The United States is experiencing an ongoing economic transformation that has disrupted many lives. Many people can attest to the changes, including the fact that the richest have gotten richer and average American workers have struggled considerably. Some of the economic problems facing the United States are wage cuts, long-term unemployment, economic insecurity, families falling behind on payments, and lack of medical or dental insurance. Contrary to individualist theory, the problem is not with the people themselves, they are not lacking skills or unable to work, the real problem is the political economy. Most people need a job to earn a living, but we have no control over what jobs are actually available or how much they pay. In reality, our lives are in the hands of outside forces when it comes to the job market. From an economic perspective, poverty rates are determined by the number of jobs and their wages. When jobs and wages are low, Americans' incomes fall and poverty rates rise. The 2008 recession could be used to explain this. On the other hand, when there are plenty of jobs and wages are high, the poverty rate goes down and Americans' incomes go down.