It is a well-known fact that poverty is a constant companion of the human civilization. The humanity has been suffering for all the time of its existence, especially during the periods of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and others, social conflicts such as war or revolution, as well as in times of economic and political crisis. Poverty is the lack of basic living conditions, the required set of food supplies that would ensure the humanity the normal level of existence. In addition, there are also social and psychological aspects of the problem as poverty diminishes human dignity making them not able to fully realize their potential, in particular, to be normal citizens of their state and fully developed part of a civilized society. Therefore, the fight against poverty, the desire to reduce its level in the human society should be a priority in any modern civilized state.
Poverty has strong impact on every group of the humanity. Edin and Lein raise the issue of poverty among single mothers and how they try to overcome this difficulty. In fact, this problem is based on numerous social, economic and political conditions. It depends on the structural characteristics of the city single mothers’ live in, or their access to the noncash resources (Edin 257). With this regard, the income of single mothers depends on four major peculiarities, such as the power of the local labor market, the size of the city, the nature of the local economy and economic programs implemented by the local government, and the practices that presuppose child-care and health-care, and benefits that single mothers acquire from the implemented strategies. Edin and Lein offer the idea that economic survival strategies do not presuppose all the possible conditions of poverty single mothers live in, so that they cannot choose which strategy to employ in order to defeat the state of poverty and reach the welfare. Poverty policies move single mothers to work and to develop their skills in case if they want to preserve their working place (Edin 260).
Another point of view, that Edin and Lein believe in, is based on the conviction that the only politically feasible solution to the problem of single mothers’ poverty is work-based that may help them move to the welfare through work (Edin 262). In the case, when the path to welfare is politically oriented, Edin and Lein suggest the following policies. The first one is focused on implementing and participating in high-quality trainings and programs that help to get the satisfying living wages to reach the welfare. The second policy is mainly oriented on the children health care benefits that must be continually introduced to single mothers in accordance with their income. The third policy offers to develop and expand the activity of Federal Unemployment Agencies that provides unemployed single mothers or mothers on low wages with insurance programs (Edin 264). Another policy reveals the point that many single mothers suffer from high tax bills necessary to cover. Taking into account this fact, the governmental policy must presuppose such tax bills for single mothers that correspond to their earnings. The last point of political strategy introduces the idea that economic programs should pay attention to the single mothers with minimum income and help them to cover part of the expenses for their children (Edin 265).
Works Cited:
Edin, Katherin and Lein, Laura. Work, Welfare, and Single Mothers' Economic Survival Strategies. American Sociological Review. 62.2. (1997): 253-266. American Sociological Association. Web. 8 Jul. 2016.
