Poverty and the community
What is poverty? Why are people trapped in it? Are there ways out of this abyss? Is a “good” job the answer to avoiding poverty? What can an individual do to improve his situation? Is welfare the solution? What can the government and the community do to help its citizens to overcome the misery of poverty?
We have quite a few poor families in the CNMI, but seldom do we hear how their needs are being met, except that they receive welfare in the form of Food Stamps and Welfare checks from the Federal government each year. Somehow we manage to not openly discuss the subject.
In searching for answers to this plight of the poor, I recently came across one of the finest books ever published on family poverty and welfare receipt by Dr. David T. Ellwood, Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, entitled Poor support. I wish to share Dr. Ellwood thought-provoking findings and suggestions that our community can consider in helping “economically handicapped” citizens. Poverty is an overwhelming subject that many men have tackled, though not solved. However we must continue our search for solutions or at least come closer to them.
Unless the community takes positive steps in aiding poor families, it is failing in its duty to a large portion of its citizens. In examining the basis of poverty, we must recognize that inevitably it is tied to our values and to our expectations of our society and its citizens. Once such values and expectations are determined, then it is possible to identify some direct and often correctable reasons for poverty.
Dr. Ellwood states: ” The ideal social policy system would encourage self-support and independence through work, make people responsible for their actions, strengthen families, and integrate the poor, while providing dignity and security. How close does our “real social policy” compare to the “ideal social policy” stated above? It is a good point to start from for implementing programs to assist captives of poverty.
Do we in the CNMI have a definition of society’s responsibility to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to fulfill the standard of work it sets and that wages are sufficient to achieve a minimum standard of living? If society meets that responsibility, then healthy citizens can reasonably be expected to provide for themselves by working at that level.
We must ask are we providing adequate training and education for our work force so that they can command increased wages? Or do we simply insist that they be given preference over more qualified individuals simply because they are lucky to have been born in the islands? If we care about helping poor families, we will have to find ways to help people to help themselves.
Two of the most common steps taken by the federal government is to keep raising the minimum wage and putting people on the welfare dole. A third step taken by our local government is to employ people in government jobs who are too often unqualified or unneeded just to repay favors or family obligations. These steps treat the symptoms but not the causes. Before any social illness can be cured or corrected, its cause must be known. We must understand what causes poverty and its misery.
In seeking corrective measures to help the poor, the government must create incentives and motivations. The government must take the lead in providing information, education, and even moral guidance. Training and education policies are ” human investment” measures.
Tomorrow let’s define “poverty” and examine the effects of a minimum wage, welfare results, and excessive government employment. (continued)
