Engliah_Oral

Under the living environment aspect, lack of sufficient personal space is another issue. As the poor family cannot afford the high rent, living in sub-divided unit usually is their only choice. From the previous video and pictures, I believe most of you have a clear picture of the living environment of sub-divided units. Tiny space and crowd environment are the characteristic of these flats. Living in this kind of cubical home, people are unable to have their personal space. Maybe it is common for us to have our bedroom. However it is not possible for the poor family to have one in their tiny flat. Referring to the picture; an apartment was divided into 4 small units. Comparing the original one and the sub-divided units, we can see that the size of a sub- divided unit is limited. Mrs. Yang and her three family members live in one of these sub-divided units. Just a couple of basic furniture, such as desk and bed, has already occupied most of the area. In addition, there is only one living room with no bedroom; so no matter what kind of activities, such as sleeping or having dinner. They all have to do it within this small room. Mrs. Yang comments that the sub-divided unit is no place for human. Actually, in some extreme cases, we realize that it is nearly impossible for the poor people to enjoy personal space. In the picture, that is Mr. Cheung with his apartment. A single bed has already taken up most of the spaces. No space can be provided for putting furniture or other belongings. The room cannot even provide a sufficient space for him to move. For the poor families, most of them do not have their own room. Some people cannot even have enough space to move. It is no doubt that they cannot have enough personal space. Poverty problem is not only creating a heavier burden to the government, but also affecting the next generation. This situation as know as intergenerational poverty. Different aspects of the children will be adversely influenced. First, it is about the health development of children. Nowadays, many kids suffer from obesity and over nutrition. While some parents are wealthy enough to provide excess food to their children, the poor parents cannot even provide enough food to their kids. A survey from Oxfam found out that one in six children from poor families often feel hungry because parents cannot provide enough food. Poor families only have limited expenditure on food purchasing. Parents are unable to afford the high food price. With the inflation, the situation has been worsening. The income of the poor family is not enough to cover the increment of food expense. That is why a large number of children are suffering from food insecurity. They cannot consume basic three meals in one day. Most of them may still feel hungry after having meal. Therefore, some children may have to consume leftovers to deal with the hunger. A survey from Oxfam found that many poor parents do not have the ability to provide their children a healthy and balanced diet. The table in the slide can help us to understand the situation. We can see that the average daily food expenditure needed for a nutritionally balanced diet is much higher than the average daily food expenditure that the low income families can afford. Even the parents want to prepare a better meal; they are incapable to do so. That is why many poor children cannot reach the nutritional standard. Many health problems such as malnutrition, underweight and anemia will be generated .Obviously, the health development of the poor children will be affected.