A new United Nations human rights investigation finds that poverty in the U.S. is projected to worsen as a result of President Trump’s new tax reform.
Philip Alston, a U.N. expert on extreme poverty, said that recent cuts to welfare “punish those who are not in employment” and restricting access to healthcare makes it a “privilege” rather than a right, according to Reuters.
The investigation found that around 550,000 are currently homeless in America while roughly 41 million live in poverty and 18.5 million live in extreme poverty. Alston predicts that the tax reform, which includes significant cuts to welfare programs, will increase these numbers.
“The tax reform will worsen this situation and ensure that the United States remains the most unequal society in the developed world,” he said. “The planned dramatic cuts in welfare will essentially shred crucial dimensions of a safety net that is already full of holes.”
Alston plans to present his findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council later this month and call on U.S. lawmakers to provide social protections and safety nets for the impoverished in addition to addressing the “underlying problems.”
