New York City Poverty Analysis

One of the biggest social issues that New York City faces is the problem of poverty. Poverty is a social problem because the effects of poverty are felt in society as a whole. The effects of poverty are very serious. Poverty carries with it a particularly strong set of risks for families, especially children. The children are exposed to very high-risk health issues because their families do not have the necessities and financial status to give proper shelter or proper medication that their children need. A growing number of studies shows us the harsh realities of income inequality in New York City and shows just how unaffordable the city is becoming. It has been noted that nearly half the population of New York City is living near poverty levels.
The studies revealed that 45.6 percent of New Yorkers are barely able to meet ends. This situation still exists even when there are more adults working full-time now since the recession. Low wages, rising rents, and a lack of benefits all together contribute as factors which make poverty a huge social problem in New York City. There are many effective ways to reduce poverty without having any negative effects.
One of them, as suggested by Peter Cove of the New York Daily News, is increasing work. He suggests that work is the only answer to poverty. Peter Cove suggests that work is the optimal solution because it maximises a person’s capacity to achieve economic self-reliance. He says that work socialises people and instills a sense of personal responsibility in people. Having a job connects behaviour with consequences and permits people to earn the admiration and respect of their spouses and children by supporting them. None of this is accomplished by handouts or by government-run programs. Peter provides us the fact that America spends over $600 billion a year on welfare and poverty-related programs. And these programmes do not work. They seem to do the opposite of what they are actually supposed to do —They create, rather than lessen, dependency. “For just $155 billion, we could establish a proven, subsidised employment program in the private sector and Works Progress Administration-type effort that would employ 11 million dependent individuals. These jobs could pay a salary of $20,000, lifting millions of families out of poverty” says
Peter. Improving high-school graduation rates should be an integral part of any anti-poverty plan, as suggested by Angela Rachidi of the New York Post. New York City’s poverty report shows that 34.7 percent of working-age New Yorkers without a high-school education were in poverty in 2013 as compared to 24.6 percent of those with a high-school education only. As astonishing as it may sound, 32 percent of students do not graduate from high school in four years in New York City, and this is after the substantial improvements and measures taken over the past decade. Angela says, “School choice that elevates the quality of education is critical to ensuring that all of New York City’s youth get a high-school education. This means supporting charter and traditional public schools that demonstrate success and reforming or closing schools that do not.” In my opinion, lack of education is the main cause of poverty in New York City.
I believe education is the solution to the social issue of poverty in New York City. It may not be an instant solution, but it definitely is the long term solution to prevent poverty. The better educated a person is and the more education they keep getting, higher the chances that they will avoid economic and social despair. Firstly, education helps and benefits people’s health throughout their entire lives, from a mother’s pre-birth lifestyle to the likelihood of developing diseases later in life. In general, education helps people to become aware on how to live a healthy lifestyle. If people are educated, people will know what kind of food are most nutritious, and therefore are more likely to buy and consume healthier foods for themselves and their families. If the mothers are educated, they will know what kind of meals are nutritious for their families and will know how to cook it. If people are educated, they will gain knowledge about vaccinations, clean drinking water and fitness. Simply put, in most cases, an educated person is a healthy person. Secondly, education helps in economic growth. If we have an entire population educated, economic growth is but a natural effect which will occur. Education creates more people who are ready for the workforce. If people are educated, it means they are ready to work. The more number of people get educated, the larger the workforce. The more number of
workers means that there are fewer people who will be unemployed. And we all know that unemployment has a high correlation with poverty. Therefore, as Peter Cove suggested, by employing more people, a country’s poverty rate will naturally decrease. Other ways in which we can tackle poverty is to try and fix income equality. But there is always this huge doubt over if we can actually fix income inequality because the notion of “free markets” is a fallacy and does not exist. For me, education is our way out of poverty.