Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How does gentrification affect the poor
How does gentrification affect the poor
How does gentrification affect the poor
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: How does gentrification affect the poor
The impoverished communities of America are in shambles. “The urban populace is becoming increasingly Latino and Asian, with a slight increase in black residents,” (RACE). Racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally dealt a bad hand have filled the inner cities. In order to combat poverty rates in these neighborhoods the federal government must: make more programs in the community to help the youth, be more proactive in creating job opportunities and provide equal educational funds to the public school system. People claim that those that are living under these circumstances need to look deep inside of themselves, instead of blaming the government for their downfalls. On the other hand, it feels as if the government has left these people trapped and have not provided any aid. …show more content…
To make a difference in these poverty rigged cities, the mentality of the children living in these stipulations must change immediately. When it comes to any movement, the most important group of people to reach for first is the youth. In order to change generational poverty, the mindset of the children needs to be modified. Although there is a plethora of other ways to escape these scenarios, social programming is as essential as anything else. Programs for children in the inner cities provide an escape from the harsh realities the youth face on a day to day basis. Children are facing the effects of poverty, such as: unequal educational funds, drug trade, gang violence and more. Unfortunately in most of these areas, after-school programs are nearly abolished and so are the community centers. After-school activities used to be able to grasp the attention of the youth and keep them on the straight and narrow. With the lack of programs to help develop the youth emotionally, intellectually and physically we are doing them an injustice (Roffman). With the extinction of community centers and such, gangs have been able to infiltrate the minds of children and are capable of swaying them off course. If the youth cannot be reached, the poverty rate will never decrease to the extent the people want it to. Children need an opportunity as well as adults do. A recession is a small temporary decline in the economy and/or market.
During times of recession in the United States, jobs are on a drastic decline. Although The United States of America as a whole faces a recession every once and awhile, the citizens living in the inner cities seem to be fighting an economic depression at all times. Those living in these communities see the worst of unemployment. Businesses that once thrived in cities like Detroit have outsourced overseas because of taxes. Even big businesses and Fortune 500 companies that are in the larger cities of America tend to hire people from the suburbs rather than those already in the area. A way to uplift the citizens in poverty is for the federal government to either provide grants or tax less on small business in these areas because they promote growth and provide people job opportunities. Studies from The Big Impact Of Small Business on Urban Job Creation: Evidence from Five Cities, show that most residents in the inner cities have to outsource for jobs (Inner). The ones living under such cruel conditions are seeking opportunities closer to home and small businesses bring this opportunity right to their
doorsteps. Along with opportunity there is education. Knowledge is key to one’s success geared towards the American dream. Although it could help propel you to new heights, the public school system is detrimental to those that are living in poverty rigged regions. Public schools were found to be one of the most segregated institutes in America. The diversity rates of these institutes are piss poor and are segregated by race and socioeconomic status. Black students typically face harsher conditions when it comes to schooling compared to their white peers. School conditions are poor, the population of the school is nearly doubled, and teachers that work in these schools are less qualified than those working in middle class, suburban areas (Darling). This all factors in the opportunity that the youth is presented with when living in impetuousness conditions. If the children start off with a disadvantage in one of the key aspects of life, how do people expect them to find their way out of generational poverty. The state government must provide equal funding across the board so every child has an equal and fair opportunity. This country was built on being “equal” and “opportunity”, do not leave out the poor. The impoverished cities of America need help: help from citizens, local government and the federal government. Extreme poverty in America is living off 2 dollars a day or less and according to Tamara Thompson in 2011, about 4.3% of all households in the U.S. are living under these stipulations (Introduction). Change must occur in the community and in our country in order for these areas to rise to decent living standards. Change starts with the youth. The youth is considered the future of this great country and the youth should be treated equally across the board in this country whether it’s academically or in the community. Additionally, small businesses in the area need to rise to power to create jobs. Although some of the blame must be put on those in these situations, there are ideas and reforms that should be put into place in order to assist those in need.
In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler tells the story of a handful of people he has interviewed and followed through their struggles with poverty over the course of six years. David Shipler is an accomplished writer and consultant on social issues. His knowledge, experience, and extensive field work is authoritative and trustworthy. Shipler describes a vicious cycle of low paying jobs, health issues, abuse, addiction, and other factors that all combine to create a mountain of adversity that is virtually impossible to overcome. The American dream and promise of prosperity through hard work fails to deliver to the 35 million people in America who make up the working poor. Since there is neither one problem nor one solution to poverty, Shipler connects all of the issues together to show how they escalate each other. Poor children are abused, drugs and gangs run rampant in the poor neighborhoods, low wage dead end jobs, immigrants are exploited, high interest loans and credit cards entice people in times of crisis and unhealthy diets and lack of health care cause a multitude of problems. The only way that we can begin to see positive change is through a community approach joining the poverty stricken individuals, community, businesses, and government to band together to make a commitment to improve all areas that need help.
The poor don't have the same opportunities as the upper class citizens, with only forty-five percent of these students being accepted into college. The poor are even more likely to be neglected when applying to a job, and even more when you are of colored skin. This is even more apparent with higher positioned jobs for example the federal government, where most positions are held by wealthy white men. Men don't live comfortably in a society where conflicts always around the corner, harmony, something paine envisioned isn't very evident today. Police brutally is something commonly seen, more so with colored men, with several movements like the black lives matter movement being a reality. With past year's election gone and done many question the future of America as a nation as a bigoted racist man has been elected president. Donald trump is the complete opposite to what Paine envisioned america to be, racist occurrences have now increased due to the newly elected president. Donald Trump is just the definition of what's wrong with America, hes rich and privileged white man. The government doesn't do much to help out the poor community, many towns are run down and no help from the government in seen. The country is in debt, and Detroit is a prime example of that
...up the pockets of poverty that crime will be eased. Breaking up pockets of poverty is a geographical project that is not an easy fix. In order to explore how the city ended up with these pockets of poverty, we must go back many decades and begin with racial segregation.
... funding and direction, including those of local government and philanthropy, are critical to tailoring programs to the specific needs of local communities, and should be leveraged through federal funding. The final ingredient is responsibility, both personal and collective. Individuals must be empowered to improve their own lives, and the community must support the effort rather than look the other way, or looking past the working poor, who can so easily blend into the background.
As stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the test of our progression is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Many people may agree with this statement considering that the United States is such a wealthy country and in 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States and 15% of all Americans and 21.8% of children under age eighteen were in poverty.The honest truth is that many people do not know the conditions this group of people must live in on a daily basis because of the small number of people who realize the struggle there is not a great amount of service. In the article Too stressed for Success, the author Kevin Clarke asks the question “What is the cost of being poor in America?” and follows the question by explaining the great deals of problems the community of poverty goes through daily by saying, “Researchers have long known that because of a broad reduction in retail and other consumer choices experienced by America's poor, it is often simply more expensive to be poor in the United States.
Since poverty affects a wide array of people, poverty has evolved into a very complex issue. And even though the government has passed legislature to try to ameliorate the situation, many of these means-tested measures like food stamps, have only been able to help the surface of poverty and fails to rip out the long roots poverty has grown throughout history. Poverty’s deep effects are seen especially in minorities as they struggle much more to leave a current situation that has been created by historical process. Even though government assistance like food stamps do help alleviate some of poverty’s burden, these measures fail to recognize the reality that many of the impoverished minority have undervalued homes or no homes at all and even if they can rent, that rent can be high enough to take up more than fifty-percent of their paychecks. Overall, poverty in America is a vastly complicated issue rooted throughout history. And even though the government has attempted to pass legislature to help provide relief from poverty, America still has yet to provide measures that target the roots of poverty and until then, the government assistance it does provide will only be superficial and fail to provide long-term solutions to a complicated
Poverty is a complex and growing problem in the United States. As of right now there is no solution. There are proposals and acts, such as Obama Care, that were enacted in an attempt to help people in poverty, and there are so many organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and The Hunger Project, that try to aid people when they start to lack the necessities, like food and shelter. College students are graduating college with a large amount of student loans and no way of paying them off, people are being evicted from their homes, and employees are being laid off. The unemployment rate in the United States in 2015 was five percent, that’s about fifteen million people. It’s becoming difficult for people to find jobs, therefore making it hard for people to get back on their feet and start living a comfortable lifestyle. Poverty in the
...he nation’s prosperity as increases in benefits and wages to poor and working class Americans. Most of the gains due to the rise in the GDP in recent years wind up in the hands of the wealthiest of Americans. The increase in income inequality has cause stagnation in real wages among low skilled workers and has led to an increase in poverty. Unable to gain the education necessary to escape the cycle of low skilled jobs with little chance of upward mobility, children of parents who are in poverty stand a higher chance of being in poverty themselves. The solution to the problem of poverty is not simple; especially when it may involve changes in the way the U.S. labor market functions. However, as it stands now, failures of the labor market lead to higher rates of poverty, and unless the problem is addressed, we are unlikely to see a reduction in the U.S. poverty rate.
Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.
Multiple studies have been completed to show that people from all racial groups and ethnicities are negatively affected by poverty. Those in the lowest social class, while a mix of ethnicities, are predominantly minorities and affected the most. What stood out about Philippe Bourgeois’ is that he not only studies the people and their culture but he lived it with them. Mr. Bourgois spent two years with his wife and child living with the Puerto Rican’s in East Harlem, NY. He lived with them and became a friend to many of them with the hopes of providing an accurate analysis of their culture. While living there he encountered all of the barrios social problems; from gender inequality to drugs and illegal activities to racial segregation. Above all the main social problem that the people of East Harlem encounter is poverty.
Insular poverty, elucidated by Professor John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1969 essay, The Position of Poverty, refers to the collages of people who are poor because the designation of their lives trap them on ‘social islands’ where nearly everyone is living in these standards. (Galbraith 404) Poverty has flagrantly become a ‘back of the mind’ subject in America. The underlying question remains; is American society responsible for the uprise of insular poverty? Despite the "efforts" America puts off to relieve the world of insular poverty, American society is indefinitely responsible for its popularity due to the absence of will for the impoverished to climb out of the hole of poverty, the absence of opportunities given to poverty minority, the absence of compassion for the povertized.
The American dream is impossible for the more impoverished because over the years poverty rates have been increasing. The richest country in the world still has more than 12% of its total population, and almost 20% of all children under the age of 18, unable to meet, let alone be guaranteed coverage of basic needs. With that said the nation has fallen apart in the last 25 years. America has faced economic insecurity and it is up to us to change it. Furthermore, the three main issues why poverty in America continues are the high cost of living, a great percentage of people living (below the poverty line) and the economic inequality that the impoverished face.
Small businesses have become one of the biggest parts of American industry. The tax act includes deductions for business expenses and other tax cuts for small business owners. "By cutting individual tax rates and by delivering other incentives for investment in new equipment, 23 million small business owners will receive an average tax cut of $2,209" (Bush). This savings will allow small businesses to grow, which creates more jobs. Bush claims, "This law reflects a common sense economic principle: The best way to have more jobs is to help the people who create new jobs, and those are the small business owners of America." By starting new jobs the American economy is strengthened and encouraged to rebound.
Most Americans are unaware of the problems of the poor, it is hard to imagine the challenges of poverty, the daily fears of victimization or the frustration of not being able to provide for a child. These central ideas along with many others have plagued the United States’ economy for most of its history. What do we do with the poor? Who are they and what can we do to help them? Well the answer is a mix between individuality with a strong relativity to the central government. It is here that we find our argument and it is here that we find ourselves at bay with many sensitive subjects. I believe that it is the government’s responsibility to provide for the nation, but it is up to the individual whom is given to, to make a difference with what is given to them. With such problems as minimum wage, unemployment and little to no affordable housing it is hard for the poverty stricken individual to gain some if any ground at all in their quest to rise up out of the bonds of destitution. There needs to be a “battle plan” if you will to attack this issue of poverty head on. It is here that my plan comes into effect. Many propose simply giving them some sort of aid in food or money and being done with it, what I propose is that you give a little and they take it much further than what was originally thought possible. It is not simply the act of supporting them for the rest of their lives, it is the act of providing a strong foundation for which they can build upon. An outstanding quote from a man by the name of William McDonough states (chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York), “Issues of equity and social cohesion are issues that affect the very temperament of the country. We are forced to face the question of whether we will be able to go forward together as a unified society with a confident outlook or as a society of diverse economic groups suspicious of both the future and each other.”(Collins, Leondar and Sklar 280)
Do the poor in this country have a choice not to be poor? Do the less fortunate have the same access to opportunities as the middle and upper classes? Do government programs designed to help the impoverished actually keep them in the lower ranks? These are all difficult and controversial questions. Conservatives and Liberals constantly battle over these issues in our state and federal governments. Local and national news media provide limited insight to the root causes and effects of the nation’s poor. There is obviously no simple solution to resolve the plight of these often forgotten citizens. Most of us associate poor as being in a class below the poverty line. In fact there are many levels of poverty ranging from those with nothing, to those with enough to survive but too little to move up. I believe many of our nation’s poor are so by their own doing. I will share observations and personal experiences to support the argument that being poor often is a result of individual choice. One needs merely inspiration and perspiration to move up the socio-economic ladder in the United States. We live in the land of opportunity where anyone with the drive and determination to succeed often can.