Is Poverty A Political Issue? Child Poverty Rates In Canada, The United States, And Sweden

POL201H1 Politics of Development

Is poverty a Political Issue?

Poverty is a term that can be used to generally mean scarcity of the resources necessary to meet the basic needs and lead a dignified life (Council, 3). Different countries define poverty in different ways. For instance, some define one to be poor if they live on less than half the value of the country’s per capita. Poverty has also been categorized into either absolute or relative. In the contemporary society, it is unlikely that one will think of such countries as the United States and Canada when the word poverty is mentioned. The two countries however have serious problems when it comes to the issue of child poverty. Extensive evidence reveals that the rate of child poverty in the United States is about 20%. While the two countries mentioned above are some of the wealthiest in the world, they have not been able to contain the problem of child poverty. What could be the causes of these high rates of child poverty in these rich nations? Could it be true to consider that politics is the issue that has caused the situation. Although there are many factors that contribute to child poverty, the political process is the main driving factor.

Extensive research reveals that although the political environment of a nation plays a role in shaping the poverty levels, it is not the only factor that contributes to poverty. Although this is the case, political involvement is still a major factor in influencing the rates of child poverty. Some of the factors that are involved in shaping the rate of child poverty are going to be explained next. One of these factors is lack of one parent. A growing body of research reveals that when a child is raised by one parent, their chances of being poor increases. The situation is usually worse where the absent parent is the father of the child. The main reason for this situation is that women are usually paid less even for the same job levels as men (Hair, 180). This means that a child being raised by a single parent (mother) is likely to face a higher rate of poverty.

Ethnicity is another factor that has been implicated in child poverty (Benatar, 599). This issue mainly affects the United States of America. There is a high crime rate in the minority communities which predisposes them to poverty. The crime is usually geared by ethnicity. When it comes to ethnicity, the minority communities seem to be faced by double tragedy. First, they are at a higher risk of being the victims of crime when compared to other communities. Secondly, the minority communities are at more risk of being incarcerated. These two factors increase the likelihood that a child from the minority communities will be poor.

The other key contributor to child poverty is unemployment. One may be tempted to think that unemployment is the only cause of child poverty since it is linked to an income. However, as observed above, there are other factors that paly together to cause child poverty. The great disparity in wealth distribution in countries such as the US and Canada have also been implicated in the high rates of child poverty (Hair, 823). In these countries, poor people mainly have access to low paying jobs while the well-paying jobs are reserved for those who have had gone through higher education. When it comes to these issues (unemployment and education) the political systems are partly to blame. If the political class is really interested in changing the situation, they would form more favourable policies. The policies that are in place in the two countries that are mentioned above seem to ensure that the poor continue being poor while the rich become richer.

Child Poverty in the United States, Canada and Sweden

Poverty in childhood has great policy implications. Poverty will play a role in determining the health outcome of a child. Those who experience child poverty are likely have poor health and this is likely to persist in to adulthood. This would mean that a country with poor children will have problems in the future since there workforce will not be effective. This section will compare the United States, Canada and Sweden to help shed some light on how the political systems affect the rates of child poverty.

It is worth noting that among the three countries, the United States has the highest rate of child poverty (Cantillon, 7). One might ask themselves why the rate is higher in the United States than the other rich nations. Most would be surprised by learning that this is the case. As noted above, some of the causes of the high rate of child poverty in the United States are composition of the household and the employment status of the parent. While these are significant causes of child poverty, the larger problem seems to lie in the public policies. If the public policies were to be revisited and streamlined to help solve the issue of child poverty, there is a very high likelihood that the rates would drastically drop. This is evidenced by the significantly lower rates of child poverty observed in Sweden. The policies in Sweden ensue that funding of social security is handsomely done. In addition, single mothers are provided with work support which increases the earnings of the mother. The fate of Canada seems to be like that of the United States. There is need for change in the public policy to support parental employment and income so that the parents can invest in the future of the children.

As observed in the previous section, the rate of child poverty in the United States is about 20%. This rate is more than twice as high as the rate in Sweden. Canada also closely follows the United States at 14%. These were the poverty rates according to a research carried out by UNICEF in 2018. There are possible explanations for the huge difference between the rates of Sweden and the two countries (United States and Canada). In Sweden, there are very low cases of single parents. In addition, the rate of employment of the parents is very high. The country also has a well-established system of parental work aids. The government has also provided funds for subsidizing child care and family leave. The policies set in the country have also ensured that there is great income support for almost all children. These factors play together to ensure that there are low rates of child poverty. It is true to conclude that all this has been possible due to formulation of appropriate public policies. The policy makers consider the welfare of the children when developing the policies. In addition, the government is very supportive and sees ready to do anything to safeguard the wellbeing of children. One may even conclude that the government knows very well how to safeguard its future. If any meaningful changes are to be made in the levels of child poverty in the United States and Canada, appropriate public policies must be developed. The politicians must form these policies with the wellbeing of all children in mind. A good way to know how to do it would be benchmarking in Sweden or other countries where the child poverty rates are very low. After the formulation of policies, the political class must also devote themselves to ensure that the policies are being implemented. In a nutshell, the political process plays a significant role in shaping the poverty levels of any nation. If the public policies are streamlined to ensure that the welfare of children is well thought of, then child poverty rates would greatly decrease. By doing this, the political class would be taking care of the future. Otherwise, the children may go through a vicious cycle of malnutrition and ill-health and be unable to provide the necessary workforce in the future.

Conclusion

Poverty refers to the inability to afford the basic commodities sufficiently and lead a good quality life. There are many factors that may predispose an individual or a community to poverty. This assignment has focused on child poverty. The rate of child poverty is high in the United Sates and Canada and low in Sweden. Some of the factors that cause the poverty rate to be high are unemployment, single parenting and ethnicity. A close look at the three countries helps appreciate the great role played by the political class in shaping the rates of poverty. A country such as Sweden has adopted policies that ensure that the wellbeing of the child is safeguarded. For instance, there is work support for working mothers and the employment rates are high. In addition, there is great subsidization of services related to the welfare of the child. It follows that the policies adopted by the United States and Canada are not supportive of maximum child welfare. If things are to change, the political class must change the public policy to favour the welfare of the child. In a nutshell, there are many factors that increase the chance of child poverty, but the political process is the main contributing factor.

References

Benatar, Solomon. “Politics, power, poverty and global health: systems and frames.” International journal of health policy and management 5.10 (2016): 599.

Cantillon, Bea. Children of austerity: impact of the great recession on child poverty in rich countries. Oxford University Press, 2017.

Council ,O C P. “Poverty and child health in the United States.” Paediatrics 137.4 (2016).

Hair, Nicole L. “Association Between Child Poverty and Academic Achievement.” JAMA paediatrics 170.2 (2016): 180-182.

Hair, Nicole. “Association of child poverty, brain development, and academic achievement.” JAMA paediatrics 169.9 (2015): 822-829.