GLOBAL ISSUES 1

Global Issues Report

Daniel Vidal
The University of Texas of El Paso
RWS 1301
Dr. Vierra
November 5, 2018
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Introduction

Poverty is on your side every time of your day, poverty follows you till the end of the

day, nobody can control this issue. Poverty can happen to everyone; this issue can spread to your

life if you let it come. The significance of this topic is to have in mind the difficulty of poor

people and their hard work and struggle they must face to overcome this problem that seems

endless.

Discussion

Who is affected by poverty?

The most affected people are based on the country you are. According to Gorski (2013,

pp. 48-52), if you are in El Paso, the most affected people are the students, because now we need

internet access and a computer to do homework, another example is Portugal, according to

Santana’s article (2002, pp.33-45), there the most affected people because of the poverty in

Portugal by having more dependent people, poorer you may be. This shows that every country is

different based on their education program or even the country economy.

Kids are affected by poverty, according to Rodgers’ book (1997). This is because kids

cannot do too much to change its status. An estimate 35 million people are poor in American

territory and around 40 percent of those people were kids. (In figure 1.1, shows data about

poverty in the U.S.) An estimate 35 million people are poor in American territory and around 40

percent of those people were kids. This shows that kids cannot change their social status, and that

is why there is too much poor kids in America. According to Bitler, people living in poverty

during their childhood have a higher risk to live a poor life when adults (Marianne P. Bitler,

2009).
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Children are the most affected by poverty, they are not guilty for being poor, they are just

living the life their parents have ready for them. According to Operation Warm (2018), poor

people in specific children, are more likely to suffer from obesity and nutritional deficiency, may

have elevated blood lead levels, is likely to remain poor and uneducated as an adult. This all

happens because of the food they can consume. Before, poor people ate what in the time was

cheap, or farmers would plant crops or fishing, but now the cheapest food are the processed food

making poor eating junk food to live (2010). Shows that poor children are more likely to suffer

and make their life more difficult with more problems involved. (In figure 2.1 shows facts about

poverty in 2017).

Students living in poverty most of the times have less support by having fewer

opportunities to use school libraries than affluent and middle-class students who may not need as

many supports as given. According to Payne and Biddle, US has a very high percentage of

children in poverty, over 20%, compared to Denmark's 3% (Payne and Biddle, 1999; Bracey,

2009; Martin, 2009). Schools can be a great part for fighting against poverty by having free

access to libraries, computer labs to does people that really need that kind of support (pp.144).

Offering financial aid to those who qualify for it, is one more way to contribute with this issue,

based on How to Help Poor Countries (2005).

Rural people are affected by the poor because according to Deaver’s reflection (1989),

they have to make money from raw materials, this is a way of selling that nobody accept this

materials so it makes difficult for rural people to make a decent amount of money, but if it is

poverty out there, then no one would buy from them (1950). This shows how rural people have

to work harder than normal to provide a decent amount of money to maintain their families. Lee

Burchinal said (1964), “other data demonstrates that poverty, no matter how defined, is
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widespread in the United States, and that some groups suffer more than others. Poverty is linked

with many characteristics, among which is living in a rural area, specifically on a farm.”

Farmers were affected by poverty because of the living in farms and gaining money,

showing the claim of Fitchen (1980). In 1980 farming areas was 16 percent tied to New York

city’s metropolitan rate. Those rural countries had 11.2 percent of unemployment, compared to

6.2 at metropolitan countries (pp. 177). This data shows that farming areas were left because of

unstable salaries and were replaced by a stable wage to maintain their families. This is also

because United States is an urban orientated country, and services in rural areas had less impact

because everyone want to become a urban person with more possibilities of success (Burchinal,

1964).

Schools are helping families in need by providing them free food at school. According to

Saportio’s article that says, poverty can be calculated (poverty in elementary schools of the 21

largest school districts in United States). Poverty in children (qualified for free lunch) in public

school’s ranges from 14 to 77 percent (pp. 1231), 58.3 percent of children from public schools

were poor (pp.1231). This shows that schools providing food to children, parents can save more

money because they save on food per week, and this can have a large impact on a long-term

period.

You can always have the opportunity if you want, it is not new, but you just need to look

for it, there are scholarships to pay for your college, scholarships are available for everyone,

being easy to apply, being whatever ethnicity, having specific careers gives you specific

scholarships. Organizations provide these types of economic help to give good impression of a

community-friendly company/organization (based on Dr. Hadjimarcou’s class, 2018). Nunez

(2013) brought this topic to all students that cannot afford college. To work hard and make your
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dream come true by going to college all paid by scholarships (pp.5). This shows that poverty is

not always an excuse for not having a higher degree diploma.

People can have more control about their status as you think. Alvarez said that not always

have to be poor people, you can overcome your status and improve your life for the better (lines

1-13). This prove that people sometimes do not believe in themselves, they rather stay

comfortable where they are and do not like to take risks to win and live better. Everyone, from

the strain it puts on social supports and taxpayers to the physical and financial toll it takes on

families and individuals, we are all affected. Based on United way (2017-2018), the Low-Income

Measure After-Tax (LIM AT), a family of four earning $38,000 per year after taxes would be

considered poor. For a single person, this cut off would be a yearly salary of $19,000. This

shows that everyone can be consider poor because of their incomes and the reduction of taxes

every time you get paid.

Conclusion

Poverty come along with humanity, and problems come with it. Poverty affect everyone

with no specific focus. Poverty is a very large problem that is so difficult to end this problem, but

government and people can support this issue by having free services for people who qualify.

Life is not as easy as we think, poverty affect children, single-parent mothers, farmers, and

basically everybody can fall into this issue. We cannot predict who is falling and who is not,

poverty has a dependent on you and your behavior. You do not know if you are could use those

shoes in the future. Help people in need because in the future could be you.
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References

(2010). Obesity in resource-poor nations. Reviews in obstetrics & gynecology, 3(4), 180-4).

Alvarez, D. (2003, We think we have it rough! The Prospector.

Birdsall, N., Rodrik, D., & Subramanian, A. (2005). How to Help Poor Countries. Foreign

Affairs, 84(4), 136-152. doi:10.2307/20034426

Burchinal, L., & Siff, H. (1964). Rural Poverty. Journal of Marriage and Family, 26(4), 399-405.

doi:10.2307/349343

Centers. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy,81(2), 143-160.

doi:10.1086/658868

Deavers, Kenneth L. and Hoppe, Robert A. (1989). Overview of the rural poor in the 1980s. In

Duncan, Cynthia M. and Sweet Stephen (Ed.), Rural poverty in america (pp. 3-20)

Auburn House.

Fitchen, J. M. Rural poverty in the northeast: The case of upstate new york. In C. M.

Gorski, P. (2013). Building a pedagogy of engagement for students in poverty. The Phi

Delta Kappan, 95(1), 48-52. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23617759

Hall, G. (1911). Scholarships. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social

Science, 38, 77-79. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1011877

Krashen, S. (2017). Http://ljournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/a-2017-023.pdf. Protecting

Students Against the Effects of Poverty: Libraries,1-9. doi:10.18411/a-2017-023

Marianne P. Bitler, Annie Laurie Hines, & Marianne Page. (2018). Cash for Kids. RSF: The

Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 4(2), 43-73.

doi:10.7758/rsf.2018.4.2.03
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Nunez, S. (2013, February 5 2013). Hjc. The Prospector, Pribesh, S., Gavigan, K., & Dickinson,

G. (2011). The Access Gap: Poverty and Characteristics of School Library Media.

Oldenkamp, D. (n.d.). NationMaster. CC Advisor. doi:10.5260/cca.199390

Rodgers, H. R. (2015). American Poverty in a New Era of Reform. Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Santana, P. (2002). Poverty, social exclusion and health in Portugal. Social Science &

Medicine, 55(1), 33-45.

Saporito, S., & Deenesh Sohoni. (2007). Mapping Educational Inequality: Concentrations of

Poverty among Poor and Minority Students in Public Schools. Social Forces, 85(3), 1227-

1253. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4494971

Who Are Most Affected by Poverty in the U.S.? Our Children. (2018, June 29). Retrieved from

https://www.operationwarm.org/blog/who-are-most-affected-by-poverty-in-the-u-s-our-children/

Who is affected? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.myunitedway.ca/who-is-affected/

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Figures

Source: Copyright 1997. Poverty in the United States. Current Population Reports

Table 1.1 shows the percent of the population in millions during the years of 1959 to

1997.
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Source: Copyright 2017. Poverty Facts in United States. University of Michigan

Figure 2.1: In 2017, for every 8 Americans, one was poor, and for the total in millions of

the population, 1/3 are children.