Poverty and Relationship Development - Essay Example

Poverty Introduction Poverty is a term that has been used in the world to explain the inability to obtain food, shelter and clothing. It is used to define the problem of not having enough food, adequate clothing and shelter. Hunger is considered part of poverty issue as such poverty encompasses several issues that could be summed up to affect the lives of humans in their natural habitat. Poverty is further divided into seven categories. Economic poverty refers to the inability to obtain money which could be used to provide for the three basic needs of humanity. The monitory need for the basic needs is what falls under the group. Bodily poverty refers to lack of physical health and access to health living condition. Mental poverty is the lack of thinking which affects the access to education and knowledge (Ravallion 368). Cultural poverty refers to the lack of coming together in a society leading to a disconnect between individuals in the society. Political poverty refers to the inability to understand the difference and how political systems work leading to neglect of rights such as the right to vote. The above descriptions illustrate the diverse understanding of poverty in the society (Ravallion 368). Despite the differences, all the definitions refer to lack of access to something that may make life better or easier. Poverty has been used in the society to define the inability to meet basic needs of the society with its effect being adverse in the society. Poverty affects the society at both individual and society levels. The inability to meet the basic needs may force individuals to turn to criminal activities, which in turn create insecurity which becomes as a social problem. Poverty and relationship development Poverty affects mental development, which in turn affects development and relationships. Many believe that poverty is all about money, but the thought is wrong because poverty is complex and covers a myriad of issues that affect personality and in turn affect the society. Under mental reasoning, poverty is defined as a chronic mind/body condition influenced and propagated by negative thinking. The situation is made worse if the situation involves other types of poverty affecting other spheres of health. Children brought up in poverty stricken family exhibit different character because of their brain adapt the suboptimal conditions. However, the brain changes every day allowing children from poverty stricken families succeed in life. From research carried out by Jerry, the cognitive development of children is affected by poverty. Children from poverty develop impaired exposure to critical enrichment factors. The situation is same in adulthood as witnessed in the story narrated by Gorge Orwell in the Down and out from Paris to London. The main character in the story argues that why should one waste sleep because of the murder? (Orwell 67). The statement illustrates the lack of societal values in the society. The main focus of the whole incident is on how sleep is valuable than the murder witnessed. Such reasoning indicates the effect of poverty in the development of values in life. Amazing comment of the narrator is on being back to sleep within three minutes. The generalization to justify the action by stating that they are working people, and there is no need to waste sleep on such issue is a consolation argument. The development of relationship with the society is evident by how the narrator reacts on the witnessed murder case (Orwell 234). Poverty affects the values of the individual by influencing the values esteemed. These values affect personal relationship development. According to Jerry, parent from poverty use different vocabulary every day, but the number and complexity of the vocabulary used are few and less complicated compared to families with greater income. The success of the argument can be supported by the level of vocabulary used by the narrator in describing situations encountered in life. The effect of poverty in language is evident when research on vocabulary use and explanation employed in language use. Working conditions and poverty Poverty affects the values and leads to compromise especially when getting the job is the problem. Additionally, due to the desire to earn income, the individual may forfeit the basic safety issues in the working environment. First, hours of work, which is defined, is altered because of compromise. In the case of the main character in Down and out from Paris to London, the ability to work for more hours illustrates the desperate attempts to satisfy the need of the employer. Working for seventeen and a half hours per day illustrates how poverty affects the mental reasoning and influence the desired to seek for the truth. The case highlights the main problem of human rights. According to the employment act, the employee is expected to work for only twelve hours in a day, but for the main character because of poverty, he is expected to work an extra five hours for the same wage. Such abuse is tolerated because of poverty otherwise if the individual is financially stable, he will undoubtedly leave the job and look for another conducive or even sue the company for the violation of his rights. The worse working conditions have been accepted because of the feeling that the employee has no choice, but adhere to the conditions stipulated. Violation of the employees' rights is prevalent in a situation where the poor are employed in the company, and the employer knows how they are in a dire situation. Such cases have been witnessed in the mining industry, and other related companies, but in all cases the greatest contributing factor is poverty that propels the employees to accept the substandard working conditions. The acceptance of the worse conditions illustrates how poverty affects mental capacities and make individuals myopic in their decision making process. Poverty has been used by employers to infringe on the rights of employees because many people need the job and can accept lower wages that the legally stipulated wage. Unemployment and poverty are related because unemployment may aggravate poverty levels in the society and influence the societal values in relation to employment and related issues. With an increase in unemployment, poverty levels in the society can increase and in turn affect the health of the individual. The experience of the main character in Down and out from Paris to London illustrates the power of poverty in influencing the respect within workers and society members (Allen and Thomas 45). The level of education is also influenced by poverty because; it affects the ability to access quality education, thus; facilitate the development of skills and access to better employment opportunity. From the experience of the main character, poverty allows for the violation of the rights of the society and leads to a greater descent into absolute poverty. The poverty levels depicted in the book illustrate the various issues in the society through the narration with the life of the main character. The crucial issue illustrated by Orwell is the power of poverty to influence both individuals and society. The failure of the society to solve issues of income earned through work makes the situation complex for the workers (Drewnowski and Specter 367). The success of the elimination of poverty with the sole purpose of bettering the economy of the people is the goal of several governments. The need for a better society has been the motivation by the struggle to eliminate poverty. Poverty is lined with social issues such as the unemployment, insecurity. The government has several social welfare programs that are divided into two namely cash transfers and social insurance (Drewnowski and Specter 369). Cash transfers have several programs with some targeting supporting needy families, offering medical aid and housing. Social insurance offer services such as Medicare, unemployment and social security. The government is currently struggling with costs to support Medicaid and Medicare because of increased expenses and increase of the old in the society. Poverty in the current society is measured by the financial strength. Conclusion Poverty leads to serious social problems such as poor health due to poor nutrition, increased insecurity, and homelessness. The concentration of the poor in an area leads to poor infrastructure development and increased insecurity problems. Poverty has a cyclic tendency that must be broken through intervention and not personal struggle. Poverty and inequality are measured using different approaches. Poverty is the inability to maintain minimum standards of living. The measurement of poverty involves the use of the poverty line or poverty thresholds based on per capita income. The major problem with the measurement of poverty is based on the inability to set a universal basis of poverty because economies of states vary significantly (Orwell 345). The use of per capita income generations is not conclusive in defining poverty index. Poverty rates differ within a sub population based on culture, access to services and discrimination. The main factor leading to the poverty rate differences is discrimination in issues of employment and financial service support. The utmost discrimination witnessed in the country is based on race. The black and Hispanic population tends to be poorer than the whites. Inequality has changed over time due to government intervention in the whole process. The taxation policy has changed leading to higher taxation of the middle class and the rich as compared to the poor. The approach coupled with government support as tried to reduce inequality but not particularly successful. The government is struggling to solve the inequality problems. The illustration of the situation by Orwell depicts the cyclic nature of poverty. Works Cited Allen, Tim and Alan Thomas. Poverty and Development. London : Oxford University Press, 2003. Print Drewnowski, Adam and SE Specter. "Poverty and obesity: the role of energy density and energy costs1, 2." The American Journal of clinical Nutrition (2003): 6-16. Print Orwell, George. Down and Out in Paris and London. New York: Penguin Books Limited, 2001. Ravallion, Jyotsna Jalan: Martin. "Transient Poverty in Postreform Rural China." Journal of Comparative Economics (1998): 335-357.Print Read More