 percent. The poverty rates for African Americans and African American women in this region were 33 percent and 37 percent， respectively. In the rural areas of the west， the poverty rate for Native Americans was as high as 32 percent.

Low-income groups face the threat of hunger in the highly developed U.S. economy. Forbes News reported in May 2020 that a survey showed a large number of American children were facing hunger during the pandemic. As of the end of April， more than one fi fth households had been facing food crises， and as many as two fi fths with children under 12 had been facing such crises.

Millions are driven out of their homes every year because they cannot pay the rent. Reuters reported in 2015 that due to inadequate supply of affordable housing and weak economic recovery in most regions， more than 565，000 people were homeless in the U.S， a quarter of them children.

During the COVID-19 pandemic， the homeless were relocated to temporary shelters for isolation. The New York Times pointed out on April 13 that these shelters in New York City， where more than 17，000 people lived and slept almost side by side， became a delayed-action virus outbreak bomb. The Los Angeles Times reported on May 14 that due to the impact of the pandemic， the number of homeless people might surge by as much as 45 percent within a year.

The poverty-induced stress has led to deterioration in overall American health. Philip Alston， the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights， said in his report on his visit to the U.S. in 2018 that the health gap between the U.S. and countries with the same level of development continues to widen， as Americans have shorter life expectancy and are more likely to die of illness.

Americans who have lost their medical insurance due to poverty cannot afford medical expenses. A study by the Urban Institute in 2018 showed that Texas had as many as 4.7 million residents under the age of 65 who did not have medical insurance， accounting for 19 percent of its population. The Atlantic Monthly reported in April 2020 that low-income people usually delayed seeing a doctor when they became ill because they had no money. As they face the COVID-19 pandemic， tens of millions in the U.S. are not covered by medical insurance.

The division between the rich and poor has led to a decline in the average life expectancy and increasing suicide rates.According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data in 2014， there were 41，149 suicides in the U.S. in 2013， an increase of about 41 percent over 1999. There is a suicide in the U.S. every 13 minutes； suicide has become the 10th leading cause of death in the country， causing over twice as many deaths as homicide.

Low-income groups do not enjoy equal education opportunities， leading to increasing public dissatisfaction with the higher education system. A New York Times report says in 38 universities including famous ones such as Yale， Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania， the total number of students from the top 1 percent households is greater than the total number of students from the bottom 60 percent. Alston reported that among all the affl uent countries in the world， the U.S. had the lowest intergenerational social mobility， and the American Dream was rapidly transforming into the “American Illusion.”

A persistent problem

The so-called U.S. democratic system deprives its citizens of economic， social and cultural rights. Structural causes are leading to the division between the rich and poor.

First， disorderly competition in the capital market and hostile takeovers have resulted in fewer middle-income jobs. High-priced acquisitions of rival businesses have resulted in a significant reduction in middle-income jobs. In 20 years， the number of companies listed on the American stock exchanges plummeted from 7，300 to about 3，700， and bankrupt small businesses significantly outnumbered newly established ones. The Guardian reported that in 2017， the unemployment rate among young Americans was as high as 15.9 percent. Due to insufficient full-time jobs， about 4.8 million people who wanted to work full-time had only part-time jobs.

Second， the structural rise in housing prices has made housing more unaffordable for low-income people. In 2018， the National Association of Realtors conducted a survey on home buyers and found that due to rising housing prices and interest rates， housing affordability had declined and house purchasing was no longer an easy decision for home buyers. A Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report found that in 20 urban areas， more than 30 percent of middle-class households spent at least 30 percent of their incomes on housing. Since 2011， the minimum rent has increased by 18 percent. It is particularly noteworthy that since the summer of 2017， in several cities such as San Francisco， Atlanta， Nashville and Chicago， the rent for the high-income group has fallen， while for the poorest group it has risen.

Third， due to high-priced， inefficient medical services， the health conditions of low-income Americans have deteriorated. According to a survey on medical service systems by the Commonwealth Foundation in 2014， among 11 countries at the same developmental level， the U.S. had the least effi cient， least productive， and most unfair medical service system. It also had the highest mortality rate and infant mortality rate， and its citizens aged 60 had the worst health conditions. Besides this， Americans paid twice as much for medical services as those living in the other 10 countries.

Fourth， the rising cost of higher education has deprived low-income groups of opportunities to receive higher education. Forbes reported that student loan debts had consumer debts second only to mortgage debt， outnumbering the total of credit cards and car loans. More than 44 million students relied on loans to continue their education， and their loans in total were as high as $1.3 trillion. In some regions， cuts in fiscal plans are leading to a decline in school enrollment.

In 2018， the World Bank released a report entitled Intergenerational Mobility around the World. It took the people born in the 1980s as its subject of research and found that the U.S. is among the four developed economies among the 50 economies that did the worst in realizing intergenerational mobility through education. It was also among the developed economies that did a bad job in actualizing intergenerational income mobility.

The U.S. Government lacks the political will to change the structural roots that lead to the division of the rich and the poor. Instead， it adopts a series of policies and measures that further widen the gap.

First， the policies and measures to stimulate economic growth are aimed at benefiting the rich instead of taking into consideration how to reduce the burden on low-income groups. The current administrations policy of carrying out unprecedentedly large-scale tax cuts for large companies and the wealthy at the expense of social welfare seems to be a policy formulated to widen the existing inequality. According to an analysis by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy， 27 percent of the revenue generated by the tax cuts in 2019 is estimated to fl ow into the pockets of the richest 1 percent.

Insufficient government financial investment has led to the lack of corresponding social security for the needy. A research report by Pew in 2015 said there was a serious shortage of funds for social security， with a defi cit of about $74 billion in 2014. In 2015， the annual report of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees said the social security system had a deficit of $25.8 trillion， almost 1.5 times the total annual GDP.

Second， the Healthcare Reform Act has been struck down， and full coverage of medical insurance has been rejected. The U.S. is one of the few developed countries that do not have universal health coverage. Despite the Congress adopting the Healthcare Reform Bill proposed by the Obama administration in 2010 and promising to establish a universal healthcare system， Census Bureau data showed 33 million citizens were not covered by medical insurance in 2015. On May 4， 2017， the House of Representatives adopted the American Healthcare Act， overturning many important contents of Barack Obamas healthcare reform plan.

Third， many rural hospitals have been closed， expanding the “medical desert.” Al Jazeeras U.S. channel reported in 2017 that since 2010， more than 80 rural hospitals in the U.S. had been closed， and hundreds were on the verge of bankruptcy. Each a closed rural hospital can serve approximately 10，000 local residents， who are the most vulnerable group in U.S. society. The closure of rural hospitals has destroyed the original rural hospital network and forced local residents to drive to hospitals dozens of miles away. A Pew survey in 2017 found that since 2015， the publics positive evaluation of government-guaranteed medical services has fallen by 20 percent.

Fourth， the Internet management policy has widened the digital divide. The government ended the Net neutrality rules stipulated in the 2015 Open Internet Rules， which forbade Internet service providers from blocking or throttling certain data streams and required that traffic would have to be treated equally regardless of the users ability to pay. The report commented that this move would allow rich people to enjoy faster Internet services and thereby deepen the digital divide， putting low-income groups at a disadvantage in the competition toward a digital future. For instance， in Detroit， where the poverty rate is close to 40 percent， about 40 percent of the population do not have Internet at home.

The reason the government lacks the political will to bridge the divide between the rich and poor is closely related to the U.S. political system and the capital interests represented by the government. The vigorous development of money politics has turned the government into a spokesman for the rich. A Guardian report in 2018 said the public generally believed elections were corrupt and members of the Congress served only the companies， the wealthy and special interest groups. Alston said in his report that though the U.S. is one of the richest， most powerful， and most technologically innovative countries in the world， its wealth， power， and technology have not been used to address the persistent poverty of the 40 million people.“The persistence of extreme poverty is a political choice made by those in power，”he wrote.

The division between the rich and poor in the United States will be a stable， long-term trend. One cannot expect any substantial reversal of this situation within a short period. The severe negative impact it has brought on the enjoyment and realization of human rights will continue to worsen.