According to Klinenberg (2018), social infrastructure is a concept hypothesized to explain the social amenities that exist within public spaces to help build community living. The identified amenities include green spaces, playgrounds, libraries, and amusement parks in neighborhoods where residents can go to interact, either as families or with nature. The availability of such facilities in our increasingly urbanized society is diminishing. Public spaces are being converted into real estate properties to serve other social purposes leaving out the primary roles of these spaces that previously offered platforms that enhance community well-being. Policymakers, at all levels of governance, grapple with the need for a balanced society, where social, political, and economic needs of the people are met. However, political and economic needs have received much attention as compared to social demands. The paper discusses the effect of public policies on the environment, healthcare, and minimum wage has on social infrastructure with a focus on how they influence crime.
Healthcare Policies
There is evidence that improved healthcare reduces crime rates, as explained by Doleac (2018). Mental health, mainly, is a factor that has a high correlation with crime rates because of high levels of psychological distress among offenders. In a neighborhood that has the necessary social infrastructures to address access to mental health conditions, there are low crime rates.
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a national policy framework has had a significant impact on the social setting in California. As a health system policy, the passing of ACA ensured that more Americans could access health cover and indeed be guaranteed access to quality health services (Long & Gruber, 2011). With the passing of ACA, more families, especially from lower-income as well as middle-income working for families, greatly benefited from the new policy guidelines. More families were enrolled and received medical services at effectively lower costs compared to before the passing of the Act. Having more families gain access to quality health services guarantees a robust public health system hence reducing risks in disease outbreaks.
Minimum Wage Policies
As argued by labor activists, raising the minimum wage has a positive influence on lowering crime rates—the rise in costs of living results in a high possibility of increased poverty levels in the long-term. Notably, when low-skilled workers receive higher wages, there is a reduction in poverty and levels of violent crimes. According to experts, when the minimum wage increases to $12 in 2020, there will be a corresponding 3 to 5 percent decline in the rate of violent crime in America (Lantigua-Williams, 2016).
Minimum wage Policies in the State of California has been progressive over the years. California State’s policy minimum wage from companies with 26 and above employees stands at $13/hour while firms with 25 and less staff have a $12. The California Department of Industrial Relations guides the minimum wage. The rate of minimum wage limits allows working families to provide for their basic needs, including housing, food, and clothing. According to Reich, Allegretto and Montialoux (2017), minimum wage policies create a sense of self-sufficiency in society hence reducing uncertainty from unemployment and negative vices such as crime in low-income neighborhoods. Increasing the minimum wage has seen reduced rates of crime in most neighborhoods as working households can effectively generate income to provide for their needs.
Climate Change Policies in California
Environmental experts note that climate change has a direct impact on the prevalence of criminal activities in America. Basing their arguments on the social interaction theory of crime, experts explain that weather conditions affect community members’ social lives and interactions. Unfavorable external environmental conditions heighten aggression and may promote the loss of control among members of society. In essence, climate change increases the crime rate in America, as explained by Ranson (2014).
The State of California has been among the leading advocates on global environmental policies. The state under different administrations has safeguarded the need for investing in environment-friendly initiatives backing such proposals with robust legislative guidelines and budgets. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32) and Governor Schwarzenegger Executive Order S-2-05 remain among the policy frameworks that helped shape the ecological principles in legislative proposals coming from California (Klinenberg, 2018). Under the Assembly Bill (AB) 32, California, as a state, aspired to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 1.4% to the levels it was in the 1990s. The policy targeted greenhouse and harmful gases from industries including Carbon dioxide, methane, Hydro-fluorocarbons, sulfurs, Nitrous oxides, and other industrial gases. Under this policy, the State of California was able to generate revenue through auctioned polluter permits and fund other social infrastructure programs related to the environment, including the expansion of green spaces and parks. The environmentally geared policies have allowed locals in the state of California to benefit from better industrial services, better air quality, and increased open and green spaces for common use. The administration has used revenue generated from AB 32 permits to improve on existing social infrastructure, including schools, libraries, amusement parks, and other social amenities.
References
Doleac, J. L. (January 3, 2018). New evidence that access to health care reduces crime. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/01/03/new-evidence-that-access-to-health-care-reduces-crime/
Klinenberg, E. (2018). Palaces for the people: How social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life . Broadway Books.
Lantigua-Williams, J. (May 3, 2016). Raise the Minimum Wage, Reduce Crime? A new White House report links higher hourly incomes to lower rates of law-breaking. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/raise-the-minimum-wage-reduce-crime/480912/
Long, P., & Gruber, J. (2011). Projecting the impact of the Affordable Care Act on California. Health Affairs , 30 (1), 63-70.
Ranson, M. (2014). Crime, weather, and climate change. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 67 (3), 274-302.
Reich, M., Allegretto, S., & Montialoux, C. (2017). Effects of a $15 Minimum Wage in California and Fresno. Policy Brief, Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley .
