BEST PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF WOMEN’S POVERTY AND INEQUALITY
4.3 The nature of women’s inequality in western countries
4.3.6 Remedies to poverty and inequality in western countries
Poverty in rich western countries is associated with some people earning less than others, inability to earn a family wage because of part-time employment, single parenting, many young children and insufficient human capital (Bernardi & Mortelmans, 2018). But also, poverty and inequality are related to out-of-pocket payments for medicines by the elderly, some of whom are women. Many western nations have put several mechanisms in place to alleviate some suffering among women who are in most cases the victims of socioeconomic and cultural injustices arising from poverty and inequality. Ellwood and Patel (2018) studied the condition of poverty and opportunity in the United States of America. They also looked at approaches of how to increase upward mobility from poverty. They used qualitative research approaches, practices, and poor people’s experiences of poverty. Their conclusion included suggestions that mobility from poverty must be tackled from three main angles which are: economic success, empowerment and independence, and valuing people in the community. The authors also proposed several approaches to achieve the above three strategies namely: to change the way poor people are perceived, to generate more job opportunities for the disadvantaged, to ensure that peoples’ addresses do not determine their descent into poverty or hamper their upward mobility. The authors further suggested that information about poverty or where the poor are, must be readily available for use for poverty and inequality reduction.
I concur partially with Ellwood and Patel (2018) when they argue that mobility from poverty must be tackled from economic success. My own view is that economic success does not always take the poor out of poverty. Economic success needs to be accompanied by deliberate policies to move the masses out of poverty and inequality. Brady, Fullerton, and Cross (2009)
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in their study examined how individual poverty was shaped by the welfare states and leftist political actors. The study made use of the Luxembourg income data of the 18 developed countries. The study showed that every time the welfare state was generous to its people, the probability of poverty declined. In comparison to Denmark, the United States’ probability of poverty was higher according to the study. The study concluded that that the welfare state reduces the probability of poverty for poor as well as poverty for single-mother households.
A study by Engle (2013) examined how legal reforms in the United States of America can be applied to lift women and children out of poverty. Engle focussed on acts and reforms of childcare which have assisted especially, single mothers, to be economically and socially emancipated. The study also underscored the importance of alimony which ensures an equal distribution of wealth in the event of divorce among married people. Similarly, the author further stressed the plight of single mothers, especially when they lacked help with childcare, which usually forced single mothers to lose their jobs and a further slump into poverty (Engle, 2013). In addition, the author argued that assistance from the state to women in terms of childcare would lift a lot of women out of poverty; they can substantially contribute to economic development. The author concluded that advocates must guide the lawmakers to implement poverty reduction measures according to the law (Engle, 2013). While the author suggests that a single mother’s poverty can be alleviated using legal means, the author largely centred her examination on single mothers and alimony.
More robust discussion encompassing all groups of women and especially how rural women’s poverty could be relieved would have added another salient angle to this exposition. Although legal reforms may be the best way to help women out of poverty, I believe that the poor find it expensive to make use of judicial services. I also think that in some countries, especially in Africa, the judiciary is not fully independent and as a result, cannot fully protect the poor through constitutional means. This means that the hand of the judiciary is often constrained to do their job by other branches of authority in many countries, especially developing countries.
I agree with Engle’s assertion that women in developed countries need assistance financially and with child-caring, so that they do not lose their jobs. The problem of poverty is widely tackled through social policy in EU countries, although most the European countries differ in terms of where they place their emphasis with assistance, when it comes to helping the poor,
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especially single mothers. Some countries such as Ireland and Sweden, prefer to assist especially with childcare support. Other countries like France place their efforts on encouraging women to work so that they do not depend on welfare support. So, most EU countries are trying to alleviate women’s poverty through the provision of social transfers and reducing taxes on the income earned by disadvantaged women (Bernardi and Mortelmans, 2017, p. 47). It is further emphasised that:
“A major challenge for social policy is to reduce the poverty risk of lone parents by providing social transfers and/or reducing taxes. Both measures are used in France. The lone parent's benefit was introduced in the mid-1970s to support lone parents during transitions. The benefit was temporary and means-tested. In contrast with the British lone parent benefit, which was provided until the child reached the age of 16, the French allowance was expected to cease when the child turned three and began attending pre-school, thereby allowing the mother to return to work. The lone-parent benefit was merged with minimum income in 2011, which means that eligibility is no longer linked to lone parenthood but to poverty. Consequently, half of the minimum income recipients are lone parents, and only 16% of these lone parents have a job (Bernardi & Mortelmans 2017, p. 47-48).”
In the same way, Misra, Moller, & Budig (2007) examined how various work-family policies covering groups of women are related to poverty rates. They also investigated the outcomes of some of the work-family policies on poverty rates. The study found that family benefits and childcare for children lowered poverty rates especially in households with single mothers.
However, lone-parent leaves are said to exhibit negative outcomes due to loss of income resulting from unpaid leave. The study recommended that gendered assumptions behind work- family policies thoroughly be scrutinized. I agree that family benefits and childcare for children lowers poverty, a point that needs emphasising is the fact that the state, in this case, the welfare state must be fully involved in making sure that benefits reach the targeted children and women.
Women need additional income for them to be able to look after their children well. Hence the state must see to it that it enacts and enforces social policies that are supportive to women and children. Brady (2005) investigated the connection between the welfare state and poverty in eighteen western nations which were used as units of analysis. To carry out this study, macro- level variation in poverty and inequality were used. A longitudinal study was carried out over a period of 31 years. The study revealed that poverty can be drastically reduced through social security transfers and public health expenditures. The study concluded that a welfare state had an impact on the state’s levels of poverty. Brady is right about welfare states' involvement in the reduction of poverty; and most recent studies have shown that governments that focus on reducing poverty, succeeds.
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Along the same lines of social policy, Korpi and Palme (1998) studied various forms of social policy programs operating in OECD countries and assessed their effectiveness in lowering inequality and poverty. They made use of data set from the Social Citizenship Indicator Program (SCIP) which contained information on the development of social insurance programs in these 18 OECD countries. The study also used data from the Luxembourg Income which had information on income distribution in these countries. The study found that targeting benefits at the poor alone did not reduce poverty and inequality. The study suggested that benefits must be targeted at all citizens, both rich and the underprivileged. However, apart from mentioning the elderly regarding their income, the study did not focus its discussion of poverty and inequality on various groups of women, but the analysis centred on poverty and inequality in general. The study also did not examine the poor rural women’s poverty and inequality but concentrated on the investigation of the welfare state benefit distribution with regards to poverty and inequality reduction. Although I agree with Korpi and Palme up to a point, I cannot accept their overall conclusion that benefits must be targeted at all citizens. I contend that targeting benefits at the poor should be aimed at raising them to a certain level of income and comfort before considering targeting benefits at all citizens. The poor people, especially in Third World countries, own almost nothing, they are deprived, hence raising them from the ashes where they are, is of paramount importance before they can be treated equally with those who have.