Factors that Contribute to Poverty

(A Brief) History of Poverty in the US

      The type of poverty that now exists within the United States did not always exist. It was not until after large industrial development that this change occurred. Many scholars distinguish a different between destitution and poverty that we believe is critical to understanding the emergence of this "new" poverty.

      Poverty, in some cases, is referred to as someone who doesn't have the knowledge to live in a non-market economy where they have to produce their own food and live off the land in ways that do not hurt the environment. This would be nomads living across the world who move around with the seasons and rely on their community for help. Destitution is the word in this example that we would usually equate with our view of poverty--that is, not having the money to buy certain things, especially things that essential to sustaining life (shelter, food, etc.) Poverty, as just defined, became rampant throughout the early 1900's as many peasants were displaced and moved to urban areas as their land was now used for mass production or factory space. It wasn't a fast conversion to this sort of poverty, but other the years of generations living in these urban spaces, they lost the knowledge and ability to apply these concepts of living off the land and having a non-market approach to their dealings. Not only were these later generations now in poverty due to the loss of knowledge on these subjects, but they were also destitute as the cycle of poverty (mentioned later in this post) took hold of them and their families.

It is also important to note that the poverty that exists in the west/north is extremely different from poverty that exists in the south/east. For example, many families living in the US have enough money to access luxury items, while many living in areas such as India do not always have access to clean drinking water. This infographic gives some insight to this point:

     This is not to say that people living in poverty do not know how to spend their money, as many seem to argue. This, rather, is a demonstration of the type of consumption that exists within the United States. We had an interesting thought especially about the percentage of those who have a microwave. This is almost a necessity for those living in poverty in the United States, as healthy foods such as lean meats and vegetables cost much more than frozen dinners that will later be microwaved. Our society has set up a system where those in poverty do not have access to healthy and wholesome foods.

     Jobs in the United States that focused on making these commodities (electronics, etc) were very high paying, but now we export so many jobs in the form of outsourcing. This is used by companies to keep their prices for their products down as they do not have to pay the workers in many of these other countries the same living wages or follow the same regulations that exist for businesses that are centered within the United States. This makes these items more accessible to people regardless of their socioeconomic class. 

Willful Inaction

       An example of this would be a communities ignoring deadlines set by the state to produce affordable housing. This happened in Chicago, and goes along with the reasons for concentrated poverty as talked about in our post about the different kinds of poverty. 

Social Reproduction

      This is a Marxist concept that says social inequality is transmitted throughout generations by the social structures and activities that exist within a society. This concept lends to that of the "Cycle of Poverty." That is defined as the, "set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention." This term applies to families in which three generations or more were born into and lived in poverty. This contributes to poverty as it often doesn't give a choice to children to live a different life than that of their parents as the structures surrounding them often do not allow for this growth. For example, we have talked about the school systems and the disadvantages of those living in poverty, due to part of the school's budget coming from poverty taxes. Places with residents that pay lower property taxes will result in less resources for the schools and can't offer the same opportunities as those that receive more benefits from neighborhoods with higher property taxes. Without proper education it can prove a lot harder to escape the poverty trap.

Feminization of Poverty

     This refers to the phenomena where women experience poverty in a way that is disproportionately higher than that of men. This is for a lot of reasons, one being a lack of income in some places due to their inability to receive an education or be trained to have the proper skills needed for many jobs. When these women do have jobs, they often do not pay very well. This is demonstrated in the different factories that exist around the world. The women who work there are not making a living wage, as they cannot even afford to take the bus to get to work. Within the United States this exists due to wage gaps between men and women. This is presented more explicitly within our post on Socioeconomic Status and Privilege, as we look at the difference between white women and WOC (women of color). There are other facts that attribute to this phenomena, namely, that the number of single parent homes where women are the head of the household have doubled since 1959. These women face a double responsibility of working and taking care of their children--this mean they do not only have to provide for themselves on their menial wages, but also others. 

      The UN says this on the topic of the feminization of poverty: "Women living in poverty are often denied access to critical resources such as credit, land, and inheritance. Their labour goes unrewarded and unrecognized. Their health care and nutritional needs are not given priority, they lack sufficient access to education and support services, and their participation in decision-making at home and in the community are minimal. Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access to resources and services to change their situation."

Works Cited:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/12/black-poverty-differs-from-white-poverty/

http://images.slideplayer.com/12/3464840/slides/slide_61.jpg
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/session/presskit/fs1.htm
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