There has never been an easier route to becoming rich.
Life is full of surprises that could bring one up from grass to grace; and sometimes, down from grace to grass.
A lot of factors, however, can be used as a yardstick to determine if someone will be rich or poor in the future. Quality education is a necessity but not a determinant in the relationship between wealth and poverty.
LOCATION:
The poverty level between rural and urban areas differ greatly therefore, parents who live in the cities have a better chance at giving their kids quality education and improving overall academic performance.
According to a research by Harvard University economist Raj Chett, “Low-income children are most likely to succeed in counties that have less concentrated poverty, less income inequality, better schools, a larger share of two-parent families, and lower crime rates.”
Unfortunately, it is true that children who grow up in high-poverty areas does not have access to quality schools, recreational facilities. These kids cannot use modern study methods and tools which in return, becomes limitations to securing high-paying jobs.
PARENT’S INCOME:
It’s arguable that growing up in a family where both parents earn high wages provides an economic advantage to kids. These advantages go a long way in deciding their education, reasoning, focus, behavior and future lives.
Things get easier when a child has a stepping stone already laid than having to start life from the scratch. It is easier to make nothing out of something than having to make something out of nothing – as we might think of Bill Gates and the rest in theory only.
PARENTING:
Two is always better than one. There’s no doubt that two-parent households fare better financially than single parents. Joining two incomes together, all things being equal, can never measure up as same with one income.
There’s a lot more to save for childcare in a two-parent household. This increases the odds of getting better education which translates to higher earnings later.
HOW YOU LOOK:
This might sound funny but most people would agree that being attractive can increase one’s earnings. Studies have shown that good-looking people earn about 3% to 4% more than others with average looks. One’s weight and height have also been used as determinants for most jobs.
According to Daniel Hamermesh, a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the book “Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful.” Your weight and height also have an impact: Every inch above average height (5’3’’ for women; 5’9’’ for men) can translate to an average $789 more per year in earnings for both men and women.
Another 2004 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology that analyzed pay for over 8,500 adults says that, “Tall people may have greater self-esteem and social confidence than shorter people. In turn, others may view tall people as more leader-like and authoritative.”
The researchers found that height tends to matter more for men than women and in highly social jobs like sales, management and customer service. Height matters slightly less for workers in blue-collar and clerical positions, they said.
RACE:
There is little or no doubt that all over the world, racism and ethnicism have been the major factors limiting different people in job recruitment. Some jobs are specified for some races notwithstanding qualifications or capabilities.
In most jobs where all races could be employed, a worker’s promotion and/or salary depends on race – whites, blacks, asians or hispanic.
There is discrimination in minority and majority neighborhoods. Bias can hurt minority homeowners as well.
Most black homeowners in the US live in minority neighborhoods, which tend to have lower home values and lower quality amenities like schools, childcare and hospitals. The Brookings Institute labeled this phenomenon the “Segregation Tax” in a 2001 study. Even when controlling for income, homes owned by black families were valued at 18% less than homes owned by white families.
This minority are always not qualified for loans and they government assistance. Lenders also use strict discriminatory measures to disqualify them for education loans and more.
GOVERNMENT:
Most governments with the federal system structure tend to use the quota system to create a balance where merit should have been the deciding factor for jobs. This implies that if an ethnic group has more qualified candidates for positions in government offices, the extras are automatically disqualified.
Unfortunately, other ethnic groups with little or no qualified candidates must fill up their quota with the available inefficient workers. This is not always the case.
In reality, the government’s quota system is applied only between the majority who live in bigger cities and the minority who live in rural neighborhoods.
The majority have larger slots in government jobs than the minority. There is, therefore, an imbalance in the government’s distribution system working against the poor.
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