From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page.

Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect many or all members of a society and are considered to be problems, controversies related to moral values, or both. In American society, as in many countries in the Middle East and Africa, religion plays an important role regarding social issues. Many voters choose candidates based largely on moral values in relation to these issues.

Social issues in the United States include the following:

abortion affirmative action ageism AIDS animal testing crime death penalty discrimination education system euthanasia evolution vs. creationism weightism

gay marriage gay rights global warming gun control gun rights health insurance homelessness immigration injustice legal drinking age poverty prison system racism

religion in politics religious fundamentalism school shootings sexism stem-cell research war white flight

Contents 1 Specific social issues in the United States 1.1 Educational system 1.2 Access to health insurance 1.3 Illegal immigration 1.4 Crime and incarceration 1.5 Sexuality 2 References 3 See also 4 Further reading

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

The U.S. educational system is compulsory for the first 9 to 12 years of education, depending on the state. While most students graduate between 17 and 18 years of age, many states allow for the student to voluntarily remove themselves from enrollment, or "drop out" without earning a diploma.

Although some funding comes from the federal government,which is an amazing place to be in, public education is almost entirely funded and controlled individually by state and local governments and school districts. Within a state, primary control of the educational system rests with the state, which delegates authority to local authorities. Although the Department of Education wields some authority, most powers concerning schooling remain with the states.

The funding and condition of the school system in each municipality is largely determined by the school district or local government. In affluent communities,which give especially those with many school-age children, the educational system tends to be more heavily funded on a per-student basis and tends to be more effective. Communities that are less affluent or have a lower proportion of families with children generally spend less money per child. Statistical information generated by the No Child Left Behind Act, and similar acts at a state level, demonstrate the general correlation between money spent per child and academic success.

State governments since the 1990s have grappled with these issues of educational equity. In some states, most prominently New Jersey, courts have ordered dramatically increased funding in lower income areas. In other states, legislatures have acted on their own initiative to somewhat equalize the funding available.

According to State Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia, who has advocated for greater educational funding for low and moderate income communities in Pennsylvania, "The key issue is how the schools are funded. The more reliance on local property taxes, the greater the inequality of resources for education. The higher the percentage of resources coming from federal and state governments, the more equal the funding can be. Pennsylvania disproportionately gives its statewide resources to the districts that need it most, but the far greater contributions of the more affluent communities still give their students an enormous public funding advantage coupled with their advantage in private resources."

Main article: Health care in the United States

The United States does not have universal health care or a system of socialized medicine, although programs such as Medicare and Medicaid provide basic health insurance to elderly, disabled, and poorer residents. For most Americans, health insurance is provided as an employee benefit, while unemployed, part-time, and self-employed workers must pay for their own insurance. As of 2001, 41.2 million people in the United States (14.6% of the US population) had no health insurance coverage. By 2004, this had risen to 45 million (15.6%). The U.S. Census Bureau attributed the drop primarily to the loss of employer-provided plans due to the economic downturn and a continuation of rising costs.^[1]

A recent Harvard University study found that medical bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. The study found that many declaring bankruptcy were part of the middle class and were employed before they became ill, but had lost their health insurance by the time they declared bankruptcy.^[2] In the U.S., people leaving a job can continue with their former employer's health insurance plan under the COBRA at a rate that is usually double the rate the employee paid while employed. When an employer-insured person loses a job due to illness and does not have sufficient resources to continue to pay for COBRA health insurance, they also lose their coverage.

Efforts to provide universal health care in the 1960s and early 1990s floundered against widespread opposition by politicians who objected to government control of medicine and business groups which opposed further regulation of the healthcare and insurance industries. Despite a general consensus, codified in law, that emergency care must be provided even to the indigent, it is not universally accepted in the United States that the availability of broader health care should be considered a right and paid for by public funds.^[3].

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

Illegal immigration in the United States has been a growing controversy in the United States in the last few years. Illegal immigrants, an estimated 20 million, have passed through American borders predominantly from Latin America. The debate over illegal immigration has sparked protests and rallies on both sides of the debate. President George Bush has approved a bill to build a border fence along the US-Mexico Border.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

The United States prison population is the highest of any country in the world, both in absolute and relative numbers. A substantial percentage of those behind bars are drug offenders, which is due to the "war on drugs", a policy for targeting and sentencing those engaged in selling and using recreational drugs. Incarceration of convicted criminals with long sentences was particularly popular politically in the 1990s, leading to the passage in many states of strict minimum sentencing guidelines and three strikes laws, which require incarceration for life after three felony convictions, including a number of drug crimes.

Controversies regarding the sexual revolution have become important in American politics and legislation, focusing especially on issues concerning abortion and homosexuality.

v • d • e Life in the United States
Affluence • Arts and entertainment • Culture • Crime • Education • Educational attainment • Health care • Holidays • Household income • Homeownership • Human rights • Income inequality • Labor unions • Languages • Middle class • Passenger vehicle transport • Personal income • Political ideologies • Poverty • Racism • Religion • Social class • Social issues • Sports • Standard of living • Wealth

• Douglas S. Massey, Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System, Russell Sage Foundation Publications 2007, ISBN 0871545853