How Philadelphia can handle poverty

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 world’s 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, education levels decline as inmates are unable to develop the necessary skills required to matriculate properly into society. 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 tax payer funding programming. These initiatives are costly to the 75% of Philadelphia residents who pay taxes. In addition, poverty inevitably leads to more crime. This increase in crime also requires increase in taxes to help fund programs associated with imprisonment. These programs include maintenance of jails and prisons, payment to staff workers, and funding of programs designed to train inmates to enter the workforce. Unfortunately, these funds allocated to crime and its mitigation have an opportunity cost. Here the opportunity cost related to crime prevention has a direct impact on other very important budgetary elements such as education and infrastructure. Each dollar spent on education and infrastructure is a dollar that is not spent on other element that are much more important to society. This is very steep consequence of poverty as it has implications for Philadelphia on an on-going basis. These ramifications can be very long lasting if not properly handled. For example, lower education levels can lead to lower employment figures, thus exacerbating the already higher poverty levels. Likewise, low education levels can discourage businesses from relocating to the Philadelphia market. With a lack of businesses in the area, the prospects for employment and economic activity are diminished. This ultimately harms the society overall as economic development is hampered due to high poverty levels (Braithwaite, 1979).

Another consequence of poverty within the Philadelphia area is on overall education levels in the city. Lower education levels have a direct impact on the ability of the city to attract and retain top businesses to the area. This is particularly problematic as the world transitions into a much more technology centric economy. Here, it is required to have a strong background in technology to help promote the suitable of the city for potential businesses. With a highly uneducated population, this is very difficult to accomplish. Technology and services require a large amount of expertise and education. Without it, businesses will be reluctant to move to the Philadelphia region. With a lack of business in the region, employment prospect is significantly diminished. Likewise, it will be difficult of businesses to sustain operations as a large percentage of the community is at or below the poverty line. Without an educated workforce many of the rising trends in society will not be used within the Philadelphia. Technology is becoming a much more pertinent part of society. Philadelphia can take advantage of this trend by focusing on technology that helps its residents earn large sums of money and live a much more fulfilling life. With high amounts of poverty however, this is difficult to accomplish.