Teresa Graham English 111-0DJ Oct. 19, 2011 Teresa Graham English 111-0DJ Oct. 19, 2011 Working but Still Living in Poverty Many Americans work full time jobs but are living in poverty because of the recession, rising food cost, and government cuts. These situations are making it hard for Americans to make it in everyday life. They have to even sometimes beg for food for their families. So many people living in the United States have full-time jobs but the pay is minimum wage. With the economy in the shape it is, it makes those full-time jobs seem like only part-time jobs.
These writers basically write about two completely different topics, but there’s a point we can relate: immigrants are most of the service workers. In fact, instead of complaining so much about immigrants, we should realize how important they are in our lives. Without immigrants, there wouldn’t be service workers to please us. In Ehrenreich’s adventure, we are able to see that even if the U.S. is called the “promise land”, not everyone can succeed. Living at low-wage is really difficult because the chances to get to a “‘living wage’ are about 97 to 1”(321) and when the author thinks about this, she states that “low-wage work is not a solution to poverty and possible not even to homelessness”(321).
The sole provider in a single parent home often does not have the ability to work a full time job or rather obtain a job with a high paying salary. Risman states, “Women who become single mothers are especially likely to have inadequate wages… because the shortage of publicly subsidized child care makes it difficult for them to work full time.” Although single parent households with the provider working full time has a much higher chance of not living in poverty, working full-time, as Thompson states in her article, leaves less time to spend with your child. This leads to my next point. Financial stress can also lead to improper child development, education, and social exposure. To give a hypothetical example,
A lack of affordable housing has contributed to homelessness. The loss of affordable housing puts a great number of people at risk of homelessness. The lack of affordable housing has led to high rent burdens (rents which absorb a high proportion of income), overcrowding, and substandard housing. These phenomena’s, in turn, have not only forced many people to become homeless; they have put a large and growing number of people at risk of becoming homeless. Excessive waiting lists for public housing mean that people must remain in shelters or inadequate housing arrangements longer.
Mexico City has a population of 19.5 million, with an expectation of it reaching 21.6 million in 2015. Challenges occurring in mega cities due to a surplus population include discrepancies in the distribution of income and employment, inadequate water, sanity, infrastructure and housing. In mega cities which are generally situated in a developing country, individuals usually commute to a city in hope of employment, education and a better future. These individuals arrive with no skills and no wealth, generally coming from rural areas. Therefore they have limited rights when it comes to employment and their desperate nature to support themselves or their families leads them to hazardous working conditions and wages much lower then the minimum wage.
Children were an economic responsibility for women - providing food, housing and clothing until the child was independent and could go out to work to provide for the family themselves. Most working class women worked, as this was an obligation, but this work contrasted hugely to that of their male counterparts, occupying roles of lower skill and less pay. Edward Cadbury in 1909 said that marriage was ‘an escape from work’ Trint, S. History Learning Site 2010-2011. Women’s Rights. www.historylearningsite.co.uk [accessed 07122011].
Foreclosures have hit an all time high, and unfortunately some people were allowed to finance beyond their means and now have become homeless too. According to The National Coalition for the Homeless, “Housing assistance can make the difference between stable housing, precarious housing, or no housing at all. However, the demand for assisted housing clearly exceeds the supply: only about one-third of poor renter households receive a housing subsidy from the federal, state, or a local government. The limited level of housing assistance Campbell - 2 means that most poor families and individuals seeking housing assistance are placed on long waiting lists.” Not being able to afford housing does not mean that they are completely without a source of income. Many people that become homeless have jobs;
Running head: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY ON POVERTY Sociological Theory on Poverty Khadija Mohamed SOC- 185 Chamberlain College of Nursing ABSTRACT Poverty is a complex issue and is seen worldwide. I do not believe people choose to be poor but grow into poverty. Since education is very important in our society, I believe one of the main reasons people fall into poverty here in the United States is due to lack of education. The majority of Americans are not able to attend college due to the high cost. Based on my own experience, in order for me to graduate and receive my BSN in nursing, I either have to get a student loan which is over eight thousand dollars per semester or pay the tuition out of pocket.
This means that people are not getting enough money to help buy food and decent homes for their families. Also 10 percent of the people are unable to even buy a meal a day. Others cannot afford to eat and they have to hope for charity from neighbours and
It is a constant struggle, Tara as a hospital food service worker, making a gross income of just over $20k per year. At 7% over the poverty level, Tara and her children are not eligible for government assistance. The old catchphrase “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” has never been so obvious in today’s society. Poverty continues to grow in the working class; we need to work together to provide assistance to those in need. What is the working poor?