Select and describe three consequences of poverty in Philadelphia that directly impact the lives of those affected by it. Please feel free to use external resources like the Philadelphia Inquirer or other news outlets to help you further formulate your answer. Hint: Access to good dental care may be one of them.

Poverty and its implications on society have become a contentious and polarizing issue of late. For one, poverty has been shown to increase crime rates at the state and local levels (SITE). This increase in crime is accompanied by an increase in imprisonment levels. As a country, the United States has the highest imprisonment rates out of any developed country in the world. Currently, the United States has 20% of the worlds prisoners but only 5% of the worlds population (SITE). Poverty and crime, particularly in Philadelphia are inextricably linked. Higher crime rates also have residual impacts on other areas of life including education, budget considerations, and family dynamics. High crime rates disproportionately impact minorities. This causes a large amount of broken families where single mothers raise children while the father is in prison. Likewise, the funding required to maintain prisons and their inmates is increasing due in part to a combination of higher imprisonment rates and inflation pressures. This places more strain on state budgets, which lowers the ability of government to properly combat poverty. Finally,

All of these are impacts and consequences of poverty within the Philadelphia region. These consequences directly impact all market participants as it relates to taxes and overall economic development (Bonger, 1996).

To begin, poverty has a very large impact on the Philadelphia region. For one, depending on the statistics used, poverty rates in the Philadelphia region are between 25% an 33%. This is extremely high and often requires government intervention to combat. This intervention often entails some form of subsidy or...

…families and its impact on both personal and economic development. Poverty often leads individuals to commit crimes and other illegal acts to supplement their income. These individuals, ironically are well intentioned. They are looking for a method to help generate income to feed their families. However, they are often misguided believing that crime an immediate solution. This often leads to higher imprisonment rates for minorities who are disproportionately the target of law enforcement. (The racial implications of law enforcement on poverty are beyond the scope of this report, but they are very real. Just a casual review of the George Floyd killing will reveal many of the flaws of law enforcement in America). Broken families occur as more individuals are imprisoned and therefore not allowed to help provide the needed parental services to children. This ultimately creates a vicious cycle in which children a being raised by single mothers who are attempting to play both the father and the mother. This inevitably leads to failure of children who…