Employment
Families unable to escape poverty despite working full time blight any economic system. Unlike most other rich democracies, America chooses not to provide those who work with a wage sufficient to avoid impoverishment. Indeed, its wage structure causes taxpayers to subsidize low-wage employers. ~ American economist George Tyler
The market system has infected all of humanity. Because chaotic capitalism leaves a significant percentage of the population without jobs, unemployment is a chronic problem in every society. The magnitude of the blight varies with the vicissitudes of economic activity.
For those afflicted with forced idleness, prospects for recovery dim as time wears on and the spirit is worn down. Productive lives are insensibly wasted.
To remedy this systemic malfunction, governments worldwide typically do next to nothing. Instead, descent into penury is checked only by the begrudging benevolence of a stingy welfare state.