Women and poverty as related to
Around 1.3 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than a $1.00 per day for all their needs. These people have little or no access to health services and education, and limited prospects for a better life. Persons of low socioeconomic status tend to have poorer health. (Bruder) A commitment to health would imply a commitment to reducing poverty. Most of the illnesses associated with poverty are infectious diseases, such as diarrheal illness, malaria, and tuberculosis. All of them are associated with the lack of income, clean water and sanitation, food, and access to medical services and education which characterize poor countries and communities. There is in fact a two way relationship between poverty and ill health, with disease often further impoverishing the poor. Illness prevents people from working, or affects their productivity, lowering their income. The costs of obtaining health care can also be substantial, both in terms of time off from work and in terms of money spent on services. Unfortunately, as low-income individuals encounter poor working conditions that lead to sickness, they are unable to receive adequate treatment because of the lack of health insurance. This unsettling tho
Poverty is the number one killer in the world today, outranking smoking as the leading cause of death. Many people in America may earn slightly more than the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, but as proved in Nickel and Dimed, such amount is impossible to adequately support oneself. Minimum wage does not necessarily represent a living wage. A living wage is one that covers the basics, such as food, shelter and transportation. In Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich struggles with finding affordable shelter, food, and other basic necessities because of the measly wages she receives. Ehrenreich claims that, ideally, in order to survive on minimum wage, “…one job will never be enough.” (Ehrenreich 60) According to a study performed by Princeton Economists, David Card and Alan Krueger, “…a realistic minimum wage…set at a family level, with the inflation of medical, housing and educational costs of recent years…would require a minimum wage of $10.00 or more per hour.” (McDermott) In theory, the present federal minimum wage would have to at least double; thus, proving why many Americans have to double their wages by working more than one job. In the study performed by Card and Krueger, they actually prove that recent rises in state and federal minimum wages led to increases and expansion in employment, not a hindrance of economic growth. On one hand, many businesses voluntarily choose to exceed the federal minimum wage to recruit more potential workers. On the other hand, the National Restaurant Association, for example, intentionally lobbies to keep the federal minimum wage low, because they seem to reap the most benefits from a low minimum wage. Ehrenreich
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Approximate Word count = 1140
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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