Issues in the USA
3/5
SRYHUW\ prison GUHDP homelessness
Preaction
scandals gun control PRQH\ WDONV racism drugs immigration success hall of fame ar
Turn the word cloud into a mind map by adding key words on what you know about the issues.
common vanlig/vanleg cart handlevogn
wealth illegal ZRUNHUV KRSH em pl
divide dele
FODVV
gs ek s
belongings eiendeler/ eigedelar low-income lav inntekt / låg inntekt minimum wage minstelønn
rd er
in
food stamps matkuponger/matkupongar
Vu
Likelihood of person born into bottom 20% of income reaching top 20% Perseived United States Italy United Kingdom France Sweden
Actual
12.1% 10.2 10.1 9.2 9.2
7.8% 10.7 11.4 11.2 11.1
Data: Alesina, Stantcheva, Teso (2016) in Kopf 2017
WATCH Crash, a film that discusses various issues in the USA.
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The United States of America
Search online and find the game “PlaySpent” to experience how to survive poverty.
Similar to the UK, the USA is often divided into the stereotyped upper class, middle class and working class. In addition, it is common to speak of a lower class, or the working poor. We imagine the rich as wealthy celebrities and the poor as homeless people pushing a cart with all their belongings. However, real life is not like what you see on TV. Most poor people are not homeless, though many of them fear homelessness and can be homeless at times; likewise, most rich people are neither superrich nor famous. People in many lowincome families have minimum-wage jobs, meaning that a full-time position only pays around $15,000 per year. These people often have to work several jobs and rely on food stamps to get by. To make it even worse, factories are shut down and production moves out of the country. As a result, frustration is growing.
