Session 14: Immigration

Immigration ( illegal immigrants) take jobs away from legal immigrants and other low income americans. It also drive down working wages. Thus making this a major problem with poverty. According to the Census Bureau illegal immigrants in the U.S. grew by 24% from 8.5 million in 2000 to 10.5 million in 2005. Currently California has the highest number of illegal immigrants their ratw grew from 2.5 million in 2005 to 2.8 million in 2005.

 The problem illegal immigrants are having is the cost of providing health care and public eduation to illegal immigrants is offset by the income and social security taxes paid by illegal immigrants who are not eligible for public assistance or social security.

The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the level of employment based immigration and allor a higher proportion of visas to highly skilled immigrants. But The 1996 Welfare Reform Act disentitled most legal immigrants from food stamps, welfare and SSI and gave the states the option to deny Medicaid benefits.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1996 doubled the size of border control and imposed on employers hiring illegal immigrants. In the past years there have been several Congressional proposals that would grant temporary legal status to illegal immigrants desirng to work in the U.S.

After 9-11 Immigration regulations and enforcements have become more strict. They are deporting thousands of people and students cannot enter the United States until they have been accepted to the school they plan to attend.

 
What do I think?
I think illegal immigrant should be sezied because they are taking work away from those in the United States who are unable to find work or are under paid. Instead the Congress are giving temporary legal status to those illegal immigrants who wish to work. But yet they are dening legal immigrants who help build ou country medicad and social security benifits. Our country really need to get it together.

Session 13: Housing and Community Development Policies

What is currently being done about poverty?

From session 13 I learned about housing and community development policies that has been created throught time to help reduce poverty

The Housing Act of 1937- goal was to reduce unemployment and increase business acitivity and also eliminate unsafe housing conditions.

Housing and Community Development Act of 1974- Created the community development grant which was given to metropolitan cities and urban coutnies; to expand affordable housing and economic opportunities.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1976- Required every bank to disclose what address they was giving loans to reduce redlining.

National Affordable Housing Act of 1990- Created block grants for state and local governments called HOME and HOPE.  This was created to tie more housing with the social service program and to increase home ownership for low income households.

The HOPE grant goal is to improve neighborhoods by rebuilding poor public housing communities by creating mixed income communties in the nieghborhood and also assist residents with better housing through section 8. Over $5 billion has been spent to replace public housing projects with better communities. Where residents only pay %30 of the monthly adjuested income for rent.

Benefits of Housing Vouchers

• Children are less likely to become involved in violence
• Better Education
• Racially mixed neighborhoods
• Helps families stay-off welfare

Problems
Only 1 in every 3 eligible families get assiatnce due to funding

 In Atlanta the number of working families are paying more than half their income for housing and more than likely their is one wage earner in the household.

The cost of land and zoning are rising  which tend to discourage afforable housing.


American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2010- President Obama has just signed this executive order which will give a $1 billion increase for the funding for the Community Development Block Grant. The act also expands the educational opportunity for low-income students by giving $13 billion in to disadvantaged schools. The act provides 3.95 billion to incerase workforce to keep workers trained and employ youth during the summer.

Atlanta Housing Issues:


What Do I Think?

I believe that president Obamas urban agenda is a great idea. He is not only addressing the issue about housing but he is including education, work , energy ( utilities) and transportation. All of these are factors leading to poverty that needs to be addressed and I thinkl his plan will definetly work if the government do what they are supposed to. This should increase economic growth and help those who are willing to help themselves get out of poverty.

By atlanta rebuilding their communites yes it is a great idea because those living in poverty has a better lifestyle but does this actually change the community? I think the crime rates will still be the same and people will still be living in poverty just in a better neighborhood.

Session 12: Social Security

 What is Social Insurance?
Social Insurance is a system where people are insuring themselves through payroll or other taxes. Because of retirement, job loss, and disability. It replaces a portion of income by replacing a portion of lost earnings.
 Social Insurance Trust Funds are maintained by the Treasury Department. OASI pays for retirement and survivor benefits and DI pays for benefits to people with disabilities. The financing for these programs is automatically adjusted each year to meet the expected costs. The government actually spends the money paid to social insurance and issues the U.S. government Treasury Bonds to people. The problem with this is the government is unsure how they will pay the money back to the US Treasury when they become due. The government will either have to raise taxes or cut spending on other government programs or borrow the money.


What is Social Security?
When workers and employers pay for those who have retired, are ill or have lost their jobs. Social Security benefits are paid by today's workers. Benefits are based on the beneficiaries earning vs. the current funding amount. Also the age at retirement and the amount earned while they was working.
Social Security is one of the nations most successful anti poverty programs. It provides a decent life for retires so that the children do not have to worry about them not being taken care of. Social Security began to have problems in the mid 1970's there was a decrease in funds and a deficit in the reserves.

Privatization
Privatization is when workers create their own personal accounts and save some of their payroll taxes for retirement. If privatization occurred the taxes would not need to raised and benefits for all retirees would be guaranteed. Workers would have the right to their retirement saving account and would be able to pass it down to their children. But some people argue that doing this will cause politicians to cut benefits in the future.

Solutions
The Recovery Act proposed provides a one time payment of $250 to retirees, disabled and veterans and SSI recipients.  Obama plans to preserve SSI and says he will make it easier for Americans to save for retirement. He also opposes the privatization .

What Do I Think
I think privatization is a great idea. It gives everyone the chance to save their own money without social security being taken out of their taxes. People can save as much money as they want to for retirement and it is guaranteed to be their when they get ready to retire and it wouldn't be a age limit on it either. And it also transferable to other people if it is not all used. Why should you have money taken out of your hard earned money for retirement if your not even guaranteed it when you actually get ready to retire. I think this is unfair to those who contribute including myself. What are the younger people today going to do later on down the line when the government dont have any money to pay back the US Treasury. We are going to suffer because they are going to make us pay back something that we havent even used yet and may not even a get a chance to use it.

The diagram below shows how the government are paying out more money to beneficiaries than we are currently paying in taxes. Thus causing a major problem with time.

Session 9: Policy Responses

What do you think is being done about poverty?

This weeks session I learned about the welfare reform program and the tax credits.

In 1930  Roosevelt proposed the New Deal  Program in which government put people to work which helped restore public confidence in the nations institute.

The Social Security Act of 1935 proposed 2 types of poverty programs:(which is the current welfare program)
Social Insurance which is not based on income
Public Assistance which is based on income


1996 Reform of Welfare

Clinton and conservatives believed welfare had failed because people werent getting the skills they needed to go to work. They believed the more you do for you and you'll do more for yourself.

Gingrich and Conservatives believed non marital births was the real welfare problem and they believed by ending welfare the poor would do more for themselves.

Clintons welfare program didnt pass because he took too much time to pass and because it was too costly.

When the Republicans won a majority in the Congress. They took Clintons welfare reform agenda and made it their own.

1996 Welfare Reform Law
*Provided 2 grants:
-Family assistance block grant: provided cash to families, helped families go to work, reduced out of wedlock pregnancies and increased 2 parent families.
-Child care block grant: helped families leave welfare or avoid receiving public assistance.

RESTRICTIONS:
-Legal immigrants was not eligible during the first 5 years of being in the US
-5 year limitation on cash assistance
-60 month time limit
-Prohibited assisting minor parent unless they were in school.

Did It Work?

Between 1994 and 2000 the poverty rates fell
Employment rates among single mothers increased from 60% to 1994 to 72% in 1999.


Tax Increase
There was a tax increase in the maximum credit that youcan get for quailifiying children on your tax return:
$5,666 with 3 or more children
$5,036 with 2 or more chidren
$3,050 with one child
$457 with no qualifying child

Session 7: Poverty And Wages

In this weeks session I learned about average wage vs the cost to live without government support in Atlanta. I also learned about the minimum wage and the living wage laws.


Wages in Atlanta

The fastest growing jobs in Atlanta such as cashier, retail, food, janitor, etc. pay less than $10.00 a hr.
Those working in retail make a average of $570 a week/ $29,640 a year.While those who work in food service make an average of $444 a week/ $23.088 a year.
63% of all hourly wage jobs pay less than 10.50 a hour.

The minimum cost of living for an adult in Atlanta is about $1,449 a month, that is without any government assistance. The minimum cost for an adult with 2 children is $3.601. Therefore those making the minumum wage are trying to make ends meet on this salary but their salary dont add up to the minimum needs budget therefore causing them to live in poverty.
Federal And Georgia Minimum Wage

* Federal minmum wage for nonexempt employees = $7.25. (eff. July 24,2009)
*Georgia's current minimum wage = $5.15
In states that has state and federal minimum wage laws the employee is entitles to the higher of the two wages.

Workers still making $5.15 a hour in GA:
85% are 20yrs old or older
51% are full time employees
29% are married
25% are parents

Many people believe that raising the minimum wage will causes businesses to leave the state and hire less people. This statement is false, when the federal minimum wage was raised in 1997 the increase did not result in job less nor was there any increase in unemployement.  I believe that raising the minimum wage is a step to helping the poor. Families will be able to provide for their families more and try to pry themselves out of poverty. I also believe that raising the minimum wage will motivate those who are poor to actually work.

Living Wage

Living wage is the minimum hourly wage sufficient enough for someone to provide basic needs for their self such as shelter, food, clothing ,etc.The minimum needs budget for someone in Atlanta is $12.68/hr.
The living wage law is not a local minimum wage and currently only applies to  city employers, major service contractors and companies receiving financial aid.

Session 6 Update : The Economics And Causes Of Poverty

In session 6 I learned about the 4 theories that are used to describe poverty trends.
1.) The lack of Human Capital
2.)Cultural deficiencies
3.)Economic Processes
4.)Structural Institutional Factors

The lack of Human Capital is the differences in productivity which is low among the poor because of their lack of knowledge, skill, training and education to sell their selves to employers. Which then leads to income differences separating the low class, middle, and high class. There are 37% poor families who are working full time but on low wage and 22.3% of poor individuals has less than a high school degree.

The cultural deficiencies (intergenerational poverty) within a nation are attitudes of indifference between races and genders. The lack of morals and self respect impact the poverty rate. The longer you live in poverty the harder it is to get out. Oscar Lewis argued that their are 70 behavioral traits that are associated with the poor. Many believe that removing children from poor households and changing the way the poor think will decrease this factor.

Economic Processes is economic growth that affects the standard of living raising it higher as the economy grow. This effects the wages of the uneducated because of their lack in technology or globalization which then makes them less profitable for a company.

Structural/ Institutional Factors is discrimination and exploitation.Women have a higher rate than men because men typically are paid higher for the same work and mothers tend to have less experience than fathers. Societies with high levels of discrimination typically have higher wages and lower wages for the same type of work based on the group a individual belongs to. Myrdal and Frazier argued that African Americans are poor because of racism and discrimination.

Session 5 Update : Poverty Global Context

Below I will be reanswering the questions from my orginal blog posting some of my opinons have changed and some have not as i continue to study Perspectivies on Poverty.

Why do you think people are poor?

I still believe the sole reason for people being poor is due to the economy and the government. As I continue my study on this course. There are proven facts that back up my opinion. Such as the United States spending nearly 500 billion dollars to fight terrorism in other countries so they could have peace. When back in the United States there is only 16 billion dollars spent a year to address extreme poverty. Today I learned that the United States has more poverty than 11 other countries that has the same wealth and standard of living as the US. I believe this is ridiculous considering we spend 500 BILLION DOLLARS for another country to have peace when not only America but other countries are poor as well. Why cant we use some of that money to implement learning programs, make more affordable housing, build more plants for jobs, have more government assistance programs...Is this not more important than world peace which is realistically never going to happen.

What do you personally think should be done about poverty in the Unites States and Globally?

After reading about Globalization. I believe that our nations should allow globalization to occur to reduce the rat of poverty. Globalization increases the international trade and foreign investments and spread of technology throughout the world. The number one reason countries are in poverty is mainly because of lack of income and resources. If the world was to globalize, the industrial field would extend production of goods to forgein countries which will then lead to creating more jobs within the production field and marketing field. Globalization could also improve health care for those countries that do not have the technology or ability to treat certain diseases. Countries could have more medical trade and knowledge that allows for more people to help the poor.I never understood why countries were always going to war, when each country has something unique to offer one another that could better their country as a whole. I believe is all of our countries got together and globalized yes povert would still exist ( i believe poverty is always going to exists). But it would definetly decrease the rate of poverty by at least half. It would give individuals in extremely poor countries opportunities they never had.

What do you think is currently being done about poverty in the United States and Globally?

After reading session 5, my initial opinon about this question has significally changed. I did not know that there was programs that the Nation as a whole was implementing to reduce the rate of poverty. After reading about the UN Millennium Project (http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/) I learned that in 2000 the United
Nations Secretary developed a plan entitled the "UN Milliennium Project" which should minimuize the rate of indiviuduals across the world in EXTREME poverty. A gathering of world leaders committed their nation to have a new global partnership with other nations so that they could achieve universal education, promote gender equality, improve health, fight diseases and ensure environmental sustaianbility.

How are they going to achieve these goals?

By creating Millenium villages which will allow individuals in extreme poverty to work and get educated while living in these villages. Japan has supported giving over $50 billion a year to Africa (our biggest counrty in poverty) , while the remainder nations are receiving half the amount. The money received will be invested into health care, food production, clean water and infastructure into the villages. Already in Kenya the results has been remarkable. Within 2 years of having a village created, the villagers were able to develop crop, not only for consumption but for production as well. The were able to sell their produce to local markets creating revenue for themselves while feeding their families at the same time.

Do I believe this will work? Absouletly, but what will happen when the village starts to fall into economic depression? When one individual fail the rest will fail because they all depend on each other to make their village run smoothly. What happens if the nations stop helping with grants for these villages. Will the villages eventually run into extreme poverty?

Session 4: The Geography Of Poverty

In this weeks session I learned about poverty being effected by the neighborhoods that children are raised in. The children living in metropolitan( rural areas) are more likely to be poor than a children in a suburban area. More than likely these households ran by a woman, a single parent, African American or Hispanics. Areas of concentrated poverty are large areas whose poverty rate is more than 40%. This would make the metropolitan area poor. For individuals who live in this area 37.9% have not completed high school, 40% are African Americans, 13.7% have large families and 18.6% were unemployed in 2006.


George Glaster believes that poverty is being effected by the context in a neighborhood of which the child grows up in: ex: neighbors, bankrupt school system, crime, unemployment, no equal opportunity and friends encouraging to do the wrong thing., Therefore he has come up with a new program that allow families with low income to afford housing in suburban areas by creating a certain amount of rental properties in the middle class area. So that the children can have a different school environment and better influences hoping to better the way that they are raised decreasing the chances of them being in poverty as a adult.

Do I believe that this will work. Yes and No . There are some children who will take into account that they are in a better environment and better themselves but then they are some who will not have the same advantages of the suburban area kids and more than likely be picked on and not fit in. This could let to bad behaviors or doing poor in school. Therefore leading to poverty.

Session 3 Update

In session 3 of the course the main topic of discussion was "Who is poor in America? and Why are people poor in America"? I have given my beliefs on these questions this blog posting will be telling you what the government is believing to be the cause of poverty based on statistics and what they believe to be considered poor.

Who is Poor In America?

The Census Bureau is responsible for determining who is poor in America. The information used to determine the statistics is the size a family and their amount of income and composition. If a families total income is lower than the families minimum income necessary to achieve a healthy standard of living; Then every individual in that family is considered to be living in poverty. Poverty affects all ages, races and genders. But particularly the African American race, females and children. More than 15 million Americans are unemployed or homeless and 38% are receiving government food assistance.


According to the Census Bureau in 2005:
* the poverty rate for people under 18 was 12.9 million oppose to the elderly rate of poverty being 3.6 million.
*Married couples are least likely to be in poverty with a rate of 5.3% being poverty oppose to the single male rate being 12.6% in poverty.
* There are 4.2 million black women households, 5.3 million Caucasian women households and 3 million Hispanic women households in poverty.


Why are people poor?

One major cause of poverty ( poor) in America is economic recession. Recession occurs when a lack in production and consumption of goods and services decrease. Which leads to a rise in unemployment, which then leads to poverty.

People who are in poverty are likely to have food insecurity; missed meals, lack of food to eat or not food at all, insufficient health care; individuals don't receive medical care or the depend on the emergency room for their health needs, housing problems; evictions, no utilities, or unable to afford housing payments, and Inadequate child care; children care for themselves or they do not have after school activities.

Poverty is known to be Generational. They have been raised in poverty therefore their parents did not have the money or knowledge to invest in their children's education, which leads to not being able to find a decent job in the future.

Session 2 Update

After reading the outline and chapters about Historical Views, Definitions and Measures of Poverty. Throughout the readings I was able to reanswer or update the following questions from my initial postings:


*Who do you think is poor?
*Why do you believe people are poor?
*How well do you think poverty is currently being addressed in the U.S.?



Who do you think is poor?

According to Websters dictionary, poverty is having little or no money and depending on charity for financial needs and shelter. Poor is also lack of material wants. Poor people are people whose income is not enough to meet minimal needs for survival. The 1904 book Poverty determined that 10 million of the American population are poor mostly being those of the African American culture. Different people have their various opinions on who is poor based upon their religious beliefs, their location and standard way of living. My opinion from my original posting has generally stayed the same as my opinion of what poverty is, is generally the true definition of poor.



Why do you believe people are poor?

Individuals become poor when their income falls below a certain range bracket. Many people are poor because of the the economy and social conditions of the world and also their own reasons. It is said that African Americans are more poor than others due to slavery, racial concerns and low morals and lack of education. I personally do not agree with this statement. I believe today Caucasians, Hispanics and other cultures are just as poor as African Americans due to the economy and insecure jobs. The standard of living are in increasing everyday causing people to be left behind leading to poverty. Nationally, immigration is known to be a large factor in poverty. This is because immigrants income tend to be less than native income making the poverty rate increase.


How well do you think poverty is currently being addressed?

In New York City Micheal R. Bloomberg is frustrated by the way government determine who is poor. Therefore he wants to develop a new program that will include families, rent, utilities and child care in addition other financial assistance that a family may also be receiving. Hoping this new tactic will motivate other cities to follow. Which means more federal programs for the poor will be generated based upon the outcome of the poverty rate.

Who do you think is poor?

In todays society I believe half of America is poor and globally more than half the world is poor. In my opinion being poor is more than living without shelther, food and basic nessecities. Most of the time when you think of poor you think of homeless people. But I believe you can be poor with a house, job and car. Poor individuals are those who lack the following qualities: financial stability, knowledge to succeed and motivation to do better in life.

Why do you believe people are poor?

I believe people in America and globally are poor for one or two reasons " the government and by choice".

Individuals who are poor because of the government are those who strive to better themselves. They are either looking for work and cannot find it or they are currently working on low income that barely supports their needs and the government lack to help with education, health care and financially. Individuals who are poor by choice are those who are not trying to establish themselves. They have the ability to get a job and have success and be financially stable but they fail to do so. Commonly known as panhandlers; they depend on others such as other citizens and the government for their complete well being and basic necessities.

What you think is being done about poverty?

Globally there are thousands of organizations raising awareness, donating and volunteering to reduce the rate of poverty. Feed the Hungry and Keeping Hope Alive are two popular non profit organizations that raise awareness and hold fundraisers to help fight hunger and health issues around the world.

Recently a new campaign www.economichumanrights.org was formed that help fight the rights of those individuals who has been laid off, denied health care, lived in shelters or gone without food for their families.

In America " The Serve America Act" contains proposals that should help low income communities and implement solutions for their basic necessities while also funding education and health care.

How well do you think poverty is currently being addressed ?

Currently the government are coming up with new policies and programs that are supposed to decrease the amount of poverty in America by increasing the monies the government spends on medicaid, benefits and other needs. Obama is trying to implement a health care plan that promises to lower health care costs and ensure health care coverage for ALL.


Globally, the world is well aware of poverty in other countries. But less is being done to help those countries come out of poverty due to the fact that these countries has always been poor and its almost like a normal way of living for them.

What do you personally think should be done about poverty ?

Globally and in America I think one way to improve poverty is to make more jobs available for the low class and raise the minimum wage. Although the government have programs for housing, food and educations they sometimes make it hard for people to get assistance from these programs. Of course the government cannot help everyone in need but i do believe they can do a better job at trying to help these individuals. More housing for the homeless should be created, we should have facilities that help these individuals learn basic work knowledge and financial stability.

Drugs and crime is a factor of poverty therefore I believe enforcement should come up with new policies and ways to try to prevent crime and drug usage.