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Filling The Economic Gap

                                                  Filling The Economic Gap
                                 
                                                  By: Sangita Bhatt

Typical scene of a place like the social service, a hospital, a court house…. People who are there with expectations; most of them expect things to turn their way, or get some help, assistance, treatment or justice. This is what does not happen all the time. Then the person who goes through this raw deal, has the endless road of appeals, frustrating repetitions of their failures, until either they give up or they are heard, or they are eliminated. This process of trying to fill the lack or just of looking the other way, is the core area, which the system needs to be working on to redeem itself, and the people WHO make the system run, should be the one addressing this problem with sincere concern. I am aware of the many problems they are faced with, much is being done with the help of technology to avoid certain problems. But there is still a lack of coordination among the concerned departments.

 One such existing problem is that of finding employment; which I have been facing like some others, probably more so. Employment is the basis of an economy. That of a country, state and an individual. The better the economy on an individual; better for the state and the country. Either it be a salaried job, wages, or a business income. It all reflects on the country’s economy. If this basis for every individual is solved, it takes care of some of the other basic needs which would reflect on a country’s GDP. This would mean addressing.. Housing, food, clothing (garments), and transportation. This in turn helps the financial industry thrive and banks do good business. In turn a better economic picture.

The mention of employment is specific, as, this is where all the downturns occur. The example I take is that of the State of New Jersey. This just as an example of what could be achieved at a state level, if all the concerned departments worked in coordination. In the recent years I have had to take help of agencies, to find a place to live for my family, get a job and start my life in the state like many others. The many struggles of trying to live and make ends meet in the state is typical of what some fellow Americans face, and mind you there situation is not unsolvable; thanks to the technology that is available at hand to most of us, which is still a luxury to people in some of the other countries.

Coming back to my State, I have some statistics, thanks to the Census Bureau:

The population of NJ (Aug. 2013)    8,899,339.

Out of which 22% are under the age of 18.

14.4% of it are aged 65+ years.

Both these age groups are not actively employed.

The US Department of Labor has the following figures: (Numbers from 2014)

Labor force                      4495      (The number in thousands)

Civilian Employment      4200.8 (The number in thousands)

Nonfarm wage                3949.5     (The number in thousands)     

                The SBA has the following numbers: (though they are from 2008)

Businesses and govt. agencies    1, 44,000

Individual sites                                5, 54,000     

If we have the perfect numbers from the current year, we can see how much employable force we have in the state, and how many job options do we really need to work upon. That should take care of the unemployment problem. The few hundreds (mind you, it still is hundreds) that do not have a job, are the lot I am talking about. These are those workforce which is either being made redundant, victimized, even being displaced whatever the reasons (medical, family, discrimination, harassment and what have you.)  One of the reasons I have observed, is experienced by some, for being discriminated by their own community, from becoming financially independent. This is where the state intervention can help. Though this may not be welcome by the private businesses. The state can make it mandatory to hire this unemployed workforce in organizations having a different background form theirs, this way they are employed with a different community than their own. The state should employ the equal opportunity employer card here. If, actually the state makes it a requirement for the businesses, to hire a certain number of staff from other communities (depending on the demographics of the location), the problem of the unemployed might get solved. Probably it might actually be brought into practice, if a tax break is given to such firms who employ a mix of communities, probably if from an unemployment agency.  

                If this step can resolve the employment issue then we will be faced with the next most important one… housing. Of the total population that the state is currently having, the number of those living in households is …3,578,141(housing units).

The land area of NJ 7354.22 sq. mile.

Persons ………..         1195.5 Per sq. mile

With all the statistics that I have furnished, we can calculate, how the all employed and economically viable individuals can be housed in the state.