Poverty

2. What are the causes of poverty? Are they structural or individual? How is one’s answer to this question likely to affect one’s view of the justice or injustice of poverty?

Many people around the world face poverty every day of their lives. I believe education and skill level, status of health, race and discrimination all play a vital role in poverty. A major factor determining whether someone will end up living in poverty, education or skill level can make or break an income. Education plays a vital role in acquiring jobs, learning new skills, and bringing home necessities and comforts of life. A person who doesn’t receive an education in today’s society has a very small chance of making much money and acquiring skills that would bring home a desirable income. With that being said, many who do not have an education bring their family into a cycle of poverty. Other causes of poverty include overpopulation, global distribution of resources, and high stands or living. Numerous causes exist that affect poverty in the world, but I believe lack of education, poor health, and discrimination play a key role in causing poverty. As it states in our reading, “most poor people in our nation---about two-thirds of them---are white, but blacks are about two and a half times more likely to be poor. Whereas one out of every ten white Americans is poor, one of every four African Americans and one out of every five Hispanics live below the poverty line” (Shaw, pg.133). As we can see with these statistics, race plays a major role in poverty.

I think the causes of poverty fall both into structural and individual. Poverty is structural because its deprivation that is reinforced by economic and social barriers preventing access to skills, employment opportunities as well as better housing. With out economy today, a lot of people are living in poverty and unless our economy changes, I think the poor don’t have a choice but to live in poverty. On the other hand it can...