Comment on the Trend and the Size of Poverty in Hong Kong Society. to What Extent Do You Consider the Present Social Security System Would Be Effective to Alleviate Poverty in Hong Kong?

This paper will be focused on Hispanic immigrant population since Hispanics are a rapidly growing group in the United States and more tend to be poor (Broussard & Alfred, 2009). In details, Hispanic population grew 43 percent between 2000 and 2010 (one in four Hispanics was poor in 2009), and it is projected to triple in size by 2050 (Nwosu, C., Batalova, J., & Auclair, G., 2014). Moreover, income inequality was higher among Hispanics than among whites (Nwosu, C., Batalova, J., & Auclair, G., 2014).

This perspective holds the view that the causes of homelessness lies outside of an individual’s control, and are often the result of a failure of public institutions. Structural causes are often those that affect the opportunities and the social environments for individuals, and as a result leads to a critical shortage of affordable housing, a lack of adequate income, and even discrimination (Gaetz, S., Donaldson, J., Richter, T., & Gulliver, T. 2013). For many, the lack of affordable housing - which is arguably the main contributor to immigrant homelessness in Toronto - may materialize from interwoven forms of discrimination and oppression based on an individual’s race, gender, social class, and even religion. Due to the low average household incomes of immigrants, the demand for affordable housing is further heightened. A study done in Toronto comparing homelessness and housing issues amongst women, revealed that compared to Canadian-born women, non-status migrant women had the most unstable pre-shelter housing, and stayed in shelters much longer compared to the other groups that were interviewed (Paradis, E., Novac, S., Sarty, M., & Hulchanski, J. D. 2010). This study supports the perspective that immigrant homelessness is the result of the failure of public institutions who are responsible for the policies which govern the

Everyday in the United States there are families who struggle to make ends meet and struggle to fully provide for their families. Since the 1960s, poverty in the United States has only increased dramatically. It is said that one in six Americans today is living in poverty (What is poverty?). In this book, we learn about different families and their struggles. The information in this book describe instances about welfare, different areas of the population where there are more occurrences of poverty, and a few different families experiences of how they make it day by day to survive. Some of these common organizations that help families that live in poverty may include, food stamps, certain food programs (if

The stereotypes that surround the poor and the homeless construct a false sense of self- deprivation onto the individuals who struggle financially within the United States of America. While constructing a budget that was within the financial limitation of the exercise, I grasped a better understanding of the true cost of financial liberties that most people who do not fall into the poverty category take for granted. The most difficult area was finding a living space that could house the theoretical family. Ultimately, I selected a rental property with two bedrooms because it was simply not a financial possibility to find a three-bedroom property within the budget. Even with the cheapest apartment I could possibly find, the cost of the rent was over half of the monthly income, and

As the author moved from locale to locale she identified a variety of recurring hardships faced by the working poor. The chief concern for many was housing. Finding and maintaining economical housing was the principal source of disruption in their lives. For many of the working poor it’s not uncommon to spend more than 50% of income on housing. These leaves a scarce amount of money left over for anything else and creates a situation where the person is always worried about losing their shelter. In a nutshell, it’s Ehrenreich’s conviction that wages are too low and rents are too high. She does speak with many individuals who simply cannot afford the high rental rates and are forced to live with family, friends, or in some

Another topic demonstrated in the book is inequality at home. For many, home symbolizes stability and physical security; for others it signifies an investment, an identity, or a crucial mark of citizenship. Yet, not every home and community offers all of these advantages, and not everyone takes the same path home. In recent years, buying a home has become more difficult as both wealth and race matter. High cost of home ownership is just one of the many reasons underlying the stratification of secure housing in a strong

These homeless families face many adversities and issues when seeking permanent housing like possible separation from their family members due to many

New York City's fastest growing immigrant group are Dominicans, a Spanish speaking people, flocking from the Dominican Republic to the United States, New York City in specific. In 1980 the Dominican population in NYC was 125,380, in 1990 it was 332,713, and today in 1999 it is an estimated 500,000 people. The only problem with this is through the years of their migration to America, their per capita income has declined precipitously. It seems as though when the Dominican population in America increases, their income as a whole decreases. Nearly half of the Dominicans in NYC live below the poverty level. In 1990 29% of Dominicans where on welfare. Of foreign people immigrating to the U.S., only people from the former Soviet Union had a higher percentage of people living on public assistance. From 1989 to 1996 their per capita income declined 23% to $6,094 a year, in inflation adjusted dollars, while their poverty rate rose from 37% to 46%, that is almost double for the city as a whole. Unemployment also rose from 17.2% in 1990 to 18.8% in 1996 (Lopez, p. 3). The source of these severe economic problems

This group includes “…those facing the risk of losing their shelter either by eviction or the

However, after the CPP came into effect, Pearson had changed their low status into a higher one. This pension plan compelled workers to save for the future and thus allowed the senior population of workers to live a prosperous life with guaranteed income. With more money, seniors could maintain the possessions and assets that they had prior to retirement and not have to give them up due to their impoverished situation and need for more money. Likewise, they would not have to sacrifice as much of their daily habits and pleasures because they could not afford to partake in them. However, seniors were not the only individuals who experienced positive change because of this plan, so did the workers themselves. Employees felt a sense of safety and satisfaction when going about their lives since they knew that their financial future was more promising than bleak. With this plan, Pearson subdued most of the anxiety that workers would experience when contemplating their future by forcing them to constantly secure their own future. Thus, based on Lester B. Pearson’s contribution to the making of universal healthcare in Canada as well as the Canadian Pension Plan, it can be concluded that Pearson positively changed the health, mental and economic well-being of all

Since Ronald Regan’s presidency, funding for welfare programs has been cut significantly due to the government’s and public’s desire to reduce dependency on the federal government. According to Sharon Parrott, former Director of the Welfare Reform and Income Support Division, and Arloc Sherman, Senior Researcher at the Center Budget and Policy Priorities, in their article “TANF’s Results are More Mixed than is Often Understood”, The Food Stamp Program experienced $28 dollars in cuts (3). Also, the block grant given to states through TANF has not been adjusted to today’s economy. Therefore, it has lost 22% of its value due to inflation (Parrot and Sherman 7). This means that the money immigrants do receive is worth less than before due to the declining economy. Combined with the typical lower earnings of immigrants, this has led to the prevalence of a condition known as food insecurity where one’s access to food is limited by economic circumstances. Although these cuts to the welfare program are a major factor, they are not the sole cause of food insecurity; the reduction of cash aid also plays a vital role (Van Hook and Balistreri 2). These cuts to benefits have resulted in holes in the social safety net the PRWORA tried to create because immigrants’ cash aid can be

This essay will consider whether the welfare state has eliminated poverty. It will examine what poverty is and how the definition varies from societies. The essay will look at the aims of the welfare state from conception and how it has changed to present times. The welfare state being analysed is the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It will discuss the nature of the social democratic welfare state and liberal criticisms of the problems this type of state brings. The recent changes to the welfare state will be reviewed and what the consequences of the changes may be. It will then look at recent statistics to determine whether the welfare state has eradicated poverty.

In 2017, the world population is at 7.5 billion people. China is the most populated country in whole world. It has “1.379 billion” (Google) people making it the largest populated country. China is also the most largest aging population making it have a high life expectancy and the high accelerating aging rate in the world (Zheng, 2012). China has advanced with technology and also with age. Only “three decades ago, only 5 percent of the populations was over 65; today, 123 million people, or 9 percent of the population, are over this age which a report released by the government states that China will be the world's’ most aged society in 2030” (Huang, 2013). Since, China is the most largest aging population this means that less people are dying and more are living. Since, more people are living this means that need of long-term care, health insurance, adjustment of policies and how to make everyone comfortable living. China is the only country that has an older population exceeding 100 million and annually increases at a rate of 3.2. A dependent territory of China is Hong kong that has “7.347 million people” (Google). Hong kong also has a fast growing aged population. Hong kong is also trying to adjust their long-term care system, pensions system and policies to accommodate everyone living situation.

Modern governments promise old age security, which ensures that their citizens can fend for themselves during old age. The approaches, however, may vary from society to society. In some like The United Kingdom and Canada, government pensions are distributed to the elderly. In some others such as Singapore, the people are compelled to provide in advance for their old age dependency. Some societies have laws in place to enforce children to take care of elderly parents. For example, in Singapore, elderly parents may file in to the court if their children do not provide for them. However, there are various financial concerns about these methods. In the case of government pensions, the heavy spending of public fund on the old aged may take a toll on other areas of the nation’s development. Thus a method that works in a society may not work in another and sometimes, multiple approaches have to be taken.

The comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme (CSSA) is surely one of the most influential social welfare in Hong Kong, in terms of money and beneficiary. In the fiscal year of 2010 alone, 19 billion was spent on CSSA, which increased noticeably by 40% as compared with the expenditure ten years ago. As at the end of 2009, total number of CSSA cases amounted to 289 139, representing an increase of