...Poverty: What Determines either growth from or permanent placement Poverty is determined by learned behavior and cultural differences, not one of circumstance and opportunity. What factors allow a person to either advance or stay in poverty. Many people live in poverty due to many reasons; some by sudden unforeseen extreme circumstances, others by inheritance. I’m going to focus on those that have inherited poverty, mainly families using government assistance. Although many people have risen from such families, there are a number of people that still choose to live in poverty, instead of trying to rise above it. There are a lot of ways for people to get out of this lifestyle. What makes them stay? I have lived in a neighborhood that shared space with Section 8 Housing. Being in the same neighborhood I got the chance to see firsthand that maybe poverty is something caused by learned behavior and cultural differences and not one of circumstance and lack of opportunities. When I talk about cultural differences, I’m not talking about race so much. My neighborhood was multiracial. I think there are certain things that affect people’s decisions when it comes to poverty that either allows them to rise out of it or stay there. One thing I noticed that some of the families that lived there were proud of the things that the material things that they were able to buy because they didn’t have to spend money on all the essentials that most people do...
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...wrong reasons and mothers who are in real need of support, do not get help often and well enough. The government should invest more money, in order to prevent problems and provide the best help. Firstly, young single mothers are claimed to have a baby to secure local-authority housing. Moreover, 75 per cent of young mothers were surviving below the official poverty line during the last 15 years. Finally, young mothers prefer not to work, and live at taxpayers expenses. The government should improve the facilities for young single mothers (Storry & Childs 134-136). Firstly, it is claimed that young mothers become pregnant in order to secure scarce local-authority housing. According to Storry & Child in British Cultural Identities, young people do not receive housing subsidies easily; therefore they are having a child and skip the waiting list to live in houses provided by the local-authorities. The fact that young women choose to be a mother and they do not have to live on the streets is a wrong reason for women to have a child. The government should provide more houses for young tenants in the first place, so that these young girls do not need to have a baby in order to have a place to stay. Additionally, 75 per cent of young mothers have subsisted below the official poverty line during the last 15 years (Storry & Childs 136). The amount of money needed for a single woman in Britain is estimated on 13,400 pounds (BBC 1). According to BBC news, 600,000 new mothers have been...
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...Society has viewed single mothers as an issue that only affects women of poverty. When a social issue of many races and cultures. It is portrayed that single mothers are African American or Latino. There are single mothers in all areas of the social ladder. Single motherhood happens for numerous reasons. When you think of reasons the first that comes to mind is divorce. Although this is one of the main reasons, it is one of many. Single women dating sometimes experience an unexpected pregnancy, and because of religious beliefs abortion is not an option, or they just chose to have the baby. Many Single mother homes struggle economically, because of the rise in cost of living, and one income households. These single mothers usually live under poverty level, ad struggle to pay their bills. These parents usually relay on some type of government assistance to survive. Many of these women don't have a healthy social life for themselves. This is because they tend to put all of their free time into their children, to try to compensate for the time spent at work. Those who choose to date have a difficult time, because they have to be careful of whom they introduce to their kids. This makes their love life almost nonexistent. These mothers experience high levels of stress trying to manage work and family life. Although the mother gives love to the child and interact as a family, she can sometimes feel alone, because of lack...
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...ends meet and trying to better their lives was not all they were trying to accomplish. Lives free of work, free of responsibilities, a life living on the goodness and the generosity of our government. After many years of seeing this my mind was made up, these people did not want to better themselves or their children's life. After much research, and a personal encounter with the system I came to realize that this was not so for many families on welfare. Poor single mothers were supplementing their regular income with some combination of "off the book" employment and money from relatives, lovers, and the fathers of their children. A handful of single mothers consumed goods and services whose value exceeded the official poverty line. What is the official poverty line? In 1999 poverty level for a family with one child was $8,240.04 annually, at this income level they were considered at 100% poverty scale. Is it too low? How did I know what constituted a poor families need, or any other families needs? I have commented on food stamps recipients who purchase a luxury item. The fact that they purchase such items must mean that they must not be in too much hardship, why would they purchase something that they can forgo. Prior to becoming acquainted with the system and many families on welfare I had never thought of the little luxuries that makes life enjoyable. How true it is that we cannot live on bread alone. How can I expect a poor person to live by those standards, after all they...
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...Single Parent Family Poverty Needs to be solved It seems poverty is an idea still far away from us. After all it is not very often for you to see homeless people or those can barely survive with limit amount of food around us every day. However suddenly British Columbia has the highest child poverty in entire Canada. This has a lot to do with the poverty of the single parent families, which I believe should be concerned as primary and solved with through effort from us all. Children are the future of a nation. Their lives should be well protected away from poverty and share equal opportunities to be educated like others. However, due to the report, it is hard to say our children are in a good move. “Child poverty in British Columbia has increased 4.3 per cent since last year's numbers.” (BC single moms the poorest of them all, P1) The number didn’t just increased, but also made it above average. “B.C.'s child poverty rate is 5.3 per cent higher than the national average.” (BC single moms the poorest of them all, P7) The majority reason caused this problem is large amount of these children are living in single parent families, especially, in single mother families. The report pointed out, “Sixty per cent of kids in poverty lived with two parent families, 36 per cent with single moms, and four per cent in other family arrangements, including single parent dads.” (BC single moms the poorest of them all, P7) Families with low income will be unlikely to get out of poverty, and...
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...Recent developments insinuate there is a relationship between single mothers and poverty in the US. Over 30% of the households headed by single mothers live below the poverty line. Only 6% of married couples form poor families; however, poverty affects 45% of children living without a father (Badger, 2014). Research also reveals there may be a relation between income levels in the metropolitan areas and a large scale of single mothers in the region. This suggests there are various reasons as to what may be affecting the state of single mothers in the US. In addition, it is crucial to examine all possible elements of the issue to deduce the probable concerns that may facilitate and/or promote the problem (Badger, 2014). The recession of 2007...
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... Sociology Professor Sobel POVERTY IN SINGLE MOTHERS Poverty is defined as “the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money” (http://www.ask.com/wiki/Poverty). Poverty continues to be an epidemic we face in the United States. “According to an analysis of census data, 7.9 million people live in high-poverty neighborhoods. About 30 percent of the population in these neighborhoods is Black, 29 Hispanic, and 24 percent White. (Chapter 10/Social Class, pg.255; handout). As we take a closer look, poverty is at an all time high in single mothers. “In 1970, the number of single-parent families with children under the age of 18 was 3.8 million. By 1990, the number had more than doubled to 9.7 million” (http://www3.uakron.edu/schulze/401/readings/singleparfam.htm). According to textbook Sociology Matters by Richard T. Schaefer, “since World War II, women have constituted an increasing proportion of the poor people in the United States” (Schaefer, 2013, pg 146). The factors that lead women into poverty include the departure, disability, or a death of a husband. Single mothers are also more likely to be poor because of the lower income earnings, inadequate public assistance and lack of child support from fathers. The conflict theory is highly depicted among poverty in single women. “Conflict theorists and other observers trace the higher rates of poverty among women to three distinct factors; the difficulty in finding...
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...Single parenting Single parenting is where a parent lives alone and takes most of the day to day the responsibilities in taking care of a child or children without a spouse or partner, in other words single parent involves a single person plus a dependent child (more likely to be a female parent) and is sometimes referred to as the broken nuclear family (where mom and dad and kids live under the same roof but parents decide to spilt-up). In Trinidad and Tobago there are 18 percent single parent and 9 percent single parent extended families (extended single parents is where the parent is living with their family such as mom, dad, siblings etc). How does one emerge as a single parent? There many reasons people in society become a single parent. Some reasons are:- Divorce -this is where a couple who have been married and have taken legal action of ending the marriage contract. In Trinidad and Tobago within the period of 2011 to 2013 there are 7,123 couples who applied for divorce. The rate of divorce in Trinidad and Tobago is 26.6 percent. Families are rapidly declining in our country and family foundations are weakening which brings a lot of negative side effects. In the U.S. the divorce rate is 40 to 50 percent of married couples divorce. Divorce can stem from misunderstandings between couples, the relationship grows apart, financial problems, intimacy disappears, not having a shared vision of success and also getting into the marriage for the wrong reasons. Unwanted...
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...The Effects of Living in Low-Income Single Mother Families Student Liberty University Abstract This article serves as an in-depth analysis of lives of low-income single mothers and their children. The cycle that happens with single mothers, the absence of the biological fathers and the stress that is often brought upon low-income single mothers all have the ability to affect the social, emotional and the cognitive development of the child. This article will be useful to anyone wondering about some of the struggles of low-income single mother households and the adverse effect on the child. Empirical articles were used to support the research of this article. The article supports the notion that low-income single mothers are often in a great struggle to pull themselves out of poverty. More readily available resources for single mothers including on-the-job training and financial resources for single mothers to be able to go back to school would greatly help low-income single mothers as they try to successfully raise their families. Keywords: single mother, low-income families, poverty The Effects of Living in Low-Income Single Mother Families The number of single-mother families in the United States has continued to increase steadily in the past few years. With close to 25 percent (one-fourth) of the 75 million children that are under the age of 18 in the United States being raised by single-mothers, this specific demographic is clearly one that cannot be ignored (Mather...
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...paying jobs. Accomplishing this will mean living on only what she makes to pay the rent, groceries and gas. The author makes up her mind to seek employment in three different cities around America, Key West, Florida, Maine and Minnesota. Her reasons for choosing each these cities varies and she realizes very quickly that making ends meet in any of these cities will not be easy to do if not impossible on a low salary. The author meets numerous people, including Holly a maid in Maine that she befriends. Ehrenreich’s view of low wage workers helps her understand their situation around the country as she comes to the realization that one cannot afford nutritious food, a protected living enviroment and provide for health insurance all on low earnings. My paper will discuss the repercussions of low wages on the working poor as well as how they are viewed by society. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America The book Nickel and Dimed begins with the author, Barbara Ehrenreich (2011), contemplating how she will take on the task of living with limited money and assets as she has a Ph.D. in Biology, but her focus became social change. Ehrenreich must ground rules for her research and decides that she must have transportation, a place to live and food to eat as these are things that she will need to get by. "Transportation is also a major barrier to financial self-sufficiency for many working poor families. Many of the working poor do not get to work with the ease that most working...
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...A single parent is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of another parent in the home. Being a single parent may occur for a variety of reasons: divorce, adoption, abandonment, or even death. Single parent families suffer from multiple problems including the decline in income and educational level, which consequently lead to economic, social and psychological complications (Essa, 1995). According to research, children of single-parent families suffer from a decline in the level of education when compared to children who are raised in an intact family. Children in single-parent households were twice as likely to drop out of school (Al-Zufairi, 2000). Children from single-parent households were also more likely to take jobs at the bottom of the occupational grade with lower incomes and also have a higher rate of unemployment. The children in single-parent households also suffered economic deprivation, prenatal care and had a higher rate of moving from home to home, which could negatively affect their development. Broken families earn less money, suffer from low educational levels and often pass these conditions on to their children, which often effects other generations. A single care giver will usually develop a sense of loneliness and tension, especially when he/she needs to make important decisions concerning the family. Certain conditions such as mental disorders, special needs and physiological conditions often increase the worry of raising...
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...Running head: POVERTY AND IT’S EVERYDAY LIFE CHANGES 1 Poverty and its Everyday Life Changes Professor Deanna R. Lindsey Sociology 100, Strayer University November 4, 2011 POVERTY AND IT’S EVERYDAY LIFE CHANGES 2 Abstract This report tells of the ratings of poverty in the United States and America. It tells how poverty is constantly changing the lives of men, women, and children on an everyday basis. It speaks of things we can do as a society to help support and change the lives of those living in poverty. Poverty And It’s Everyday Life Changes 3 Poverty is a very emotional and important issue in America. It is a fact that all social inequality creates poverty. There are generally two types of poverty that are discussed, which are relative poverty and absolute poverty .Relative poverty is the lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more. Absolute poverty is the lack of resources that is life threatening. It has been reported by “Global Stratification “, that about one billion human beings, which is one person in six are at risk of absolute poverty (Sociology, Thirteenth Edition). In this wealthy country of the Unite States families still go hungry, and live in in adequate housing, and suffer poor health because of serious lack of resources. In 2002, it was reported by the Census Bureau that poverty in the United States was had reached a high of 35 million people (Rector and Johnson, 2004). It is fact that we as human...
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...Generational Poverty Diana Rojas BSHS 345 August 12, 2014 Therese, DaSilva, LSSW Overcoming Generational Poverty Generational poverty is poverty passed down from generation to generation. Parents pass it down to their kids, and they received it from their parents. A vicious cycle can only be broken by raising above the current situation. In order to rise one must work and gain a greater income, if any, than what is currently being dealt with. It is a common truth that you can work yourself out of poverty. As easy as that sounds, many times this is almost impossible to achieve. Personal barriers that may harm success are stress, low self-esteem, isolation, and inadequate parenting competence. One can go into urban cities, rural areas, and ghettos and see the impoverished or underprivileged situations that many people live in today. The question often asked is; why do people live and think the way they do? Can they not move or get a better job? The sad truth is that for many people moving on does not come with ease. The factors for which many stay in the situation they are in is endless and often quite complex. Many times people face poverty because they lack the means to move up in life. This barrier often times comes from lack of education. In many areas instances, children never even make it out of high school because their presence is needed to work and help the family survive. Seniors are often faced with many challenges which lead them to fall into poverty. Companies...
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...of going with abortion. Way too many teenagers are getting pregnant; not allowing them to get an abortion is saying that they have to raise their child as a single mother or in poverty (Jacob, Weisberg). Children or woman that are raped or woman who can’t cope mentally or physically with a baby should not be forced to go through the whole pregnancy. It is not their life we are talking about there are children being brought into the world and having to live in poverty and suffer. Abortion as an option would help the children being born to teenage mothers, the women that are raped not have to live with the rape their whole lives and woman that can’t mentally handle having a child another option. Part 1: Argument Abortion should be an option for any woman if they are pregnant and feel they do not want to have the baby. They may choose abortion so they don’t have to go through all of the emotions of carrying the baby to full term and then giving it up for adoption. Teenage girls that get pregnant and are not allowed to have an abortion are being set up for failure in the future. How can a child take care of another child? Teenagers that have babies drastically diminish their chances of living the “American dream” (Jacob Weisberg). Most teenagers hardly ever get any support from the dad and tend to live their lives in poverty. The chances of them going to college and getting a good education are slim so they will probably end up on welfare or needing some kind of financial assistance...
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...problems that our society live in, but tries to cover it up by pushing it under a rug. Although I know our society has issues, I just didn’t think of them in this way since starting class and doing the research we’ve done, have taught me so much. Many of society issues are social inequality, poverty, urbanization, discrimination against race, and culture. When learning about these issues, I’ve decided to do my paper on Poverty and Children in the United States. Poverty within the United States has become a major issue that affects our society and at hand families with children are coming face to face with this issue every day of their life. Poverty has become a major issue in our society today due to the result of our economy and the decision that one makes in life. And sad to say when the economy is always on the defense at failing, the children of our society have to pay a high price. There’s many reason and factors that can be related to one’s poverty. Some factors that can take place to which can place a child at poverty could be, single parent, unemployment, homelessness, abuse, or mother having more kids she can take care of. Over time history shows that poverty in the United States has raised a great deal. Many of us can’t even imagine how it feel to live in poverty, even if it’s looking us right in our eyes, we still try not to picture ourselves in that place. Poverty means can range from so much, and not just from not having enough money. Poverty truly mean not having enough...
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