Single Parent Families in Australia

Contents 1. 1Introduction3 1. 2Social Wellbeing3 1. 3Disadvantage, Marginalisation, Power and Privilege4 1. 4Brief Report Outline4 2Research Methodology4 2. 1Reliability of Data and Limitations5 3Presentation and Analysis5 3. 1Housing6 3. 2Income7 3. 3Survey Evidence10 3. 4Survey results – Diagrammed12 3. 5Conflict and Functionalist Theories17 3. 6Functionalist Theory17 3. 7Conflict Theory18 4Conclusion – Evaluation and Decision Making19 4. 1Recommendations and Implications19 5Appendix20 Melissa Zanesco, Adderton 6 Study of Society report Single Parent Families Ms Brown 1 Introduction In a survey conducted over a period of ten years, it has been found that the number of single parent families has nearly doubled, and is continuing to increase [Figure 11 – ABS, 2007]. Despite this, single parent families in Australia face many challenges in terms of marginalisation and disadvantage because they do not have the same income advantage and housing accessibility as coupled families. In particular, research has shown that women are even more so disadvantaged than men and, as such, experience further difficulty in raising children and balancing income and housing affordability. Consequently, these disadvantages lead to a lower chance of having power in society and therefore, not receiving the same level of privilege as those in married couples. 2 Social Wellbeing Social wellbeing comprises a number of contributing factors. The Australian Bureau of Statistics lists areas of concern as being health, education, employment status, economic resources and housing [ABS, 2001]. It is these very factors that directly affect the level of equality shown towards groups in society. In addition, if one’s access to these fundamental indicators is undermined because of their marital status, it can lead to social inequality. Inevitably, this produces unfair rights and opportunities between groups. Inequality arises in societies when individuals or groups within the society do not experience sameness of treatment in relation to class, wealth, education, gender or race [Wikipedia, 2010]. Single parent families are particularly affected by their access to ffordable and maintainable housing and their capacity to earn an adequate income in order to support their families. In 1996, the ABS Census of Population and Housing found that at least fifty percent of single parent home owners or private renters spent at least a quarter of their income on either mortgage repayments or rent [Council of Single Mothers & their Children, 2002]. This claim is further supported by findings from the survey completed – which found that of thirty people surveyed, 87% of single parents were living in rented accommodation compared to only 13% of married couples. These statistics confirm that single parent families are hugely disadvantaged in housing ownership, primarily because the income being earned is not sufficient enough to purchase a house and the absence of a second income limits the level of privilege single parents have. 3 Disadvantage, Marginalisation, Power and Privilege Such disadvantages and consequent marginalisation inevitably produces inequalities in society, therefore hindering their access to power and privilege in the community. Limited power in society results in single parent families receiving inadequate support and privileges [WordNet, 2009]. Power can often be confused with privilege. While the two are interrelated, one’s level of power is determined by their actions and the subsequent status achieved by it. Privilege can be seen as a result of having power. When one achieves power in society, greater privileges are rewarded [WordNet, 2009]. Similarly, marginalisation is also closely related to disadvantage. One is disadvantaged when they are not given equal access to opportunities. Disadvantages are often caused by not having the same level of status as another because of lifestyle circumstances; in this situation it is being a single parent [WordNet, 2009]. Consequently, single parents and in particular single mothers are a minority group in society and as such become marginalised within the community because they are unable to have the same lifestyle a coupled family would have. 4 Brief Report Outline This report will investigate single parent families in Australia and the way in which they are disadvantaged through economic income and housing. As a direct consequence of these disadvantages, single parents are being marginalised in society. From the ABS Social Indicators, housing and income will be analysed as areas of concern in order to evaluate whether single parent families are indeed disadvantaged because of their status in society. It will be investigated as to how these two measures of social wellbeing affect the level of equality shown towards single parent families. In addition, evidence from the survey will be presented to support the information given in the report. Finally, both the conflict and functionalist theories will be considered to explain social inequality in relation to, and which theory is best suited to single parent families. Research Methodology The focus of the research was to locate information from an array of primary and secondary sources about single parent families in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics was the main secondary source used to find official statistics, while the quantitative survey completed was the primary source of data. The survey provided information from thirty participants that would support the information presented and allow conclusions to be drawn. The questions in the survey focused primarily on housing and income and also what the general public’s view was on government assistance for families. The survey was created with convenience in mind, and thus featured primarily multiple choice questions, with one question asking for a written opinion on the government assistance scheme. Information found from secondary sources was presented in a research book and referenced accordingly. Reliability of Data and Limitations There were only three factors which may have played a role in the reliability and validity of the findings. Firstly, and the biggest variable was the survey responses. It is unknown whether every person surveyed gave truthful answers and while it was acceptable, it made it difficult to record accurate statistics if a participant did not want to answer certain questions. Seco ndly, in terms of the survey, only thirty people were questioned, which meant that the sample size was small and confined to Brisbane regions. Presumably, this meant that it did not harness the opinion of a wide variety of people. And lastly, only about half of the survey participants were single parents and it was very difficult to find single parents, so the results were not as comprehensive as would have been preferred. Presentation and Analysis Single parent families consist of a parent whereby they do not live with either a married or de facto partner together with a child of their own that was dependent on the parents [ABS, 2007]. According to the information obtained through the surveys, 9 out of the 18 single parent families were single due to divorce of registered marriage. The other 9 of the 18 single parents stated that they had never been in a registered marriage, but this was single due to separation of de facto couples. It was found that single parent families are most often headed by women, with only a small minority headed by men [ABS, 2007]. This is a significant variable that has been consistent in research and whereby income and housing have shown to differentiate between the two. Single parent families account for twenty two percent of families with children less than fifteen years of age in Australia [ABS, 2007]. This figure is expected to continue to rise, as can be seen in Figure 11, which has shown a steady and continual increase in single parent families from years 1987 to 2003. In 2006, 87% of one-parent families with children younger than 15 years were headed by mothers [ABS, 2007]. Yet, despite this rising trend, single parents continue to be one of Australia’s most disadvantaged groups, with little indication of improvement. 1 Housing In 2007, 14% of single parent families publicly rented their homes, forty percent privately rented and forty percent owned or purchased their homes. While that figure does not seem alarming, it is when compared to the eighty percent of coupled families who owned their homes – double the rate of single parent families [ABS, 2007]. Coupled with this, the survey found that 87% of single parents surveyed were living in rental accommodation, compared to just 13% of married couples [refer to Figure 2]. Between the ABS and survey statistics, this is an average of 70. % of single parents living in rental housing. In addition, women are at a further disadvantage with 62% of single women surveyed living in rented homes and only 38% of single men with the same living arrangements [refer to Figure 3]. In addition, those applying to take out a mortgage must pass a certain criteria; including whether your income has the capacity to afford the repayments. Banks apply certain standards, like capacity to make repayments and many single parents are not earning enough to qualify for this criterion, making it even more difficult for single parents to buy a house. The key trend here is that single parents are marginalised in housing ownership because only those with a high income may be able to afford to take out a mortgage and as such, are restricted in their chances of being able to purchase a house. A recent study by the University of South Australia found that single mothers faced discrimination when trying to secure housing in the private rental market because landlords were unwilling to sign leases for single mothers with children [AHURI, 2002]. Furthermore, Cam Smith from the Victorian Council of Social Service recently discovered that â€Å"rents have also been rising by about 15 per cent a year†, arguing that despite the growing costs of housing, the Government is yet to re-evaluate it’s rental assistance scheme for single parent families, with single parent families still spending more than a quarter of their income on housing [ABS, 2007]. Those eligible for rent assistance must be living in private rental accommodation and must also be receiving social security payments [Centrelink, 2010]. Many have called for a review of this policy because single parents on a low income that are not receiving social security payments are ineligible for rent assistance. This is supported by evidence found in the surveys which showed that half of the single parents surveyed were earning under $30 000 per annum, meaning that $7500 of this income is eing spent on rent alone. In summary, it is evident that in terms of housing access, single parent families struggle to obtain suitable housing that is affordable and maintainable and majority of single parents are unable to purchase a house because their income and other factors do not meet the criteria for home loans. Majority of single parents are living in rented accommodation and still find it difficult to pay rent even with rent assistance. Thus, single parent families are marginalised in terms of home ownership because many do not earn a sufficient income to purchase a home, but cannot work more hours because they must be home to look after their children. Inevitably, single parent families are limited in their access to power and privilege because having dependent children means they are restricted to working less hours and earning a lower income – a key factor in determining the level of power a person has and the privileges attained by it. Income Research constantly shows that single parent families are at a greater risk of poverty than couple families. According to a study by the National Centre for Economic and Social Modelling (NATSEM), in 2001 the proportion of single parent families in income poverty was 18% compared with 6% of married couples with children (refer to Figure 1)[NATSEM, 2001]. The vulnerability of single parents results from the difficulty of balancing employment to earn an income while pr oviding for and raising children alone. The difficulty in this is that single parents who are raising children alone find it almost impossible to work any more than part time and thus, cannot earn the same income as married couples working full time. Single parents are disadvantaged because they are restricted in being able to work only a certain number of hours a week because a lot of time must be spent at home looking after their children. Single mothers are at a greater level of poverty as seen in the surveys; with only 26% of single mothers working full time, compared to 74% of single fathers [refer to Figure 7]. This statistic reinforces the argument that single mothers are not privileged in terms of income because they do not have opportunity to earn that of a full time working parent, and are more disadvantaged than single fathers because women account for the majority of single parents. In 2007, the ABS reported that forty two percent of single parent families were relying on government benefits as their primary source of income compared to six percent of coupled families with dependent children [ABS, 2007]. The disadvantage in this is that many single parents are headed by mothers, and it is widely known that women earn less than men. In fact, surveys showed that 38% of single mothers were earning less than $30 000 per annum compared to just 11% of single fathers earning the same income. Furthermore, just 5% of single mothers were earning over $45 001 per annum compared to 38% of single fathers earning the same amount [Figure 6]. These results highlight the fact that single fathers are less disadvantaged when it comes to income because they are more likely to be working full time than single mothers and as such are less likely to be living in poverty. If majority of single mothers are only working part time and if wealth equals power, single women are limited in their access to power in society because they are unable to achieve power with minimal income. This demonstrates the income marginalisation of single mothers when compared to their male counterparts and the fact the single mothers are one of society’s most underprivileged groups. According to a survey conducted by the Child Support Agency in 2000, seventy five percent of the ninety one percent of single mothers were raising children on incomes below $20 000. Furthermore, these women were earning and average of $295. 00 per week, but research conducted by the University of Canberra found that the weekly cost of raising two children alone was $310. 00 [CSA, 2000; University of Canberra, 2003]. This proves that single mothers are earning less than basic living expenses require and are finding it incredibly difficult to survive, despite child support from the government, it is not sufficient for single mothers to live comfortably. In addition, if they are earning barely enough to support their children, it would be impossible to save any money to put towards possible housing ownership. This reinforces the argument that single mothers are increasingly disadvantaged by only having one source of income and that hinders their access to any privilege in society because they do not have any assets or savings needed to gain a powerful status in society. Further statistics are proving that single parent families are at a disadvantage when it comes to income and child support. The Australian Institute of Family Studies research paper notes that forty one percent of single parents were receiving no child support, due to income deemed too high to be eligible and hours children spent in their custody were not enough. Of those who did receive it, over eighty percent got only one hundred dollars or less per week [AFS, 2003]. In addition, the surveys showed that a huge 89% of single parents were not satisfied with the government assistance they were receiving (refer to Figure 4) and believed the government did not provide enough funds for single parents. The key trend noted here is that even those receiving child support are still only receiving minimal amounts and a low income means their financial disadvantage is at an all time low. An average single parent family spends half its income on rent, household bills, and food while parents who are married spend under one third of the budget on these essentials, further highlighting the fact that married parents do not face anywhere near the level of financial hardship that single parents do [ACOSS, 2005]. The expenses of raising a child do not decrease because one is a single parent, and these statistics are proving that single parent families are becoming financially marginalised because their inevitable low incomes are preventing them from living comfortably. This information has clearly distinguished the extreme disadvantages in terms of housing and income that single parents, and in particular, single mothers face. Single parents on the whole are earning far less than those who are married and as such, are disadvantaged in their ability to buy necessities and have any money remaining to put towards savings or other expenses. It is clear that single mothers are the most marginalised because majority of children in single parent families live with their mother and as such, single mothers must lessen their working hours to ensure that they are home to raise their children. It is clear that single parents with primary custody should be receiving more support from the government to compensate for their inability to work full time and government assistance should be provided with more consideration of the single parent’s situation. 3 Survey Evidence (Notes: *all statistics and figures presented in this section are out of thirty participants surveyed. those who responded as being ‘Never married’ were previously in a de facto relationship that had separated, and those without children in this category were omitted from the results. ) ? Of the single parents surveyed, 44% were male headed and 55% were female headed (Figure 1). The information presented in this report reinforces that single mot hers are at a greater disadvantage than single fathers due to majority of single parent families being headed by women and their limitations in earning a high income because of family commitments, thus making them less likely to achieve any power or privileges in society. Of those who were living in rented accommodation, 87% were single parent families and 13% were married parents (Figure 2). This supports the argument that single parents are marginalised in their ability to afford a mortgage and their low incomes prevent them from being eligible for a home loan. ? Furthermore, of the single parents renting, 62% were single mothers and 38% were single fathers (Figure 3). Single mothers are marginalised in housing ownership because many experience discrimination when applying for a home loan and low incomes make housing ownership almost impossible. Married parents were earning a minimum of $45001 per annum, with 67% earning $75001 or more a year (Figure 5) Married parents have the ab ility to gain power in society because while one parent is raising the children, another can be out working full time and earning good money, which is a determining factor in one’s level of power. Thus, wealth and power means greater privileges are rewarded and married couples are less restricted in achieving this than single parents are. 61% of single parent families were earning under $30000 per annum (Figure 5). This reinforces the fact that low income means limited access to power and privilege in society and wealth in a major disadvantage for single parent families. ? Furthermore, the single parents who were earning $45001 or more (2) were unsurprisingly men (Figure 6) Single fathers are less marginalised than single mothers because they have the capability and time to work longer hours and earn more due to most single parent families being headed by women. 74% of single fathers were working full time, compared to just 26% of single mothers (Figure 7) Single mothers are disadvantaged in their ability to work full time because they must be home to take care of their children, which limits the hours they can work. ? 70% of single parents had children enrolled in state schooling, while just 28% of married parents had children attending state schools (Figure 8). Married parents earn more > can afford private schooling; single parents earn less > don’t have financial opportunity to send children to private school therefore, they are marginalised in their access to education. 65% of married parents were unaware of the current government assistance scheme for parents, while 21% of married parents thought it was unfair and 14% thought it was fair or that single parents should be given counselling (Figure 9). Married couples do not know what single parents are receiving from government and so, that may be preventing them from lobbying for the government to provide single parent families with more assistance. Perhaps better education about government assistance should be given to harness stronger opinions from people. 61% of single parents were unsatisfied with the government assistance they were receiving, while 22% were satisfied with it and 17% were not entitled to it (Figure 10). Single parent families are at a disadvantage of only having one income, but are even more so marginalised because government assistance provided does not compensate for a second income; it is only support. ? Single parents surveyed were not receiving anymore than $200 fortnightly in Government Assistance. Despite being at an income disadvantage, single parents who are desperately in need still receive no more than $200 fortnightly which indicates the limitations they have to afford life essential, let alone save any money to afford to buy a house. 4 Survey results – Diagrammed Figure 1: [pic] Figure 2: [pic] Figure 3: [pic] Figure 4: [pic] Figure 5: [pic] Figure 6: [pic] Figure 7: [pic] Figure 8: [pic] Figure 9: [pic] Figure 10: [pic] 5 Conflict and Functionalist Theories The Conflict and Functionalist theories are concepts developed by theorists looking for a way to describe levels of class in society. Each has key tenets that make them different and why one in particular may be a better explanation of single parent families and their marginalisation and disadvantage in society, which leads to power and privilege shown towards them. 6 Functionalist Theory The Functionalist theory sees levels in society as a comparison to the human body. It sees the social system to be made up of different interconnected parts and if any of these ‘organisms’ break down, the rest of society will malfunction. Functionalists approve of social order and view inequality as natural and necessary where ‘everyone gets their due’. In addition, they see social change as disruptive on the system unless it happens gradually and social stratification is useful in maintaining stability in society. It sees those with special talent as deserving of the social reward and privilege (wealth, power, prestige) but fails to explain the place of those in society where their social status is ascribed or inherited, and not achieved. As such, the Functionalist theory sees single parent families and the disadvantages they experience as necessary to maintain social order and believe they receive what their position in society is worthy of. [Sociology: Australian Connections. 2007] 7 Conflict Theory The Conflict Theory originates from the thinking’s of Karl Marx who studied societies throughout history. Marx believed that social change emerges through the struggle and conflict being played out between social classes. The Conflict Theory sees social stratification as a result of groups becoming rich and powerful then preserving their own interests above those in lower classes. Conflict theorists view tension, hostility, competition and differences as a permanent and inevitable feature of societies. The key idea in the Conflict Theory is that ‘social order is marked by conflict and maintained by force’. It states that life chances are less for members of subordinate and powerless groups who have inferior opportunities, which in the case of single parents, is the limitations in income and housing that their situation has created. It is important to note that Conflict theorists do not see conflict as a negative force, more that it has many consequences bringing about social change. [Sociology New York, 1987; Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, 2000. ] Of the two theories, the Conflict theory more suitably explains the disadvantage and marginalisation experienced by single parent families. The rising number of single parent families is due to their low level of income forcing them into a lower social class and as such, their level of class hinders their access to power in society. Due to their lack of power and marginalisation in comparison to married parents, the opportunities of single parents are limited to those that they can afford and find time for and it has proven to be a vicious cycle that is very difficult to break. The rising number of single parents and disadvantages they experience in comparison married parents has been an issue for some time and so, as the Conflict theory states, these differences are bound to bring about change in the future. For these reasons, the Conflict Theory is a better explanation of single parent families. Conclusion – Evaluation and Decision Making Single parent families are one of Australia’s most underprivileged and powerless groups. In particular, single mothers have shown to be the most disadvantaged group and experience the highest level of financial disadvantage and are most marginalised in their housing accessibility. Because most single parent families are headed by women, single mothers are limited in their access to power because it is a constant struggle to balance earning an income with family duties. As such, single mothers do not receive the same privileges as married parents because they are restricted in their ability to earn a high income which limits the opportunities available to them. Single fathers have shown to be less disadvantaged than single mothers but still experience hardship in relation to home ownership. The research has proven that the disadvantage experienced by single parent families has shown no signs of improvement and married parents continue to have a much greater level of power and more privilege in society. As the Conflict theory states, when there is conflict between two groups in society single and married parents), it is destined to bring about social change. For that reason, the rising number of single parents in Australia is not necessarily a negative force, but one that is demonstrating the need for reform in the Government support and privileges that single parent families so desperately need. 1 Recommendations and Implications It can be seen from the primary and secondary sources of information that single parents experience the greatest disadvantage in their ability to work full time to earn a high income and their ability to purchase a home. Thus, it is recommended that the Government puts in place certain programs and funding to ensure that the marginalisation of single parents is decreased and that the equality between married and single parents is made level. This can be achieved by providing single parents with child care grants that provide single parents with the opportunity to work full time without having the burden of child care costs. In addition, the government should provide single parents with grants to purchase a home to ensure that their single income does not restrict their access to home ownership. Furthermore, grants for everyday necessities such as groceries and fuel should be provided so that single parents have a higher chance of being able to save money. Finally, the government should create some programs for single parents that give them advice on how to handle work and family duties and how they can save money even on a low income. These suggestions may cost taxpayers more money, but at the end of a day, if society wants to live in an egalitarian society, these are the first steps that must be taken in order to achieve this. Appendix Figure 11: [pic] Figure 12: [pic] Figure 13: [pic] Bibliography Article Base. (2008, October 21). Basic Requirements Needed to Receive a Mortgage. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from Article Base: http://www. articlesbase. com/mortgage-articles/basic-requirements-needed-to-receive-a-mortgage-610898. html Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007, August 7). 4102. 0 – Australian Social Trends, 2007 . Retrieved May 10, 2010, from Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://abs. gov. au/AUSSTATS/[email  protected] nsf/ProductsbyReleaseDate/3550D34DA999401ECA25748E00126282? OpenDocument Australian Council of Social Service. (2005, September). Facts about single parent families and welfare. Retrieved May 9, 2010, from Australian Council of Social Service: http://acoss. rg. au/images/uploads/294__info_380_sole_parents. pdf Australian Government. (2009). Your child support assessment. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from Child Support Agency: http://www. csa. gov. au/ChildSupportFormula/yourChildSupportAssessment. aspx Burke, T. , & Hulse, K. (2002, May). Sole parents,social wellbeing and housing assistance. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute: http://www. csmc. org. au/? q=housingstress Commonwealth of Australia. (2004, March 11). A hand up not a hand out: Renewing the fight against poverty. Retrieved April 28, 2010, from Parliament of Australia Senate : http://www. ph. gov. au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/poverty/report/ Jureidini, R. (2000). Sociology : Australian connections. In R. Jureidini, Sociology : Australian connections (pp. 83-86). New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. Loxton, D. (2005). What future? The long term implications of Sole Motherhood for economic Wellbeing. Just Policy , 35. Princeton University. (2006). WordNet Search. Retrieved 9 May, 2010, from Princeton University: . Princeton University. (2008). WordNet Search. Retrieved May 9, 2010, from Princeton University: . SAULWICK, J. (2010, January 8). Henry Tax Review. Retrieved May 9, 2010, from Sydney Morning

Discuss The Impacts of Taxation

When a firm faces new investment opportunities (or to keep its functioning) which have positive net present values, financing needs come along. The options range from using cash generated from operations to simply forego the projects. If the company wants to take its projects, when its cash is not enough, it can raise new funds from equity or debt. This combination of equity and debt which a company decides to use is known as its capital structure. This paper is about how a firm ought to establish its debt/equity ratio, focusing in the advantages and disadvantages of taxes’ impact on this ratio. Capital StructureWhen referring to the capital structure of a firm, it is impossible to avoid Modigliani-Miller’s (MM) influential paper â€Å"The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance and the Theory of Investment† (1958). Later, they published several â€Å"follow-up† papers discussing these topics. MM set the foundations of the modern theory of capital structure. MM first hypothesis was that, under certain assumptions, the firm’s value is invariable despite relative changes in its capital structure, thus â€Å"a firm cannot change the total value of its outstanding securities by changing the proportions of its capital structure. † (Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe, 2001.p. 401).This is known as MM proposition I. In a general way this proposition is saying that a company cannot do something for its stockholders that they cannot do by themselves. The MM second proposition implies that the use of debt for financing increase the expected future earnings, but this increase is coupled with an increase in the risk to equity holders, thus the discount rate used to value these future earnings also increases. As Fabozzi and Patterson state â€Å"the increased expected earnings have on the value of equity is offset by the increased discount rate applied to these riskier earnings. †(2003)Mathematically the propositions can be stated: Pro position I: VU=VL where VU is the value of an unlevered firm and VL is the value of a levered firm. Proposition II: rs = r0 + B/S (r0 – rb) where rS is the cost of equity, r0 is the cost of capital for an all equity firm, rB is the cost of debt and, B / S is the debt-to-equity ratio. But these hypotheses rely on a â€Å"perfect market† assumption. When imperfections are present into a certain market this hypothesis is misleading. Changes in a firm’s capital structure could change the firm value. One of the most important market imperfections is the presence of taxes.Capital Structure and the Presence of Corporate Taxes In the previous sections is stated that the firm value is unrelated to its capital structure, i. e. it does not depend on its debt/equity ratio. But when taxes are incorporated into the analysis this affirmation is not true, â€Å"in the presence of corporate taxes, the firm’s value is positively related to its debt. † (Ross et al. 2 001. ) Thus, the use of debt has an advantage over financing with equity. The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) â€Å"allows interest paid on debt to be deducted by the paying corporation in determining its taxable income† (IRC code 1963 qt.in Fabozzi and Patterson. 2003. P. 598) This benefit is known as Interest Tax Shield, due to the fact that â€Å"interest expense shields income from taxation† (p. 602). This is TaxShield=(TaxRate)(InterestExpense) Now is necessary to value this shield and see how this changes the firm value. Taking account of the expression above it can be said that whatever the taxable income of a company is without debt, the taxable income is now less in an amount equal to the Tax Shield in the presence of debt. This idea is also based in MM ideas.In other words, the firm value is: Firm Value = Unleveraged Firm Value + Tax Shield Value Going deeply, this statement implies that all companies should choose maximum debt, something that can not be seen int o the real world. This is due to the presence of bankruptcy and other distress related costs that reduce the value of a levered firm. As a firm increases its leverage position these costs increase. There is a point when the present value of â€Å"these costs from an additional dollar of debt equals the increase in the present value of the tax shield.† (Ross et al. 2001. p. 432)This is the debt level which maximizes the firm value. Beyond this point the distress associated costs increase faster than the firm value due to additional debt. Therefore, there is a trade off between tax benefits and the financial distress costs. There is an optimal amount of debt for each firm, and this must be its debt objective level. Presence of Personal Taxes In presence of personal income taxes could decrease, or even eliminate, the advantage of corporate taxes associated with debt financing.Despite this, if the yields due to debt and stocks cause taxes at the same rate that the personal taxes, there is still an advantage coming from corporate taxes(Van Horne, 1997). Merton Miller proposed that, in presence of both, personal and corporate taxes, the decisions about capital structure of a firm were irrelevant (Miller, 1977). Despite this, personal taxes have different rates; therefore, with constant risk, individuals who are in the lower rate bracket must prefer debt and those who are at the upper part of the scale must prefer stocks.Fabozzi and Patterson summarize this point as follow: 1. If debt income (interest) and equity income (dividends and capital appreciation) are taxed at the same rate, the interest tax shield increases the value of the firm. 2. If debt income is taxed at rates higher than equity income, some of the tax advantage to debt is offset by a tax disadvantage to debt income. 3. If investors can use the tax laws effectively to reduce to zero their tax on equity income, firms will take on debt up to the point where the tax advantage to debt is just offset by the tax disadvantage to debt income.The bottom line from incorporating personal taxes is that there is a benefit from using debt. (p. 603) Small Literature Survey In this section it will be summarized some opinions and findings about capital structure decisions and taxes. Panteghini in a work about multinationals capital structure found that â€Å"optimal leverage is reached when the marginal benefit of debt financing (which is due to the deductibility of interest expenses) equates its marginal cost (which is related to the expected cost of default).A strategy used is â€Å"Income shifting† which â€Å"raises the tax benefit of debt financing, thereby stimulating debt financing, and delays default. † (2006) Verschueren research about Belgian companies strategies showed that â€Å"The hypothesis that firms for which the tax advantage of debt financing is higher have higher debt tax shielding ratios gets only meager support: more profitable firms have lower debt ta x shielding ratios. † She found â€Å"no indications that avoiding agency conflicts of any type plays a significant role in the determination of debt tax shielding. † (2002, p.22)She states that these results are quite close to international research also. Graham and Tucker found a similar result â€Å"Firms that use tax shelters use less debt on average than do non-shelter firms. † There is also a potential problem which is that â€Å"under-levered firms may have â€Å"off balance sheet† tax deductions that are not easily observable, and which are therefore often ignored in empirical analyses. † (2005 p. 1) Irina Stefanescu arrives to a comparable conclusion â€Å"There is a general consensus that significant tax incentives are associated with corporate borrowing.Nevertheless, many large and profitable companies with a low risk of financial distress have relatively low debt ratios. † (2006) Stewart Myers, explaining Miller’s paper â⠂¬Å"Debt and Taxes†, theorizes about why firms are not â€Å"awash in debt†Ã‚ · An interesting point he states is that Miller’s model â€Å"allow us to explain the dispersion of actual debt policies without having to introduce non-value-maximizing managers. In the other hand he states also that â€Å"Firms have good reasons to avoid having to finance real investment by issuing common stock or other risky securities.They do not want to run the risk of falling into the dilemma of either passing by positive NPV projects or issuing stock at a price they think is too low†. (1980) Conclusion It seems that several researches have been performed in capital structure decisions. Although not all of them arrive to the same conclusion it gives the impression that the tax shields have positive impacts on firms value; and the presence of personal taxes do not eliminate this fact.In the other hand, findings that companies have not larges amounts of debt indicates that t hey might obtain some advantages from other sources, e. g. off balance sheet benefits. After 48 years since Modigliani and Miller’s paper appeared, it can be said that â€Å"however, much remains to be done before the cost of capital can be put away on the shelf among the solved problems. † (Modigliani-Miller 1958)

An Overview of Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems are software packages that can be used for the core systems necessary to support enterprise systems. The best-selling ERP is SAP Such ERP modules consist of Sales and Distribution, Material Managements, Financial Accounting, and Controlling and Profitability Analysis. In the words of Rockford Consulting (and many other firms), the single issue of ERP is failure to implement it. There are five known ways of how to constitute: not making the promised return on investment, extending the implementation schedule and start-up date inordinately, going over budget by unconscionable variances, grinding the organization to a crawl pace, or the severest of all consequences, and ceasing production and/or not delivering orders to your customers. Rockford has twelve â€Å"cardinal sins† regarding ERP Implementation: Lack of Top Management Commitment: Inadequate Requirements Definition; Poor Package Selection; Inadequate Resources; Resistance to Change/Lack of Buy-in; miscalculation of Time and Effort; Misfit of Application Software with Business Processes; Unrealistic Expectation of Benefits and ROI; Inadequate Training and Education; Poor Project Design and Management; Poor Communications; and Ill-advised Cost Cutting. Today, companies define success when it comes to an ERP implementation or upgrade. This is mostly due to well how they have planned for contingencies, set up reasonable expectations, and created lines of communication between the CEO, front-line users, and everyone else in between. For example, Au Bon Pain (a chain of restaurants) used to utilize â€Å"legacy systems† and â€Å"SAT ERP†, but currently uses a unified IT platform that provides such things as optimized performance, enhanced visibility with real-time data capture, Increased productivity, and accelerated financial closings. The environments in which IT professionals are striving on projects (similar to the one at Au Bon Pain) is disconcerting: Most businesses today are â€Å"oversoftwared†, in that many users are frustrated by applications’ poor performances, and return on software investments is almost always forgotten. This results in many CFOs and CEOs arriving at a state of general ambivalence toward ERP systems, or (as a worst-case scenario) an accrued and outward hatred of software overhauls. Like all things, ERP has its failures as well. Even after so many people love a substantial amount of money, there are substantial benefits. Commercial ERP software promises the seamless integration and consistency of all the information flows in an organization; financial and accounting, human resources, purchasing and supply chain, customer tracking and order placement, inventory management, and even production management. The promised savings in paperwork and man hours from automated processes is prodigious, not to mention the increased service quality provided to customers. In addition, there’s inventory reduction, supply chain cost efficiencies, and better decision support at every level. Most companies treat ERP implementation as a large scale IT project. But the scope and impact of an ERP implementation on the business is so great that the project is required to be considered as a business initiative with an IT component. This includes the development of a business plan for the project, which specifies the â€Å"market† or â€Å"business advantages† to be gained from implementing the ERP plan. The decision to implement ERP should be in response to specific business needs or objectives. Rather than just saying â€Å"yes, we want all those possible benefits†, the organization should focus on a limited set of business benefits to be gained from the ERP implementation. Once identified, these business needs would form the basis for much of the planning and management of the ERP project. If there are no compelling business needs that can be identified, then the ERP project is doomed to fail as a result of a lack of focus and the necessary management tools. The many companies that gain the most benefit from their implemented ERP systems are those that start by looking at them in strategic and organizational terms. The most (if not the best) fundamental reason for implementing ERP is to provide some competitive advantage, whether it be lower costs, faster response to market events, or better customer service. Nonetheless, these benefits can often be offset, by the impact the organization’s ERP system will have on its current business strategies and competitive advantages. Even after looking over articles by CIO, Rockford Consulting, and even CFO, I have no opinion about ERP. It has its successes and it has its failures. Whether or not to implement ERP in any particular company, I suppose it would be OK, only as long as the company is certain that it’s for the best for its management, its staff, and its regular customers; it would also be allowed as long as the company doesn’t go over the budget.

Final EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final EXAM - Essay Example According to some individuals, the belief in the existence of human rights is just the same as believing in unicorns and witches. Despite some people questioning the existence of human rights, there is no doubt that human rights does indeed exist (Alexy 15). The answer to the burning issue of the existence of human rights is pegged on what human rights are, and as a way of definition, human rights are rights. What proves the existence of human rights is its universality? Ideally, every human being is eligible for human rights. In most cases, human right is used to put a claim on the right to life for every individual. Apart from this, this is used to denote the right for every individual to take part in the process of political-will formation, especially on the area of voting. While the right to life is universal, the political will formation is applied to only some parts since what might be acceptable in one location might not necessarily be acceptable in another place (Rivers 178). Ideally, human rights are as old as the existence of man and their value remains cornerstone to the human race. However, the usage of this term was heightened in the mid-20th century during the struggle for the recognition of civil rights for blacks led by Martin Luther king Jr. However, for many years, individuals in the United States have been fighting for their rights especially the rights of women and children. This means that the existence of human rights is something that has been around for a long time. In most cases, the question of law and order is used to define human rights. While some people claim that the society is only guided by morality, the truth is that the presumed moral standards are nothing but an observance of the rules set down so that human rights are not violated (Rivers 179). Human rights are theoretical rights, and as abstract rights, human rights in many ways clash with without countless other civil rights. In order to ensure

Strength Training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strength Training - Essay Example ing my understanding that muscles have to develop with relaxation from the training schedule, I have opted to alternate the training regularly, is this case; I do train four times in a week. In the four session of the week, I take a standardized time for each training day- one and a half hours. Evaluating the training session, I can gauge my training intensity in a scale of 1-10 to be 8 out of the possible 10. I carry out my training in a public gym facility with the motivation to develop the power to make stronger service and hit during plays. I decided to read the article, â€Å"How Weight training Improves Your Body†, as it i addresses some of the fundemetals of training that are overlooked by the trainees of which I found very educative on the issues relating to strength training and how to train without harm or exhaustion of the body. The information from this article informs my fitness regime on the various types of weight training exercise and what they signify, which made my training goal-oriented avoiding the random training with no target. In conclusion, I have learnt that there are several factors that determines muclses development and thattraining gains are reversible, if one opts using weight that are below the usual capacity. In this regard, I have come to realise that there is the tolerance level even in weight

Marketing management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Marketing management - Essay Example This essay discusses that the dairy products can come under promotion and advertisement by accentuating the customers towards the appetizing and delicious taste of the products. By, drawing the attention of the customers towards the nutritional values of the dairy products that express the advantages of consuming such products can also be another eminent way to catch the customers’ interest. Another dominant method that can take away the customers’ concentration is to lay emphasis on the unique selling point of the products.The marketing and promotion budget would come under distribution in portions that include print media that is newspapers and billboards, electronic media that include television and internet. The marketing of the product line would be high at the initial level of the launching in order to create mass awareness amongst the local residents.Since the smallholders have taken the market share with their cheap and low-quality dairy products, therefore, the DANONE needs to increase their marketing budget from the standard share allocated for the marketing purpose. This is important in order to support their sales of their premium dairy products.DANONE Company needs to allocate a higher percentage of the marketing budget from the overall budget as they are new entrants into the market of East Africa and customer awareness and loyalty would require huge marketing budgets. The marketing budget would incorporate a comprehensive market research study that can determine the facets of customers, suppliers, target customers.... Background Information The records and evidences provide with information that Ethiopia has been in the top ratings in livestock keeping with considerable amount of cattle in Africa and in the world as well. The livestock has been a leading and chief source of livelihood for quite a few households in several parts of Africa. In addition, extensive research studies suggest that agriculture is the key prominence aspect or the backbone of the Ethiopian economy. The agricultural sector significantly contributes to the GDP and exports of the country (Tesema, pp. 9-10, 2006). Furthermore, abundance of natural and organic resources is another key point of emphasis for Ethiopia and Africa on a broad spectrum. The dramatic increase in the buying population in Africa in general for the last few decades is an additional factor of consideration for setting up a new company, especially in the dairy product industry. The economic growth in the recent years in connection with the technological tran sfers makes Africa, one of the potential prospects largely for launching a new dairy product or line of products (Sanginga, & Woomer, pp. 3-6). Although Ethiopia comes under consideration for having a sufficient population of livestock, yet the overall productivity of livestock sector in Africa still exhibits to be very low with a small fraction of contribution to the overall GDP and the local inhabitants dominates the cattle population. It has also come under consideration that a big proportion of the annual production of milk does not come under advertisement or promotional activities, rather only the small amount of milk consumed comes under marketing (Sanginga, & Woomer, pp. 3-6). However, it has come under witness that government has put up their efforts for the improvement and

International business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 9

International business - Essay Example In a word OPEC maintains the price and distribution control of petroleum as they are largest crude oil producers globally. In order to reduce the oil dependency on the OPEC countries US went for the introduction of substitute of fossil fuel. Ethanol is the effective solution and substitute. The ethanol industry from the starting days has created the objective in order to achieve the target audience base. In order to become the strongest economy the US government has motivated the industry from the starting point. The reduced dependency on OPEC will cut down several oil cost of US economy. Moreover, the adoption and the usage of ethanol will solve many problems. The problems of fuel consumption, emission of green house gas and air pollutant will be overcome (Elmendorf, 2009). The objective of the study is to analyze the ethanol industry according to the case study. The analysis will be followed by the industry SWOT analysis in US, and then the study will reveal the critical thinking, decision making and strategic analysis about the case in order to achieve the desired objective. Moreover the industry related issues are being found for the purpose of the study. The major objective is to bring the strategic solutions of those problems and structure some recommendations. Finally the study ends with the evaluation of analysis and conclusions. Ethanol is produced by sugar fermentation. It is an alcohol found in grains and different biomass. Now-a-days ethanol industry is one of the leading and profitable industries worldwide. In order to achieve the objective of the study ethanol industry SWOT analysis has been implemented. The SWOT analysis is consisting of internal strengths and weaknesses of an industry or a product or a service and external threat and opportunities and threats of those. Reliable, cost efficient and flexible supply and distribution network is the important strength of ethanol industry in US.

Creative Writing - Appetites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Creative Writing - Appetites - Essay Example This list of rules was in a black, handcrafted frame that really accentuated the font, causing the rules to pop off the page when anyone looked at it. Kate and Sebastian thought it would be appropriate to hang this list of rules in the dining room, since that was what the rules were in reference to and it was also the most sacred room in the house. When looking around Sebastian and Kate’s house, one might not see this document as having great importance, but that is far from the truth. These rules were the cornerstone of their relationship. If one were to break such a rule, for someone else it might be equivalent to cheating on your spouse by having sex with someone other than your spouse. Every week they have a theme, a country, that dictates all of the food they eat for that week. The themes start on Sunday and end that following Saturday night. Saturday night is always the biggest meal of the week. They always save the most exotic dish from that specific country for that Sa turday meal. The Saturday meal always took huge preparations. They would switch off every other week putting on the Saturday meal. The person responsible for putting on the Saturday meal would be responsible for selecting the table covers, silverware, and preparing the food. Separately they would both pick out their outfits, which were supposed to mimic formal attire that would be worn in that country. This week’s theme was going to be South Korea. Sebastian was responsible for putting on the big meal that Saturday. This was a going to be a huge week for both of them, and they both were extremely anxious. It took weeks to fully prepare the menu for this week. Once they did that, they had to order all of the food and make sure they stored it properly. It was crucial that whoever was responsible for preparing the food knew how to properly prepare it or else the consequences could be fatal. Since a lot of the meals that they would eat on Saturday evenings had the potential of be ing dangerous, allowing one spouse to prepare the food demonstrated the ultimate trust within this relationship. Sebastian really wanted to make this meal a special one, since it was a country that they had both been anticipating for months. He thought that Sannakji, wriggling octopus, would be a good choice given its unique texture and its lethality. Sannakji is a mild-tasting, lightly seasoned delicacy that is known for choking individuals. It is prepared in a manner that the octopus’s legs are removed while the octopus is still alive. This causes the legs to wriggle around on the plate like a pile of worms. The tentacles’ suction cups can stick to your inside your throat or to your cheeks. The lights were dimmed, giving a very romantic ambience to the meal. There was a small two-person table in the middle of their dining room. There was a candle in the middle of the table that gave off a lavender aroma throughout the room. The candle was in a very nice, sterling sil ver candleholder. The tablecloth had a very strange texture; it was leather with animal fur on top of it. The very coarse hair was cream with a yellow tint to it. The chairs, which were made of mahogany wood, had seat covers on top of it that matched the same material of the tablecloth. There were two table settings; the napkins and placemats both matched the tablecloth and chair seats. There were two beautiful, ornate yellow plates with

Explore the long and short term social and economic consequences of Essay

Explore the long and short term social and economic consequences of the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII (8th) - Essay Example Henry, working through his chief minister Thomas Cromwell, decided to cut England's ties with the papacy in Rome and introduce the Reformation into the kingdom. Historians have argued that the dissolution of England's monasteries was a social and economic revolution. It was the biggest change in the ownership of land in the kingdom since the Norman Conquest. In the 16th century, England needed more land because of a rise in the kingdom's population and improvements in agriculture, allowing previously uncultivated lands to be opened up. The Dissolution also allowed people outside the Church to take advantage of the monasteries' property, and nobles and the gentry bought much of it. A large part of England's wealth was thus taken out of the hands of the Church; this allowed the gentry to take a more important part in the kingdom's affairs because they could afford to attend university and sit as Members of Parliament. Many of the dismantled monasteries and friaries were sold for nominal amounts (often to the local aristocrats and merchants), and some of the lands the King gave to his supporters; there were also pensions to be paid to some of the dispossessed clerics. Many others continued to serve the parishes. Although the total value of the confiscated property has been calculated to be 200,000 at the time, the actual amount of income King Henry received from it from 1536 through 1547 averaged only 37,000 per year, about one fifth of what the monks had derived from it. Money from the monasteries helped to ensure that Henry would have no difficulty financing the Crown. Consequences of the Act for the Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries: Prior to 1536, Henry had ordered that Thomas Cromwell, his Vicar-General, carry out an audit of the monasteries, which he did with four men in just six months, resulting in some wrong decisions. Cromwell reported 'Manifest sin, vicious, carnal and abominable living is daily used and committed amongst the little and small abbeys'. The reports of Cromwell often differed with the reports of the relevant Bishops and he tended to brand all houses as corrupt. It was in this spirit of reform that the Act for the Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries, 1536 was passed. The Act clearly pointed out the worthiness of 'great and honorable monasteries right well kept', contrasting these with the smaller houses that were 'sunk irredeemably in iniquity' and had 'resisted all attempts at reform for 200 years or more', and it was these that should be closed down. The Act also stated that 'The idle and dissolute monks and nuns who live in these little dens of vice should be dispersed amongst the greater abbeys where they will, by discipline and example, be brought to mend their ways. The properties and endowments thus vacated can then be transferred to the King, to put to such better uses as he may think fit'. Henry used the money to finance the building of forts around the English coast, hardly a better use. According to the Act, all the land and property of a religious house that had an income of less than 200 a year was transferred to the Crown. The Act allowed for the abbots, priors, abbesses and prioresses to be compensated with generous pensions and other monks and nuns could be transferred to another house or return to the secular way of life. The new owners of the lands were encouraged

The US Exports Alot of Electronic Waste to Poorer Countries Essay

The US Exports Alot of Electronic Waste to Poorer Countries - Essay Example e, developing countries, well aware of involved environmental and health hazards, continue to import e-waste partly for cash, partly for reuse and /or recycling, and partly for acquiring "latest" technology at affordable prices. The United States, who refused so far to ratify Basel Convention, remains worlds biggest e-waste producer. China, India, Ghana, and Nigeria come at the receiving end. There has been efforts in the United States in order to impose stricter regulations on manufacturers of electronic products, especially given existing lax regulations overseen by Environmental Protection Agency. One such effort is a legistlation by Congressman Mike Thomson, notwithstanding criticisms. Aside from illegality of dumping e-waste on developing nations, European countries have, at least in theory, much more stricter rules and regulations on e-waste exportation comapred to the United States. A range of possible solutions has been proposed by non-for-profits, most prominently, Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based environmental group, as well as by experts in electronics manufacturing. Among solutions are suggestions to impose and enforce stricter regulations on e-waste products and to create-waste recycling programs (such as Dell and Apple did) in order to ensure a products lifecycle is managed in accordance with international environmental, health and safety

Gas and oil prices Essay Example for Free

Gas and oil prices Essay Oil and Gas PricesOil and Gas 2There are many issues that cause the cost of oil and gas to increase. The main contributing issue to the increasing cost of oil and gas is supply and demand, when demand is greater than supply, the price of oil and gas will increase. The factors that affect supply include increased demand, problems with refineries and pipelines, and disruption to supply or threat of disruption to supply.With the increased demand for oil in the United States and other countries such as India and China; the extra demand for oil has put enormous pressure on available oil reserves. The Energy Information Administration stated, â€Å"If refinery or pipeline and/or reductions in imports cause supplies to decline unexpectedly, gasoline inventories (stocks) may drop rapidly. This may cause wholesalers to bid higher for available supply over concern that future supplies may not be adequate† (Energy Information Administration, 2008, para. 9). With this in mind, the other underlying factors that affect supply are disruption to supply or threat of disruption to supply along with The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is an organization of oil producing countries which produces over 40% of the world’s crude oil and has two-thirds of the world’s oil reserves. This organization was formed in 1960 to regulate the supply of oil and to some extent, the price of oil. The organization includes Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Mouawad, J. stated, â€Å"The cartel has refused to pump more oil, fearing that any hasty move would lead to plummeting oil prices† (Mouawad, 2008 para. 19). With OPEC refusing to increase production and reserves being depleted, a conflict or threat of conflict can be an issue of concern.If there is a conflict or threat of war or conflict with the chance of a disruption in production in an oil producing country will cause oil and gas prices to increase. The most recent conflict that disrupted production is the attacks on the pipelines in Nigeria that caus ed Royal Dutch Shell to decrease exports due to damaged pipelines. Another recent conflict was the exports from Iraq being disrupted by Turkish and Kurdish forces. With these issues increasing the cost of oil and gas, consumers have to deal with the effects as well.With oil and gas prices steadily increasing with no relief in sight, consumers have had to cope with the many adverse effects of high oil and gas prices. There are many adverse effects of increasing oil and gas prices that  consumers have to cope with such as a change in lifestyle, change in shopping habits, and some drastic effects that include not paying utility or vehicle bills leaving some consumers with little options for getting to work. With the increasing oil and gas prices, consumers are left with less expendable income.Consumers are changing their lifestyle, shopping habits, and driving habits. Consumers are left changing their lifestyle by staying home more; therefore, they are eating out at restaurants less, cutting back on entertainment such as nights out at the movies. Consumers are finding themselves combining trips for errands which include paying bills, medical tri ps, and grocery shopping. Consumers are also making the decision of not travel long distances for vacation or decided on not taking a vacation altogether. These effects have consumers looking for alternative ways of travel and more fuel economical vehicles. Mouawad, J., Navarro, M. stated, â€Å"Americans have started trading their gas guzzlers for smaller cars, making fewer trips to the mall and, wherever possible, riding public transportation to work† (Mouawad Navarro, 2008, para. 7). These effects have consumers making adjustments to how they shop.With consumers being left with less disposable income they have changed their shopping habits by shopping online to save money on fuel by not leaving their home to go shopping. Consumers are finding themselves looking for and purchasing sale items whenever possible, purchasing bargain brand items instead of name brand items and shifting their automobile purchases towards vehicles with high fuel economy and away from the large SUV type vehicles which get less gas mileage. Some consumers have traded their SUV`s for smaller more fuel economical vehicles like the hybrid models and som e have bought motorcycles. With consumers in large suburban areas dealing with these effects, rural America is struggling with the effects of the increasing cost of oil and gas. In rural areas such as Mississippi, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota where consumers incomes are much lower and jobs are scarce, who mostly depend on pickup trucks and vans for transportation are going to extremes in order to cope with the high cost of gas. These effects have rural consumers borrowing money from their employers to help pay for the gas to get to work resulting in less money on payday, and changing jobs for shorter commutes. Some rural consumers find themselves hiring friends and family to drive them for errands due to their family or friends vehicle getting better gas  mileage, requesting buyouts from their employers, not making electric or vehicle payments, and some have gone as far as giving up meat so they can buy fuel.Indealing with these kinds of effects, rural consumers have made the diff icult decisions of changing their job for a shorter commute or moving closer to urban manufacturing jobs. Krauss, C. said. â€Å"Dick Stevens, president of Consolidated Catfish Producers, said that 10 workers walked into his office and volunteered to take a buyout rather than continue commuting from Charleston, Miss., 65 miles away† (Krauss, 2008, para. 24). With consumers continuing to cope with the effects of the ever increasing cost of oil and gas, businesses, both large and small are trying to adapt to the changes.

The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living | Discuss

The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living | Discuss The unexamined life is not worth living (Socrates). The inquiry performed by those endowed with a rational element, consists of attaining an end towards which this inquiry directs itself towards. The life of inquiry is that experienced by human beings and not beasts; since beasts do not desire in a manner that seeks fulfillment outside of a bodily sense but rather live according to instincts and methods that allow for the preservation of their species. This examination or inquiry begins with the desire of attaining some effect produced by an object or perhaps the object itself; although the end in question may differ, the components that compel one to act in realization of the end are the same: action stems from desire which empowers a choice. A choice is a deliberate desire and is followed by a contemplation of the means that would direct the search towards its desired end. A commonly desired end by all of mankind is that of knowledge, acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles stemming from an investigation. One elicits knowledge from a source which is discovered through an investigation in which the vestibule for this inquiry as well as that which produces a result becomes the science. Science allows for the examination of truths and knowledge under a particular form, whether it be experiential or perhaps in an a priori manner. In philosophy as well as many other areas that involve inquiry and pursuit of such ends, the role of science makes possible the study of all that exists, because whatever we seek in existence has truth in that it exists. That which does not exist may still be desired and produced but does not become discernable by scientific methods and exploration. Rather, it occurs as a distortion of a truth that does in fact owe its existence to an efficient cause. In order to conduct a meaningful and complete inquiry by use of a scientific approach, the sources of truth must not be mistaken for those which may provide some good for a temporary fulfillment as such misstep results in a deviation from knowledge and renders an individual restless since they cannot discern the falsehood contained in such an object which seeks to mirror the image of something greater. This new knowledge acquired is pernicious in that it has been attained not through an investigation in respect to a proper science but rather it has occurred under its pretensions. One may readily ask oneself what is the difference between a true scientific endeavor and that which falls under pretensions? Both of these endeavors begin with the same root of aspiration in which one seeks to expand the realm of knowledge which is contained in the mind, but the pretension occurs when one seeks to gain knowledge in order to gain some sort of appraisal or another effect. Although appraisal i s a response that is merited after hard labor, ones pride may hinder the actual knowledge that can be gained from the object. Secondly, one who searches for the truths scientifically in a pretentious manner is not actively engaging in this search but assumes that nature holds the answers and therefore does not compel nature to answer the questions a man of interest would have. Man in this respect chooses to take the answer provided to him. This knowledge gained is superficial and those who speak of it speak without knowledge, they loquaciously speak about its content and perceive to understand its form but in fact have not united both for a complete understanding. Although all philosophers and other individuals agree that true knowledge exists, many disagree on its nature and how it can be attained. David Hume and many other empiricists believe that the source of any knowledge that a being may have comes about through his/her experience with objects of existence. These objects are perceived by human beings who create ideas after having had these objects impress themselves upon the facilities which make sensory experience and its translation possible. Other thinkers such as Immanuel Kant and Saint Augustine do not make such an emphasis on human experience but rather agree that humans posses forms of understanding with in themselves so that they may be able to acknowledge the existence everything outside of themselves. Experience does in fact relay information to beings about the earthly life but can any other sort of concept lying outside of this realm be known? Can it be made known through the use of human innovations or does it require a wisd om and spiritual intensity that only a select few posses? Mankind has been compelled by his own physical existence as well as that of the physical world that exists around him to ask questions concerning his own existence and of its cause. In this journey one may not gain certainty, since human beings have not come into direct contact with its efficient cause. Human beings have sought ways to improve technology and other materials so that valuable information about their object in question may be learned which may lead them to finding certainty. Through this desire and ability to create and conduct such an investigation, humans have learned to conduct and at times manipulate the laws of nature in order to gain more information about the world they live in. Through Saint Augustines Confessions, the reader witnesses his struggle against the worldly things that sought to bring him asunder, and his quest for truth and complete knowledge. This quest for knowledge although it began in the physical world, places its end in the heavenly realm, where God can be found. The source of the knowledge that Saint Augustine searches for would encompass methods of investigation that he has not been familiar with but ensures that his reason is purified and it does not intend to expand it, and would keep our reason free from errors (Kant 24). Saint Augustine drew knowledge about himself and the physical world by introspection, looking inward and reflecting about oneself in context with everything else. Although this may be perceived as quite boastful and an overly confident activity from human beings, this is not done in the same manner that Rene Descartes did. Conversely, Saint Augustine came to understand that he is limited and lacking in the being which is possessed in perfection, understood that he was created by Him and through his decree all things that exist were made possible. In coming to such an understanding of the Necess ary Unconditional who is the cause of the existence of all else, he admitted human ignorance and praised the enigmatic nature of God. God needed no proof in the manner that humans proved the existence of other material things but rather contained in Him a self evident truth that radiates to those who sense with the mind and not the eye which is deceptive and creates illusory images if they are perceived as the origin of knowledge. He who believes in good is moved to attribute other forms of existence to such a creator, and Saint Augustine believed that this was as much that human reason unaided by revelation can come to know about the existence of God. Although this may seem as though Saint Augustine has regressed in his possession or amount of items which he has sustained as objects of his knowledge, the education which he has received provided perversions of the love that should be directed towards the Creator rather than things such as rhetoric, arithmetic and such. The love that one has for knowledge is the same that one has for God since God is the source of truths and all that exists; however, pursuing things of the worldly realm is an empty pursuit for the things that exist do not contain him. The love expressed for these transient objects imitates that which is reserved for its expression with God and its limitless impression causes injurious effects to the one who seeks them: this love runs rampant without fulfillment and consumes man in an infectious manner leaving man to recover from the malady of misery that follows after. This friendship with the world is deceptive and perversely jealous in that it prevents man from seeing his proper end in relation to his Creator, it seduces the senses until one discovers the impurities contained in the physical world. The manner in which he previously sought to prove the existence of an entity that cannot be described in words, understood by our limited capacity, nor imagined with our senses, was a manner that pulled him further from the source of truth and closer to the sources of heretical beliefs and sects which believed greatly in human power of reason. Under Saint Augustines confessional memoir, he abandons all sorts of superficial knowledge in search of pure knowledge which leads one not astray but fills the emptiness experienced when one places faith in fleeting objects. This kind of intellectual and spiritual labor requires that the mind be prepared in order to find truth, the best way to do such is by way of introspection which contemplates using the rational element which we have been gifted with and not our sense which provide limited understanding. Three crucial elements in the study of metaphysics and theology as well have come together in Saint Augustines pursuit, the source of knowl edge, the existence of God, and the role of science. These crucial elements provide the best proof possible for the existence of God which cannot be provided through the use of human innovations like technology because the material cannot encompass or comprehend the immaterial which exists outside the constrictions of time and space. The best existence comes not from the ability to prove him through the use of words, but it requires that one agree with the law of cause and effect and acknowledge that the modes of investigation conducted by man is only befitting to things of the physical world. God does not need to be proven for he is. One must possess faith so that he may come to acknowledge and attribute all that exists to Him. He who is certain and stable does not need to be secured by conducting a scientific investigation but rather it is the shaky human existence which needs this security to prove its existence and its purpose. The sciences, which derive its nature yet again from the Principal Cause, are intended to come to an adequate understanding of the world that surrounds humans and is not to be taken out of that context for such an action is a misuse of a gift which is worthless if not attributed to its original creator and not to man who also owes his existence to God. Man participates in this uncondit ional knowledge not upon the recognition of the existence of the Supremely Perfect Being, but rather reason requires the aid of God himself which must make an impression upon the individual who engages his mind in this endeavor. The possibility of knowledge about God occurs not in this world but occurs after ones end has been fulfilled in the physical realm and it occurs through the doctrine of the Beatific Vision which is upheld by many devout believers and instructors of the faith. The best proof of the existence of God occurs through an intimate and personal experience and is also found in the words of Saint Augustine in his Confessions. This source of evidence in regards to Gods existence is relative and faces an obstacle to prove itself to those who doubt that the existence of things outside of us can be definitively proven. Although many appreciate and admire the zeal and devotion Saint such an entity which he referred to as God, it is not a sufficient way to prove Gods existence according to thinkers like Kant who believe that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the required proof must show we have experience, and not merely imagination of outer things; and this it would seem, cannot be achieved save by proof that even our inner experienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.is possible only on the assumption of outer experience(Kant 245). Although Kant in the Critique of Pure Reason attempts to save metaphysics from the destructive powers of skeptics like David Hume, he does not find sufficient proof for the existence of God; rather through his scientific inquiry, he establishes the proper role of human reason in the phenomena which seeks to extend its boundaries towards the noumena. Things that exist in the noumena are perfect ideas and concepts which are contained in the forms of understanding so that a human being recognizes the concept of things such as duty from within, but God himself and what human beings has fabricated to describe the First Cause is not natural to the noumena. Therefore the existence of God per se is not so much grounded in that he is God but rather in the most perfect concepts and ideas. The existence of God cannot be proven in that manner of introspection according to Kant. Many believers and magistrates in the Christian faith believe that human beings come to know about God, although in a limited sense, through their participation in the eternal laws, which is called the natural law or conscience which is imprinted in them. Through this participation one comes to know about the moral laws and attributes the strict adherence to such laws being worthy of heavenly compensation. This belief also follows the principle of cause and effect but to Kant this is not sufficient and the contingence of a perfect unconditional on a conditional undermines the perfection and absolute quality that it possesses. In making such a connection, the existence of a so called God is undermined in that because he is only recognized through the moral law and in order for the existence of God to exist in a perfect manner it cannot have a dependence on anything else for that it is chief and final needing no additions or supplementation. Like Saint Augustine, Immanuel Kant believed that the content of the experience resulted in erroneous conceptions of certainty. Throughout the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant properly defines which subject matters fall under the category of a science, a study that is secure and in by no means pretentious, and examines the nature of knowledge which is comprised of three important components: understanding, judgment, and reason. Kants endeavor in the Critique of Pure Reason equaled that of Saint Augustine, he sought to prove that we can have certainty in some aspects but not in others. Although their endeavors were similar in their quest, the conclusions that would be formed about the basis of knowledge in respect to that of God, who exists in a supernatural realm, would differ so much so on the basis of the power accredited to reason by both of these great thinkers. Certainty can be found in the form of reason itself and not in the content of experience which is subject to changes and therefore fail to be reliable sources. The content of experience belongs to the phenomena whereas the concepts and ideas exist in the noumena. The forms of understanding can be analyzed, which we bring to each and every concept in order to come to certainty which produced by the mind in a logical sense and does not deal with the specific content of all experience. The mind analyzes concepts and ideas which form the basis for experiences. For example, the mind, without reference to experience can think of the law of cause and effect and then find examples which fit such laws. Since this has been done independent of experience, it is natural for the mind to think that every effect derives its occurrence from a cause which is the effect to yet another cause until one understands that a singular cause is responsible for this linear progression. In this respect, this is all that can be known about the First Cause by human beings because of the limitations that human reason comes across. Human beings have been given the power to explore within the phenomena and assert this claim: that the noumena does in fact exist but we cannot come closer to understanding in so much that it relates to the necessity of the things that exist in that realm. In this sense, the science which entails the study of God existence in the noumena as he is understood by Christians has yet to become secure because of the methods used, according to what Kant defines as a science in the Critique of Pure Reason. Although many are moved to believe that the Efficient Cause contains all the attributes described in the Bible and in the various monotheistic religions as well, humans are motivated to think of these qualities such as omnipotence, benevolence, and omniscience because they desire to do so. These desires to describe the Supreme Being in terms that describe the qualities of a human beings personality, character, and such arises from the need or want to identify and comprehend that which has been described as limitless yet fulfilling but both of these thinkers admit that human beings cannot come to such knowledge, either on their own or at all. Works Cited Page Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason

Cultural Integration Experiences Of Migrants Social Work Essay

Cultural Integration Experiences Of Migrants Social Work Essay Abstract Recent years have seen an increase in the number of migrant in Ireland, Ireland has become so diversified, there are different nationalities and races that now live in Ireland for one reason or the other. In modern Ireland, There are Africans, African Americans, white Americans, Asians, Chinese, Europeans, Latinos and so on now represented in Ireland. There are also different ethnic groups like, the Albenia, Iraq, Spanish, Canadian, Ethiopians, Russian, Moroccans and so on. All these people have decided to make Ireland their home for different reasons some are job seekers, some refugees, some Asylum seekers, some students and so on. All these migrants have their own cultures, material cultures and also inmaterial cultures. They have different norms, values and so on which means a lot to them which most of the time, they find very difficult to let go. In regards of these, Irish culture has also been a part of their life. A society is rarely culturally uniformed, this makes society an interesting place, there are many ways of life in one society (cultural diversity). Cultural diversity makes a society interesting but more complex to understand as society develops, different cultures and traditions appear. Most migrant however, love to hold on to their own beliefs and traditions whether we accept it or not which sometimes lead to an in -cohesive society and an in- cohesive society is an unstable society. To have a stable society therefore, the government of Ireland thought integrating migrant in different ways especially integrating them culturally will help, integration helps to understand cultural differences and beliefs that bring a more cohesive society and a more cohesive society will invariably aid a nations economic productivity and performance. The importance of integration in a diversify society cannot be overemphasized, its importance is beneficial to the country both nationally and internationally as it has been noted that while people integrate easily in so many others ways, they find it more difficult to integrate culturally this is not to say they do not integrate at all culturally. This research however, aims at investigating and understanding issues of cultural integration amongst members of a society using community in Clonee Dublin 15 as a case study. In Clonee there are lots of ethnic minorities. The research aims at getting a greater idea on what promotes and debar integration especially as it is believed that there is little integration of migrants in Ireland. The research will further want to know what Irish and immigrant comprehends as integration in their community and if there is little or total integration amongst migrant and indigenes in the community. Furthermore, the research will want to find out how regularly migrants participate in different functions, activities or opportunities available for integration in their community and what factors and issues hinders migrants as being part of a community. The researcher wants to acquire different opinion from different nationalities in the community on integration issues and will do this by investigating how integration affects migrants, their families and community as a whole and also explore challenges faced by migrant on a daily basis. The research will finally investigate if there are policies available to support migrants integration, if these policies are implemented, and how does it ensure a cohesive society. A qualitative method of research will be use for this research, the method of data analysis will be use in conducting Interviews with people to understand the way of life of migrants their beliefs, attitudes and values. Introduction Ireland has become a diversified society that consists of different nationalities, different race, with different cultural norms, beliefs and so on. From statistics, the number of immigrant in Ireland has increased significantly in the last years (Central statistics office (CSO), 2011) . People have migrated to Ireland due to different reasons; different legal status, asylum seekers, programme refugee, migrant worker, and also different circumstances for example international student, Irish born child, spouse of someone working for a multi-national corporation and so on.(Fanning and Rush 2006, P.95) In Ireland it is a common assumption that there is little or no integration of migrants in their community. This research is based on understanding and investigating the issues surrounding migrant integration in their community and to investigate the experiences migrant have in their community. To know to what extent migrant integrate in their community, do they integrate fully or partially, what factors helps them integrate fully, and what factors hinder them from integrating in their community. Present Ireland, is rich in cultures with people from different races (Europeans, Africans, African Americans, White Americans, Asians, Chinese, Latinos), ethnic groups (Albernian, Spanish, Iraq, Nigerian, Canadian, Ethiopian, Russian, Moroccans etc) and cultures that all live together. It has been observed by different people that due to vast differences across nationalities and within cultural and ethnic groups, people tend to naturally want to affiliate with members of their own national origin. For example, Africans who have settled in Ireland feel they are part of an African Community (Fanning and Rush 2006 P.95) for example we have some communities like, the Ghanaians community, Rwandans community and so on. It has also been observe that some migrant and even the children raised here consider themselves to be African -Irish and wishes to associate themselves with people from their African origin Having said that who then are migrants? Migrants are persons who live temporarily or permanently in a country where he or she was not born, and has acquired some significant social ties to this country. (United Nations Non-Governmental Liason Service, 2002) The researcher will want to know if migrants maintain their culture or let go of their culture since they arrive in Ireland as it is a common believe that people are proud of their culture and find it difficult to let go and also to know if there are lots of opportunity for migrants to integrate into their community. Irish government recognises the fact that Ireland has become a diverse society, they recognise the importance of cohesion and stability in the country and so they have strived to ensure integration amongst migrants and Irish (The Department of Justice and Equality 2011). They have developed different policies to protect the migrants and the minority, but despite their effort there is still assumption that there is little or no integration amongst migrant and indigenes. What is integration? Integration is the ability to participate to the extent that the person needs and wishes in all the major component of society is met without having to relinquish his or her own cultural identity (Fanning 2002, P.107). From the sociological perspective integration is regarded as a quality of a social system. Integration is referred to as a society which is made up of member groups or individual that are socially combined and that relates with one another. (Entzinger and Biezeveld, 2003). Furthermore, cultural integration, cultural integration is the affiliation that exists between different cultural backgrounds that enables people learn about material and in- material culture. It also a process where people accept or reject the process of change which is known as globalisation however people need to preserve their own identity (Zwingle, 1999). Cultural integration requires that culture of each immigrant group is described in terms of its components and then compared to the host country. (Hagendoorn et al 2003,p.3) Barton, (1989) says integration is controversial because it tends to open emotions and feelings which can cause pain and difficulties and can raise concerns. According to Larkin (2009), integration helps to provide moral and emotional support to families from other cultures and it helps include them to access resources in the community. There are lots of ways by which the community could help facilitate a cohesive environment for people living in the community for example the survey in U.K by Ipos MORI(2007) shows that migrants involvement and communication between groups has supported integration. For example English language programmes organised for migrants has helped built a cohesive community.(cited in Somerville, 2011) The rationale behind this research topic is to investigate the issues of integration amongst communities in Ireland using Clonee a community in Dublin as a case study. To know if migrant integrate or do not integrate in their community in Ireland. To ascertain and gain awareness into why migrants integrate and why they do not integrate. In addition, it aims at knowing the views of the residents in Clonee community in Blanchardstown on integration issues, also to know, what the government has done to help make migrant integrate well in their community. It was thought that it is an appropriate research topic in social care as it is a relevant issue that affects people in Ireland. Social care workers are expected to work with migrants and it is important for them to understand issues around cultural integration. The researcher is a migrant in Ireland who also has children who are Irish by birth, from speaking with other immigrant like herself, she understand that in as much as migrant wishes to integrate culturally, they still prefer to retain some aspect of their own culture for example, the importance of respect for elders, that elders cannot be called by their first name by someone younger than him/her. The researcher is very much informed and passionate about the research. As a migrant, she knows what is going on amongst migrants community and really loves to see more integration amongst members of communities in Ireland. This enthusiasm and general interest she thought would help in the success of the research as it will have a positive effect on the amount of participants that will be willing to get involve and the quality of information that will be gathered throughout the study. The topic is also relevant to social care, in this diverse society social care practitioner in whatever field they choose to work will get in contact and work with immigrant and indigene families in one way or the other also a social care worker will need to understand migrants culture, their needs and challenges that migrant families are facing especially in relation to integration as it is essential for all social care practitioners to support migrants in their community so that they can adjust to their new community. Migrants need to be socially included in their community in order to facilitate integration. Literature Review Cultural integration is the affiliation that exists between different cultural backgrounds that enables people learn about material and in- material culture. It is also a process where people accept or reject the process of change due to globalisation. According to Zwingle, (1999) people need to preserve their own identity however, migrants find it very difficult to balance and maintain their own country of origin culture and religion with their host country. Cultural integration requires that culture of each immigrant group is described in terms of its components and then compared to the host country. (Hagendoorn et al 2003,p.3). The aim of this research is to understand and investigate the cultural integration issues amongst migrants in Clonee, a community in Dublin 15, under the Fingal county council. The population of Fingal county council as at census 2006 is almost 240,000 people and 40,000 are people of ethnic minority (fingal Ethnic Network, 2006). Ireland has become a multi-ethnic society, it has been transformed from a country historically characterised as one of emigration to one of notable immigration in the past two decades. According to the 2002 census, non-nationals accounted for more than seven percent of the population (fanning and Pierce, 2004:3 cited in fanning and Rush 2006 p.94) Ireland has become a multicultural society since the mid 1990s, multiculturalism is a term that is employed in a number of ways which refers to a range of ideas and practices that relate to acknowledgements of and responses to social diversity (Fanning 2002, p.179). Multiculturalism is profoundly problematic where the affording of differential rights to groups within society remains acceptable (Fanning, 2002, p.194-195). People have migrated to Ireland due to different reasons; for different legal status, asylum seeking, programme refugees, migrant workers, and different circumstances for example international students, Irish born child, spouse of someone working for a multi-national corporation and so on.(Fanning and Rush 2006, P.95) Present Ireland is rich in cultures with people from different races and cultures living together. In Ireland presently, there is an assumption that migrants dont integrate, especially integrate culturally with the Irish society. Migrants still hold on to their cultural believes, they find it really difficult to let go for one reason or the other, people are proud of their culture even if they have lived in Ireland for long time. However, Entzinger and Biezeveld, (2003) states that it is normal for most migrant living in a country to culturally identify themselves with their original nationality, even if they regard country of residence as their home. Although in Ireland, there has been racism and discrimination of migrant in the past, the government of Ireland has tried in so many ways to combat this, for example, a national consultative committee on racism and interculturalism was set up by the minister of Justice, Equality and law reform in July 1998 to develop programmes aim at developing an integrated approach to combat racism and discrimination and to support interculturalism. One of the programme which the committee came up with was True Colours initiative which was a two week event which focuses on the inclusion of refugee and asylum seekers, people of colour and ethnic minorities into the society (House of Oireachtas, 2007). The intervention of the department of justice and law reform in 1999 also addressed the issue of integrating migrant which acknowledges that integration is a two way process and that migrant, Irish people and the state have duties and obligation to create a more inclusive society (House of Oireachtas 2007) Integration of migrants requires a willingness to adapt to the lifestyle of Irish society without abandoning ones own cultural identity. Entzinger and Biezeveld, (2003) acknowledged this earlier. When people migrate they take their culture with them. Migrants have different cultures and these cultures are hard to let go even when they are in other countries. For example in Ireland , Irish people going out to pub to socialise, their religion is mainly catholic, they love to celebrate St. Partricks day, they associates green colour with shamrock or leprechaun, while other cultures have different actions and behaviour and these action mean a lot to their identity. Cultures are difficult to let go, it is the way of life of people (Tovey and share, 2003). However, there are differences in the culture and identity of migrants. They identify themselves differently around nationality and ethnic affiliations which make the process of the formulation of community unclear example a group of peo ple who emigrated from Africa would identify themselves as an African community, a child raised in Ireland might prefer to be known as an |African Irish. Some people might prefer to be identified by certain terms based on their experience and the situation they find themselves (Fanning and Rush, 2006). It is impossible for someone who migrated to Ireland to act exactly like an indigene of Ireland. For example in Ireland, Language and religion are the most important cultural attribute which people find very difficult to let go of and Ireland also stresses the importance of migrant retaining their culture and religious heritage as they believe everyone has the right to retain their identity as it makes them feel more at home (Entzinger and Biezeveld 2003) In the world, there are lots of ethnic groups and different ethnic group protect their own culture, history and customs (Macionis and Plummer, 2008). There are five major components of culture: symbols, language, values, norms and material culture. Symbols are anything that carries a particular meaning recognised by people who share cultures. (Macionis and Plummer 2008 P.130) examples of symbols includes a wall of graffiti, a flashing red light and so on. Language is a system of symbols that allows members of a society to communicate with one another. (Macionis and Plummer 2008 P.131). An example includes spoken and written words which vary culturally. Values are the standards people have about what is good and bad, which vary from culture to culture (Macionis and Plummer 2008 P.134).values differ from culture to culture and underlines peoples beliefs. . Cultural values are inconsistent and sometimes contradictory. According to the functionalist sociologist, culture helps to integrat e members and social groups of a society. The functionalist further acknowledges that norms and values of a society creates social bonds which gives stability and coherence in the society (Anderson and Taylor, 2006).Norms are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviour of its members. When people break the norms of their society it becomes a threat to the society and members of the society will be dealt with. Examples of norms include queuing, saying thank you and so on. According to research by Integration and social inclusion of Ireland (2009), migrants living in Ireland are faced with some challenges. Living in a new environment is difficult, not to talk about living in a place with no family and friends. Such challenges includes, stereotyping and isolation, difficulty in communication due to English not being their first language, not having a sense of belonging to Ireland, poverty, cultural conflicts, balancing two cultures and unable to access information and participate. Another issue for migrant parents is not having paid jobs which can make it too difficult for them to fend for their families. Poverty is an issue that migrants and asylum seekers are faced with; Fanning, (2006) states that there are limited opportunities and entitlement for migrant. Community development and voluntary sectors aimed at reducing poverty and reducing social exclusion were challenged for the inability to meet up with the needs of migrant. Studies also realised th at the people who worked in most multicultural network where Irish nationals. There were no migrants or foreigners which proved extreme social exclusion (Dublin inner city Partnership 2001 cited in Fanning, 2006). The inflow of people from different countries coming into Ireland with different culture, has brought about integration, both migrant and indigenes especially the government has realise that to live successfully in the country integration is important and so the government in Ireland has developed policies to protect the migrants living in Ireland and also develop policies to ensure integration of the members of the country so as to have a stable and cohesive society. They have tried in lots of ways to stress the importance of migrant retaining their cultural and religious heritage (Enzinger and Biezeveld, (2003) In January 2000, the minister of justice, Equality and Law Reform endorsed the report integration: a two way process. Due to racism and Discrimination, The report emphasised the need to promote integration of refugees and immigrants into the Irish society. In this report, integration is define as the ability to participate to the extent that the person needs and wishes in all the major components of society, without having relinquish his or her cultural identity.(Fanning, 2002 P.107) The government has also developed policy aimed at promoting inclusiveness and at contesting racism faced by the black and ethnic minority communities in Ireland (Fanning 2002 P.108). National action plan against racism 2002-2008 is another strategy created by the government in Ireland , to promote integration in the communities many local authorities funded the plan through partnership with local authorities, community groups and service provider to plan, develop and implement integration and anti racism towards working with minority groups (The department of justice and equality 2011b). There has been controversies weather Ireland is a country that promotes multiculturalism or interculturalism. Share and Tovey, 2003 states that a multicultural society like Australia recognises cultural diversity and appraisal of historical background of immigration while some multicultural society like Britain sees multiculturalism as politically mediated because it emphasises on the struggle of upper and lower class. Furthermore, Tovey and Share, (2003) acknowledges that Ireland promotes interculturalism. Interculturalism means creating policys that promotes integration, understanding and interaction of different cultures through schools, institution and the state. Interculturalism tackles structural inequality and institutional racism. (Share and Tovey 2003, p. ) Integration policy in Ireland is based on an intercultural approach, it gives the migrants, indigenes, organizations, business and the state the rights and responsibilities to work alongside each other (The department of justice and equality. 2011a) for example the yellow flag programme which help provide issues of diversity in schools to ensure staff, student, parent and thee society integrate.(Integration Ireland 2010) Integration and social inclusion of Ireland (2009), notes that migrants living in Ireland faces a lot of challenges out of feeling displaced in the society. It is acknowledged that some migrants suffer low self esteem because of racism and discrimination. Integration Ireland, (2010), fanning (2002) acknowledged that migrants suffer from racism. Though policies have been created around such issues but we cant hide the fact that discrimination still exist in Ireland. Ireland has been criticised for poorly developed immigration policies. This is because Ireland is new to immigration issues and over the past only few migrants lived in Ireland. Castle and Miller, 1998 stated that the experience of migrants is shaped by politics and practice of the society. Mac Einrin 2001 states that there is lack of planning from migrants and political issues have been hostile and discriminatory towards migrants. With the increasing population of migrants in Ireland, Fanning and Rush (2006) critically analysed that there should be effective development of important policies and services and these should respond adequately to the needs and levels of social exclusion or inequality that migrants face like for example, there was absence of ethnicity question in the 2000 census which was not rectified until 2006. They added that there was a dearth of accurate data on demographic or baseline data during the census. Ireland as a country has been undergoing significant changes in social, political and institutional related issues such is the citizenship application. Not until recently did Ireland have a high speed of naturalisation applications granted. Before now, naturalisation took thirty six months to be processed (Integration Ireland 2010). Minister Alan Shatter in 2011 introduced a new citizenship processing reform to reduce the number of backlogs of applications. The new application process no w takes six months (Department of Justice and Equality 2011). Fanning and Rush, (2006) also acknowledged that there has been a shift in the topics and research of immigrants because there has been changes in the policies and development around matters relating to migrants. Research is now based around service provisions, community development, education, criminal justice, work, employment and social exclusion. Formally, research would be based on asylum seeking and human right issues. So we could argue that people are taking residence and more commitment needs to increase in the area of integration. Some migrants have come to Ireland with no or little English language. Migrants inability to express themselves in English has disempowered them. It causes low self esteem, inability to contribute to labour force (social Inclusion, 2011). Family conflict can arise from a parent unable to help with the child homework, unable to interact properly with childrens friends or parents. This can cause isolation of a family. Migrant who could not speak English would most of the time depend on their children to interpret. However, the integration and social inclusion Ireland (2011) says learning English makes life in Ireland less stressful and so socialising with Irish and making friends becomes easy, and so opportunities for employment and training will be created. Migrant will be able to find and get jobs thereby increasing their self -esteem and self-worth. Some Migrant feel isolated because they feel they are not part of the society as they miss families and friends who can give them a sense of belonging. Integration Ireland, (2010) acknowledge this on an interview with a student from Mauritius. He stated he was happy but always felt sad returning to Ireland whenever he visited home. Migrants find it difficult to maintain their culture and religion and so integration becomes so difficult for them. Findings have shown that there are different views to integration issues in Ireland. Some migrants feel that integration of migrants is difficult, most migrant feel very unsafe in the society, so they restrict themselves in the society because of racism and discrimination. This hinders them from engaging in lot of programmes, and finding a job for such migrants is also difficult (Integration Ireland 2010). On the other hand, some migrants acknowledged that integration in Ireland is easy as people are friendly and love socializing but they still feel more comfortable in their home country. Due to the increase in the number of ethnic minority in the fingal county council, integration policy need to be put in place, monitored and effectively developed to ensure a culturally integrated society (Fingal Ethnic network, 2011) Fingal ethnic network is a programme that help migrant integrate into the community, it encourages a forum of diverse group to speak as one, to develop coherent plan and purposes on reflection of social cultural and economic need of migrant in the community. Fingal Ethnic network influence, plan and inform policy to encourage participation of network members and also to learn from other peoples experience and theirs. They give feedback to and from their net work about policies and initiatives that concern migrant on a local and national level. They have created avenue for integration through workshops and events (Fingal Ethnic network 2011). The Fingal county council have helped in raising awareness on cultural integration. There are lots of activities put in place to encourage cultural integration like given grants under the Art Act 2003 for community culture, sports and festivals. People show off their culture, by dressing up, displaying foods, souvenirs, life music, and there are opportunities to ask questions. The criteria for this grant is that the activity most take place within the Fingal county council, must stimulate interest within the community, promote appreciation and practices of members of the community to ensure it improves the quality of life of all members of the fingal county community and finally contribute positively to the cultural life of Fingal county council. Another programme is the youth sport grant, which primarily focuses on sport for young people in Fingal county council to ensure people are socially and culturally included in the community. This grant is funded by the Irish sport council through the Fingal county council. (Fingal county council 2010) The office of the minister of integration in December 2010 supported the Fingal integration funding scheme which is a scheme used to assist new or established project or initiative to support integration under this scheme, applicant must promote, support the integration and participation of migrants in the social economic, political and cultural life of members of the Fingal county council community. The initiative should support legal migrant, promote dialogue, interaction and understanding within members of the wider community. The initiative should also promote intercultural events at a local level and must support local labour market. For example, The Grantmakers concerned with immigration and refugees, (2008) says Integration contribute to a diverse and enriched society, as society gets more cohesive as people understand cultural differences and beliefs thereby helping the economic productivity and performance Methodology Gathering information Information regarding cultural integration was sought from members of Clonee community in Dublin 15. A participatory in depth interview was carried out with Parents and Guardians from different nationalities and works of life with different culture and educational background regarding cultural integration issues. Information was sought from four members in the community. (A polish, an Irish, a Congolese, a Ghanaian, and a Nigeria). Participants were chosen from different street in clonee. The researcher had to knock on peoples door after official hours to explain her research. Some people agreed to be part of it and others refuse to be part. The researcher chose people that understand a bit of English language for easy interaction out of those who agreed to participate although the researcher made sure simple words were used to ask the questitions and take time to explain terms anyone found difficult to understand. The participants were approached mostly at home after working hours i n the comfort of their own homes to ensure they are relaxed and comfortable. The method proved a little difficult because the timing was a bit awkward, it was also stressful as the researcher had to walk from one house to the other to conduct the interview. Although the informal interview was not more than thirty minutes for each participant it went on for about two weeks as pinning down and getting access to participant proved a little difficult. Most of the participants were from Africa while the others were from Europe. There were three female participants and one male participants. The participants age range were between 25 years to 45 years. Three of the participants were asylum seekers who now have resident permit (stamp 4), one is a programme refugee (person admitted to Ireland under family reunification programme), one a migrant workers and the last participant was an Irish by birth most of these participants are professionals in different fields. Participant 1 was a doctor, participant 2, was a nurse, participant 3 was a social care worker, participant 4 was a taxi driver, The researcher made sure she assures the participant of anonymity and confidentiality. Design There are two main types of research methodology namely qualitative and quantitative methodology. A quantitative research is based on evidence that is factually collected through surveys and questionnaires. However, in this research, the researchers chose a qualitative research method.The researcher felt the qualitative research method is more adequate and suitable for the research topic at