Hign Poverty Levels as a Social Issue in Western Australia - Essay Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2013 PART 1: LETTER Student address Mr. John Hyde, M.P. for Perth, P.O. Box 446, William street Perth. Dear Sir, REF: HIGH POVERTY LEVELS AS A SOCIAL ISSUE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA I am a student at Monash University and undertaking social work in a globalized world as one of my courses. I have identified poverty as one of the prevailing social issues affecting Western Australia. I write this letter to apprise you of the current state of affairs as they are on the ground and ways which can be utilized in minimizing the levels of poverty in the region or effectively eradicating completely for Economic and social problems can only be solved if a determinant of their existence is made and then reported. Poverty eradication c can comfortably be done without depending on the government‘s intervention. The social implications of poverty on the community are usually ignored because of lack of a measurement standard. Poverty is the inability of an individual to satiate his/her basic needs or his families’. A report presented by the Australian council of social services showed that majority of Australian citizens didn’t have the basic living standards. It reported that people’s cost of living with regard to their incomes could be a good measure of poverty. With the use of poverty line as a measure, housing costs have been put in to account. It’s been discovered that people who own their homes have a better living standards that those who have to pay for their home because it covers much of the households income. This therefore brings the difference between the living standards of households. Poverty can be addressed by considering different issues that contribute to the productivity and the efforts to make a good living of one’s elf. The different issues most likely to lead to poverty include: Gender inequality. Women are at a higher risk of been poor because of low job opportunities of them and low waged awarded to them if they get employed. Women who remain jobless are likely to find themselves doing unpaid chores and those with low wages later depend on their small investment incomes upon retirement. Men on the other hand have many employment opportunities and higher wages reflected on the same. They also do productive works in case of unemployment thus the lower risk of poverty is reported on them. Age-a high risk of poverty is mostly faced by children of the elderly. As for the children, it’s mostly because of high costs undergone by households with children especially when the parents are not in jobs or are poorly paid. The older people are also said to be at a higher risk of poverty because they tend to depend on the low investment benefits like pension, and they spend without gaining more income. The middle aged are at a lower risk of poverty because they are in a better position to work harder to gain more income thus have a better living standard. Work and income. Even though the statistics show a fall in the official unemployment rates in the region, a lot of people are still without work or only work for a few hours each week. These individuals rely mostly on social security money to meet their needs. The youth allowance, Newstart allowance, parenting payment and disability support pension are some of the payments being depended on. Lack of employment opportunities are a real hindrance to elimination of poverty in the region. Poverty risk is higher on those who are unemployed because regardless of their unemployment state, they still have bills to take care of and they depend on the social funding. Older people face a moderate risk of poverty because they are usually retired and they have a good age pension with regard to their housing costs which are low especially to those who own homes. Low education levels are also a major cause of unemployment and hence poverty across the region. Families that are not educated sufficiently often do not have the means to educate their children creating a lineage with very low chances of gaining employment and improving on the families’ economic situation. Type of family- poverty risk is lowest in the families with couples with or without children because responsibility is shared .single parents face a higher risk together with their children due to the low levels of employment for them and low investments for their social security. Single parents face their responsibilities alone and so their higher chances of remaining poor. Housing is another cause for the current dismal ways of living of people in this state. Very few people on low income jobs own their own homes while rent is frequently unaffordable in the urban centers. Poor housing effectively negatively affects the health and wellbeing of an individual. A 400 percent rise in house prices were recorded by 2010 while the rise in income over the same period was only 120%. People therefore spent up to 30% of their income on rent hence the perpetual poverty situation To reduce or completely eliminate the state of poverty that is afflicting the state an increase in the social security payments is highly recommended. Single parents, unemployed individuals in society and students who are mostly live below the poverty line should be the main beneficiaries of this proposal. An improvement on the current minimum wage should also be considered. Legislations to this effect would at least improve the ways of living of those below the poverty line to a more modest level. Affordable housing schemes should be developed to cater for the low income earners in society. By investing in social housing and making of adjustments to the rental affordability scheme will enable the elimination of housing stress from people which will enable them to concentrate on other development matters. Sustainable health programs and community services such as dental care dental care should alleviate the suffering of poor communities. Affordable health services would go a long way in making sure the poor are in a position to work for their redemption from poverty. Better affordable health care programs should therefore be developed to fight the prevalent illnesses associated with the poor. Am sure with the cooperation of all state organs and stakeholders in the economic development sector and the political leadership, enough can be done to reduce the levels of poverty in the state or even completely eradicate it. Thank you for your time and consideration. Yours faith fully, Sign____________ PART 2: COMMENT ON POVERTY LEVELS Poverty is one of the social ills in society that is perhaps more solvable without taking controversial stands as it happens when dealing with some issues like homosexuality and polygamy. Poverty occurs when people in society are not able to provide for themselves and their families the basic human needs of everyday life. When individuals are deprived of the capacity to provide for their loved ones, society needs to pause and examine the values and ways of life that place a gap between these individuals and the rest of society. Social work as a profession presents a platform for social change, a formula for solving relationship based problems and the liberation of individuals to promote their wellbeing. Social work calls for the utilization of social systems to intervene between the interactions of people and the environment to promote social justice and human rights. As a student of social work, it is imperative to put these lessons to address the inequalities that occur in society, of which poverty is one, and fulfill the mission of social work that aims at enabling everyone to reach their maximum potential. This enables them to enrich their lives and hence avoid dysfunction. It is therefore in trying to put these lessons into practice that I choose poverty as a social issue worth exploring internally in Australia and globally so as to be able to offer solutions. Poverty is a social ill that demeans even the most proud of individuals. Poverty is an injustice that demeans individual’s human rights and therefore the need to research on it and show the world the effect of this global social issue (IFSW, 2012). Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world yet the gap between the high earners and those people living below the poverty line is very large. The executive director of Anglicare Australia as of 2012, Chambers Kasy describes poverty as a dividing experience in Australia that limits the connection between individuals and asserts that people on the lowest payroll of the government could not afford private housing in the country. The Salvation Army through its social programs in churches and community centers provides above 150,000 people with emergency relief food and 160,000 meals to people annually. These show the levels of want the poor experience in society with the people who require assistance by the Salvation Army also experiencing deprivation of social services. This alienates them further from society and the Australian community as a whole. The Salvation Army report further adds that poverty is not only economical but also manifests itself in the choices and opportunities that are presented to the people living in poverty in society. As of 2010 the poverty statistics in Australia were rather grim. Using a statistic of 50 percent of median income for single adults, two million two hundred and sixty five thousand individuals were found to be living below the poverty line. This represented 12.8 percent of the population with lone adults earning less than 358 dollars and nuclear families with two children earning 752 dollars. Five hundred and seventy five thousand children were found to live below the poverty line. This makes up 17.3 percent of all children. The report, in offering details, stated that 37 percent of individuals who paid social security were living below the poverty line. This included those who were receiving Newstart allowances and with 45 percent of them getting parenting payment while 42 percent, 24 percent and 14 percent were on disability support, carer payment and age pension respectively.(ACOSS,2012) This report calculated a rise of 0.75 percent in poverty levels between 2003 and 2010. Poverty level in capital cities was found to be 12.6 percent while the areas away from capital cities had a 13.1 percent level of poverty. Considering that this calculations were made with a higher value for the poverty line as compared to the one used in the United kingdom and the European union, the figures were very high. Using this method, a 60 percent of median income, would have produced 3,705,000 people inclusive of 869,000 children all living below the poverty line. These result corresponded to a 20.9 percent of all individuals and 26.1 percent of children (ACOSS, 2012) Results showing the number of people existing underneath the 50 percent and 60 percent of median income poverty lines in Australia (2009-2010) 50% of median income 60% of median income People living below the poverty line 2,265,000 3,705,000 Children living below the poverty line 575,000 869,000 Percentage (People living below the poverty line) 12.8% 20.9% Percentage of children living below the poverty line 17.3% 26.1% One of the objectives of social work is the advocating for social justice in society through promoting change to existing social structures, procedures and policies. This is done with an aim of encouraging social inclusion and addressing the social disadvantages prevalent in society. Poverty is both a social injustice and also places people at a social disadvantage. As social workers, it is our duty to address this issue and come up with a way to balance the way of life of all individuals in society (AASW, 2013) The Sydney morning herald (2012) reported a continuously widening gap between the rich and the poor in January 2012, a trend which they said was afflicting the whole world while giving specific examples of the United States and Britain. The organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) published a report telling the growing ‘un-equines’ among OECD countries of which Australia is a member. Only three countries by the mid 2000s were moving towards an equal society. Greece, France and Spain are the three countries (Yeates, 2012). A growing gap between the rich and the poor is a problem social workers should be concerned with. As the poor get poorer it creates a situation where economic and political challenges are created. This is a great challenge to social workers who are committed in promoting or keeping a fair society free from social injustice and order (OECD, 2008). References Australian council of social services, 2012, Poverty in Australia. Strawberry Hills: ACSS Australian Association of Social workers, 2010, AASW code of Ethics. Kingston: AASW International Federation of Social workers, 2012, Definition of social work. Available at OECD, 2008, Are we growing unequal?: new evidence on changes in poverty and incomes over the past 20 years. Available at < http://www.oecd.org/social/soc/41494435.pdf> Yeates, C., 2012, Australia should not turn a blind eye to growing divide between rich and poor. The Sidney morning Herald. 16th January. Available at< http://www.smh.com.au/business/australia-should-not-turn-blind-eye-to-growing-divide-between-rich-and-poor-20120115-1q17t.html > Read More