People having to pay high tax is a social problem. A gerund or a participle?

[Matthew Wai]

'People having to pay high tax is a social problem.'
I think 'having' is a gerund rather than a present participle, and the problem is 'having to pay high tax' rather than the 'people'.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It would be a gerund if "people" were not there. But because people is there, it is not. I have told you before about a supposed gerund following a noun. You don't seem to want to get that.

 

[SoothingDave]

If "people" were the problem it would say "People ... ARE a social problem."

 

[Tarheel]

Matthew, the entire noun phrase (subject) is People having to pay high taxes. You are right that People is not the problem.

 

[MikeNewYork]

But that doesn't make "having" a gerund. The problem is that people have to pay high taxes.

 

[Tarheel]

But that doesn't make "having" a gerund. The problem is that people have to pay high taxes.

You are right, of course. In fact, that (the second sentence) is the conclusion Matthew is supposed to reach.

 

[Matthew Wai]

You don't seem to want to get that.

It is because TheParser seemed to say that the ing word following a (pro)noun could be a gerund in this post. Have I misunderstood his meaning?
He said, '... the subject of the gerund can be in the possessive case or not.'
I take the subject to be the (pro)noun before the ing word. Am I wrong?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would ignore that post. There are several mistakes. For example, he refers to the subject of a gerund. Gerunds do not have subjects. A gerund can follow a possessive adjective (sometimes made from a pronoun), but not a noun or pronoun.