A Sociological Problem among Immigrants - Coursework Example

Poverty: a sociological problem among immigrants Poverty: a sociological problem among immigrants INTRODUCTION Many of the immigrants go through a series of problem when they move from their native countries to other countries in hopes of getting a better future for themselves and their family. But the most common problem that they endure during this immigration is poverty which affects a majority of the immigrants. There exist a number of reasons as to why poverty exists among the immigrants such as lack of employment opportunities or less than the pay deserved etc. LITERATURE REVIEW Before reviewing the literature on the problems faced by immigrants, it is important that we understand the meaning behind the word immigrant. An immigrant is defined as a person who is born in a different country and enters another country in order to settle permanently and with hopes of improving his lifestyle (Kim & Diaz, 2013). Hence, this only means that an immigrant is a person who does not actually belong to that country but wants to be a part of it because of the prospects that it offers to its citizens. But little do the poor people know that in order to live the life that they dream of, they have to go through years and years of hardships before being accepted as a citizen of that country. The immigrants in the USA have to go through a variety of problems as soon as they step foot on this land with hopes of improving their lives. However, it does not always turn out to be what they expect. Instead they have to go through many problems such as discrimination, poverty. Those who move to the USA, leaving their own country behind are not always accepted in the society. They are tormented by the continuous stream of questions that are asked by the citizens living there. The immigrants are mostly given jobs which are payed in the form of minimal wages. Many of the immigrants that come to the USA are not backed up by the legal documents and live illegally hence they usually live in places which are not provided with the basic facilities of life. People usually take advantage of them because they know that they live in the constant fear of being deported back to their country. Immigrants also have to go through a communication barrier since many of those who move to the USA do not speak fluent English. Hence, they are often ridiculed on the basis of their speaking abilities or their distinctive accent. People who have applied for residency are not allowed to work and since these people are very poor, they find it very difficult to do nothing. Hence, they indulge in low wage jobs. Apart from the adult population, those who move to America with hopes of studying also encounter a different educational setup than what they learn at home and hence they usually have to start from the very beginning. The immigrants are also not provided with the health facilities that they deserve and since they work on a very low pay scale, they usually cannot afford the medical treatment. While these problems are commonly seen in the immigrants who live in the US; the most common problem that exists in every one of the immigrants irrespective of the country is poverty (Oluoch, 2012). Poverty is defined on the basis of family income, if the total income of the family is lower than the threshold of the family, then that family is definitely considered as poor (Garcia, 2011). A study which was conducted to find the amount of poverty in suburban areas also concluded that immigrants or as the author refers to them as foreign born residents experience poverty rates more than those born in the USA. Immigrants had higher poverty rates of 14.1% but in comparison the US born residents only had a poverty rate of 9.8%. This study also concluded that an increase in the poverty rates between the year 2000 and 2009 were due to increased number of immigrations of foreign born people. But this varies throughout US, such as 22% increase in poverty in South region was due to immigrants whereas this was lesser for northeast and north west with 17% and 15% respectively. The lowest percentage belonged to the Midwest region where only 11% of the immigrants were responsible for increasing the poverty rates. The reason behind this could be that most of the migrants that come to the US are less educated and have very little skill. Hence they settle on odd jobs which pay them very less. But it was also noted that immigrants were most likely to get employed as compared to those who are the citizens of the country (Suro, Wilson & Singer, 2011). The number of immigrants in the USA rose from 5 to 12% between the years of 1970 and 2003. If one would like to speculate as to how these immigrant add up to the poverty rates in America, come up with two reasons. Firstly, those who enter other countries are poor before hand with little education and skills and hence they exacerbate the overall poverty rates. Secondly, with increasing number of immigrants in the country, the wages and salary being given to the citizen’s decreases, hence the number of poor people also increases (Raphael & Smolensky, 2009). Thus if a person is willing to work at a lower pay scale, everyone else has to as well or else it will also result in an increase in the unemployment rate. There are various reasons as to why the immigrants are often categorized as poor. The average household income of immigrants is 7% lower than those who are citizens of the country. Immigrants usually fall into the category of the lowest extreme of the average household income. This might be because the size of the family of the immigrants is larger as compared to the native citizens. Overcrowded households are defined as those where there is more than one person living in a room. A larger family means many mouths to feed and hence the income will generally be considered less for that family. The other reason as to how overcrowded households are responsible for affecting the poverty rate is that each household is taxed by the number of residents living under that roof. A study conducted by the ACS in 2010 showed that almost 12.7% of the immigrant households were overcrowded. Majority of the immigrant also do not possess the ability to speak in English and hence they are often not considered for a variety of job opportunities. But those immigrants who have an English background can speak English well may have a better chance at gaining employment. 86.7% of the immigrant household do not speak English at home and have their own native languages. However, many of these factors decrease the longer these immigrants reside in the US and hence they have a better chance of living good lives if they overcome some of these problems (Immigrants in the United States: A Profile of Americas Foreign-Born Population. N.d.). According to the assimilation theory, the difficulties faced by the immigrants in the form of poverty are usually temporary and may pass by after some time, these problems are due to the problems that occur soon after immigration when the family or the immigrant gets used of the surrounding, the culture of the new country. Others theories such as the human factor or discrimination theories states that the reason behind the prevalence of poverty among the immigrants is because they usually come from countries that are less developed and hence they cannot cope up with the advancements of the developed countries. Furthermore, the economic conditions of a country also affects the poverty rate among immigrants such as when the country is economically strong and stable, the immigrants that move during that time have better chances of development (Edwards, n.d.). This trend is not only seen in the migrants of the US but is also quite common among those who have migrated to Europe in hopes finding a better life. The study focuses on the level of poverty that exists in 14 European countries. According to the policy brief, those who have migrated to Europe have higher rates of poverty as compared to those who live there previously. This is particularly higher in Belgium where almost half of the migrant population is suffering from poverty. There is also the concept of EU and Non EU migrants. EU migrants or those that immigrate within Europe are favored more as compared to those who have never previously lived in the region, hence, creating a distinction between the kinds of immigrants in the Europe. But variation also exists among the various cities of EU, example of Austria might be considered for this particular scenario wherein the poverty rate is higher among EU immigrants as compared to the non EU immigrants. This gap between the EU and Non EU migrants may be because of the fact that those who have lived in the European continent have experience better education facilities and are more aware of the systems of Europe whereas those who come from other under developed or developing nations of the world are not accustomed of the customs of the country (Lelkes, 2007). In order to control the poverty rates within the country, the US government has taken various steps to ensure the eradication of poverty. The US government has initiated a welfare system which helps to improve the socio economic conditions of those that are categorized as poor. Some of these programs include temporary assistance to needy families, the earned income tax credit, supplemental housing, head start and Medicaid. The government spends a total of $583 billion dollars in implementation of these means tested welfare systems and ensuring that it reaches those who deserve it. The lesser the educational skills the head of the family has, the more aid he receives. Such families receive approximately $4,461 through these aid programs whereas those who have an educated member as the head of the family receive $638 per person (Rector, 2006). Other ways to help reduce poverty is by giving certain benefits in the form of cash to those who cannot earn on their own. An example of such a program is the social security program that was built in order to help the elderly. Government should also work on encouraging people to work. There is also a recent change in the immigration policy of the United states of America to control the rate of immigration. Previously the policy supported the immigration of all types of skilled and unskilled workers. However, the recent change allows immigration of only those who have relatives previously living in the USA. However, it could have been better if focus was given particularly on improving the sociological conditions of the immigrants rather than restricting them because if importance was given to provide these immigrants with education and skills then they they can increase the average wages among the workers and eventually help in reducing poverty (Haskins, 2012). RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS Over the past few years, the developed nations of the world have seen increased number of immigrations from countries that are considered as developed in the eyes of the other. But are these immigrants being provided with the basic rights and are they considered as a citizen? According to the literary analysis, unemployment is one of the major causes of poverty among the immigrants. Here we will test our hypothesis on whether this is true and find out the major cause of poverty among the immigrants. METHODOLOGY Subjects The people chosen for our research involve those who have recently or have migrated in the past from the under developed nations of the world. The person of interest preferably should be the head of the family and serves as the bread winner for them. 20 subjects were chosen and out of which 8 met our criteria of selection. Research Design Our research was based on the survey of the participants of research. The research was based on a questionnaire which was specifically designed to suit the purpose. The participants were at first categorized on the basis of the age group of 30-40, 40-50 and 50 above. The questionnaires consisted of a number of questions which will eventually help us to test our hypothesis. The questions included in this questionnaire are both open and close ended questions. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions the subjects were asked about the country of origin, why they chose to immigrate to this country, their profession, their daily income, they were further asked about the problems that they faced when they migrated to this country and were there any steps taken by the government to help them. The participants were informed about the purpose of study and the questionnaires were given to them if they felt comfortable filling it. However, the researchers would also ask the questions and fill in the answers if the participants asked them to do so. The identity of the participants would be kept private. Measurements The questionnaire were assessed and the results were to be displayed in tabular form depending on how the subject responded to that particular question. A comparison between subjects would help us to conclude our research. Results The participants did not have a significant pattern in age group. Out of the 9 participants; 3 belonged to the groups of above 50 age group, 4 belonged to the age group between 40-50 whereas only two belonged to the age group in between 30-40 years and all of them were males. When asked about the country of origin, most of them had come from the Asian countries such as China, India, UAE, Philippines etc. Most of the participants belonged to the Asian continent whereas only one belonged to the African continent, two were from India, two from Vietnam, one from Philippines, One from Pakistan, One from China and one from Mexico. All of them gave the same reason for immigration that was to have a brighter future ahead and provide for their families. A majority of the immigrants were working on odd jobs and did not have a permanent job to work at. However, one of them worked as a personal assistant at a private organization and had a better standard of living as compared to others. One of the Indian immigrants did not complain of facing any income related issues. When asked regarding the problems faced by the immigrants were varied with a common characteristic of lack of income during their initial years of immigration. One of the participants told his story as to how when he moved to the country, he expected things to be better but they turned out to be far worse than he imagined, he had nothing to eat and nowhere to go. However, things for him eventually got better when he got a job as a janitor at the local school. The Asians also such as those that belonged to China also answered with discrimination apart from poverty. One of the participants which belonged to China was still unemployed. The immigrant from Africa faced racism. All of the participants receive no help from the government whatsoever. The wages earned varied a lot from participant to participant. The participant no. 3 serves a personal assistant and hence does not get daily wages, rather he is paid on a monthly basis. Following is a table which summarizes the answer given by the participants Participants Age Group Country of Origin Current Job Problems faced after immigration Government help (Yes/No) Money earned per day 01. 40-50 Vietnam School Janitor Lack of income No 02. 40-50 Philippines Servant Lack of income No 03. Above 50 India Personal assistant Lack of income No 04. 40-50 India Taxi Driver Language barrier No 05. Above 50 Pakistan Restaurant Server Lack of income No 06. 40-50 Mexico Gardener Language barrier, Lack of income No 07. 30-40 Africa Servant Lack of income, racism No 08. Above 50 China - Lack of income, discrimination No 09. 30-40 Vietnam Washer in restaurant Lack of income No A graphical representation of the wages earned by the participants compared to the standard wages set by the government. Summary An immigrant is a person who belongs to a different country and moves to a different country in order to get a better life. These immigrants face a number of problems such as discrimination, poverty and racism. They pay given to these immigrants is the minimum amount that they do not deserve. These immigrants also reside in areas which are do not have the basic amenities of life and hence they settle with whatever they get easily in the form of jobs. But according to olouch (2012), the problem faced by all the immigrants Is poverty. Garcia (2011) defined poverty as the state of living below normal lives. Suro, Wilson and singer in 2011 conducted a research which showed that poverty was common variable among all the immigrants. The number of immigrants has also risen over the past few years and the problems identified were overcrowding of the household members or the communication barriers as most of the immigrants could not speak in English properly. The theories; assimilation theory, discrimination theory and the economic conditions of a country also explain the reason behind the prevalence of poverty among migrants. But this trend is a global phenomenon occurring in all the major developed countries of the world. However certain measures are taken by the USA government in order to improve the lifestyle of these immigrants. Our hypothesis is based on the finding the prevalence of poverty among the immigrants. For this the research was conducted among 10 participants and the participants were interviewed according to the questionnaire which was established to serve the purpose of the research paper. The results were then analyzed and compared within participants. The results concluded that a majority of the immigrants were living a life considered as below normal. The immigrants usually have to face the peak of hardships in the early years of immigration when they search for jobs. However, they settle with whatever the new land has to offer and compromise on their own rights. Most of them were involved in odd jobs such as driving, janitors or gardening, waiters at restaurants etc which is why they got the minimal wage that they could get. The government also played little role in fulfilling their promises. Hence the rate of poverty begin to increase among the immigrants and could be reduced only if certain strong initiatives were taken by the government to control it. References Kim, E., & Diaz, J. (2013). Immigrant Students and Higher Education. Hoboken: Wiley. Oluoch, V. (2012). Racism and other problems that immigrants face in the United States. Be Smart.Be Different. Retrieved 1 May 2015, from https://vickoluoch.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/racism-and-other-problems-that-immigrants-face-in-the-united-states/ Garcia, G. (2011). Mexican American and immigrant poverty in the United States. Dordrecht: Springer. Suro, R., Wilson, J., & Singer, A. (2011). Immigration and Poverty in America’s Suburbs. Brookings opportunity series. Raphael, S., & Smolensky, E. (n.d.). Immigration And Poverty In The United States. American Economic Review, 41-44. Immigrants in the United States: A Profile of Americas Foreign-Born Population. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://cis.org/node/3876 Edwards, L. (n.d.). Immigration and Poverty: A Canadian Context. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from https://www.academia.edu/781480/Immigration_and_Poverty_A_Canadian_Context Lelkes, O. (2007). Poverty Among Migrants in Europe. Rector, R. (2006, January 1). Importing Poverty: Immigration and Poverty in the United States: A Book of Charts. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/10/importing-poverty-immigration-and-poverty-in-the-united-states-a-book-of-charts Haskins, R. (2012, June 5). Combating Poverty: Understanding New Challenges for Families. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2012/06/05-poverty-families-haskins Read More