Essay Sample Dedicated to Families and the Work They Do and How Social Issues Impact Them

A family is viewed as a social group that bears three major characteristics: economic cooperation, shared residence, and reproduction. The family institution is one of the most vital institutions in the society because of the central functions it performs such as reproduction of new family members and socialization. In addition, the institution of the family is essential as it provides physical and emotional care for both the elderly and young members. In fact, the family is considered an institution that resolves or reduces many social problems.

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Generally, family members, especially parents, work extremely hard to provide the best future for their children and other family members as well. However, in the quest for providing a good life, the family may be affected by some social issues that may affect the overall health or growth of the members. As shown in the video "Harvest of Dignity," families may be affected by poverty, inadequate housing, poor living conditions, as well as the lack of education.

To begin with, poverty is a significant problem that impacts various families. As a result of poverty, many families are unable to secure basic needs which mainly include food, shelter, and clothes. For this reason, they are willing to work in any environment or even with very little pay just to provide for the family. For example, in the video, many poor immigrants are willing to leave their country to go and work in the farms of North Carolina in the hope of earning enough money to cater for their families. Many of them enter the country without proper work permits because they are looking for a better life.

Inherently, poverty negatively impacts families. For instance, women are forced to work in a variety of fields just to support their families instead of mainly focusing on raising their children and looking after other young family members. In a similar fashion, children are forced to work to help their families. For the most part, children in needy families leave school at a tender age, especially the age of sixteen, to work and provide a good life for their families.

Secondly, inadequate housing and poor living conditions is a major social issue that families face. Due to insufficient housing, some families opt to live in trailers or trailer packs which are typically in poor conditions. The trailers are mostly characterized by lack of sanitation, flies, mosquitoes, unsanitary toilets, poor ventilation, and mold growth. The quality of housing conditions fundamentally determines the health status of the families living in such houses. In this regard, families living in poor conditions may suffer from poor health and their psychological well-being may be adversely affected too.

Lastly, many families are affected by the lack of proper education. In most cases, many families are poor because of the lack of education, and, therefore, they mostly qualify for low-paying jobs such as poultry work or farm work. Such jobs often have poor working conditions; thus, they face the risk of being injured on the job or other severe health issues. For example, in the video, some farm workers die due to heat stroke, while those who do poultry work face the risk of losing their fingers.

In a nutshell, the family institution is one of the most critical institutions in the society. It ordinarily performs the functions of reproduction, socialization, and providing physical as well as emotional care for members. Given the above, the family works hard to earn money for their families. Nonetheless, it is affected by a number of social issues such as poverty, inadequate housing and poor living conditions, as well as the lack of education.