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Why Poverty Is One of Our Primary Problem

Zach Buckler

MCTC

Mrs. Francis

ENG 102

April 1, 2022
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Why Poverty is One of Our Primary Problems

The rising rate of poverty across the globe is a problem that we have been facing for

decades and will continue to face forever. Poverty is not an issue that we will ever be able to

completely eradicate although there are many solutions to slowing it down. Many children are

left stuck to fight it all alone because they are born into it and have no way out. Financial

struggles all start as a child for most because they are born in and have no resources to escape.

Poverty includes two main types being relative and absolute. Poverty has been one of the

World’s largest problems for years now and will continue to be if we don’t make change now.

Many targets are children who can not help the circumstances they were stuck in. For this to

change we need to implement more programs in order to help these children and their families be

safe along with providing them with resources needed to live, and providing children with

quality education so they aren’t lost when stepping into the real world. Although poverty

strongly affects children and that is specifically what I'm looking into, it affects each and every

one of us whether it be directly or not.

Poverty is a thing that can happen to anybody and at any time in your life. There are two

main categories of poverty, those being absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is the

most extreme version of poverty in which house income is below necessary levels needed to

maintain basic living standards like food, shelter, housing, etc . Relative poverty is not as

extreme but is still a huge problem in our world because it prevents people from actually living

and being able to survive without being paycheck to paycheck. With absolute poverty comes

another world crisis, hunger. Many people including children are not able to have food on the

table on a daily basis unless it comes from school funded programs or other programs put in

place to help people eat.

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Many articles go into depth on who is affected primarily, and what factors leave any

person vulnerable to absolute poverty. The article “Child food poverty requires radical long term

solutions” states “For most pupils, the end of the school summer term signals the start of

holidays, days out, and a chance to make memories with friends and family. Other families, who

might rely on the support provided by schools, are not so lucky” (O’Connell, 2018 p. 5). This

goes into a factor of food poverty specifically in kids and families who rely on school programs

to feed them. These families are left to find ways to eat during the times when their children are

not able to get two meals at school.

Another factor looked into causing poverty was lack of quality education. Without

proper education stepping to the real world, many are left clueless and lost leaving them with

economic instability. This is one of our biggest issues not only as a nation but as a world due to

the fact that this does kill people and hurt their health just as some of the “bigger” problems do.

The article “Poverty, family resources and children’s early educational attainment: the mediating

role of parenting” looks into certain aspects of a child's life that can affect their ability to receive

a quality stable education or even an education in general. Authors Kathleen E. Kiernan and

Fiona K. Mensah discuss a study done in England throughout the early 2000s. This study was on

over eleven thousand families living in different areas with varying levels of poverty to see how

these rates would affect a child's education. Based on the research done, they came to a

conclusion that poverty levels did have a direct impact on the good level of achievement inside

of their schools. Compared to the children of those not in poverty whose achievement percentage

was just over 60 percent, the children with persistent poverty only had a 25 percent. Although

many other factors could contribute to these percentages, due to the high sample numbers this

data is credible because of the vast amount of families who were included in study.
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Looking into child poverty goes beyond looking specifically into statistics about how

child poverty affects a child throughout their whole life and the causes. This also looks into the

things that make a family most vulnerable to extreme poverty. In the article, “Determinants of

poverty in rural households: Evidence from North-Western Ethiopia” they look into certain

communities whether it be rural or urban to see how poverty affects them and why it affects them

in this way. Throughout the research, Eyasu determines that rural areas are more vulnerable to

poverty due to the shallow job market. Eyasu states “the poorest 40 percent tend to be even more

likely to live in rural areas and engage in agriculture”(Eyasu, 2020 p.3). Majority of the poorest

of our population reside in rural areas where agriculture is the main source of income. The

problem with agriculture is the instability of it. Many factors can influence the Agricultural

Economy, that being weather, high supply, and low demand. This in hand causes economic

instability for many due to the fact their source of income is so highly reliant on outside factors

that we cannot control. Individuals who grow up in rural areas sometimes begin to work this

from the time they can walk and for the rest of their lives. Many families allow children to stay

home and work rather than to go to school and get a proper education. This temporarily causes

lack of education but also in the long run can cause children to stick to agriculture rather than

branching out and getting an education because that is all they have known.

Another factor that we look into often when discussing poverty as a whole is population

size. It is very known that bigger cities have higher poverty rates due to having more people in

general along with having insufficient jobs, houses, and resources in general. Our economy is

used to these so-called “boom and bust periods” but they do not have such positive effects either

way. Research was done in the Netherlands where cities are small and individuals are left with

not much space other than what they live with due to densely populated areas. It was found that
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poverty rates have a direct correlation with the amount of space in a city. This is because many

migrate in because of jobs and more opportunity but these cities are not able to expand and get

the resources needed to uphold these huge population sizes. This leaves many left on the streets

or forced to move away, not because they are unemployed but because of the fact that they have

nowhere to live. It is important to find a balance in population growth because too many or too

little people causes many economical problems throughout an area. As discussed in the article

“Gentrification and the suburbanization of poverty:changing urban geographies through boom

and bust periods” many families take on high rent and bill burdens by living with other family

members, or friends. This causes many statistics to become off-balanced and unusable since they

are able to live in neighborhoods that would not before be obtainable. The article shallowly

touches on ways we can solve the problem of overcharging for rent and not having enough

obtainable and affordable housing. “Welfare state arrangements exert a considerable influence on

residential mobility patterns, particularly through housing. Housing policies concerning tenure

mix, access to homeownership, and acceptable rent levels can play a key role in determining the

magnitude of social–spatial divisions.” (Hochstenbach & Mustard, 2016 p. 6) Policies like these

could develop strict rules set on landlords and homeowners that would prevent them from

surcharging tenants for rent due to the shallow access to affordable housing. In doing this, not

only would it keep people off the streets but in fact would help disperse individuals who are

stuck living together in these areas where rent actually is affordable.

Throughout many of the articles read, some that were chosen and some that were not, it

became clear that there is no clear cut answer to poverty and it is a problem we will continue to

face for centuries however there are a few solutions that we can use in order to slow down the

rapidly increasing rates. The article “The Uncertain Root in the U.S. Poverty rate” looks into
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some of the solutions we already have established as a country and how we can better cover and

help a larger genre of our population. As many know, welfare is a very common and important

aid in our economy and continues to help many people survive and support them and their

families. The problem outlined with welfare is that there is not a wide enough scale of who can

and cannot receive these aids. The article states how welfare is set to help those in low income

households primarily but does not always help those who are not able to get a job like teens

living on their own, the disabled, etc. These welfare programs need to have an immense increase

in who are able to get and should dive briefly into these extreme circumstances. Opponents of

welfare question whether or not welfare truly benefits our economy or not but those who do not

side with welfare do not understand how essential it is for some families. Welfare can hurt the

working class because it raises the economy and a lot of it does come from taxpayers money, but

because of the benefits to those who truly are not able to provide, it is worth the burden on those

who are fortunate enough to support themselves.

The last direct problem researched was the problem with our “poverty line” and how it is

not built correctly to state who is in poverty. The poverty line was made and is based on a

median income that decides whether or not you are considered poor. The problem with this is

that it does not take into account the cost of bills and other necessities. Right now someone who

makes minimum wage at $9 would not be under the poverty line, therefore not allowing them to

get as much help as others when they need it just as much. There are also no set guidelines for

the helpful resources in place to determine whether or not the annual income needed is before or

after taxes which should stay the same throughout everything. Economy rises over time and

depending where you are, the cost of living can skyrocket without wages jumping at all. People

who are forced to pay more than they can handle to stay off the streets are left without help due
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to the fact that they make enough money, not taking into consideration that their rent may take up

the majority of their monthly income leaving them with nothing to fend off of until they are paid

again and they become trapped in a loophole.

The solution to poverty always has and will continue to force us into looking for new

solutions that can help those in poverty and those stay away from poverty but also for us to look

into these past pre-existing solutions to see how we can alter them for the better. A solution that

comes to mind for some is paying cash for work so that people who deeply need it are not stuck

paying all of their money into taxes. The article “Cash For Work? Extreme Poverty Solutions

Based on Sustainable Development” goes over a solution that was tested in Indonesia. In this

research they paid people cash for working around their villages and helping keep everything in

an orderly manner. Although this did help some get out of poverty, they quickly ran out of

money to give, leaving many to hang. “Although the poverty rate has decreased, the Indonesian

government has to improve the welfare of the community, especially in rural areas, because of

the high percentage of poverty.” This solution touches on many of the issues that we have

discussed including, rural poverty, lack of welfare, and food insecurity. It is clear through their

research that this would not be a fair solution because not only is it a problem that some of the

community are able to work without paying money back, but also that the criteria for this

solution were very strict because the ratio of money to poverty leans heavily towards poverty.

Another solution brought up throughout these articles specifically “Child food poverty requires

radical long term solutions” is coming up with programs built and funded directly by the

government that helps families with food for their families throughout the months of summer

specifically to replace the meals that they would usually be getting in school. This solution I do
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believe is great but the amount of money and people it could help would be too narrow to truly

impact the rising rates.

Previously discussed is the solution that will truly help the most people and help them the

strongest, increasing welfare and building broader policies so that more people are able to get

welfare. There are many out there right now who are stuck living day to day because they are not

able to work but their issues do not meet the requirements needed to draw welfare. Even if you

are above the poverty lines and do not receive welfare, you should be evaluated to see if you

truly need it. Within these policies can lay resources and money set aside that goes to keeping

children fed throughout summer when they don’t have the school setting to keep them fed and

energized like they should be. Although increasing welfare would make some upset because it’s

coming out of their paycheck through taxes, there are plenty of benefits that make it well worth

the impediment on others. Along with the financial help, welfare can and will continue to bring

with these upgraded policies comes many other positive side effects. If families can afford to

keep clean and stable shelter, children will be able to focus much more on school getting them a

good education along with keeping them in school buildings because those in rural areas do not

have to worry about helping out with working and around the house.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the problem with poverty is the shallow and strict rules of the policies we

already have in place. These policies strictly look into certain groups of people making less

money than needed rather than those who are not able to work for their own reasons. The

government should look into their policies in order to make them broader and more useful to

those who truly need it. These new policies are bound to lower our poverty rates and make our

world a much more livable place no matter your circumstances.

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References

Effendi, Ghina Nabilah, et al. “Cash For Work? Extreme Poverty Solutions Based on

Sustainable Development.” Jejak (Jurnal Economi Dan Kebijakan), vol. 13, no. 2,

Universitas Negeri Semarang, 2020, pp. 381–94,

https://doi.org/10.15294/jejak.v13i2.25448.

Eyasu, Anteneh Mulugeta. “Determinants of Poverty in Rural Households: Evidence

from North-Western Ethiopia.” Cogent Food & Agriculture, vol. 6, no. 1, Cogent,

2020, p. 1823652–, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2020.1823652.

Hochstenbach, Cody, and Sako Musterd. “Gentrification and the Suburbanization of

Poverty: Changing Urban Geographies through Boom and Bust Periods.” Urban

Geography, vol. 39, no. 1, Routledge, 2018, pp. 26–53,

https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1276718.

Kiernan, Kathleen E., and Fiona K. Mensah. “Poverty, Family Resources and Children’s

Early Educational Attainment: The Mediating Role of Parenting.” British

Educational Research Journal, vol. 37, no. 2, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2011, pp.

317–36, https://doi.org/10.1080/01411921003596911.
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O’Connell, Rebecca, et al. “Child Food Poverty Requires Radical Long Term

Solutions.” BMJ (Online), vol. 362, 2018, pp. k3608–k3608,

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k3608.

Raj, Baldev, and Daniel J. Slottje. “The Uncertain Unit Root in the U.S. Poverty Rate.”

Empirical Economics, vol. 22, no. 4, Physica-Verlag, 1997, pp. 555–70,

https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01205780.
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