Gender relation to hunger and automobile’s production externalities
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Gender Inequality in Connection to Starvation
In the United States and globally, gender inequality is a significant player and a contributor to hunger and poverty. Women’s discrimination increases hunger and poverty. Women bear the highest responsibility in feeding their families and facing the obstacles of pulling out of poverty. However, the earning of women is comparably less to that of men doing the same job. Women bear their unpaid family burdens of being responsible for cooking and housework, and caregiving. Hence, women likely spend much of their energy and earnings in caring for their family’s health and education compared to men. Women’s status significantly affects their family’s nutrition, as women with better status care better for their children, providing high-quality health and education. The gender pays gap impacts working women with children under the age of 18. Hence, it contributes to poor living, malnutrition, and lesser opportunities like education for their children.
Females that go hungry contribute to about 60 percent of people that go hungry globally (International museum of women,2020, pp 1). Globally, the gender gap index involves the following well-being dimensions: attainment of education, health and survival, political empowerment, and economic opportunities and participation. Women, especially from developing countries, face more economic participation barriers and fewer economic resources than men. Considering the current global hunger index and gender gap index, gender inequalities should be addressed to reduce hunger. Gender disparities reduction in crucial areas such as education and health essentially reduces the hunger index. Female education has been shown to have a much bigger impact on hunger and poverty than male education or other factors (International museum of women,2020, pp 1). The enormous impact can also be achieved in reducing hunger by removing or reducing barriers concerning market accessibility for women and increasing women’s involvement in asset production.
Policies that improve employment opportunities and better remuneration for women and girls in developing countries should be adopted. By adopting such improvement policies and developing effective strategies for reducing gender disparities, countries can pull out of hunger and poverty and secure a better life for future generations. Chad and Sri Lanka cases can be good examples in pointing the benefit and successes of a low gender gap index compared to dire consequences of a larger gender gap index: lower hunger index and higher hunger index, respectively (International museum of women,2020, pp 1). Sri Lanka’s emphasis on reproductive healthcare quality, universal food programs, and universal education is among the reasons for its lower hunger index than other south Asian countries. On the other hand, chad having a high illiteracy rate among women due to education-based gender inequality, has the fifth-highest hunger level worldwide. Women’s illiteracy status in Chad has contributed to high fatality rates, high maternal death rate, mortality rates, and shallow use rate of contraceptives; all consequently increases the hunger rates.
Externalities Associated with Automobiles Production
Many negative externalities are associated with vehicles since vehicle owners or drivers do not control costs such as air pollution on the third parties. Some countries have developed legislation regarding such external costs by either imposing taxes or limiting fuel car usage. The road use taxes cover infrastructure maintenance. However, in some countries, external driving costs, either by limitation of car usage or taxes, are not covered.
Some of the externalities of car usage include:
Traffic scarcity and congestion
The over-reliance increases road congestion on the usage of automobiles. Efforts to increase road capacities to relieve congestion lead to external costs on the government (Parry, 2007, pp 9). High vehicle demand leads to a never-ending need to expand road capacities.
Traffic accidents
In many countries, the leading cause of road accidents is car accidents. Such accidents consequently lead to external social costs in material damage, medical costs, administrative costs, and immaterial costs such as stress or pain due to death or injuries.
Noise and Air pollution
Health costs can be incurred due to car noise level quite above 55dBA while hooting or running engines Health costs can be incurred due to car noise level quite above 55dBA while hooting or running engines (Parry, 2007, pp 2). Such noises can also cause annoyance and hence social costs and economic costs. Such noises can also cause annoyance and hence social costs and economic costs.
Cars using petroleum fuels emit some toxic pollutants such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter into the environment. Such toxic pollutants cause respiratory and other related health problems.
Climate Change
Due to the emission of toxic greenhouse gases such as nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, vehicles considerably contribute to global climate change (Parry, 2007, pp 4). Such emissions can be reduced by reducing car speeds to below approximately 55mph and reducing severe car congestion.
Nature and landscape costs
induced demand for automobiles leads to scarcity of roads and parking spaces. This thereby results in the turning of formally agricultural and uncultivated spaces into motorways and parking lots.
Water pollution costs
Fuels and lubricating oil linkage into water bodies and water resources are harmful to users. Purifying such contaminated water imposes external costs.
Soil pollution costs
The release of harmful substances such as oil and surfactants into the soil pollutes the soil. Chloride leakage onto the ground causes vegetation damage as well as corrosive effect. (Parry, 2007, pp 7)
Energy dependency costs.
Cars and trucks majorly use petroleum fuels, causing overdependency on fuel supply. This increases the importation, storage, and refining costs by a country to sustain the reliance on automobile fuels (Parry, 2007, pp 7). Subsequently, impact the nation’s public debts and trade deficits.
Bibliography
International museum of women. (2020). What does gender have to do with hunger? Retrieved from: http://exhibitions.globalfundforwomen.org/economica/basic-rights/what-does-gender
Parry, I.W., Walls, M. and Harrington, W., 2007. Automobile externalities and policies. Journal of economic literature, 45(2), pp.373-399.