Poverty - Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 204.184.44.221 (talk) at 18:55, 27 November 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:55, 27 November 2006 by 204.184.44.221 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The component "pov" in an abbreviation may mean "point of view".

File:Percentage population living on less than 1 dollar day.png

Map of world poverty by country, showing percentage of population living on less than 1 dollar per day. Unfortunately, information is missing for some countries.

Poverty is understood in many senses. The main understandings of the term include:

Descriptions of material need, typically including the necessities of daily living, like (food, clothing, and shelter). Poverty in this sense may be understood as the deprivation of essential goods and services.
Describing a lack of sufficient income and wealth. The meaning of "sufficient" varies widely across the different political and economic parts of the world.
Descriptions of social need, such as social exclusion, dependency, and the ability to participate in society. This would include education and information. Social exclusion is usually distinguished from poverty, as it encompasses political and moral issues, and is not restrained to the sphere of economics.

Measuring poverty

Although the most severe poverty is in the developing world, there is evidence of poverty in every region. In developed countries, this condition results in wandering homeless people and poor suburbs and ghettos. Poverty may be seen as the collective condition of poor people, or of poor groups, and in this sense entire nation-states are sometimes regarded as poor. To avoid stigma these nations are usually called developing nations.

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 kilocalories per day).

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. It has been estimated 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 proportion of the developing world's population living in extreme economic poverty has fallen from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001. Much of the improvement has occurred in East and South Asia. In Sub-Saharan Africa GDP/capita shrank with 14 percent and extreme poverty increased from 41 percent in 1981 to 46 percent in 2001. Other regions have seen little or no change. In the early 1990s the transition economies of 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. There are various criticisms of these measurements.

Other indicators of absolute poverty are also improving. People no longer have to eat their own babies in order to survive. 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 world . 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.

Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context. In this case, the number of people counted as poor could increase while their income rise. 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.

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). 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.

Income inequality for the world as a whole may be diminishing.

Even if poverty may be lessening for the world as a whole, it continues to be an enormous problem:

One third of deaths - some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes. That's 270 million people since 1990, the majority women and children, roughly equal to the population of the US.
Every year nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday.

1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day

800 million people go to bed hungry every day.

Causes of poverty

File:P7032101 small2.jpg

A homeless Frenchman in Paris.

Many different factors have been cited to explain why poverty occurs. However, no single explanation has gained universal acceptance. Some possible factors include:

Poverty itself, preventing investment and development...
Capitalism is seen by some as a source of poverty, and by others as a solution. The former claim that unrestrained capitalism leads to accumulation of power and wealth in the hands of an elite (a theory that dates as far back as Karl Marx); While the latter claim that it leads to general economic development, which is beneficial to the whole population.
Poor, failed, or absence of an infrastructure, lack of opportunities.
Government corruption.
Lack of functioning democracy.
Lack of social integration. For example, arising from immigration (see related article, Economic impact of immigration to Canada).
Crime.
Natural disasters.
Substance abuse, such as alcoholism and drug abuse.
Natural factors such as climate or environment.
Historical factors, for example imperialism and colonialism.
Overpopulation. Note that population growth slows or even become negative as poverty is reduced due to the demographic transition.
War, including civil war, genocide, and democide.
Lack of education.
Lack of social skills.
Exploitation of the poor by the rich.
Even if not exploitation in the sense of theft, the already wealthy may have easier to accumulate more wealth, for example by hiring better financial advisors.
Matthew effect: the phenomenon, widely observed across advanced welfare states, that the middle classes tend to be the main beneficiaries of social benefits and services, even if these are primarily targeted at the poor.
Cultural causes, which attribute poverty to common patterns of life, learned or shared within a community. For example, some have argued that Protestantism contributed to economic growth during the industrial revolution.
Individual beliefs, actions and choices.
Mental illness and disability, such as Autism, and Schizophrenia.
Geographic factors, for example fertile land and access to natural resources.
Disease, specifically Diseases of poverty: AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis and others overwhelmingly afflict the poor, which perpetuate poverty by diverting individual, community, and national health and economic resources from investment and productivity. Further, many tropical nations are affected by diseases like Malaria and Schistosomiasis that are not present in temperate climates.
Inadequate nutrition in childhood in poor nations may lead to physical and mental stunting.
Improper taxation, either due to taxes perceived as being too high, or due to inherent unfairness in the fiscal system, which might place an excessive burden on the poorest segments of society.
Discrimination of various kinds, such as age discrimination, gender discrimination, racial discrimination.
Cost of goods for basic necessities.

Effects of poverty

Some effects of poverty may also be causes, as listed above, thus creating a "poverty cycle" and complicating the subject further:

Extreme hunger and starvation
Lack of sanitation, specifically the lack of adequete access to a toilet .
Human trafficking
Diseases and disabilites; low health care services
High crime rate
Increased suicides
Increased risk of political violence; such as terrorism, war and genocide
Homelessness
Lack of opportunities for employment
Low literacy
Loss of population due to emigration.
Increased susceptibility to death from natural disasters.
Increased discrimination
Lower life expectancy
Drug abuse
Depression

Eliminating poverty

In politics, the fight against poverty is usually regarded as a social goal and many governments have — secondarily at least — some dedicated institutions or departments.

Economic growth

The anti-poverty strategy of the World Bank depends heavily on reducing poverty through the promotion of economic growth. However, some consider this approach does not actively or directly work to reduce or eliminate poverty. The World Bank argues that an overview of many studies show that:
- Growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth as such does not seem to affect inequality.
- Growth accompanied by progressive distributional change is better than growth alone.
- High initial income inequality is a brake on poverty reduction.
- Poverty itself is also likely to be a barrier for poverty reduction; and wealth inequality seems to predict lower future growth rates.
Research on the Global Competitiveness Report, Ease of Doing Business Index, and Index of Economic Freedom and suggests that a set of economic conditions which help increase growth and reduce poverty.
Business groups see the reduction of barriers to the creation of new businesses , or reducing barriers for existing business, as having the effect of bringing more people into the formal economy.

Direct aid

The government can directly help those in need. This has been applied with mixed results in most Western societies during the 20th century in what became known as the welfare state. Especially for those most at risk, such as the elderly and people with disabilities. The help can be for example monetary or food aid.
Private charity. This is often formally encouraged within the legal system. For example, charitable trusts and tax deductions for charity.

Improving the social environment and abilities of the poor

Affordable housing development and urban regeneration.
Affordable education.
Affordable health care.
Providing help in finding employment.
Subsidizing employment of groups that have difficulty finding work otherwise.
Encouraging political participation and community organizing.
Community practice social work.

Millennium Development Goals

Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goal. In addition to broader approaches, the Sachs Report (for the 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:

Eliminating school fees.
Providing soil nutrients to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Free school meals for schoolchildren.
Supporting breast-feeding.
Deworming school children in affected areas.
Training programs for community health in rural areas.
Providing mosquito nets.
Ending user fees for basic health care in developing countries.
Access to information on sexual and reproductive health.
Drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Upgrading slums, and providing land for public housing.
Access to electricity, water and sanitation.
Legislation for women’s rights, including rights to property.
Action against domestic violence.
Appointing government scientific advisors in every country.
Planting trees.

Other approaches

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (November 2006) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Poverty-stricken Women washing their clothes by a Main Road in Mumbai, India.

According to The Borgen Project, the estimated annual cost of eliminating starvation and malnutrition globally is $19 billion a year.

Some think tanks and NGOs have argued, however, that Western monetary aid often only serves to increase poverty and social inequality even more, either because it is conditioned with the implementation of harmful economic policies in the recipient countries , or because it's tied with the importing of products from the donor country over cheaper alternatives, what would constitute a form of corporate welfare hidden in the form of international aid. This practice encourages political corruption of government officials, instead of creating businesses that contribute to economic growth. See also the resource curse.

Most developing countries have produced Poverty Reduction Strategy papers or PRSPs .

Inequality can be reduced by progressive taxation, wealth tax, and/or inheritance tax.

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 and participatory economics, among others.

In law, there has been a movement to seek to establish the absence of poverty as a human right.

In his book "The End of Poverty" , world renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs laid out a lucid plan to eradicate global poverty by the year 2025. Following his doctrine, international organizations such as the Global Solidarity Network are helping end poverty working with governments and partners to help eradicate poverty worldwide with known, proven, reliable, and appropriate interventions in the areas of housing, food, education, basic health, agricultural inputs, safe drinking water, transportation and communications.

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is an organization in the United States working to secure freedom from poverty for all by organizing the poor themselves. The Campaign believes that a human rights framework, based on the value of inherent dignity and worth of all persons, offers the best means by which to organize for a political solution to poverty.

Debates about poverty

The underlying causes of poverty and the elimination thereof are a controversial, politicized issue. Advocates of a right wing view may look to structural factors that prevent economic growth such as poorly protected property rights, lacking credit system, crime, corruption, rent seeking, and harmful regulation which prevent economic efficiency.

Those with more left wing views may see poverty as the result of different systemic factors. For instance, they may consider that poverty is caused by lack of opportunity (particularly in education), and that it is often the lack of government intervention which results in more poverty. They tend to believe that alleviating poverty is a matter of social justice and that it is the responsibility of the wealthy to help those in need.

Religious Poverty

Among some groups, in particular religious groups, 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 among Buddhists and Jains, whilst in Roman Catholicism, it is one of the evangelical counsels, and taken as a vow among religious orders. The way poverty is understood among these orders takes a variety of forms. For example, whereas the Franciscan orders have traditionally forgone all individual and corporate forms of ownership, according to the Rule of St. Benedict, whilst individual ownership of goods and wealth is forbidden, the monastery itself may possess both goods and money, and through history some monasteries have become very rich indeed.

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.

See also: Asceticism

References

Atkinson, Anthony B. Poverty in Europe 1998
Betson, David M., and Jennifer L. Warlick. "Alternative Historical Trends in Poverty." American Economic Review 88:348-51. 1998. in JSTOR
Brady, David "Rethinking the Sociological Measurement of Poverty" Social Forces 81#3 2003, pp. 715-751 Online in Project Muse. Anstract: Reviews shortcomings of the official U.S. measure; examines several theoretical and methodological advances in poverty measurement. Argues that ideal measures of poverty should: (1) measure comparative historical variation effectively; (2) be relative rather than absolute; (3) conceptualize poverty as social exclusion; (4) assess the impact of taxes, transfers, and state benefits; and (5) integrate the depth of poverty and the inequality among the poor. Next, this article evaluates sociological studies published since 1990 for their consideration of these criteria. This article advocates for three alternative poverty indices: the interval measure, the ordinal measure, and the sum of ordinals measure. Finally, using the Luxembourg Income Study, it examines the empirical patterns with these three measures, across advanced capitalist democracies from 1967 to 1997. Estimates of these poverty indices are made available.
Buhmann, Brigitte, Lee Rainwater, Guenther Schmaus, and Timothy M. Smeeding. 1988. "Equivalence Scales, Well-Being, Inequality, and Poverty: Sensitivity Estimates Across Ten Countries Using the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) Database." Review of Income and Wealth 34:115-42.
Cox, W. Michael, and Richard Alm. Myths of Rich and Poor 1999
Danziger, Sheldon H., and Daniel H. Weinberg. "The Historical Record: Trends in Family Income, Inequality, and Poverty." Pp. 18-50 in Confronting Poverty: Prescriptions for Change, edited by Sheldon H. Danziger, Gary D. Sandefur, and Daniel. H. Weinberg. Russell Sage Foundation. 1994.
Firebaugh, Glenn. "Empirics of World Income Inequality." American Journal of Sociology (2000) 104:1597-1630. in JSTOR
Gordon, David M. Theories of Poverty and Underemployment: Orthodox, Radical, and Dual Labor Market Perspectives. 1972.
Haveman, Robert H. Poverty Policy and Poverty Research. University of Wisconsin Press 1987.
John Iceland; Poverty in America: A Handbook University of California Press, 2003
Alice O'Connor; "Poverty Research and Policy for the Post-Welfare Era" Annual Review of Sociology, 2000
Osberg, Lars, and Kuan Xu. "International Comparisons of Poverty Intensity: Index Decomposition and Bootstrap Inference." The Journal of Human Resources 2000. 35:51-81.
Paugam, Serge. "Poverty and Social Exclusion: A Sociological View." Pp. 41-62 in ;;The Future of European Welfare, edited by Martin Rhodes and Yves Meny 1998.
Amartya Sen; Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation Oxford University Press, 1982
Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom (1999)
Smeeding, Timothy M., Michael O'Higgins, and Lee Rainwater. Poverty, Inequality and Income Distribution in Comparative Perspective. Urban Institute Press 1990.
Triest, Robert K. "Has Poverty Gotten Worse?" Journal of Economic Perspectives 1998. 12:97-114.

Publications and journals

Journal of Poverty

Etymology

The word "poor" came via Old French from Latin pauper, and the word "poverty" came via Old French from Latin pauperitas. Latin pauper came from from pau- = "small" and pario = "I give birth to" and originally would have referred to unproductive farmland or female livestock which failed to breed as much as wanted.