Poverty and Human Resource

HUMAN RESOURCE

Human Resource

History

The people’s socioeconomic status could be increased if only poverty is alleviated. The alleviation contributes to better affordability of necessities of life, such as education, medical services, housing, hygienic environmental conditions, and employment opportunities, leading to improved quality of life. Due to poverty, there are adverse physical and psychological health effects on families, including children, women, and older adults (Leonard, Hughes & Pruitt, 2017). Companies have been struggling to find ways, as an endeavor for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and better salary and compensations for their employed individuals, to support the communities in alleviating poverty, using diverse coping strategies.

Prevalence of the Issue

The global prevalence of poverty is 698 million living in poor conditions, almost 9% of the worldwide population (Suckling, Christensen & Walton, 2021). However, the conditions have worsened due to the advent of Covid 19. People living less than the poverty line, a base wage limit set for the people, is below $1.90 per day. The GDP growth of certain countries has been negatively affected, has caused the reduction of basic facilities for their people, even worsening their household conditions.

Contributing Factors for the Issue

There are certain reasons or contributing factors for poverty, such as:

· Inequality or marginalization

· Conflict-induced areas such as Syria

· Poor healthcare access or systems

· Absence of access to clean water and living conditions

· Poor education

· Low employment opportunities

· Hunger, malnourishment, and impaired growth and development

· Lack of government support or public work (Relief Web, 2020)

Intervention/ Treatment Options

Research has mentioned a case where an organization attempted to alleviate poverty in certain world regions, including Brazil, Morocco, and the Philippines (Li, 2020). The Advances in Developing Human Resources (ADHR) investigated that enhancing employability and social development through adaptive career behavior is beneficial for individuals, their families, and society (Li, 2020). The organization provided a relationship-based program where ‘volunteering’ was facilitated; at the end, a questionnaire was conducted to see the program’s effectiveness in which volunteers stated alleviation of stress, social isolation, better emotional wellbeing due to increased teamwork, the value of being needed and contacts with big companies in the form of job contracts and earning prospects. It brought them better hiring chances in several social gatherings (Li, 2020).

Impact of Issue on Individual, Family, and Society

The impact of poverty as an issue would be on individuals, on families as well the society; as mentioned earlier, physical and psychological effects would be equal for all, malnutrition would strike everyone in its most adverse form, poor living conditions, child labor, diseases, possible violence at home, discrimination within the society, conducive stress for children resulting in their anti-social behavior and aggression, etc. (Restless Stories, 2011).

References

Leonard, T., Hughes, A. E., & Pruitt, S. L. (2017). Understanding how low-socioeconomic status households cope with health shocks: An analysis of multi-sector linked data. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 669(1), 125–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716216680989