please write 2 response for 2 discussion

this course is talk about poverty and discrimination. We need to response to other student’s discussion and show our opinion. I will post rubric of response and discussion, other student’s discussion, chapter’s content and discussion questions. please write me two response(I will post two discussions also), each needs 300 words and citation.

question: As of November 2018, the unemployment rate stands at 3.7%. In other words, among people who work or are looking for work, only 37 out of 1000 do not have jobs, the lowest rate since 1969. However, the number of people in poverty is still high, around 13.5% of the US population, or 41 million people. Employment is also lower among less educated groups.

Why do certain groups of people work less than others and what connection might this have with poverty? Is it an example of the “flawed character” hypothesis, or are there other factors driving these disparities that might make certain people harder to employ or less likely to seek out work?

Student 1: As the prompt states, the unemployment rate is currently very low, while poverty is still high and employment is lower among less educated groups. There are several factors that contribute to these disparities.

First, labor markets are becoming more competitive. A greater percentage of Americans have a college degree. Between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of Americans aged 25 and older that completed a bachelors degree or higher rose to 33.4 percent from 28 percent (Wilson). When the population is in general more educated and more skilled, companies have more candidates to choose from that possess the skills attained from higher education. This makes higher paying, white collar jobs harder to attain for those who do not possess the education level that is becoming increasingly common among candidates.

I believe that as the labor market is becoming more competitive, those born into poverty face difficulty achieving higher education and receiving higher paying jobs. As Schiller mentions in the text, single parent families are disproportionately in poverty, low income houses save less than higher income households, including money saved for their children’s education, and face generally poorer education systems. These factors are a combination of the “Flawed Character” and “Restricted Opportunity” arguments. Another anthropological generalization the book mentions that supports the idea that upper and middle class families value higher education more than those in poverty is, “Where middle and upper class parents think in terms of a college education for their offspring, lower class parents’ aspirations usually stop at a high school diploma” (157). These combinations of cultural values and “Restricted Opportunities” combine to put those in poverty at a disadvantage.

Another important note is that although the unemployment rate was 3.7% in November 2018, the labor force participation was only 63.1% as of December 2018 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Those not included in the labor force are retirees, students, and disabled among others that should not be working, but also those who do not actively seek employment that are capable of doing so. This is important to consider, and when examining programs such as welfare it is difficult to determine if these programs always help those who use them. The text summarizes the conflict when it states, “A loss of welfare benefits, as well as Medicaid, food stamps, and economic assistance, could actually lower a family’s income when the mother leaves for work. Even where a job pays more than welfare, there is a distinct risk of ending up worse off” (156). This points to the fact that the “Big Brother” argument may also contribute to the poverty levels that remain high in spite of low unemployment.

Reference:

Schiller, Bradley R. Economics of Poverty and Discrimination. Prentice Hall, 2013.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 Dec. 2018, www.bls.gov/news.release.

Wilson, Reid. “Census: More Americans Have College Degrees than Ever Before.” TheHill, The Hill, 3 Apr. 2017, thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/326995-census-more-americans-have-college-degrees-than-ever-before.

Student 2: Consensus has been reached that unemployment may cause poverty, and the low quality of employment will also put people at risk of falling into poverty at any time. Meanwhile, I agree that both the culture, and personal factors can better explain unemployment or working poverty phenomenon than the “flawed character” hypothesis.

Increased number of flexible jobs, associated with short working hours, temporary contracts, and part-time employment, may lead to low-quality employment and results working poverty. Working poverty owns a high proportion of developed countries with mature market. The US Department of Labor announced that the US work poverty rate is 7% (2011). In 2018, a single person with an annual income of less than $12,000 is considered a poor. This phenomenon has its theoretical basis. The dual labor market theory believes that there is a division of the primary and secondary labor markets in the labor market. The working poor mainly belongs to the secondary sector, who owns low income, unstable work, poor working conditions, few training opportunities, and lack of promotion mechanism. Moreover, for workers in the secondary labor market, receiving education and training has no effect on improving their income. For example, the subjects of the secondary sector in US are always dropouts, older workers in traditional sectors, single parent, temporary contract workers, and self-employed workers, etc. are often marginalized in the labor market.

In addition to personal reasons, it is indispensable that cultural factors attribute to unemployment and working poverty. Education, health, and mental outlook will lead to the formation of poverty. The low quality of the poor is mainly characterized by low levels of education and lack of knowledge, making it difficult for them to break through traditions and habits, to accept new production, lifestyles and trend. The Culture of Poverty was founded by Oscar Lewis in the 1960s, which emphasizes the influence of parenting and community life on children. He explained the impact of poverty culture from four aspects: society, community, family and the individual and illustrated how poverty is passed between the poor. From a cultural point of view, the theory considers poverty to be a self-sustaining cultural system. Because the poor live in poverty for a long time, they form a specific set of lifestyles, codes of conduct, values, etc. Once such a “subculture” is formed, it will have an impact on the surrounding people, especially the offspring, which is named Intergenerational Transmission. It will have an important impact on the economic, social conditions and individual lifestyles of a region. It is through these channels that the culture of poverty indirectly leads to the formation of poverty. A new survey by the Pew Research Center found that wealthy families are completely on schedule, with children taking ballet class, playing football, and participating in extracurricular projects. These families are usually two-parent families, where parents spend a lot of time educating their children. However, the survey found that children from poor families tend to stay at home and kill time. The communities in which they grow up are more likely to be described as unsuitable for raising children, and parents are concerned that childrenare easily involved in illegal activities.

References:

Dalaker, Joseph. 1999. Poverty in the United States: 1998. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60-207. Washing- ton, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
CameliaMinoiu, Sanjay GReddy “Chinese Poverty: Assessing the Impact of Alternative Assumption”. Review of Income and Wealth, 54 ( 2008) : 572 – 596.
3. Conning, Jonathan, Kevane, Michael. Community – based targeting mechanisms for social safety nets: a critical review. World Development 30: 375 – 394，( 2002.
Schiller, B. R. (1972). Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, 10th Edition
U.S. Department of Labor – https://www.dol.gov/

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