Kelly 1 Taylor Kelly Professor Gonsior Writing 1010, Section 30 14 November 2013 Unemployment: Can Detroit Be Helped?

There are multiple factors that play a role in the unemployment within the city of Detroit. During an interview Rochelle Riley, a writer for the Detroit Free Press, stated that the unemployment rate in the city of Detroit has nearly tripled since 2000. The financial crisis that has hit the city many years ago has made a major impact, and is still affecting the city today. It is said that it was Detroits destiny to fall in an economic crisis because of the automotive industry. Although this may be a factor in the unemployment today, the main reasons for the unemployment are an incline in technology use and the rapid growth of population in the world. But, it is said that the biggest problem that causes unemployment is the lack of initiative that people have. In retrospect, all of these examples cause unemployment but each one can be argued. It has been reported that Detroit has been over-paying benefits, such as unemployment, for well over two years to people that have never even worked for the city. (Lichterman) After finding out that these unemployment claims were fraud, it was questioned if there are more cases that made false claims and have been receiving unemployment benefits. There are many reasons for unemployment but some of the main reasons are technological advancement, the vast population growth, and the lack of initiative that many Americans have these days. One of the main reasons for unemployment in Detroit is because of the evolving technology. Through the years technology has been a big impact on the society. It has raised concern that advancement in technology will replace workers and create a major loss of jobs in

Kelly 2 the future. As technology advances the machines are becoming qualified to work at a faster pace and are more cost efficient. The machines are able to work at a more adequate pace and are more profitable in the long run. Since the Earth is over populated, the amount of voluntary unemployment had increased within the last couple years. (Martin) Many of the workers that get laid off during the technological advancements because they are looking for a job that is similar to the one they used to have, or are looking for a job in an industry to is paying extravagant wages. (Mabry) Nowadays, people are not worried about the type of employment that they have or if they enjoy it, their main concern is to find a well paying job so they are able to pay bills and support their families. Many families are worried that they will not have enough funds to buy the bare essentials they need to live on a day-to-day basis because of these new machines. As hard as it is to believe, the population of the world has gone up 1 billion people in the last 10 years. (Martin) The population of the United States is consistently increasing with all of the births, and the immigrants that coming to the U.S. The bigger the population, the more needs of specific goods are in demand. When the demand is not proportional with the supply it causes an issue and calls for a large amount of goods when there are a little amount of supplies. The shortage of supply requires something that will be able to make the product at a rapid pace and can do so efficiently. Machines are more equipped to do so, and cause a decrease in job availability. Unemployment then affects the economic growth of the country and is a loss economically. When there are job losses there is less money spent which means inability to stimulate the growth of the economy. One of the main causes of unemployment today is the lack of initiative that people have. Due to the easy accessibility of welfare, it makes citizens make them feel like it is unnecessary to get a job. Many citizens are devastated after they are laid off or fired from a job and have no

Kelly 3 motivation to get back into the work force after this occurs. Also, they are provided with welfare and feel they do not need to go out and find a job, this is known as the welfare trap. However, the type of people and situations they are in is not taken into account when talking about unemployment as a whole. Situations can vary from single mothers that are unable to provide for the family to people that are too lazy and have no urgency to find employment. When these situations are considered it is hard to say who is actually qualified to have welfare. Although these are all valid points, it is still questioned whether the relationship between the economy and the unemployment are relative. It is believed that if one is at an all-time high the other must be at an all-time low. (Mouw) For instance, when there is no money circulation the economy cannot stimulate growth to provide more jobs. However, the development of Detroit was not a single decision. There were multiple decisions that created the conflict of unemployment, not only in Detroit, but the United States altogether. The financial crisis that was brought upon Detroit has had an effect on the unemployment within the city. The fate of the city was believed to be an economic decline because of all the issues, such as the technological advances and environmental issues that are happening in the automotive industry. Unemployment is mainly caused by the population growth, the technological growth and the laziness of the citizens. A prime example of why the unemployment rate is so high is because of the false claims that have been reported in Detroit. The city is trying to overcome this issue and eventually resolve the conflict, but unless there is a change in heart and the people arent reliant on technology, unemployment will stay in Detroit for good.

Kelly 4 Works Cited Carey, Nick and Paul Liner. "Bankrupt Detroit's downtown renaissance creates trickle of hope." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 22 July 2013. 10 Nov. 2013. Web. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi. Racial and gender differences in unemployment patterns in an urban labor market: The case of Detroit. The Review of Black Political Economy 27.3. (2000): 35. Academic OneFile. 11 Nov. 2013. Web. Lichterman, Joseph. "Detroit eyes freezing pensions, probes city's dysfunction." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 26 Sept. 2013. 12 Nov. 2013. Web. Mabry, R.H. Does More Technology Create Unemployment? Cato Institute (2008) 11 Nov. 2013. Web. Martin, Mitchel and Rochelle Riley. Detroit Unemployment Rate Triple The National Average NPR. 25 Mar. 2009. 13 Nov. 2013. Web. Mouw, Ted. "Job Relocaiton and the racial gap in unemployment in Detroit and Chicago, 1980 to 1990. American Sociological Review 65.5 (2000): 730+. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 .