Preview

Different Solutions to Poverty in Urban Areas

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1357 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Different Solutions to Poverty in Urban Areas
Different solutions to poverty in urban areas
1. Introduction:
Poverty can be defined in two ways, which are absolute poverty and relative poverty. In terms of absolute poverty, Murray (2004:2) suggests that the lack of an adequate income and cannot gain access to basic necessities to provide for basic human needs-food, clothing, warmth and shelter- are a clear indication of poverty. In a relative way, there was an assumption that a certain standard of living was normal, and that those living below this, while they might not be starving or homeless, were certainly poor, which are called relative poverty (Murray, 2004).

Nowadays people are in the more industrialised and technologically advanced societies. However the global poverty is slowing changing recently then taking on a more urban face. (Watkins, 1995).In many countries, the reason why the urban poverty happened is that the rapid population growth, agricultural modernisation, and inequalities in land ownership. As urban population increases, urban poverty is becoming increasingly serious. For example, children playing in open sewers or of women picking their way through huge rubbish dumps is no longer shocking (Practical Action Consulting, 2009). Additionally, form 1970 to 1990, the number of urban poor in the United States rose from 44 million to 115 million, compared to 75 million to 80 million in rural areas (World Resources 1996-97: 12). All of these illustrates that urban poverty is rapidly becoming one of the most complicated challenges.

There are several problems associated with urban poverty. With the problems of housing, urban services, community development, employment generation, micro-enterprise, nutrition, family planning, and education, it becomes increasingly clear that have a great influences on the whole society. “Of the problems to be ameliorated, poverty is perhaps the most basic.”(Allen and Thomas, 2000:10). Consequently, the urban poverty problem is urgent needed to solve. The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Poverty is an unfortunate situation for many. “Traditionally, poverty has been understood as a condition of severe deprivation – a condition that was more than inconvenience and which was likely to have adverse consequences for physical efficiency and well-being” (Sarlo, 2007, p.6). This paper will focus on the statistics of age, race and sex demographics that it affects in the United States, in addition to the many causes that can bring about this situational lifestyle. These causes include, but are not limited to recessions, substance abuse, the lack of employment, wage inequality, population increases, and the declining health of poverty stricken people. The lasting effects of poverty will also be examined to attain a better understanding of the various stakeholders that influence this issue. It is with this information that the possible solutions to resolve this dire living situation can be derived in order to establish a better means to equality in the United States.…

    • 2343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within this assignment I will define the meaning poverty, explain key government policy relating to poverty, and show the implications which may arise when living with poverty and links to social exclusion and to discuss the agencies which seek to counter poverty. The chosen social care service-user group is low income homeowners (including individuals and families).…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Task Force

    • 4087 Words
    • 17 Pages

    The simple measure of poverty is when a family’s income is not meeting its needs. The underlying causes of poverty are much more convoluted, relating to the distribution of government power, a continuously widening income gap, differences in cultural attitudes and ideologies, and inequalities in wealth and education. Other social conditions tend to perpetuate poverty, such as cultural differences in family life and attitudes toward education and inequality within education and job markets, based on gender or socioeconomic status. The consequences of poverty are evident among our society. Supporting evidence includes an increase in domestic violence, homelessness, and substance abuse; and other social problems, poor nutrition and care for children, and inequality in education, which all directly result from the effects of poverty on both the…

    • 4087 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty can be very hard to define but there are many explanations of poverty which include absolute and relative. Absolute poverty which was strengthened with a study conducted by Rowntree 1890 (Cited in Browne, 2008) can be defined by a person who lacks the minimum necessary for a healthy survival. People who do live in absolute poverty will be poor no matter what they do, this will have an impact on the elderly individual later on in life (Browne, 2008).Relative poverty goes on to be defined by Peter Townsend 1979 (cited in Browne, 2008) as people that are poverty stricken lack things that society assumes as a necessary to maintain a standard of living that is socially acceptable. (Browne, 2008)…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This essay will cover an understanding of the history of poverty how it has a great impact on a child’s life chances. It will give a brief definition of different types of poverty on a child´s life chances such as absolute, relative and overall poverty. In addition to that it also explains what impact poverty has on education, health and communities.…

    • 1682 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty is measured in various ways based on the different cultures, lifestyles, experiences, and government standards. In countries such as America, the government has set up a poverty line that defines absolute poverty standards, or the income needed to provide for basic needs of the family. Government standards are an accurate way to compare families labeled as being “poverty stricken” because the line of poverty takes into account the income needed to cover basic needs for the variety of families across the whole country. Throughout communities poverty is also determined by relative poverty, or the average standard of living in the society in which they live. Therefore, these relative standards can change based on the cultures, lifestyles and values that the community believes in. Both relative and absolute poverty standards are common ways that poverty is measured in American and in other countries throughout the world.…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Today, "the number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is increasing to record levels with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty" ("Poverty in the United States," 2012). When looking at the increasingly important issue of poverty in the United States, one cannot help but wonder how this will affect future generations and the stability of the nation as a whole. In order to fully understand the problem at hand, poverty must first be defined,…

    • 2015 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. The current “widely accepted standard” defines poverty as living on less than 2$ per day. Extremely poverty would be living on less than 1$ per day. The way this definition varies from issues of inequality and economic welling being is people who do not have the “basic necessities -- the food, the shelter, the clothing-- that they need to lead a reasonable life is seen as poverty. However Issues of inequality and distribution of other measures of well being says that there no way to “adequately capture” a person’s welling being, and that those who don’t fit the standards could still be living in poverty. So overall, this definition speaks on well being and survival, while the inequality focus about fairness and equal destructions and having a stable lifestyle.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Poverty has become one of the most important social problems in recent years, and will continue to be just as important in the near future. Social scientists and economists have come up with three different definitions…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inner city poverty has significant effects on a child's development; however, their are ways to build resilience. As of this rapid developing problem, multiple residences in the inner city locations are getting swallowed by the debt taker. Moreover; it is not only the parents that are in deep trouble! The kids are just as exposed as the parents and resistance is getting tougher and tougher.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People living in poverty tend to live in certain neighborhoods rather than evenly distributing in different neighborhoods. This increases burden on families beyond their circumstances because disadvantageous neighborhood brings more problems in their lives. Resources in these areas are scarce as the area becomes disadvantageous banks, stores; shopping places or new business doesn’t go in these areas because they don’t see any profit. There is lack of good public schools, housing and sanitation are inadequate,…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the biggest social issues that New York City faces is the problem of poverty. Poverty is a social problem because the effects of poverty are felt in society as a whole. The effects of poverty are very serious. Poverty carries with it a particularly strong set of risks for families, especially children. The children are exposed to very high-risk health issues because their families do not have the necessities and financial status to give proper shelter or proper medication that their children need. A growing number of studies shows us the harsh realities of income inequality in New York City and shows just how unaffordable the city is becoming. It has been noted that nearly half the population of New York City is living near poverty levels.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever imagined a life where you don’t have the basic essentials to send your five year old daughter to school? This is a reality for many parents living in developing countries across the globe. The definition of poverty changes every day and it vary from place to place, we all have our own definitions of poverty. But to me poverty means lacking the basic human needs which include: clean and fresh water, nutrition, health Care, education, clothing and shelter because of the inability to pay for these requirements. Poverty is not the same in every country, as classified by Jeffery D. Sachs there are three kinds of poverty that exist in our world today. They include extreme poverty, moderate poverty and relative…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are high levels of unemployment and under-employment in all the mega-cities of the developing world. This is because there just aren’t enough jobs in urban markets to account for the vast number of people requiring them. It is estimated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that 20-25% of adults in urban areas of developing world cities are without regular employment. Jobs are desperately needed for people, not only as an economic necessary, but also as a social identity, and a lack of them results in urban poverty and social exclusion. Without access to employment, people living in urban areas have no way to provide for their basic needs, which creates widespread, absolute poverty. About one quarter of the urban population in developing nations live in absolute poverty (according to the World Bank), in Africa, however, the figure 40% and in Latin America, the figure is 25%.…

    • 2246 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Poverty and American Dream

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In 2010, about 46.2 million people were considered poor. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent, whereas in 2009, 14.3 percent of people in America were living in poverty (Censky, 2011). That is an increase of 2.6 million people in 2010. In the United States, the federal poverty line – an absolute measure of annual income – is frequently used to determine who is categorized as poor (Ferris &ump; Stein, 2008, 2010). Currently the government defines the poverty line as an income of $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four (Censky, 2011). In sociology, poverty can be defined using two terms – relative deprivation and absolute deprivation. Relative deprivation is a comparison between people and social class. With relative deprivation, people are considered poor if their standard of living is less than that of other members of society (Ferris &ump; Stein, 2008, 2010). Absolute deprivation is an objective measure of poverty, whereby people are considered poor because he or she is incapable to meet minimal fundamentals such as food, shelter, health care and material objects. Is it difficult to participate in society for those who live in an impoverished life? Many would say that people living in poverty are behind in our cultural movement; that he or she lack the essentials to be on an equal level with the rest of society. Many theories have been applied to the issue of poverty with controversy over how and if the poverty problem should be addressed. Inequality, homelessness, and the idea of the American dream also has an influence on poverty.…

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays