2a. Feminization of poverty
This was a term coined by American sociologist Diana Pearce and is used as a phenomenon that children and women are unduly represented in world poverty, in comparison to men. In almost all societies, women are poorer than men. Poverty is a person’s inability to meet the minimum biological, social, spiritual, and cultural requirements. Women are vulnerable to poverty because they face situations that put them in difficult situations, which exposes them to poverty. For example, a pregnant young woman who does not have vocational qualification have a high chance of experiencing poverty. Additionally, a woman’s contribution to housework is not recognized. Women-led households are one third greater at risk than other households. Those led by single mothers are in worse situations. Besides that, the gender division of labor results in men getting higher wages as compared to women. Women face inequality in resource access and have powers that are limited, in defense of their interests, brought about by economic, legal, and social factors (National Poverty Centre, 2010).
2b. Identify and describe one policy that aims to counteract the feminization of policy.
Equal pay legislation. This act prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of gender in the United States. The policy was signed by President Kennedy in 1963, and it mandates equal pay for the equal work that is done by forbidding bosses from remunerating women and men differently, while the job done requires the same expertise.
The policy addresses wage disparities for people who hold the same jobs. However, gender segregation exists across jobs. Manual labor jobs are mostly held by men, while service jobs such as caregiving are held by women. The restriction of workers supply to jobs said to be for men, creates scarcity and higher wages for men, while consigning women to “women’s jobs” leads to labor surplus that reduces wages for women.
Population changes have created a bigger need to address poverty and self-reliance on a gender perspective. There should be policies that address gender segregation at work, and also removing the notion that there are jobs that are meant for men and others for women. If this was to be achieved, the Equal Pay Act would be effective in combating wage discrimination.
Part III
- What are the key differences between the supply side and Keynesian economics? Which economic perspective is more compatible with social work, and why?
Keynesian economics, the government is used to alter aggregate demand by encouraging the increase or decrease of demand and output. On the other hand, the supply side aims to increase the growth of the economy by increasing the aggregate supply by cutting taxes. Besides that, the fiscal policies intended to increase the supply of products and services to the consumers, while Keynesian economics aims at creating a high demand for the customers who want to purchase the products. Additionally, Keynesian economists hold the belief that if demand is too little, there will be high rates of unemployment, and if the demand is high, there will be inflation. Supply-side fiscal policies hold that here will be an increase or decrease the supply of money, to manage the economy (Warde, 2020).
Social work is more compatible with the Keynesian economic perspective. This is because this economic perspective aims to promote the growth of the economy by advocating for the government to cut on its spending. The supply-side economic perspective supports the cutting of taxes, which benefits mostly the rich and corporations (Warde, 2020).
- Identify and explain one factor that contributes to the reluctant welfare state in the United States.
According to Jansonn (2019, cultural factors are responsible for reluctant welfare. Americans hold the belief that welfare programs do more harm than good. It is a common belief among the people that social problems can be eliminated by the creation of equal opportunities. Poverty has been linked to issues such as low wages, physical conditions, skills, education, and discrimination. However, the 19th century is evident that these simple solutions recommended did not eliminate social problems when immigrants were facing challenges of low wages. The government came up with regulations to counteract this during the progressive era, which did very little. Social security programs for the old did not curb poverty among the elderly, as many thought it would.
The belief that a single program would be effective in fighting poverty fosters cynicism about the effectiveness of social programs (Jansonn, 2019). Social programs get launched with extravagant fanfare, then when they fail, critics demand their discontinuation, and another cycle of other programs begin with the same illusions. It is difficult for social programs to make it when the fundamental reforms are not made to improve the social status of disadvantaged persons.
- Explain the difference between legal advocacy and legislative advocacy. Choose a social issue and provide an example of each type of advocacy that responds to that social issue.
Legal advocacy is advocacy done through courts, and it is the use of judicial systems to drive goals of social change. It is executed by taking forward a case in court, which aims at improving the circumstances of a certain group of people. For example, Floyd et al. v. The city of New York, et al. lawsuit that was filed by the Centre for Constitutional Rights against The City of New York, because of racial profiling and unconstitutional stop and frisks by the Police Department of the city. The NYPD was reported to have stopped and searched about 85% of Black and Latino residents, who make up approximately 52% of the city’s population, thereby was accused of racial disparities.
Legislative advocacy, on the other hand, is defined as the efforts made to influence the introduction, enactment of modifications of legislation. Legislative advocacy is done through direct lobbying, whereby a legislator is involved. A person voices their views on an issue and asks the legislator to vote on a bill. Legislative advocacy is whereby a civil rights or visits a leader with an idea of how social change can be driven so that the leader, in turn, can propose the bill for change.
References
Jansson, B. S (2019) Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: The Reluctant Welfare State. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=0lc8AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA539&lpg=PA539&dq=causes+of+reluctant+welfare+state+in+the+United+States&source=bl&ots=_Mn0x2VLg4&sig=ACfU3U3Qe7tU6QvNqrcm2Srr5QHdrvtpyA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXk_WzlK7pAhUXRBUIHYt-ChEQ6AEwDHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=causes%20of%20reluctant%20welfare%20state%20in%20the%20United%20States&f=false
National Poverty Center website (2010). Feminized Poverty in the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~abbat22l/classweb/feminizationofpoverty/unitedstates.html
Warde, B. (2020) Inequality in U.S. Social Policy: An Historical Analysis. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=4ObLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=Which+economic+perspective+is+more+compatible+with+social+work+between+keynesian+and+supply+side&source=bl&ots=hLPAS8yC-M&sig=ACfU3U2aKFcFtuPnEqTkz0ec9HtbLzAZVg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLv47FuK7pAhUIBGMBHafrB6AQ6AEwCXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Which%20economic%20perspective%20is%20more%20compatible%20with%20social%20work%20between%20keynesian%20and%20supply%20side&f=false
