International Studies Assignment代写：Social, Economic and Demographic Analysis of Detroit

International Studies Assignment代写-底特律的社会、经济和人口分析。本文是一篇美国留学生国际研究专业Assignment范文，主要内容是讲述在1900年代之前，底特律是一个相当著名的商业和交通城市，因为它位于五大湖区的中心，并可通往多条铁路线。到了世纪之交，汽车工业蓬勃发展，克莱斯勒、福特和通用汽车（通常被称为三大汽车公司）等公司迁入该市。使用艾伯特·卡恩的新建筑技术，工厂的建造效率和空间效率更高。这种新的发展导致了对这些工厂员工的高需求。当时底特律的低技能制造业工作极具吸引力。福特公司于1914年宣布其日工资为5美元，比当时许多其他低技能工作的工资要高得多，底特律的其他公司也提高了工资，以保持与福特公司的竞争力。人们移居到美国各地，甚至从国外获得这些新发现的机会。这个城市的人口不断增长，黑人和少数民族人口也在增长。第一次世界大战爆发，作为美国制造业巨头，底特律的工厂进行了改装，以生产战争物资。大萧条并没有像其他城市那样严重地打击底特律，第二次世界大战期间，底特律的工厂再次被改装，以生产战时物资和车辆。这使这座城市获得了“西部阿森纳”的称号。1943年，由于黑人和白人社区之间日益紧张的种族关系，暴乱爆发，三天后，联邦军队终于结束了暴乱。下面就一起看一下这篇美国留学生International Studies Assignment写作范文。

Prior to the 1900s, Detroit was a fairly prominent commercial and transport city, due to its location in the center of the Great Lakes region and its access to multiple rail lines. By the turn of the century, the automotive industry boomed and companies such as Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors (commonly referred to as the Big Three) moved into the city. Using Albert Kahn’s new architectural techniques, factories were built to be more efficient and space effective. Such new developments led to a high demand for workers to staff these factories. Low-skill manufacturing jobs in Detroit were extremely attractive at the time. Ford announced its $5 a day wage in 1914, a significantly higher wage than many other low skill jobs of the time, and other companies in Detroit boosted their pay to remain competitive with Ford (Anderson, 2014). People moved to access these newfound opportunities from all over the US and even from outside the country. The population of the city grew and grew, along with the black and ethnic population. World War 1 took off and as America’s manufacturing giant, Detroit factories were refitted to make war materiel. The Great Depression did not hit Detroit as severely as other cities (need some sources on that, honestly just a guess), and again in World War 2, Detroit factories were refitted once again to produce wartime supplies and vehicles. This earned the city the name “Arsenal of the West”. In 1943, due to rising racial tensions betweens the black and white communities, a riot broke out, and was finally ended after three days by federal troops.
Post War Detroit 战后底特律
After the war, returning soldiers and those wealthy enough started moving out of the city. The GI Bill allowed veterans to get low interest, no down payment mortgages for new homes and the highways augmented the current motor culture of the US. New highways were built after the Eisenhower administration passed the Federal Aid Highway Act in 1956. However, those built in Detroit cut through poorer ethnic neighborhoods, dividing those pre-existing communities and displacing those caught in its path with little forewarning. Not only did the well-off residents of the city start to move out, the automakers also relocated to the suburbs of Detroit in search of more space for their factories. Also, distributing the workforce over a larger area and increasing the number factories helped minimize the effect of union strikes. The big three built a combined 25 new factories outside city limits during this time (Sugrue 2004, par. 2). Inner city residents were unable to follow them, due to lack of capital and/or discrimination in housing. Blacks that tried to move into white suburban neighborhoods were met with hostility and the local Veterans Affairs office heavily favored whites for mortgages from the GI bill (Katznelson,). These further increased tensions in the black and white community. (Need to add more on 60s?) Tensions once again exploded in 1967, when the police raided a small, black owned, illegal bar. The violence escalated and after five days and millions of dollars in damage, the riot had been quelled after federal troops were called in. What had been a stream of people leaving the city has now become a flood. Those wealthy enough moved away in fear for their safety and with them, their tax dollars. This has been a growing problem since people started to leave Detroit. Without a solid tax base, basic social services and infrastructure were severely underfunded. This only exacerbated slow emergency service response times and even to the point where streetlamps couldn’t be turned on (source this). Gang activity and the illegal drug trade was rampant during this period, and these factors continued to cause more people to leave. (I don’t have enough info on Coleman Young). After NAFTA passed in 1994, many auto companies moved their primary manufacturing efforts to near the Mexico-US border, where labor costs there severely undercut wages in Detroit. (Need to get more info on modern >1994).
战后，返回的士兵和那些足够富有的人开始离开这座城市。《退伍军人退伍军人法案》允许退伍军人获得低息、无首付抵押贷款的新住房和高速公路，增强了美国当前的汽车文化。1956年艾森豪威尔政府通过《联邦援助公路法案》后，新公路开始修建。然而，底特律修建的公路穿过了较贫穷的民族社区，分裂那些先前存在的社区，并在几乎没有预警的情况下取代那些陷入困境的社区。不仅这座城市的富裕居民开始迁出，汽车制造商也迁往底特律郊区，为他们的工厂寻找更多的空间。此外，将劳动力分布在更大的地区，增加工厂数量，有助于将工会罢工的影响降到最低。在这段时间里，三大公司在城外总共新建了25家工厂。由于缺乏资金和/或住房方面的歧视，市中心居民无法跟随他们。试图搬到郊区白人社区的黑人遭到了敌意，当地退伍军人事务办公室在GI法案中大力支持白人抵押贷款。这进一步加剧了黑人和白人社区的紧张局势。1967年，当警察突袭一家黑人拥有的小型非法酒吧时，紧张局势再次爆发。暴力事件升级，在五天和数百万美元的损失后，联邦军队被叫来后，骚乱被平息了。离开这座城市的人流现在变成了洪水。那些足够富有的人因为担心自己的安全而搬走了，他们的税款也随之而来。自从人们开始离开底特律以来，这一直是一个日益严重的问题。没有坚实的税收基础，基本社会服务和基础设施严重缺乏资金。这只会加剧紧急服务响应时间的缓慢，甚至导致路灯无法打开。在此期间，帮派活动和非法毒品交易猖獗，这些因素继续导致更多人离开。。1994年《北美自由贸易协定》通过后，许多汽车公司将其主要生产基地转移到墨西哥-美国边境附近，那里的劳动力成本严重降低了底特律的工资。
Demographic structure 人口结构
According to the 2016 Census population estimates, Detroit is the 23rd largest city in the US. In 2017, there are 673k people with median age of 34.6 in Detroit, MI (DATA USA, 2019). The population of Detroit is 79.12% black, 14.1% white, and 7.5% Latino or Hispanic (Detroit, 2019). Dividing the population by age range,  the largest age range group is from 20 to 29, which makes up 17% of the population. The second largest age range is from 0 to 9, which constitutes 14%. Only 6% are from age 60 – 79, and 3% above 80. Other age groups are evenly distributed (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019).
根据2016年人口普查的人口估计，底特律是美国第23大城市。2017年，密歇根州底特律有673000人，中位年龄为34.6岁。底特律人口为79.12%黑人，14.1%白人，7.5%拉丁裔或西班牙裔。按年龄段划分人口，最大年龄段为20至29岁，占人口的17%。第二大年龄段为0至9岁，占14%。只有6%的人口年龄在60-79岁之间，80岁以上的人口占3%。其他年龄段的人口分布均匀。
Poverty background 贫困背景
In Detroit, four in ten people live in poverty.  The poverty thresholds are set quite low in Detroit, MI. A family of four is considered as living in poverty if their annual income is below $24,600 in 2017 (Marge Sorge, 2018). The poverty rate of Detroit is 37.9%, which means that the income of one person out of 2.6 falls under the poverty threshold. At that time, the poverty rate of Michigan is only 15.6%, which is 22.3% lower than the poverty rate of Detroit. As for income inequality, the Gini Index of Detroit was higher than Gini Index of all of Michigan from 2008 to 2016 (DATA USA, 2019).
在底特律，十分之四的人生活在贫困中。密歇根州底特律的贫困门槛设定得很低。如果一个四口之家2017年的年收入低于24600美元，则被视为生活贫困。底特律的贫困率为37.9%，这意味着2.6人中有一人的收入低于贫困线。当时，密歇根州的贫困率仅为15.6%，比底特律的贫困率低22.3%。至于收入不平等，2008年至2016年，底特律的基尼指数高于密歇根州的基尼系数。
Age and Gender 年龄和性别
At 57.1%, Detroit has the highest child poverty rate in the country and has been increasing since 2000 (Drawing Detroit, 2017).  The poverty rate of children under 18 is above 50%, while the poverty rate of children under 6 is almost 60%, and given that 31.1% of the population is under the age of 18, child poverty is becoming a rising problem in Detroit and the future of the community is bleak. Gender inequality is also a problem in Detroit. There is a clear male bias within the population regardless of years of schooling. Glass ceilings are still noticeable for female workers as male citizens have about $2 higher median hourly wages across all levels of education.
底特律儿童贫困率为57.1%，是全国儿童贫困率最高的国家，自2000年以来一直在增长。18岁以下儿童的贫困率在50%以上，而6岁以下儿童贫困率几乎为60%，考虑到31.1%的人口年龄在18岁以下，儿童贫困正在成为底特律的一个日益严重的问题，社区的未来是暗淡的。性别不平等也是底特律的一个问题。无论受教育年限如何，人口中都存在明显的男性偏见。对于女性工人来说，玻璃天花板仍然是显而易见的，因为在所有教育水平上，男性公民的每小时工资中位数都要高出约2美元。       
Race and Ethnicity 种族和民族
With the same level of educational qualification, people of different races are treated differently. For example, with a BA Degree or higher,  a black person earns $3.20 per hour less than a white person. The most common racial group living under the poverty threshold in Detroit, MI is Black, followed by White and Hispanic.
在同等学历的情况下，不同种族的人会受到不同的待遇。例如，拥有学士学位或更高学历的黑人每小时的收入比白人少3.20美元。密歇根州底特律最常见的生活在贫困线以下的种族群体是黑人，其次是白人和西班牙裔。
School Enrollment 学校入学人数
For those who have not enrolled in school in Detroit, MI, the poverty rate is 32.5%. For those who have enrolled in school, the poverty rate increased to 48.3%. There are typically 6 types of school in Detroit, MI. For those who only enrolled in Nursery School, their poverty rate is about 57.5%, which is the highest poverty rate group in people who enrolled in school. For those who finished their Elementary School, which is considered as grade 1 to 4, the poverty rate is 55.2%. For people enrolled in Middle School, which is from grade 5 to 8, the poverty rate is 51.7%. For people enrolled in High School, which is from grade 9 to 12, the poverty rate is 48.2%. For people enrolled in Undergraduate School, they have a poverty rate of 37.2%. For people enrolled in Graduate or Professional School, they have a poverty rate of 30.9%, which is the lowest poverty rate group in people who enrolled in school. According to these data, the poverty rate is decreasing when people enrolled a more professional and higher level school.
对于那些没有在密歇根州底特律上学的人来说，贫困率为32.5%。对于那些入学的人来说，贫困率上升到48.3%。密歇根州底特律通常有6种类型的学校。对于那些只在幼儿园就读的人来说，他们的贫困率约为57.5%，这是入学人数中贫困率最高的群体。对于那些完成小学一至四年级学业的人来说，贫困率为55.2%。在中学5年级至8年级的学生中，贫困率为51.7%。在9年级至12年级的高中生中，贫困率为48.2%。对于就读本科的人来说，他们的贫困率为37.2%。对于在研究生院或专业学校就读的人来说，他们的贫困率为30.9%，这是在学校就读的人群中贫困率最低的群体。根据这些数据，当人们进入更专业、更高水平的学校时，贫困率正在下降。       
A 2010 report on Detroit’s poverty situation further highlights the significant effect of education on poverty. 46.0% of families headed by someone with an educational level below highschool are in poverty. 35.2% of highschool graduate-headed families are in poverty. Families headed by people with BA degrees or higher only have a 10.2% poverty rate, suggesting that Detroiters who have experience in higher levels of education are less likely to be in poverty.
2010年关于底特律贫困状况的报告进一步强调了教育对贫困的重大影响。46.0%由教育水平低于高中的人领导的家庭处于贫困之中。35.2%的高中毕业生家庭生活贫困。拥有学士学位或以上学历的家庭的贫困率仅为10.2%，这表明受过高等教育的底特律人不太可能陷入贫困。
Economic Lives 经济生活
Health care, child care, and housing take up a majority of poor Detroiters’ costs. However, some still cannot even afford to meet their living needs. According to the 139 Square Miles report by Detroit Future City, 24% of adults in Detroit do not have access to health care because of costs. This is mainly due to an increase in health care costs and housing prices. The standard for affordable rent in the US is considered to be no more than 30% of family’s income. In Detroit, 50.2% of all households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, meaning that more than half of Detroit are actually cost-burdened by housing. Detroit’s median household income is $27,838 per year, which is half the median household income of the state of Michigan. A majority of the income that the working poor makes is from low-wage service jobs. Moreover, many of the working poor make so little money from their jobs that they have to take up a second job in order to pay for basic living necessities like food, transportation and technology. Thus, there are a few issues such as affordable housing and welfare that Detroit needs to address in order to solve their poverty issue.
医疗、儿童保育和住房占据了底特律穷人的大部分成本。然而，有些人甚至无法满足他们的生活需要。根据底特律未来城市的139平方英里报告，24%的底特律成年人由于费用原因无法获得医疗保健。这主要是由于医疗费用和住房价格上涨。美国的可负担租金标准被认为不超过家庭收入的30%。在底特律，50.2%的家庭将收入的30%以上用于房租，这意味着底特律有一半以上的家庭实际上承受着住房成本负担。底特律的家庭收入中值为每年27838美元，是密歇根州家庭收入中值的一半。在职穷人的大部分收入来自低薪服务工作。此外，许多有工作的穷人从工作中挣的钱太少，以至于他们不得不从事第二份工作，以支付食物、交通和技术等基本生活必需品。因此，底特律需要解决一些问题，如负担得起的住房和福利，以解决他们的贫困问题。
Causes of Poverty 贫困的原因
Last century, Detroit was well-known as the Motor City in the world. The Big Three automobile manufacturers – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Corp. – all headquartered in Detroit. They created hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. At that time, no one would imagine that one day, Detroit would go bankrupt. However, today, General Motors is the only one automaker that still headquartered in Detroit. During the Great Recession, it even needed to get a provisional bailout from the government in order to pull through tough times. What’s more, it finally had to declare bankruptcy in 2009 and got financing support from Obama’s government.
上个世纪，底特律被誉为世界汽车城。三大汽车制造商——福特、通用汽车和克莱斯勒公司——都总部设在底特律。他们创造了数十万个制造业工作岗位。那时，没有人会想到有一天，底特律会破产。然而，今天，通用汽车是唯一一家总部仍设在底特律的汽车制造商。在大萧条期间，它甚至需要从政府获得临时救助，以度过艰难时期。更重要的是，它最终不得不在2009年宣布破产，并获得了奥巴马政府的融资支持。
Historically speaking, the riots and the gasoline crisis are the causes of Detroit’s failure. For instance, the Twelfth Street riots in 1967 was marked as one of the most serious riots in the US history. In the riot, black residents stood against the police. It caused more than forty people to be killed and hundreds of people to get injured while thousands of people were arrested. The riots like this left Detroit in chaos, which led some people especially the upper and middle class to leave the city. As a result, the city suffered from losing some active workers and attracting investments from the rich. The gasoline crisis during 1973 and 1974 made the situation worse. Before the crisis, Americans preferred heavier and more powerful cars, which burned more fuel, because the price of oil was well controlled and thereby affordable for many of them. By 1974, the gasoline price quadrupled. This affected all the Big Three automobile manufacturers in Detroit. The demand for large cars decreased since large cars were not as popular as before. Instead, smaller and more fuel-efficient cars came to people’s minds. For example, Japanese automakers successfully found a place of the automobile market in the US during that period. For a long period, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Corp. all struggled and found it hard to compete with foreign automobile manufacturers.
从历史上讲，骚乱和汽油危机是底特律失败的原因。例如，1967年的第十二街骚乱被认为是美国历史上最严重的骚乱之一。在暴乱中，黑人居民反抗警察。它造成40多人死亡，数百人受伤，数千人被捕。像这样的骚乱让底特律陷入混乱，导致一些人，特别是中上层阶级离开了这座城市。结果，该市失去了一些活跃的工人，吸引了富人的投资。1973年和1974年的汽油危机使情况更糟。在危机之前，美国人更喜欢更重、更强劲的汽车，因为它们燃烧更多的燃料，因为油价受到了很好的控制，因此许多人都能负担得起。到1974年，汽油价格翻了两番。这影响了底特律所有三大汽车制造商。由于大型汽车不像以前那样受欢迎，对大型汽车的需求减少了。相反，人们想到的是更小、更省油的汽车。例如，在此期间，日本汽车制造商成功地在美国汽车市场找到了一席之地。长期以来，福特、通用汽车和克莱斯勒公司都在苦苦挣扎，发现很难与外国汽车制造商竞争。
As shown in Exhibit #, currently, Detroit has more retired workers than active workers. This is also one of the causes of Detroit’s poverty conditions. With less active employees, the city government cannot make enough revenues through tax collection. And since there are more retirees within the city, the government has to spend a lot of money on its pension funds as well as health care programs. One bad news was that the government not only could not have a budget surplus, but also needed to experience an increase in its debt and liability because it was supposed to lend money from other institutions in order to cover the funds which could help out the poor and the retirees. It made the situation worse and worse and it seemed like there was a financial hole that the government was unable to plug in the future as the government could not cut the budget deficit and the budget deficit was still out of control. According to Brad Plumer in “Detroit’s pension problems, in one chart”, Detroit government used to “[default] on pension obligations”, which was likely to “[blow] a hole in the 30-year projections and long-term solvency” (Plumer 2013). Unfortunately, the government of Detroit went bankrupt on July 18, 2013, which worsens the situation again.
目前底特律的退休工人比在职工人多。这也是底特律贫困状况的原因之一。由于雇员不太活跃，市政府无法通过税收获得足够的收入。由于该市有更多的退休人员，政府不得不在养老基金和医疗保健项目上投入大量资金。一个坏消息是，政府不仅不能有预算盈余，而且还需要经历债务和负债的增加，因为它应该从其他机构借钱，以支付可以帮助穷人和退休人员的资金。这使情况变得越来越糟，似乎有一个财政漏洞，政府无法填补，因为政府无法削减预算赤字，而且预算赤字仍然无法控制。布拉德·普卢默（Brad Plumer）在《底特律的养老金问题》（Detroit’s pension problems）中表示，底特律政府过去“拖欠养老金债务”，这很可能“在30年的预测和长期偿债能力上打个洞”。不幸的是，底特律政府于2013年7月18日破产，这再次恶化了局势。
High unemployment rate and high crime rate are also the problems Detroit faces. The unemployment rate in Detroit is much higher than the country and state average (Graham 2018). Although high crime rate is a result of poverty, it is one cause of poverty. Because poor people need money to survive, sometimes they opt to commit a crime, which makes the upper and middle class feel that their safety needs are threatened and finally leave the city. Since they leave Detroit, the companies in the city find it hard to hire skilled workers. As a result, many firms and factories choose to leave the city and set up in its suburbs. Job opportunities that are available to the residents decrease and some lose their jobs. Not surprisingly, the unemployment rate rises. As more and more people become jobless, more and more citizens live below the poverty line.
高失业率和高犯罪率也是底特律面临的问题。底特律的失业率远高于全国和州平均水平。虽然高犯罪率是贫困的结果，但它是贫困的原因之一。因为穷人需要钱来生存，有时他们会选择犯罪，这使得上中产阶级感到他们的安全需求受到威胁，最终离开了城市。由于他们离开底特律，该市的公司发现很难雇佣熟练工人。因此，许多公司和工厂选择离开城市，在郊区设立。居民可获得的就业机会减少，一些人失去了工作。毫不奇怪，失业率在上升。随着越来越多的人失业，越来越多的公民生活在贫困线以下。
Welfare 福利
One of the best ways a region can do to fight poverty is by implementing a solid welfare system. Welfare programs provide low-income families with subsidies. These transfers could either be in the form of cash for financial aid or as In-Kind transfers like free healthcare, and subsidized housing.
一个地区消除贫困的最佳方式之一是实施一个坚实的福利制度。福利计划为低收入家庭提供补贴。这些转移可以是现金形式的财政援助，也可以是实物转移，如免费医疗和补贴住房。       
In the US, many effective welfare programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) have already been implemented as a response to their poverty issue. The EITC is a tax credit system that incentivizes the poor to join the labor force by providing low-income families with cash transfers that are calculated based on income and household size. The EITC is known to be extremely effective at increasing labor force participation, decreasing poverty rates, and decreasing welfare caseloads. However, ever since the change in program management from the federal level to the state level during the welfare reform in the 1990s, the policy has been enforced in different ways, and so the extent of the EITC program differs with each state.
在美国，许多有效的福利计划，如收入所得税抵免（EITC），已经实施，以应对贫困问题。EITC是一种税收抵免制度，通过向低收入家庭提供基于收入和家庭规模计算的现金转移，鼓励穷人加入劳动力队伍。众所周知，EITC在提高劳动力参与度、降低贫困率和减少福利工作量方面非常有效。然而，自20世纪90年代福利改革期间，计划管理从联邦一级转变为州一级以来，该政策以不同的方式实施，因此EITC计划的范围因各州而异。
The EITC program works on both a federal and a state or local government level. The federal EITC provides low-income working families with the cash transfers. To supplement the federal EITCs, each state then provides their low-income families with their own state EITC, which is usually set as a percentage of the federal credit. For example, low-wage families in the state of Massachusetts receive an additional 23% of their federal credit as state credit. There are also cases where cities choose to follow their own EITC rate instead of their state rate. Low-income families in New York City receive only an additional 5% of their federal credit whereas others in the State of New York receive 30% additional credit. The city of Detroit however, chooses to use Michigan’s state EITC, which is only 6% of federal credit. Given the high poverty levels of Detroit and Michigan cities, the Michigan EITC is too low for the area and needs to be optimized. To reduce the poverty rates, Michigan governors are proposing to double the Michigan EITC to 12% of the federal credit. This would provide low-wage Detroiters with additional 130 USD in transfers that could help pay for their ever-increasing living expenses and lift them out of poverty. Moreover, a higher state EITC credit cap would attract the poor and motivate them to work because of the policy’s work requirement, increasing labor force participation.
EITC计划在联邦和州或地方政府层面都有效。联邦EITC向低收入工作家庭提供现金转移。为了补充联邦EITC，每个州都会向低收入家庭提供自己的州EITC，该州EITC通常设定为联邦信贷的百分比。例如，马萨诸塞州的低工资家庭额外获得23%的联邦信贷作为州信贷。也有一些城市选择采用自己的EITC费率，而不是州费率。纽约市的低收入家庭只获得联邦信贷的5%，而纽约州的其他家庭则获得30%的额外信贷。然而，底特律市选择使用密歇根州的EITC，这只占联邦信贷的6%。鉴于底特律和密歇根州城市的高贫困水平，该地区的密歇根EITC太低，需要优化。为了降低贫困率，密歇根州州长提议将密歇根EITC提高一倍，达到联邦信贷的12%。这将为低工资底特律人提供额外130美元的转移支付，帮助他们支付不断增加的生活费用，并帮助他们摆脱贫困。此外，更高的州EITC信贷上限将吸引穷人并激励他们工作，因为政策的工作要求，增加劳动力参与。
Health care 医疗保健
 One of the biggest impacts that President Obama made on Detroit was the 2010 enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a reformed federal health care system that aimed to increase health care accessibility and availability for adults across the nation. This policy allowed states to expand the coverage of their Medicaid programs by creating new health care programs. Michigan’s Medicaid expansion, also known as the Healthy Michigan Plan (HMP), was authorized under the ACA in 2013. The Healthy Michigan Plan is different to traditional Medicaid programs in terms of eligibility rules. Traditional Medicaid was only applicable to elderly/disabled below 100% of federal poverty line (FPL), children below 160% of FPL, and pregnant women below 195% of FPL. HMP on the other hand, specifically targets the working population. Adults (ages 19-64) who earn less than 133% of the FPL are eligible to apply for health care coverage of services such as free drug prescription, emergency services, and mental health services. This is extremely beneficial to low-income households because it enables them to spend their earnings on other important bills like electricity and rent, reducing financial pressures. It’s possible that the eligibility change to 133% of the FPL could also help smoothen the poor’s transition out of poverty. By covering the high costed health insurance of the city for the adults once they’re above the poverty line, it could protect them against shocks from losing other government subsidy privileges.
奥巴马总统对底特律产生的最大影响之一是2010年颁布的《平价医疗法案》（ACA），这是一个经过改革的联邦医疗体系，旨在提高全国成年人的医疗服务可及性和可用性。这项政策允许各州通过创建新的医疗保健计划来扩大医疗补助计划的覆盖范围。密歇根州的医疗补助扩展，也称为健康密歇根计划（HMP），于2013年根据ACA获得授权。健康密歇计划在资格规则方面与传统医疗补助计划不同。传统医疗补助仅适用于联邦贫困线（FPL）100%以下的老年人/残疾人、FPL 160%以下的儿童和FPL 195%以下的孕妇。另一方面，HMP专门针对工作人口。收入低于FPL 133%的成年人（19-64岁）有资格申请免费药物处方、紧急服务和心理健康服务等服务的医疗保险。这对低收入家庭极为有利，因为这使他们能够将收入用于其他重要的账单，如电费和租金，从而减轻了经济压力。有可能，将资格变更为FPL的133%也有助于帮助穷人顺利摆脱贫困。通过为超过贫困线的成年人提供高成本的医疗保险，可以保护他们免受冲击，避免失去其他政府补贴特权。
Since the health care reform, the health of Detroit’s low-income population was greatly improved. 3 years into the health care expansion, Detroit’s uninsured rate saw a huge reduction from 22% down to 7%. Moreover, a 2018 mixed methods study on the HMP conducted by the University of Michigan highlighted its impact. Of the 4108 survey responses, 80.2% were below 100% of the FPL, suggesting that a majority of the people who are under the HMP program are in poverty. The study also concluded that, since enrollment, 47.8% of HMP enrollees saw improvements in their physical health, 38.2% of users had improved mental health, 69.4% believed they experienced increases in work productivity, and 54.5% reported that the program was able to make them more fit to look for jobs. Thus, not only did Michigan’s Medicaid expansion improve the health of the poor, but it also improved their ability to work, and increased their job opportunities. However, this study heavily relied on the respondents’ ability to recall their experience, which could be subjective and inaccurate. Still, this is a big step forward for the city of Detroit in terms of solving their poverty issue.
自医疗改革以来，底特律低收入人口的健康状况大大改善。医疗保健扩张3年后，底特律的未保险率从22%大幅下降至7%。此外，密歇根大学（University of Michigan）2018年对HMP进行的一项混合方法研究强调了其影响。在4108份调查答复中，80.2%的人低于100%的FPL，这表明HMP计划下的大多数人都处于贫困之中。该研究还得出结论，自注册以来，47.8%的HMP参与者的身体健康状况有所改善，38.2%的用户的心理健康状况有所提高，69.4%的人认为他们的工作效率有所提高，54.5%的人表示该计划能够让他们更适合找工作。因此，密歇根州医疗补助计划的扩大不仅改善了穷人的健康，还提高了他们的工作能力，增加了他们的就业机会。然而，这项研究在很大程度上依赖于受访者回忆自己经历的能力，这可能是主观和不准确的。尽管如此，这对底特律市解决贫困问题来说是向前迈出的一大步。
Necessities 必要性
The United States Environmental Protection Agency considers an affordable bill to be 4.5% of monthly household income for water and wastewater service. While there is an ongoing debate about whether percentage-of-income is the most accurate determination of affordability, it remains the federal standard and most commonly used metric. The issue of water affordability has been an area of concern and contention in the City of Detroit for over a decade. Low-income residents pay on-average 10% of their monthly household income for water services, more than double the estimated rate. Residents are also making trade-offs to pay those bills. (Rockowitz 2018)
美国环境保护局认为，一笔负担得起的账单是家庭每月收入的4.5%，用于供水和废水处理。虽然目前仍在争论收入百分比是否是最准确的负担能力决定因素，但它仍然是联邦标准和最常用的指标。十多年来，底特律市一直关注和争论水的可承受性问题。低收入居民平均每月支付家庭收入的10%用于供水服务，是估计费用的两倍多。居民们也在权衡如何支付这些账单。
Assistance is helping reduce costs, but is not closing the affordability gap. Almost 80% of households on assistance pay over 4.5% of their income for water services. 94.3% were still cutting-back on monthly expenses to keep-up with their bills. 25.6% of households not receiving assistance were unaware of assistance programs.
援助有助于降低成本，但没有缩小负担能力差距。近80%接受援助的家庭将其收入的4.5%以上用于供水服务。94.3%的人仍在削减每月开支以应付账单。25.6%的未接受援助的家庭不知道援助计划。
It is suggested that the state government can extend to water suppliers the same rules that prohibit electric and natural gas providers from shutting off service to households with low incomes, older adults and people with serious medical conditions. Additionally, water suppliers should consider income-based rates for customers facing burdensome bills. In 2017, Philadelphia adopted a water rate structure, setting bills at 2% to 4% of income for customers at or below 150% of the federal poverty level or who experience certain financial hardships. This helps families to stay on their current water bills, increases certainty in the water supplier’s revenue stream, and reduces the supplier’s expenses related to collections and bad debt.
有人建议，州政府可以将禁止电力和天然气供应商关闭对低收入家庭、老年人和严重疾病患者的服务的同样规则扩展到供水供应商。此外，供水商应考虑为面临沉重账单的客户提供基于收入的费率。2017年，费城采用了水费结构，将联邦贫困水平150%或以下的客户或经历某些财务困难的客户的账单定为收入的2%至4%。这有助于家庭维持目前的水费，增加供水商收入流的确定性，并减少供水商与收款和坏账相关的费用。
Housing 住房
Michigan state law requires local governments to make a Poverty Tax Exemption (PTE) available to owner-occupants with low-incomes. In Detroit, the PTE is implemented as the Homeowners Property Tax Assistance Program (HPTAP). Homeowners living near or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) may apply annually to this program to have their property tax bill reduced by half or eliminated. Despite the availability of the PTE in Detroit, only a small proportion of eligible homeowners gain access to this critical relief. (Eisenberg 2018)
Findings reveal that low awareness, burdensome application procedures and limited institutional accountability act as barriers that restrict access to the program. Many residents who were eligible but did not receive the PTE in past years face considerable tax debt and remain at high risk for foreclosure. Most residents are confused about the relationship between city and county tax obligations; and the difference between available relief options. Homeowners faced considerable barriers at each stage of the application process that prevented them from receiving the exemption.
密歇根州法律要求地方政府向低收入的业主和住户提供贫困免税（PTE）。在底特律，PTE作为业主财产税援助计划（HPTAP）实施。居住在联邦贫困线（FPL）附近或以下的房主可以每年申请该计划，将其财产税账单减半或取消。尽管底特律有PTE，但只有一小部分符合条件的房主能够获得这一关键救济。             
调查结果表明，低认识、繁琐的申请程序和有限的机构责任是限制进入该项目的障碍。许多有资格但在过去几年没有获得PTE的居民面临着相当大的税收债务，并且仍然面临着丧失抵押品赎回权的高风险。大多数居民对城市和县税收义务之间的关系感到困惑；以及现有救济方案之间的差异。房主在申请过程的每个阶段都面临着相当大的障碍，使他们无法获得豁免。       
On the other hand, Detroit’s inclusionary zoning ordinance aims to offer more housing for families making up to 80% of AMI, but incomes in the city are generally much lower than incomes in the larger metro area and the most severe shortage of affordable housing is among renter households with Extremely Low Incomes (ELI)—those living at 30% of Area Median Income (AMI) and below. To focus on these families, the ordinance also created the Affordable Housing Development and Preservation Fund, which receives 20% of the net receipts of city-owned commercial property sales as well as the penalties assessed for failure to comply with the ordinance. The money can be used to meet the housing needs of families with incomes of up to 50% of AMI, with the majority dedicated to ELI families. (Cassidy 2019)
In 2018, Mayor Mike Duggan announced an initiative to establish a second housing fund, the Affordable Housing Leverage Fund (AHLF). Planned investments to the AHLF from several sources total $250 million over five years, eclipsing the city’s commitment to the ordinance-created fund. However, the fund is directed at development priced for households up to 80% of AMI, with a focus on those up to 60% of AMI. The city should make a more robust commitment of dedicated annual revenue to the first fund, which includes creation of an Affordable Housing Task Force, in order to achieve its deeper affordability goals for the Detroit families facing the greatest housing challenges.
另一方面，底特律的包容性分区条例旨在为占AMI人口80%的家庭提供更多的住房，但城市的收入通常远低于大城市地区的收入，而最严重的经济适用住房短缺是收入极低（ELI）的租户家庭，即生活在地区中等收入（AMI）30%及以下的租户。为了关注这些家庭，该法令还设立了经济适用房开发和保护基金，该基金将收取城市所有商业地产销售净收入的20%，以及因未遵守该法令而受到的处罚。这笔钱可用于满足收入高达AMI 50%的家庭的住房需求，其中大部分用于ELI家庭。            
2018年，市长迈克·达根宣布设立第二个住房基金——平价住房杠杆基金（AHLF）。五年内，来自多个来源的对AHLF的计划投资总额为2.5亿美元，超过了该市对该法令创建的基金的承诺。然而，该基金的目标是为高达80%的AMI家庭定价的开发项目，重点是高达60%的AMI。为了实现底特律面临最大住房挑战的家庭更深层次的负担能力目标，底特律市应该对第一个基金做出更有力的年度收入承诺，其中包括成立一个负担得起的住房工作队。
Policies Proposal 政策建议
Considering the causes of poverty in Detroit, the government should try to attract investment and thereby create more jobs and attract more workers. It is supposed to improve education and training of employees so that the city can compete with its suburbs instead of losing its upper and middle class in the competition with them. Meanwhile, with more active workers, the government can also increase tax revenue and achieve a budget surplus.
Assignment范文作者考虑到底特律贫困的原因，提出政府应该努力吸引投资，从而创造更多的就业机会，吸引更多的工人。它应该改善员工的教育和培训，使城市能够与郊区竞争，而不是在与郊区的竞争中失去上层和中产阶级。同时，有了更多积极的工人，政府也可以增加税收，实现预算盈余。本站提供各国各专业Assignment代写或指导服务，如有需要可咨询本平台。