Sociological Perspective Poverty

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Poverty can be defined as the state of being extremely poor. This means that a person has very little to no financial resources or provisions necessary for survival. It proves to be a serious issue that many families in the United States have to face on a daily basis. Poverty is a serious issue because it influences employment rates, which in turn hurts economic growth when the rate is low, and it also contributes to the number of Americans whom are actually homeless today. From a sociological point of view, poverty can be looked at using several perspectives such as the functional perspective, which shows how poverty exists to keep society up and running; the symbolic interactionism perspective, in which stereotypes come into play, showing …show more content…

In an article written by Brian Prince, he states, “Poverty allows for the creation of jobs” (2010). This can be proven as true because without poverty, the individuals who spend their time providing services to poor would be without work. There would be no need for non-profit organizations such as Feeding America and UNICEF, which provide children and adults located in various places around the globe with food and opportunities that would not be available if there was no reason for these organizations to exist. For example, individuals that are living well above the poverty line, such as the upper class, would no longer feel the need to engage in philanthropic work such as Oprah does through her foundation by building schools for children living in poverty in …show more content…

Women in society are poor and living in poverty because they are discriminated against in the workplace. They often are not offered the same positions that a male figure may be offered, therefore, they have to work for less while trying to provide for their children if they happen to not be married. This discrimination comes from people believing that women are not able to complete a job with the same skill that a male figure could. Women also are forced to work part-time jobs due to the fact that they have children at home, and for this reason, the minimum wage should be increased so that a family could survive from this income. “A higher minimum wage will immediately reduce dependence on public assistance,” as stated by Yarmuth in his article (2015). Women would have higher wages and this would lessen the need of public

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