The Fight Against Poverty – Policy Options and Reality

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: Ghettos of poor and unemployed people, homeless people, families relying on food banks, sick people without health insurance. There is a long list of people which comes into our minds when we think about poverty and people who are affected by it. If we search for an exact definition of poverty we will not find a single, universally accepted standard definition of it. Poverty is hardly measurable. Every interpretation is affected by credos of value. The ethical correctness of these trails to valuate poverty is scientifically not concluding appraised. The European Union’s working definition of poverty is: ‘Persons, families and groups of persons whose resources (material, cultural and social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State to which they belong’. This definition is the basis of the valuations of poverty in this assignment. The variety of poverty shows how many groups of people in particular are at risk of becoming poor. In Germany the gap of income and the number of poor people in the society increased from the year 2000 to the year 2005 faster than in any other country of the OECD. Causes are the high unemployment rate in the year 2005 and a significant gap of income. Nobody can be excluded if we talk about the poor ones in future. High income during employment does not mean that there is enough money for times of unemployment or old-age-pension. When thinking about poverty we should never forget of what advantage it is to have a high old-age pension when you are lonesome and you have to pay for every help you need? Policy options have to be divided in to groups: Actions to prevent poverty. Actions to help people out of poverty. From a scientific point of view there is only one thing needed to stay out of poverty: enough money to sustain your expenditures. Therefore a well paid job is necessary. Minimum wages are a controversially discussed topic during the last months. Only an occupation with an adequate salary is good for covering all costs. Another crucial point is to secure the old age pensions. Due to this the Federal Government promotes a 3-layer programme. The tax policy is also a point which can be influenced by the state. Prevention of excessive indebtness and a adequate asset accumulation are also important topics. Proper education is a crucial point to prevent poverty and likewise the core measure to get out of poverty. Only good education [...]