Social Problems (Poverty, Unemployment, Crime, Media, ...)

¶ … SOCIAL PROBLEMS (POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT, CRIME, MEDIA, ...) AND WRITE a PAPER I attached instruction. There is presently much controversy regarding the concept of poverty, as society finds it difficult to accept the fact that it exists contemporary to the opulence present in first-world countries. With politicians using poverty as a means to endorse their campaigns, the masses tend to consider that governments have the tools necessary to eradicate poverty and that strategy is all that they need in order to do so.

Poverty has basically come to be an instrument used in propaganda, considering that official figures constantly relate to it with the purpose of improving their image. The general public needs to understand that poverty cannot simply be eradicated, as governments would actually have to test and install a series of programs over a long period of time in order to come up with an effective method of ending it.

Many people have trouble understanding poverty, as they are inclined to associate it with situations when they are unable to buy things that they do not actually need, but that they consider would make them more fashionable. "By this definition, poverty has all but disappeared in wealthier nations (including the United States and the United Kingdom), where almost all citizens are free from life-threatening material want" (Besharov & Call, 2009).

Although this does not mean that concepts like low income and material lack are absent from these countries, it is only safe to assume that people there have access to basic needs. It would be wrong to consider that poverty is simply related to basic needs, as it encompasses a series of other issues. Poverty can be especially damaging in the case of children, as they are likely to be deprived of decent living conditions if they are born in poor families.

Educational opportunities are likely to be reduced as a result of living in a poor family. Similarly, crime rates are normally high in poor neighborhoods, thus meaning that these people are exposed to criminals and even vulnerable to becoming criminals themselves, given that poverty can influence people in taking on an immoral lifestyle.

The Labor Party in the UK has planned "to eradicate child poverty in a generation, focusing on three main lines of attack: supporting family incomes (largely through child contingent measures); welfare to work policies; and a broader agenda aimed at improving children's life chances" (Bell & Strelitz, 2011). This plan has generated little to no positive results, as it became obvious that it is difficult and almost impossible to end poverty within the time-span of one generation.

Taking this into account, it is obvious that political parties are sometimes inclined to take on impossible tasks with the purpose of gaining recognition from the masses. Conditions in the UK are rapidly worsening as child poverty is not only unlikely to be eradicated in the near future, as "the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that by 2012-13 child poverty will begin to rise" (Bell & Strelitz, 2011).

It is surely difficult to come up with an effective strategy to combat child poverty, but something needs to be done urgently in order to assist individuals who experience suffering as a result of being born in unprivileged environments. Different countries have different standards of poverty and depending on one's location, the respective person is categorized using particular standards.

"The European Union (EU), for example, includes among its primary indicators of poverty and social exclusion the share of persons living in households that are poor in the current year and in at least two of the preceding three years" (Rodgers & Rodgers, 2010). Short-term poverty is considered by some to be a milder form of the social problem and people who are poor for short periods of time are considered to be different from individuals who are constantly poor.

Although they are the center of attention when it comes to electoral campaigns, poor individuals are normally ignored and discriminated by the masses. Their financial condition makes it possible for outsiders to associate them with stereotypes. It is difficult for children who are born in poverty to become educated and to do something about their condition, given that they have no resources to do so. While politicians test a series of strategies meant to remedy the situation, poor people are rarely a priority when it comes to important decisions.

The fact that their condition makes it difficult for them to express themselves is probably one.