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Look up poverty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Poverty is deprivation, the denial of access to those things which make a life of dignity possible, including not only food, shelter and safe drinking water, but also such as \'intangibles\' as the opportunity to learn, to engage in meaningful employment or to enjoy the respect of one\'s fellow citizens. While some define poverty primarily in economic terms, others consider social and political factors to be intrinsic. The ongoing debates around the causes, effects, and best ways to measure poverty directly influence the design and implementation of poverty reduction programs, and are therefore relevant to the fields of international development and public administration. Although poverty is generally considered to be undesirable due to the pain and suffering it may cause, in certain spiritual contexts, \'voluntary poverty\' involving the renunciation of material goods, is seen as virtuous by some.
Poverty is a condition which may affect individuals or collective groups, and is not confined to the developing nations. Poverty in developed countries is manifest in a set of social problems including homelessness and the persistence of \'ghetto\' housing clusters.Youths\' poverty, despair fuel violent unrest in France
The book "The World Bank" by David Moore argues that some analyses of poverty reflect pejorative and sometimes racialized stereotypes of impoverished people as powerless victims, and passive recipients of aid programs.Chapter on Voices of the Poor in David Moore\'s edited book The World Bank: Development, Poverty, Hegemony (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007)
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World map showing life expectancy.
.svg/58px-UN Human Development Report 2007 (2).svg)
World map showing the Human Development Index.
World map showing the Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality.
A homeless Frenchman in Paris.
When measured, poverty may be absolute or relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. An example of an absolute measurement would be the percentage of the population eating less food than is required to sustain the human body (approximately 2000-2500 calories per day for an adult male).
Economic aspects of poverty may focus on material needs, typically including the necessities of daily living, such as food, clothing, shelter, or safe drinking water. Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or community is lacking in the basic needs for a minimum standard of well-being and life, particularly as a result of a persistent lack of income.
Analysis of social aspects of poverty links conditions of scarcity to aspects of the distribution of resources and power in a society and recognizes that poverty may be a function of the diminished "capability" of people to live the kinds of lives they value.Amartya Sen, 1985, Commodities and Capabilities, Amsterdam, New Holland, cited in Siddiqur Rahman Osmani, 2003, Evolving Views on Poverty: Concept, Assessment, and Strategy, [1] The social aspects of poverty may include lack of access to information, education, health care, or political power.A Glossary for Social Epidemiology Nancy Krieger, PhD, Harvard School of Public HealthJournal of Poverty Poverty may also be understood as an aspect of unequal social status and inequitable social relationships, experienced as social exclusion, dependency, and diminished capacity to participate, or to develop meaningful connections with other people in society.H Silver, 1994, social exclusion and social solidarity, in International Labour Review, 133 5-6G Simmel, The poor, Social Problems 1965 13 P Townsend, 1979, Poverty in the UK, Penguin
The World Bank\'s "Voices of the Poor," based on research with over 20,000 poor people in 23 countries, identifies a range of factors which poor people identify as part of poverty.{http://www1.worldbank.org/prem/poverty/voices/ Voices of the Poor} These include:
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$ (PPP) 1 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day, estimating that "in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day." The World Bank, 2007, Understanding Poverty [2] The proportion of the developing world\'s population living in extreme economic poverty fell from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001.The World Bank, 2007, Understanding Poverty [3] Looking at the period 1981-2001, the percentage of the world\'s population living on less than $1 per day has halved.
However, most of this improvement has occurred in East and South Asia.Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion, 2007, "How Have the World\'s Poorest Fared Since the Early 1980s?" Table 3, p. 28. [4] In East Asia the World Bank reports that "The poverty headcount rate at the $2-a-day level is estimated to have fallen to about 27 percent, down from 29.5 percent in 2006 and 69 percent in 1990."World Bank, 14 November 2007, \'East Asia Remains Robust Despite US Slow Down\' [5]
In Sub-Saharan Africa GDP/capita shrank by 14 percent and extreme poverty increased from 41 percent in 1981 to 46 percent in 2001, increasing the number of people living in poverty from 231 million to 318 million.The Independent, \'Birth rates must be curbed to win war on global poverty\', 31 January 2007 [6]
Other regions have seen little change. In the early 1990s the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia experienced a sharp drop in income. Poverty rates rose to 6 percent at the end of the decade before beginning to recede.Worldbank.org reference
World Bank data shows that the percentage of the population living in households with consumption or income per person below the poverty line has decreased in each region of the world since 1999: World Bank, 2007, Povcalnet Poverty Data [7]The data can be replicated using World Bank 2007 Human Development Indicator regional tables, and using the default poverty line of $32.74 per month at 1993 PPP.
| Region | 1990 | 2002 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Asia and Pacific | 15.40% | 12.33% | 9.07% |
| Europe and Central Asia | 3.60% | 1.28% | 0.95% |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 9.62% | 9.08% | 8.64% |
| Middle East and North Africa | 2.08% | 1.69% | 1.47% |
| South Asia | 35.04% | 33.44% | 30.84% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 46.07% | 42.63% | 41.09% |
There are various criticisms of these measurements.Institute of Social Analysis Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion note that although "a clear trend decline in the percentage of people who are absolutely poor is evident, although with uneven progress across regions...the developing world outside China and India has seen little or no sustained progress in reducing the number of poor". However, since the world\'s population has increased, if instead looking at the percentage living on less than $1/day, and if excluding China and India, then this percentage has decreased from 31.35% to 20.70% between 1981 and 2004.Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion, 2007, "How Have the World\'s Poorest Fared Since the Early 1980s?"[8]
Other human development indicators are also improving. Life expectancy has greatly increased in the developing world since WWII and is starting to close the gap to the developed world where the improvement has been smaller. Even in Sub-Saharan Africa, the least developed region, life expectancy increased from 30 years before World War II to a peak of about 50 years before the HIV pandemic and other diseases started to force it down to the current level of 47 years. Child mortality has decreased in every developing region of the worldThe Eight Losers of Globalization By Guy Pfeffermann. . The proportion of the world\'s population living in countries where per-capita food supplies are less than 2,200 calories (9,200 kilojoules) per day decreased from 56% in the mid-1960s to below 10% by the 1990s. Between 1950 and 1999, global literacy increased from 52% to 81% of the world. Women made up much of the gap: Female literacy as a percentage of male literacy has increased from 59% in 1970 to 80% in 2000. The percentage of children not in the labor force has also risen to over 90% in 2000 from 76% in 1960. There are similar trends for electric power, cars, radios, and telephones per capita, as well as the proportion of the population with access to clean water.World Development Volume 33, Issue 1 , January 2005, Pages 1-19, Why Are We Worried About Income? Nearly Everything that Matters is Converging The book The Improving State of the World finds that many other indicators have also improved.
Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context. Income inequality is a relative measure of poverty. A relative measurement would be to compare the total wealth of the poorest one-third of the population with the total wealth of richest 1% of the population. There are several different income inequality metrics. One example is the Gini coefficient.
Income inequality for the world as a whole is diminishing. A 2002 study by Xavier Sala-i-Martin finds that this is driven mainly, but not fully, by the extraordinary growth rate of the incomes of the 1.2 billion Chinese citizens. However, unless Africa achieves economic growth, then China, India, the OECD and the rest of middle-income and rich countries will increase their relative advantage, and global inequality will rise. Global Inequality Fades as the Global Economy Grows 2007 Index of Economic Freedom. Xavier Sala-i-Martin]The Disturbing "Rise" of Global Income Inequality by Xavier Sala-i-Martin. 2001
The 2007 World Bank report "Global Economic Prospects" predicts that in 2030 the number living on less than the equivalent of $1 a day will fall by half, to about 550 million. An average resident of what we used to call the Third World will live about as well as do residents of the Czech or Slovak republics today. However, much of Africa will have difficulty keeping pace with the rest of the developing world and even if conditions there improve in absolute terms, the report warns, Africa in 2030 will be home to a larger proportion of the world\'s poorest people than it is today.WORLD BANK HAS GOOD NEWS ABOUT FUTURE By ANDREW CASSEL The Philadelphia Inquirer. Dec. 30, 2006 However, economic growth has increased rapidly in Africa after the year 2000.http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=155246
In many developed countries the official definition of poverty used for statistical purposes is based on relative income. As such many critics argue that poverty statistics measure inequality rather than material deprivation or hardship. For instance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46% of those in "poverty" in the U.S. own their own home (with the average poor person\'s home having three bedrooms, with one and a half baths, and a garage).Rector, Robert E. and Johnson, Kirk A., Understanding Poverty in America Executive Summary, Heritage Foundation, January 15, 2004 No. 1713 Furthermore, the measurements are usually based on a person\'s yearly income and frequently take no account of total wealth. The main poverty line used in the OECD and the European Union is based on "economic distance", a level of income set at 50% of the median household income. The US poverty line is more arbitrary. It was created in 1963-64 and was based on the dollar costs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s "economy food plan" multiplied by a factor of three. The multiplier was based on research showing that food costs then accounted for about one third of the total money income. This one-time calculation has since been annually updated for inflation.US Department of Human Services-FAQ Poverty Guidelines and Poverty
A starving female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s. The abdomen is paradoxically swollen due to Kwashiorkor or severe protein malnutrition.
Many different factors have been cited to explain why poverty occurs. However, no single explanation has gained universal acceptance. At the international level some emphasise global systemic causes, (such as trade, aid and debt, the focus of the Make Poverty History campaign), while others point to national level deficiencies of public administration and financial management, the focus of the Good Governance agenda of the international financial institutions. At the national level, some point to personal factors, such as drug use, work ethic and education level as the main cause of poverty, while others indicate inadequate social services and policies biased in favour of the wealthy and social elite, as a cause of enduring poverty.
Other possible factors include:
Environmental Factors
By Nicholas K. Menzies
Economics
Health Care
Governance
Demographics and Social Factors
The effects of poverty may also be causes, as listed above, thus creating a "poverty cycle" operating across multiple levels, individual, local, national and global.
Those living in poverty and lacking access to essential health services, suffering hunger or even starvation,Forget oil, the new global crisis is food experience mental and physical health problems which make it harder for them to improve their situation.Vikram Patel. "Is Depression a Disease of Poverty?". Regional Health Forum WHO South-East Asia Region 5 (1). One third of deaths - some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes: in total 270 million people, most of them women and children, have died as a result of poverty since 1990.The World Health Report, World Health Organization (See annex table 2) Those living in poverty suffer lower life expectancy. Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before their fifth birthday. Those living in poverty often suffer from hunger.Rising food prices curb aid to global poor 800 million people go to bed hungry every night.millenniumcampaign.org Poverty increases the risk of homelessness.Study: 744,000 homeless in United States There are over 100 million street children worldwide.Street Children Increased risk of drug abuse may also be associated with poverty.Health warning over Russian youth
Those living in poverty in the developed world, may suffer social isolation and rates of suicide may increase in conditions of poverty. Death of a breadwinner may decrease a household\'s resilience to poverty conditions and cause a dramatic worsening in their situation. Low income levels and poor employment opportunities for adults in turn create the conditions where households can depend on the income of child members. An estimated 218 million children aged 5 to 17 are in child labor worldwide, excluding child domestic labor.UNICEF - Child labor Lacking viable employment opportunities those living in poverty may also engage in the informal economy, or in criminal activity, both of which may on a larger scale discourage investment in the economy, further perpetuating conditions of poverty.
Low income and wealth levels undermine the ability of governments to levy taxes for public service provision, adding to the \'vicious circle\' connecting the causes and effects of poverty. Lack of essential infrastructure, poor education and health services, and poor sanitation contribute to the perpetuation of poverty.Urban and Slum Trends in the 21st Century By Eduardo Lopez Moreno and Rasna Warah Poor access to affordable public education can lead to low levels of literacy, further entrenching poverty. Weak public service provision and high levels of poverty can increase states\' vulnerability to natural disasters and make states more vulnerable to shocks in the international economy, such as those associated with rising fuel prices, or declining commodity prices.Dealing with Increased Risk of Natural Disasters: Challenges and Options PK Freeman, M Keen, M Mani - 2003Social Protection and Risk Management at worldbank.org
The capacity of the state is further undermined by the problem that people living in poverty may be more vulnerable to extremist political persuasion, and may feel less loyalty to a state unable to deliver basic services. For these reasons conditions of poverty may increase the risk of political violence, terrorism, war and genocide, and may make those living in poverty vulnerable to human trafficking, internal displacement and exile as refugees. Countries suffering widespread poverty may experience loss of population, particularly in high-skilled professions, through emigration, which may further undermine their ability to improve their situation.
In politics, the fight against poverty is usually regarded as a social goal and many governments have institutions or departments dedicated to tackling poverty. One of the main debates in the field of poverty reduction is around the question of how actively the state should manage the economy and provide public services to tackle the problem of poverty. In the nineties, international development policies focused on a package of measures known as the Washington Consensus which involved reducing the scope of state activities, and reducing state intervention in the economy, reducing trade barriers and opening economies to foreign investment. In the current decade, the importance of strong and functioning states to poverty reduction is more widely recognised. Vigorous debate over these issues continues however, and most poverty reduction programs attempt to increase both the competitiveness of the economy and the viability of the state.
.png/58px-World GDP per capita (1000-1998).png)
World GDP per capita rapidly increased beginning with the Industrial Revolution.
The anti-poverty strategy of the World Bank depends heavily on reducing poverty through the promotion of economic growth.PovertyNet worldbank.org. The World Bank argues that an overview of many studies shows that:
What could broadly be called free market reforms represent one strategy for reducing poverty. For example, noted reductions in poverty in the 20th century have been in India and China, where hundreds of millions of people in the two countries grew out of poverty, mostly as a result of the abandonment of collective farming in China and the cutting of government red tape in India.[citation needed] This was critical in fostering their dramatic economic growth.[11]Can aid bring an end to poverty However, UN economists argue that for the market reforms to work, good infrastructure is needed, and for that the role of a strong state is important.[citation needed] For example, today, China is investing in railways, roads, ports and rural telephony in various African countries as part of its international strategy.[12] China becomes Africa\'s suitor
The Global Competitiveness Report, the Ease of Doing Business Index, and the Index of Economic Freedom are annual reports, often used in academic research, ranking the worlds nations on factors argued to increase economic growth and reduce poverty.
Developing countries face a range of obstacles to trading competitively on international markets which are the focus of the fair trade campaign associated with the global Make Poverty History campaign. Almost half of the budget of the European Union for example is directed to agricultural subsidies, which primarily benefit large multinational agribusinesses who form a powerful lobby.Oxfam:Stop the dumping! Japan gave 47 billion dollars in 2005 in subsidies to its agricultural sector,OECD Producer Support Estimate By Country nearly four times the amount it gave in total foreign aid.OECD Development Aid At a Glance By Region The US gives 3.9 billion dollars each year in subsidies to its cotton sector, including 25,000 growers, three times more in subsidies than the entire USAID budget for Africa, although America contributes a sum far larger than the 3.9 billion dollars through other agencies.Cultivating Poverty The Impact of US Cotton Subsidies on Africa Critics argue that agricultural subsidies in the developed world drain taxation revenue, increase the end-prices paid by consumers, and discourage efficiency improvements, while retaliatory trade barriers unfairly undermine the competitiveness of agricultural and other exports in those industries in which developing countries would otherwise have a significant comparative advantages.Six Reasons to Kill Farm Subsidies and Trade Barriers
Lack of trade barriers on incoming (often highly subsidized) goods from wealthier countries is also considered by some economists a driver of poverty[citation needed]. Most countries have some history of import substitution and direct government protection of and investment in local industries. Reducing tariff receipts can lower a major source of government revenue & spending, while raising tariffs may improve the terms of trade for the poor.The Torrens 1884 Optimal Tariff Argument was advanced as an Indonesian poverty-reduction strategy, for example. See: Indonesia rice tariff.. The general theory is described in Optimal Tariff Argument. and International Trade Theory and Policy.
Most developed nations give development aid to developing countries. The UN target for development aid is 0.7% of GDP; currently only a few nations achieve this. Some think tanks and NGOs have argued, however, that Western monetary aid often only serves to increase poverty and social inequality, either because it is conditioned with the implementation of harmful economic policies in the recipient countries Haiti\'s rice farmers and poultry growers have suffered greatly since trade barriers were lowered in 1994. By Jane Regan, or because it\'s tied with the importing of products from the donor country over cheaper alternatives,Tied Aid Strangling Nations, Says U.N. by Thalif Deen or because foreign aid is seen to be serving the interests of the donor more than the recipient.US and Foreign Aid, GlobalIssues.org Critics also argue that some of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials, and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy becomes much more oriented toward what will get more aid money than it does towards meeting the needs of the people.MYTH: More Foreign Aid Will End Global Poverty
Supporters argue that these problems may be solved with better auditing of how the aid is used.MYTH: More Foreign Aid Will End Global Poverty Aid from non-governmental organizations may be more effective than governmental aid; this may be because it is better at reaching the poor and better controlled at the grassroots level.Does Foreign Aid Reduce Poverty? Empirical Evidence from Nongovernmental and Bilateral Aid As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $1 trillion.SIPRI Yearbook 2006
Numerous methods have been adduced to upgrade the situation of those in poverty. Some of these mechanisms are:
Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is the first Millennium Development Goal. In addition to broader approaches, the Sachs Report (for the UN Millennium Project) UN Millennium Project proposes a series of "quick wins", approaches identified by development experts which would cost relatively little but could have a major constructive effect on world poverty. The quick wins are:
The Copenhagen Consensus was an attempt to rank global welfare improvement programs in terms of their urgency and cost-effectiveness: Direct Aid to combat HIV infection was the expert\'s top priority.
Another method in helping to fight poverty is to have commodity exchanges that will supply necessary information about national and perhaps international markets to the poor who would then know what products and where it is sold will bring better profits. For example, in Ethiopia, remote farmers, who do not have this information, produce crops that may not bring the best profits. When they sell their products to a local trader, who then sells to another trader, and another, the cost of the food rises before it finally reaches the consumer in large cities. Economist, Gabre-Madhin proposes warehouses where farmers could have constant updates of the latest market prices, making the farmer think nationally, not locally. Each warehouse would have an independent neutral party that would test and grade the farmer\'s harvest, allowing traders in Addis Ababa, and potentially outside Ethiopia, to place bids on food, even if it is unseen. Thus, if the farmer gets five cents in one place he would get three times the price by selling it in another part of the country where there may be a drought.Market approach recasts often-hungry Ethiopia as potential bread basket
Some argue for a radical change of the economic system. There are several proposals for a fundamental restructuring of existing economic relations, and many of their supporters argue that their ideas would reduce or even eliminate poverty entirely if they were implemented. Such proposals have been put forward by both left-wing and right-wing groups: socialism, communism, anarchism, libertarianism, binary economics and participatory economics, among others.
Proponents of such taxes argue that absolute or relative poverty can be reduced by progressive taxation, a wealth tax, and an inheritance tax.
The IMF and member countries have produced Poverty Reduction Strategy papers or PRSPs.Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP)
In his book The End of Poverty (ISBN 1594200459),Jeffrey D. Sachs, The End of Poverty Time, March 6 2005. Retrieved August 7 2007. a prominent economist named Jeffrey Sachs laid out a plan to eradicate global poverty by the year 2025. Following his recommendations, international organizations are working to help eradicate poverty worldwide with intervention in the areas of housing, food, education, basic health, agricultural inputs, safe drinking water, transportation and communications.Sachs J (2007). "Jeffrey Sachs, PhD: Ending extreme poverty, improving the human condition. Interview by M J Friedrich". JAMA 298 (16): 1849–51. doi:10.1001/jama.298.16.1849. PMID 17954530.
\'Tis the gift to be simple,
\'tis the gift to be free,
\'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.
St. Francis of Assisi renounces his worldly goods in a painting attributed to Giotto di Bondone.
Among some individuals, such as ascetics, poverty is considered a necessary or desirable condition, which must be embraced in order to reach certain spiritual, moral, or intellectual states. Poverty is often understood to be an essential element of renunciation in religions such as Buddhism and Jainism, whilst in Roman Catholicism it is one of the evangelical counsels. Certain religious orders also take a vow of poverty. For example, the Franciscan orders have traditionally forgone all individual and corporate forms of ownership. However, while individual ownership of goods and wealth is forbidden for Benedictines, following the Rule of St. Benedict, the monastery itself may possess both goods and money, and throughout history some monasteries have become very rich indeed.[citation needed]
In this context of religious vows, poverty may be understood as a means of self-denial in order to place oneself at the service of others; Pope Honorius III wrote in 1217 that the Dominicans "lived a life of voluntary poverty, exposing themselves to innumerable dangers and sufferings, for the salvation of others". However, following Jesus\' warning that riches can be like thorns that choke up the good seed of the word (Matthew 13:22), voluntary poverty is often understood by Christians as of benefit to the individual - a form of self-discipline by which one distances oneself from distractions from God.[citation needed]
The words "poverty" and "poor" came from Latin pauper = "poor", which originally came from pau- and the root of pario, i.e. "giving birth to not much" and referred to unproductive farmland or livestock.
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"Poverty and Pauperism". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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