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Nature of social problems essay
Nature of social problems essay
Nature of social problems essay
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Vibrant and colourful, Hong Kong is a metropolis situated in the crossroads of Asia. The city flourishes especially well at financial and service industries, and has a per capita GDP of HK$285,146 (2012), according to official data. Being the world’s 9th largest economy, Hong Kong has a real GDP growth at 1.4% (2012) and is backed up by its 3.79-million labour force. Undeniably, Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in Asia.
However, according to the Transport and Housing Bureau, the average living space per head is 12.9 sq. metres in 2013, much smaller than other Asian cities like Singapore (25 square metres per head). Many Hong Kongers are living in cramped con ditions. This is mainly due to high property prices and skyrocketing rents, and the large wealth gap in the society.
According to the World Class index by Savills, Hong Kong has the highest real estate prices in the world since 2005. Prices are 63% higher than London, which is second on the list. For rentals, Hong Kong has the third highest rental prices in the world, only lower than that of London and Paris. A typical 700-square-feet flat in a housing estate in Tsueng Kwan O can be sold for HK$ 7.55 million and rented for HK$20,500 per month. With the median monthly employment income at HK$12000 and monthly household income at HK$22000 in 2013 (According to the General Household survey), many households cannot afford the rent, let alone purchasing a property.
Apart from the above, the wealth gap in the Hong Kong society is highly significant. Despite a high per capita GDP, the Gini coefficient of Hong Kong have been consistently high among developed regions in the world. In 2011, the Gini coefficient was 0.537, which is way past the 0.4 warning line. With the ...
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... year). Despite increased supply of housing flats, demand remains high, leading to skyrocketing property prices and rent. With queues for a subsidized flat are growing ever longer, low-income families turn to flats with cheaper rent, which are unavoidably of small size. However, as rents continue to rise further, they move to even smaller flats with worse living conditions.
Poor and cramped living conditions are problems deeply rooted into the lives of grassroots in Hong Kong, and to uproot these problems are no easy tasks. However, with the help of the Hong Kong government and NGOs, the situation can certainly be meliorated. More forms of subsidized housing (such as bachelor apartments) can be introduced. By voicing concerns and raising others’ awareness, citizens can also help the cause. Let make Hong Kong a better place by helping to improve living conditions.
Gentrification is defined as the process by which the wealthy or upper middle class uproot poorer individuals through the renovation and rebuilding of poor neighborhoods. Many long-term residents find themselves no longer able to afford to live in an area, where the rent and property values are increasing. Gentrification is a very controversial topic, revealing both the positive and negative aspects of the process. Some of the more desirable outcomes include reduced crime rate, increased economic activity, and the building of new infrastructures. However, it is debated whether the negatives overwhelm the positive. An increase in the number of evictions of low-income families, often racial minorities can lead to a decline of diversity
The connection between poor living conditions, low income families, and inequality of varying groups go hand in hand when dealing with poverty as discussed in Evicted by Matthew Desmond. These issues are often swept under the rug for those not immersed in the situation and can even be unknown. There is gender inequality which can affect every aspect of life, including dwelling. There is also racial inequality which also renders the quality of life. Both themes have a deeper meaning and are connected at the source of poor education and job discrimination.
Britain is currently undergoing the biggest overhaul of the welfare system since its introduction. The welfare system was first established with the assurance that people less fortunate would be able to have a standard of living that would ensure equality. But the recent amendments brought into place by the current government’s legislations may see the biggest divide between rich and poor since the days of the work houses. How will claimants be affected and who will be affected the most is an issue that will be examined more closely. The current government believes that Britain has become a welfare dependant state and according to BBC news (2013) 2.49 million are currently unemployed; those who are unemployed will also have entitlement to housing benefit and council tax benefit. All claimants will be affected by what will be known as Universal Credits. Universal credits will combine all existing benefits in to one payment; the amount a household can claim in welfare will be capped, this new system could have a catastrophic impact on people’s lives. Furthermore the government does not believe that a person should have full housing benefit if the home in which they reside has extra bedrooms, so introduction of the Bedroom Tax was implemented April 2013. The National Housing Federation website has given a detailed description of who will be affected and the implications it may have on tenants. But already only three months in to the bedroom tax and it has been reported “more than fifty thousand people have fallen behind on their rent and face eviction” Independent (2013). This report is going to concentrate on the affects the aptly named Bedroom Tax is having on people’s ...
Vancouver is not affordable to live for the young professionals due to gentrification problems. The economy requires gentrification to develop the city. In order for a city to flow better, more people have to spend and sell. Furthermore, for people to spend or sell more, it requires more people to live. However, gentrification is pushing people away from their homes, and makes it difficult for the young professionals to move in.
Mui, Y. (2013, January 29). Housing emerges as economic bright spot after years in the
Income inequality in the United States has increased and decreased throughout history, but in the recent years, the widening gap has become a serious issue. Income inequality is usually measured by Gini coefficient. According to this method coefficient varies between 0 and 100; while 0 represents complete equality (income is distributed equally among all the population of the country), 100 represents complete inequality (only one person receives all the country’s income, while the rest of the population receives nothing). According to the Census of Bureau, the official Gini coefficient in the U.S. was 46.9 in 2010. This is way higher than the all-time low coefficient of 38.6 set in 1968 (qtd. in Babones).
Poverty can endanger the safety of many people. Living arrangements can put children at a greater risk of being in an unstable environment. The “instability of living arrangements and homelessness due to poverty, place children at increased risk of being injured (Leschid31).” Many experts show the less money a person makes the less affordable houses will be available, this will have a
House prices have been affected by the number of people who buy houses to rent out and this has had an impact on younger people wanting to buy homes. Thus, the term ‘generation rent’ has come to the forefront in recent years. In A Century of Home-ownership and Renting (The Open University, 2016) census data presented supports the claim for the use of this term. In the video, they mention levels of home-ownership dropped for the first time since records began. From 69% to 64% in the space of 10 years and the percentage of households privately renting has been on the rise. 11% in 1981 compared to 18% in 2011. In addition, house prices have risen faster than previous years and banks have also restricted lending. These factors have all lead to more people not being able to afford a home of their own, especially at a younger age. So, as house prices rise this benefits the home-owners and allows them to gain more wealth and capital. The distribution of wealth has been affected by changes in these markets. There is evidence to support this claim. Table 3.5 (Investigating the social world 1, chapter 3, p. 96) shows wealth distribution in Great Britain from 2000 and 2005. The table shows results for housing wealth distribution amongst other things. It’s important to look at the look at the lowest and highest percentiles to look at any
Low income can lead to high levels of stress and pressure, which can lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Overcrowding can be negative for a person because it causes frustration and family breakups, and means that their personal space is invaded, and their right to privacy is ignored – this can lead to tension in the family, and issues such as domestic abuse. Inadequate housing can affect an individual’s health, as it can cause respiratory problems due to poor living conditions such as damp or mold. The lack of green spaces can mean that health and sociability are not encouraged, and mental and physical health
Housing is a necessity of life as living conditions can affect an individual’s health in the long run, but after 10 years of economic expansion Canada has yet to resolve this issue: one out of five households in Canada are unable to afford acceptable shelter (Shapcott, 2009). The Ottawa Charter of Health Promotion recognizes shelter as a basic prerequisite (Bryant, 2009). Many people are suffering, as the income gap between owners and tenants has grown wider throughout the years (Shapcott, 2009). There have been studies conducted by Canada and the Housing Mortgage Corporation have shown that the cost of rent is increasing much faster than income, as the existing amount of housing continues to deteriorate and overcrowding in households is increasing; this is also known as hidden homelessness (Bryant, 2009). Homelessness is a temporary experience, not an identity or a permanent trait. It includes a continuum of housing circumstances (Paradis,
...h. This can be supported by a study in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences where the average per capita GNP was 4754 yuan whereas the per capita GNP of Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin was 18943 yuan (Mok 2000 , p.29). Thus, this supports the publication made by the World Bank where only the coastal area have a better living standard. Furthermore, in addition to income inequality and regional disparities, economic growth also contributed to the disparity of educational development in different regions. Due to economic decentralization in education, poorer communities lacked the funding in ensuring a quality education. Furthermore, even in Guangzhou which is one of the richest provinces in China, faces education disparity because secondary school in GuangZhou are classified from key-point schools in the city all the way down to low achievers school (Mok 2000 , p.31).
By 1971, the Cultural Revolution in China had ended in failure and conditions in Hong Kong calmed,” Gloria Lannom states, yet it took a while for Hong Kong to rebuild its economic standings because of this fact.
In 1950, only 13% of China’s population lived in cities (Seto, n.d.). Post 30 years, one hundred-million people moved to large cities from rural areas in China. This migration was considered the largest migration in human history. To compare this migration to western cities, the example of Shenzhen is used. For a Western city to have a population of three million to increase to ten million, it takes about a hundred years. 30-year old city, Shenzhen on the other hand made this population increase in just a decade (qtd. Caughey and Dawn). Today, over 53.7% of its population lives in cities; by 2020 it is projected that a whole 60% of the population will live in cities (Xinhuanet, 2014).
Nevertheless, the standard has been reduced to no more than 40% until recently. Such dramatic change of the figure has made the goal become ambiguous. Practically, the government has tried many methods in dealing with the housing problem. Housing code enforcement is a method that tries to regulate minimal conditions for rental housing. However, this method does not seem to work because it brings additional costs to the tenant. On the other hand, the government tries to help people become homeowner by benefits in kind, such as imposing tax exemption on first home down payment and low interest rate on mortgages. However, the method does not really aim at helping the poor. Moreover, the government tries to increase the supply of housing by building new shelters and buying existing apartments. Yet, none of these work efficiently. The reason that building new shelters does not work is because most of these new housing projects are expensive and time consuming.
Global cities are key command areas in the organization of the world economy, acting as a focus for trade flows and world finance and containing the principal marketplaces for the leading industries. These cities hold major corporate headquarters of TNCs, international banks and international division of labour (Macionis & Plummer 2012). Almost all of the world’s finance is controlled by twenty-five of these cities, with New York, London and Tokyo emerging as the three most powerful centres of world finance. But although these cities are the residences of large corporations and international systems of finance, they also have an increasing number of poor people. In Global cities, there is a sharp c...