...Poverty In America Poverty In America Poverty may be known as a state symbol in less developed countries. Lester R. Brown in his book 'World without Borders' explains poverty thus; "Unfortunately it is not an economic abstraction, it is a human condition. It is despair, grief and pain. It is the despair of a father with a family of seven children in a poor country when he joins the, swelling ranks of unemployed with no prospects of unemployment compensation. Poverty is the longing of a young boy playing outside a village school but unable to enter because his parents lack a few rupees needed to buy text books. Poverty is the grief of parents watching a three year old child die of a routine childhood disease because they cannot afford any medical care”. By poverty we generally mean a situation in which a person fails to earn income sufficient to purchase his bare means of subsistence. A poor man is one who does not have command over the basic needs of life like enough food, clothing, drinking water and shelter on the material level. On the nonmaterial level a poor man is deprived of basic social needs like health and education. Three broad concepts of poverty can be identified. Poverty can be defined as subsistence, inequality and externality. But poverty is mainly viewed in two ways absolute and relative. In absolute sense, poverty relates to subsistence. It means absence of the minimum physical quantities of food required for an individual daily. People are considered...
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...Social stratification- is systematic inequalities among groups of people 1. Wealth and income (social class) 2. Racial inequality 3. Gender inequality. Equality/inequality -Ontological equality -Equality of opportunity -Equality of condition -Equality of outcome Why inequality exists? Inequality in wealth and access to resources is generated by three processes: 1.) Unequal division of labor and/or low mobility across occupations. 2.) Surplus or abundance of resources 3.) The desire to accumulate wealth and assets Types of social mobility: mobility refers to movement between different position within a system of social stratification 1. Horizontal 2. Vertical 3. Structural 4. Exchange Why the class structure is changing -Massive growth in inequality between the rich and the poor. Called the “Great U-Turn” -Shrinking of the working class, with some growth in middle class and working poor. -Growth of poverty and the “underclass” -Rate of poverty is increasing twice as fast as population growth Why income inequality is increasing -Largely due to the increasing concentration of wealth at the very top of the income distribution. consequences of income inequality -High levels of income inequality reduces social cohesion, overall health, overall wealth, and education -Increases crime, debt, and political polarization Social construction of race -Instead, social scientists argue that “race” is socially constructed. Racial...
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...Department of agriculture have pointed out that the American diet is inconsistent with the Food Guide Pyramid Frazao E, Allshouse J (2003). We all know that america lives on fast food more than any other country and that is one of the maine causes of obesity within the United States says Wendy Wolf a research associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences of New York. Since most childrens lives are half spent at school she speaks primarily of state food, farm and nutrient policy with county educators throughout the state on the development of programs that address childhood obesity. Wolf explains that “sweetened beverages and snacks are available for students both during and after school including during lunch” and that this may be a potential cause for increasing growth of obesity among children. Wolfe also stressed that community programs were important to the prevention of weight loss for youth and should be looked at intensively to ensure proper funding is available. While undergoing her research and promotional campaigns she later realizes that “the cost of treating obesity related diseases now exceeds the cost of tobacco and alcohol related diseases”. Chou et al (2004) obesity is implicated...
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...The ideas of health care have changed tremendously in the past years. Health services are provided in many ways and the funding is now more accessible. Outstanding changes in public health have changed life over the past century. Health care became an area of concern as early as the 1900’s. It was during The Great Depression in the 1930’s when priorities changed with greater emphasis on unemployment insurance and “old age” benefits. Between 1940 and 1950 President Roosevelt asked Congress for “economic bill of rights,” including right to adequate medical care and later on President Truman would offer a national health program plan involving a single system that would include all of American society. Unfortunately, this agreement would be terminated by the American Medical Association (AMA), and is called a Communist plot by a House subcommittee. It wasn’t until the start of the decade during the 1950’s that national health care expenditures were 4.5 percent of the Gross National Product (PBS, 2010), and then later on in the 1970’s an effort brought forth by the World Health Organization planned to achieve “Health for All” by the year 2000. Declaration of Alma-Ata International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma Ata, USSR, 6-12 September 1978 Governments have a responsibility for the heath of their people, which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures. A main social target of governments, international organizations and the whole...
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...More children are living below the poverty line in America today than when the war on poverty began almost fifty years ago. Despite consistent efforts by the government, nonprofit organizations, and the people themselves, poverty rates in 2012 are very similar to the early 1960s. Social security and Medicaid have reduced the number of seniors living in poverty, but the plight of children has worsened. Several factors have contributed to this problem. As measured by inflation adjusted dollars, wages of low-skill jobs have declined. The number of families headed by unmarried mothers has risen, and large numbers of immigrants with little education have entered the U.S. The combination of these factors have resulted in approximately 20% of our country’s children living in poverty, which is 50% higher than 1969. Historically, the foundational basis for lifting the disenfranchised out of poverty is education. One of the first steps of the civil rights movement was a grassroots movement educating the poor and disenfranchised to a level of literacy that would enable them to register to vote. This strategy was led by Stephen Currier and his wife, Audrey Bruce, the granddaughter of Andrew Mellon, during the early 1960s. Their Taconic Foundation brought the leading civil rights groups together with other foundations including the Stern, Rockefeller, and Norman foundations. The funding to civil rights advocacy associations was matched with volunteers throughout the South who tutored...
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...connection: higher income linked to better health (Benzeval and Judge 2001). Income and health are closely associated. Despite the economic growth America has experienced in the last few years and although life expectancy and health services have improved, the connection between income and health inequality has expand. Healthy People 2020 explains that income is one of the socio-economic...
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...achievement in education 2013 review’ Professor Chris Pascal and Professor Tony Bertram UK Research Team: Sean Delaney, Selma Manjee, Marjory Perkins and Manja Plehn International Research Team: Alice Bennett, Carol Nelson, Sarina Razzak and Maureen Saunders Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) © Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) 2013 The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Ofsted. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to Elizabeth Boulton at publishing@ofsted.gov.uk or Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2 6SE This publication is available at www.ofsted.gov.uk/accessandachievement. No. 130155-RR-005 In June 2012, Sir Michael Wilshaw, HMCI, stated his determination to address the issue of narrowing the gap of educational achievement between disadvantaged pupils and others. To support this intention, The Centre for Research in Early Childhood has been commissioned by OfSTED to conduct a review looking at the impact of Early Childhood Education (ECE) initiatives to combat social and economic disadvantage, both in the UK and internationally. This paper: Examines the impact of national and international initiatives in ECE over the last 10 years on the attainment of socio‐economic disadvantaged children and young people ...
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...third largest child poverty rate among the top cities in the United States ("Hunger Facts," 2013). Insufficient resources to provide adequate food and lack of proper nutritional education for these children has a dramatic effect on the health and well-being for this vulnerable group. Not only does poverty have a direct relationship to negative child outcomes, but nutritional intake and education, as well. This article will focus on a theory-based health care promotion plan that will address the poor, school-age children living in Cleveland. Strategies will be identified in promoting nutritional education to improve healthy eating for these children in an attempt to improve the health and wellness for this vulnerable group. Guidelines for quality monitoring, evaluating, and adaptations of this health promotion plan will also be discussed so that it can be used across various health care settings. Implementing a health promotion plan that incorporates appropriate theory, research-based interventions, evaluative measures, and quality improvement metrics is pivotal if the health care professional is to be successful in supporting desired healthy behaviors for all populations. Enhancing and expanding cultural sensitivity for our diverse populations will prepare a holistic workforce that will improve the health and health equity in our underserved communities. Addressing Healthy Foods and Nutritional Education with Cleveland’s Youth Poverty and health can have...
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...Contemporarily, global inequality means the extent to which income and wealth is distributed in an uneven manner among the world’s population. With international trade, more wealth is gradually being transferred from poor areas to others. As a result of this influx, the well-off are enjoying luxury yachts, private aircrafts, upscale restaurants and so forth, while only for the bread of every meal are the impoverished working around clock. A rising number of poor people are suffering from extreme poverty, injustice and illness. The most critical problems are those associated with global inequality. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the problems of global inequality, including its causes, and to identify solutions, providing reasons that support these solutions. Section 1: The global inequality, mainly referring to the increasing gap between the poor and rich nations, is an inevitable problem driven by globalization. The number of people whose daily wages were less than 2 USA dollars rose by 350 million around the world during the past ten years (APEC Study Centre n.d., para.1). One of the most significant problems is “the gap in incomes …has grown from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 82 to 1 in 1995” (APEC Study Centre n.d., para.1). According to another report, “the richest 85 people in the world are worth more than the poorest 3.5 billion” (Global Wealth Report 2003). Additionally, the richest one fifth of the world’s population had approximately 78% of the word GDP (Gross Domestic...
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...Nursing in 3D: Diversity, Disparities, and Social Determinants The Social Determinants of Health: It’s Time to Consider the Causes of the Causes Paula Braveman, MD, MPHa Laura Gottlieb, MD, MPHb ABSTRACT During the past two decades, the public health community’s attention has been drawn increasingly to the social determinants of health (SDH)—the factors apart from medical care that can be influenced by social policies and shape health in powerful ways. We use “medical care” rather than “health care” to refer to clinical services, to avoid potential confusion between “health” and “health care.” The World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health has defined SDH as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age” and “the fundamental drivers of these conditions.” The term “social determinants” often evokes factors such as health-related features of neighborhoods (e.g., walkability, recreational areas, and accessibility of healthful foods), which can influence health-related behaviors. Evidence has accumulated, however, pointing to socioeconomic factors such as income, wealth, and education as the fundamental causes of a wide range of health outcomes. This article broadly reviews some of the knowledge accumulated to date that highlights the importance of social—and particularly socioeconomic— factors in shaping health, and plausible pathways and biological mechanisms that may explain their effects. We also discuss...
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...of human action.”—John Rawls (1971, p. 102) In recent years “poverty reduction” has become the watchword in development agencies, in international lending institutions, and among development economists generally. The focus on poverty reduction reached a high point perhaps with the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and with the extensive analytic work that has accompanied the MDGs.[2] Yet, much of the discussion of poverty reduction and economic development in low and middle income countries has either ignored the issue of income distribution or has tended to view income distribution only in terms of its impact on economic growth. Poverty and inequality, however, are intimately bound up with one another.[3] Both as an analytic issue and as a policy issue, there are severe limitations in attempting to deal with poverty – or, more broadly, with economic well-being – without also examining income inequality. Indeed, it is questionable that we can even define poverty independently of income distribution. In this essay, I want to develop the argument that economists and economic policy-makers should focus much greater attention on inequality as measured by the distribution of income (and wealth). The traditional focus simply on absolute levels of income as a measure of poverty and economic well-being is fundamentally flawed. My argument here has thee parts: • Poverty or, more generally, economic well-being cannot be effectively defined...
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...Running Head: POVERTY IN AMERICA The Effects of Poverty on Millions Americans and New faces of Poverty & Possible Prevention Clara M Jones Strayer University Instructor: Dr. Astiage Tondari Economics of Social Issues ECO405009VA016-1124-001 June 9, 2012 Abstract When a person think of poverty, one simply says’ and or think that individuals, families, groups, and what have you lack financial stability; however, there is so much more that should be considered when it comes to poverty. The World Health Organization has described poverty as the greatest cause of suffering on earth. Living in a state of financial instability is both physically and emotionally damaging, the stress alone can make one ill. Poverty continues to be a problem not only in the United States of America but in developing countries and less developed countries (LDC) worldwide. Some of those countries are under developed countries and developing countries; furthermore, there are major problems in both. The main focus in this paper is on poverty in America; also, the new faces of poverty and how it affects the new faces. . Four Families of Article from USA TODAY, September 28, 2011 The article covers various issues of poverty of different families and individuals; however, the main portion of the article is about a father in Leesburg, Virginia. The man’s name is Billy Schlegel. He is the father of three children; also, he is divorced as of 2004. Billy and his ex-wife share joint...
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...Society for the Study of Social Problems Social Stratification and Health: Education's Benefit beyond Economic Status and Social Origins Author(s): John R. Reynolds and Catherine E. Ross Source: Social Problems, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May, 1998), pp. 221-247 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for the Study of Social Problems Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3097245 Accessed: 27/02/2009 14:10 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucal. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For...
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...Understanding Poverty From Multiple Social Science Perspectives A Learning Resource for Staff Development In Social Service Agencies Michael J. Austin, PhD, Editor BASSC Staff Director Mack Professor of Nonprofit Management School of Social Welfare University of California, Berkeley 510-642-7066 mjaustin@berkeley.edu August 2006 1 Table of Contents Introduction – Michael J. Austin, Guest Editor Part I Multiple Social Science Perspectives of Poverty Theories of Poverty: Findings from Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment Amanda J. Lehning, Catherine M. Vu, & Indira Pintak Economic Theories of Poverty Sun Young Jung & Richard Smith Sociological Theories of Poverty in Urban America Jennifer Price Wolf Psychological Theories of Poverty Kelly Turner & Amanda Lehning An Anthropological View of Poverty Kristine Frerer & Catherine Vu Political Science Perspectives on Poverty Amanda Lehning Theories of Global Poverty in the Developed and Developing World Jennifer Morazes & Indira Pintak Part II Theory Integration and Practitioner Perspectives Social Capital and Neighborhood Poverty: Toward an Ecologically-Grounded Model of Neighborhood Effects Kathy Lemon Osterling Social Work Students’ Perceptions of Poverty Sherrill Clark The Explosive Nature of the Culture of Poverty: A Teaching Case Based on An Agency-based Training Program Catherine Vu & Michael J. Austin 2 Understanding Poverty From Multiple...
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...JaQuess Wynn Jayantha Jayman GS101: Intro to Political Economy November 2, 2012 I. Title Shifting the Blame From the Poor to the Privileged: Global Poverty, World Hunger, Population Growth, and the Misappropriation of Wealth in Third World Countries I. Introduction At a broad level, globalization is an increase in the impact on human activities of forces that span national boundaries. These activities can be economic, social, cultural, political, technological, or even biological, as in the case of disease. Additionally, all of these realms are connected through capitalism. Globalization, as defined by McMichael is “integration on the basis of a project pursuing "market rule on a global scale.” Under McMichael’s definition of capitalism, the availability of food is becoming a major issue. And that is driven by a number of factors. Both the ability to grow enough food especially under a changing climate, as well as increases in population and greater demand for food from an increasing discerning population that wants more meat in their diet. This is driving up demand for food and that is basically pushing up prices which not only affects the ability to buy the diversity of food that we want to eat, but it particularly affects people in the developing world for whom food is a major cost in their finances. The evolution of food production plays a big role in its current role in the capitalist economy. Farmers no longer produce food for others to eat, but rather...
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