The Working Poor

It’s difficult to imagine how some people hold multiple jobs to support themselves or their families and still struggle on day to day basis. The saying the rich get’s richer and poor gets poorer has never been so evident in today’s society. Let’s begin by explaining what poor is? According to (Encarta English Dictionary 2006) poor is explained as someone “lacking money, material possessions, unemployed and insecure”. Poor is also divided into two distinctive groups, the deserving and the undeserving poor (Levine & Rizvi, 2005, p.38). “The deserving poor are poor through no fault of their own but as a result of a disability, loss of employment, and economical change”. “The undeserving poor are poor because of their own interpersonal skills, self confidence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and damaged character”. There has also been talk of a new occurrence of the “working poor” in Australia. Perspectives on Poverty: NCOSS 2007 Conference LHMU defines the working poor as “earnings less than $500 a week”. Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that in “1995 the working poor represented just 10% of workers over 21 years of age. In 2003 this had doubled to 20% and indicates that it has likely grown since” (ABS, 2003, as cited in Perspectives on poverty conference, 2007)

With a growing percentage of people measured the “working poor” one has to question the government policies enacted to elevate the living standards for its people. Government policies greatly influence the everyday life of its people. Strategic plans should be sought out to ensure that the poor are not disadvantaged or discriminated in the society. Labelling the poor in need by deciding and being selective in who deserves what rather they should focus on finding solutions to ever growing problems of the poor.

How can the poor regain control over their finances, have confidence, clear mental state, self esteem and have faith in this society?

Discussion of this paper will focus on how poor people would not profit from seeing a banker for help. On the other hand with the help of Social Workers they would benefit and reclaim control over their lives. However people may not be aware of the role of social workers and/or how they practice. Social workers have been given a bad reputation and misunderstood in what they try to achieve. (Australian Association of Social Workers [AASW] Code of Ethics 1999). Explains, “The Social Work profession is committed to the pursuit and maintenance of human well-being. Social work aims to maximise the development of human potential and fulfilment of human needs”.

Social workers work in a variety of different settings, some of these are; mental institutions, child protection services, hospitals, counselling for individuals, families, groups, couples, working with youth, interventions, parenting strategies, welfare, helping the poor, migrants, communities and there are many more.( The Code of Ethics 1999, p. 8) under 3 Values and Principals 3.2.1 Principles a) clearly states that “Social workers promote distributive justice and social fairness, acting to reduce barriers and expand choice and potential for all persons, with special regard for those who are disadvantaged, vulnerable, oppressed, or have exceptional needs”.

Social workers are sensitive especially when working with those in difficult circumstances. Given the complexity of some of the issues social workers face every day, working with the poor is not an exception. It is challenging, composite, confronting, and is a continuing process.

Unfortunately social workers do not have a magic wand to make poorness disappear although they are trained to “help you help yourself” as referred to by, (Dr. R. Mubarak Ali, 2008). Social workers explore options and make informed choices and can refer those in need to other appropriate organisations if necessary. In addition social workers are skilled in empowering those who have low self esteem, no motivation, how to handle stress and depression better, how to communicate and handle challenges, financial counselling, job searching and many more.

As can be seen above social workers work in many different areas and offer a variety of different services to their clients. However the focus of this paper is how they achieve best results in trying to help the poor with the knowledge they have acquired.

“A key goal of social workers is empowerment” as put in plain words by (Zastrow, SOAD reading pack, 2008). Empowerment is “to give somebody greater sense of self esteem” as recorded in (Encarta dictionary, 2007). The worker should have an optimistic attitude towards to the client’s difficulties. Regardless of what the problems may be. The worker ought to assist the client to recognise that change is possible. The worker can also act as an advocate on behalf of the client if that client has been rejected for extra government funding, housing trust home, help with child care, and basic household needs and etc. In Addition help is provided in trying to gain employment, free training/courses and/or rehabilitation for drug/alcohol abuse if necessary.

Furthermore the worker should put in place an appropriate intervention plan. For instance connecting the client to suitable organisations e.g.; referring to a financial counsellor to work out a budget, centrelink for benefits, housing trust for rent assistance, personal money management courses, and charity organisations. Setting sensible objectives are essential and promises should not be made. Involving the client in the intervention process is crucial. Provide