Income, Earnings, and Poverty in Texas - Essay Example

 Poverty in Texas Abstract Poverty is generally used to define a person who is living below the standards and cannot afford the basic necessities of life. It can also be defined as a person who is living below the standards income specified by the state. Poverty is a major problem prevailing all over the world. The problem is not caused by a single factor, but a multitude of factors causes this problem to occur. Economical crisis in different states has lead to the increasingly alarming rate of poverty through out the world. This problem is not only suffered by the developing countries but also by the developed ones. One such example is of Texas which is under the territory of United States of America. It is analyzed that around 3.8 million people living in Texas were below the poverty line specified by the government in 2006. And if the previous records are analyzed it can be said that the rate of poverty is going to increase further in the recent years (Center for Public Policy Priorities 2008). Poverty in Texas Texas is the second largest state in the United States of America with an area of at least 697,200 km square. The state has an old history relating to civil unrest and wars and got independence in 1836. However it got included in the territory of the United States later in 1861. Since then the state of Texas has been suffering from the problem of poverty. The nineteenth century can be marked as a difficult era for the state of Texas as major developments made in the region attracted the population towards the state. This made the state undergo more financial crisis. This essay would further discuss the changes in the rate of poverty in accordance to the nineteenth century. The early nineteenth century marked a development era for the state of Texas and only in this era was natural resources found in the state. In 1901 the first Oil well was found in the state of Texas and this developed the state further. However at that time it was not known as to the finding of an oil well could have a drastic effect on the poverty rate of Texas. However in the beginning after the discovery of these wells the economy stabilized and the poverty rate in Texas improved. The civil war unrest was successfully controlled by the economy of Texas but the events that followed after could not be handled. The poverty rate by the 1920s was stabilized; however after the great depression in 1929 things began to change again for the residents of Texas. As the Texan economy was recovering from the blow of Great Depression another disaster struck the state which is known as Dust Bowl which took place in the 1930s. This forced many of the residents living in Texas to move further towards other parts of America to survive. The new president took notice of the disasters after getting elected in 1933 and sought out deals to revive economy. President Roosevelt provided the poor and displaced people with incentives and tried to stabilize the economy once again. Poverty rate in the state of Texas once again had stabilized as many people left the state after the disasters looking for better options. However, on the contrary many immigrants also entered the densely populated area of Texas to look for a way to survive and this created difficulties for the state of Texas. The problem of poverty rose up to a certain level that it was once again taken into notice by the government in the 1950s and 1960s. Poverty in the United States at that time was defined as the relative income which a family would need to attain certain necessities of life in order to survive. The people who suffered poverty in the 1960s could not afford proper health and educational facilities in the state and these people were usually counted in the group of the poor ones. According to the definition of poverty used in 1960 families which had an income lower than $3000 were counted as poor people. In the 1960s a survey conducted by the United States Consensus Population, found that more than one fourth of the population living in Texas in the 1960s was living in poverty. Furthermore, it was also found that the population living in the rural areas was suffering more than the individuals living in the urban areas. It can be said that the major cause which lead to the rise of poverty in 1960s was the number of immigrants who immigrated to the state of Texas in those times. Following these times the views about poverty in Texas changed as the rate of poverty increased to alarmingly high rates. The individuals who were living in the urban side were also suffering from the problem of poverty and this showed the intensity of the whole scenario. The population rate of Texas increased by 2.71 per year and this made it more difficult for the government to handle the rate of poverty in the state. Furthermore, education provided in those times was not adequate enough to provide people with enough information of dealing with poverty. However in 1964 the authorizations took notice of the situation and passed new reforms to fight poverty. In 1964 President Johnson passed the new reform of fighting poverty with the help of government funds. Funds were released by the senate amounting to at least $947 million to fight poverty in the regions in which it was prevailing. This helped to fight poverty in a different way thus decreasing or stabilizing the rate of poverty in regions in which it was prevailing. This was termed as a turning point in the history of poverty in Texas. The views about poverty once again changed in these times but not till late as in the 1970s once again the immigration rate increased to 27.1 percent (Kuvlesky & Wright 1965). The immigration rate had a great affect on the rate of poverty and it increased accordingly. The number of illegal immigrants though could not be measured at the very time but after legal amnesty was announced in 1980s it was known that a great number of illegal immigrants were also living in the state of Texas. From the 1970s till the 1999 it is generally known that the state of Texas has been modernizing. With this modernizing of the state the immigrants have increasingly migrated to the state and this has hugely affected the rates of poverty. It has been known through extensive research that the numbers of Hispanic immigrants have been more than those of other ethnicities. And similarly the rate of poverty in these immigrants is higher than those of the other ethnicities. The views of poverty in Texas from this time period had been of a negative one as the gross income of a family increased to a higher amount whereas a great number of families were not earning as per the required upper mark of poverty. This showed that the rate of poverty increased in these times in the state of Texas. Furthermore in the recent years extensive researches carried out by different associations have showed how the rate of poverty has changed over these years. It was estimated that in the county of Travis out of 193,287 families 11,526 were living below the poverty level (Texas 1973). This showed that the amount of income lowered all these years in the Texas and the poverty rate also increased. In 2004 Texas was ranked as the 1st state in the United States of America with the highest number of low income individuals living in it. Furthermore, the number of children insured in this state was also much lower and the state was ranked first for the number of uninsured children. Education is seen as a great factor motivating the changes in the rate of poverty. Education can change the whole track of jobs in a single state and most of the emphasis in the 19th century to tackle poverty was on education. However the reforms passed were not strong enough to lower the rate of poverty in Texas. It has been estimated that in the county of Travis over 24,915 individuals who are above an average age of 25 have yet not passed grade 9. The housing sector of the state is also not in accordance to the requirements as 4000 people are still on the waiting list to be allotted an house in Austin. Fifty eight percent of the students studying in AISD are considered to be economically weak and are thus offered free or lower rate lunch. The rate of poverty in Texas was so alarming that a consensus done in the year 2000 showed the following results Top ten counties in terms of poverty rate in the State of Texas Total Percent of Population Living Below Poverty 1. Starr County (50.9 percent) 2. Zavala County (41.8 ) 3. Brooks County (40.2 percent) 4. Presidio County (36.4 percent) 5. Hidalgo County (35.9 percent) 6. Zapata County (35.8 percent) 7. Hudspeth County (35.8 percent) 8. Maverick County (34.8 percent) 9. Dimmit County (33.2 percent) 10. Willacy County (33.2 percent) Datasource: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2000 Decennial Census. 2005 American Community Survey If the whole situation of Texas is viewed it can be said that discrimination is still prevalent in the state and all the ethnicities are not provided with proper educational facilities. The poverty rates for ethnicities other than whites are more alarming and this can be seen as a factor of discrimination. The views about poverty in the 20th century are no different than the previous views as still the alarming highs of the poverty rate can be seen in the state. Different organizations have been set up for the welfare of Texas and they are working to decrease the rate of poverty prevailing in the state. One such organization is the Center for Public Policy Priorities which has been quite successful in achieving its tasks. The government should take a notice of the alarming situation prevailing in the state of Texas and new educational reforms should be implemented for the state. This would ensure that everyone gets proper education facilities and no one is discriminated. Education and immigration can be said to be one of the major factors which are leading to the alarming rates of poverty in Texas. Bibliography Fronczek, P. (2005). Income, earnings, and poverty from the 2004 American Community Survey. American community survey reports, ACS-01. [Washington, D.C.]: Economic and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau. Center for Public Policy Priorities (2008). Poverty 101. Texas. (1973). Poverty in Texas 1973. Kuvlesky, W. P., & Wright, D. E. (1965). Poverty in Texas: the distribution of low-income families. College Station, Tex: Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Sociology, Texas A & M University, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Read More