Sociological Reasons for Increase in Child Poverty in Hong Kong Immigrant Families - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Sociology of poverty is a special sociological theory, the content of which consists of concepts and categories that define poverty as a social phenomenon and social process and reveal a combination of factors influencing this process. The sociological study of poverty is related to the high rate of population growth and the low availability of employment. Village communities, who are in productive age, prefer to make a fortune by going to cities to find work rather than undergoing a monotonous routine in their hometown. These migrants are certainly not just free from problems. They face a new problem at their destination, which is the issue of settlement, housing, a decent and appropriate residence. The object of the sociology of poverty is poverty as a phenomenon in the context of conditions conducive to its development. The subject of the sociology of poverty is the processes of material and spiritual degradation of individuals and social groups, as well as the narrowing of their prospects associated with the development of poverty. The sociology of poverty considers poverty not only as an economic and socio-cultural state of people with a minimum amount of liquid values and limited access to social benefits. It considers poverty as a special way of life, passed down from generation to generation, norms of behavior, stereotypes of perception and psychology.

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Hong Kong is one of the most highly developed societies in the world whose economic level is among the best in Asia and the world. However, Hong Kong also has the largest gap between the rich and the poor. In the last ten years, due to factors such as globalization and economic restructuring, poverty levels have been increasing in Hong Kong especially for children of immigrants, which has become a concern of all sectors of society (Cheung & Chou, 2018). Although Hong Kong is a wealthy community, there are still many social problems related to children. The problems are inextricably linked to policy issues such as intergenerational poverty, equal education, and social inclusion, more so for immigrant children. According to the analysis of the article, the problem of child poverty in Hong Kong is serious. The proportion of poor children in low-education families, single-parent families, and new immigrant families is nearly twice that of poor children in Hong Kong (Cheung, 2015). The problem of child poverty in Hong Kong is mainly concentrated in vulnerable families with scarce resources. From a sociological perspective, children's growth is greatly affected by the environment, especially the poor environment has a greater psychological impact on children, and this is the case for the children of the Hong Kong immigrant families.

Poor immigrant children are partly from the extended family, and only one member of the family is employed. The member is mostly engaged in lower technical work. Most of the households live with the elderly, and the family burden is particularly heavy. Therefore, even if the family income grows, the magnitude lags behind the whole, and the children fall into the poverty net. First, wages are low (Cheung & Chou, 2016). Some wage earners have to work part-time or two jobs to support themselves and their families. Second, the price of the building is expensive, even the rent of the dwelling-house. It also accounts for a considerable portion of the income. Another of the main reasons that explain the important poverty rates among children whose parents are migrants are the effects of the crisis on the employment of this population group. The participation rates between migrant and indigenous people in the labor market are vast.

The most apparent channel of intergenerational transmission of poverty is the acquisition of skills and knowledge during pre-education and education. The relationship between the level of initial training and access to employment and adequate income is particularly strong in Hong Kong. Many factors contribute to increasing the risk of school failure for children from poor families (Zhang, 2014). Some are specific to them; others affect a wider range of children. However, these are also to be taken into account in studies on poverty, if we accept the remark of the preamble that any child failing education must be considered poor. Inequalities between children, detectable as soon as they enter kindergarten, only increase throughout the school curriculum. If this result is based on socio-occupational categories because of the lack of a measure of the family level and living conditions in national education databases, it surely applies to the question of poverty. Before school, the development of cognitive and social skills is influenced by childcare in early childhood (Lee & Chou, 2016). The practical arrangements for its implementation do not, in general, enable poor immigrant children to have access to a way of keeping out of their family sphere. In fact, the lack of places available in collective creches often leads to book them for families with both parents working. In addition, childcare assistance is often provided in the form of a tax reduction and in any case remains a significant burden for low-income families.

The admission of many prestigious schools will benefit the children of the old students or the brothers and sisters of the students. These advantages are often not what the average poor can have. The admission criteria of these schools are also biased towards the rich, knowing how to play a musical instrument, or to participate in various extracurricular activities, can greatly increase the chances of being included in a prestigious school. However, these qualifications are not affordable to the poor (Chou, 2013). Some prestigious schools will verify the applicant's family back, for example, they will take the transportation before the interview, and even check their underwear. In addition, many prestigious schools will give priority to students in their school network areas, and with the help of real estate developers, these areas have become middle-class settlements or even noble residential areas. A child, who due to his poverty situation does not receive adequate early stimulation, does not attend school until he is seven years old, spends little time in the classrooms, has poor teachers, does not finish high school and is destined to be poor.

The source of parental poverty is often the weakness of their cultural baggage and their initial training. At the same time, they find themselves less able to help their children in their school work and to orient them in the mysteries of the education system. They also often limit the ambitions they consider attainable by their own children. Unfortunately, teacher behavior does not correct this perverse effect (Pong, 2009). In fact, at the same level, middle-level children are more oriented towards the general sector and the children of manual workers, towards vocational or technological sectors. The decisions of the class council thus reinforce rather than attenuate the self-selection of families. More generally, the majority of teachers are not trained to support students in difficulty. Often coming from different social backgrounds, they also do not understand the difficulties encountered by these students.

Asthma, problems with poor vision or hearing correction, dental problems penalize poor children more than other children. More generally, they suffer from insufficient prevention. It should be noted, in particular, with the child advocate in her first activity report, that the lack of continuity between maternal and child health protection and school medicine penalizes the medical care of children (Yeung & Chan, 2010). But it is especially the failure of the latter that must be emphasized. School is indeed the only place that would allow the systematic and non-discriminatory examination of all children and adolescents and thus play a role of prevention and prescription. However, this is not the case since children from immigrants cannot get into good schools.

Parents of poor families are unable to participate in parent-child training courses because of their long working hours and their educational level. It is also difficult to support children's growth through quality parent-child interaction. The development of the child is very influenced by the emotional climate in which he lives. From this point of view, the parental stress linked to the fear of not making ends meet cannot, often, be masked to children and, especially, to teenagers (Chou, Cheung, Lau, & Sin, 2014). Here, the irregularity and unpredictability of the incomes of many precarious families play a specific role, beyond the purely material effect on the standard of living. In addition, the current system of social protection is so complex that social workers are often hard pressed to be able to establish with families a clear picture of the social incomes and the benefits they can expect, both in terms of the amount than schedule.

Parents play an indispensable role in the growth of children to help children grow up physically and mentally. It is also the object of children's growth and imitative learning. Without parents and guidance, children may experience withdrawal behavior, anxiety and social problem-like behavior, concentration problem-like behaviors, and attacks-like behaviors. At present, the children of single-parent families separated by China and Hong Kong mostly die or abandon them (Rhee, Chang, Weaver, &Wong, 2008). Their mothers cannot be around because they do not have a Hong Kong identity card. The duration of child poverty episodes is clearly an important factor in increasing the risk of poverty in adulthood. This has been shown by many panel surveys conducted abroad. But the age of the child is also important. Anglo-Saxon studies lead to a focus on the early years, with the development of the child being a very cumulative process. Disabilities generally only deepen unless strongly corrective actions are taken; it can be seen in the school field, but also in behavioral matters.

The culture of the poor is the culture of poor housing, lack of hygiene, lack of means, because of the cold. The culture of the poor is three children at the kitchen table to do their school homework, and as a result, the lack of education and training. The culture of the poor is the disease, the lack of prevention, they are edentulous mouths. The culture of the poor is the culture of debt and the spirals of debt that pull one down (Cheung & Chou, 2018). The culture of the poor is, finally, moral decay, lack of prospects, because of repeated failures. Breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty is everybody's job. In the first place, of course, are the organs of the State, responsible for directing public affairs towards the common good. And the opposition parties should support seamlessly that basic task for development and citizen security. Because intergenerational poverty, added to the constant increase of inequality, as is the Hong Kong case, always generates great inequality and more poverty. Society needs to provide poor children with fair learning and development opportunities. It is also necessary to master young children in the golden age of 0-6 years old, give appropriate stimulation and lay a good foundation for their long-term development.

Conclusion

It is recommended that the government provide all-round support for families to reduce the negative impact of poverty on children. The Commission on Poverty should set a timetable and goals for the long-term elimination of child poverty and provide cash assistance to poor children. Training and assistance should be provided for the familie...