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, Indonesia shows what he found.
Poverty is being without things, having little money, not many material possessions and in need of essential goods.
Poverty is understood in many senses. P Spicker, S Alvarez Leguizamon, D Gordon,(eds) 2007, Poverty: an international glossary. The main understandings of the term include:
- Descriptions of material need, typically including the necessities of daily living (food, clothing, shelter, and health care). Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or community is deprived of, and or lacks the essentials for a minimum standard of well-being and life. These essentials may be material resources such as food, safe drinking water, and shelter, or they may be social resources such as information access, education, health care, social status, political power, Journal of Poverty or the opportunity to develop meaningful connections with other people in society. A Glossary for Social Epidemiology Nancy Krieger, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health
- Descriptions of social relationships and need, including social exclusion H Silver, 1994, social exclusion and social solidarity, in International Labour Review, 133 5-6, dependency G Simmel, The poor, Social Problems 1965 13 , and the ability to participate in society.P Townsend, 1979, Poverty in the UK, Penguin This would include education and information.
- Describing a (persistent) lack of income and wealth. The World Bank, for example, uses a global indicator of incomes of $1 or $2 a day. In relative terms disparities in income or wealth income disparity are seen as an indicator of poverty and the condition of poverty is linked to questions of scarcity and distribution of resources and power.
The World Bank's "Voices of the Poor," {http://www1.worldbank.org/prem/poverty/voices/ 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. These include
- precarious livelihoods
- excluded locations
- physical limitations
- gender relationships
- problems in social relationships
- lack of security
- abuse by those in power
- disempowering institutions
- limited capabilities, and
- weak community organizations.
Most important are those necessary for material well-being, especially food. Others of these issues relate to social rather than material issues. However it should be noted that this text has come in for scathing criticism that argues that it recreates old, highly pejorative and sometimes racialized colonial stereotypes and projects them on to poor people.For instance see the chapter on Voices of the Poor in David Moore's edited book The World Bank: Development, Poverty, Hegemony (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007)
Poverty may be defined by a government or organization for legal purposes, see Poverty threshold.
Poverty may be seen as the collective condition of poor people, or of poor groups, and in this sense entire
nation are sometimes regarded as poor. A more neutral term is developing nations. Although the most severe poverty is in the developing world, there is evidence of poverty in every region. In developed countries examples include
homelessness people and ghettos.
Poverty is also a type of religious promise, a state that may be taken on voluntarily in keeping with practices of piety. In
Christianity it is one of the
Evangelical counsels intended to aid the imitation of the example of
Jesus.
Measuring poverty
.., a measure of
income inequality.. The graph shows the 1950-2005 period. Frenchman in Paris.
When measured, poverty is the
absolute poverty 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).
The
World Bank Group defines
extreme poverty as living on less than US$ (Purchasing power parity) 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. Worldbank.org reference There are various criticisms of these measurements. Institute of Social Analysis
Other indicators are also improving. Life expectancy has greatly increased in the developing world since
World War II 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 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,
List of countries by literacy rate 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
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 Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, 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). Home ownership in this context does not necessarily mean someone has paid for the house; it merely means that they have been given the credit to make monthly payments on it.Rector, Robert E. and Johnson, Kirk A.,
Understanding Poverty in AmericaExecutive 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, or
net worth. 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 in low-income households then accounted for about one-third of the total money income. This one-time calculation has since been annually updated for inflation in food costs. US Department of Human Services-FAQ Poverty Guidelines and Poverty
Currently, 1% of the world's population get 80% of the world's income. Income inequality for the world as a whole is decreasing. 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 diverge away from it, and global inequality will rise. Thus, the economic growth of the African continent should be the priority of anyone concerned with increasing global income inequality. 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
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. The World Health Report, World Health Organization (See annex table 2)
- Every year nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday.
- In 2001, 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 night.
- An estimated 218 million children aged 5 to 17 are in child labor worldwide, excluding child domestic labor. UNICEF - Child labor
Causes of poverty
Many different factors have been cited to explain why poverty occurs. However, no single explanation has gained universal acceptance. Some possible factors include:
- Natural factors such as the climate or Environmental science The Geography of Poverty and Wealth by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Andrew D. Mellinger, and John L. Gallup. From Scientific American magazine
- The payment system which compels people to pay money in exchange for what they need. Those who don't have money cannot get what they need.
- Not enough jobs. For those willing to work, the availability of jobs is central for existence. Work is the primary if not exclusive means of income, it occupies a great portion of time and is a source of dignity and achievement.
- Human factors such as war and crime. Ethiopia rejects war criticism Brazil murder rate similar to war zone, data shows
- On the other hand, research on the resource curse has found that countries with an abundance of natural resources creating quick wealth from exports tend to have less long-term prosperity than countries with less of these natural resources.
- Inadequate nutrition in childhood in poor nations may lead to physical and mental stunting that may lead to economic problems. (Hence, it is both a cause and an effect). For example, lack of both iodine and iron has been implicated in impaired brain development, and this can affect enormous numbers of people: it is estimated that 2 billion people (one-third of the total global population) are affected by iodine deficiency, including 285 million 6- to 12-year-old children. In developing countries, it is estimated that 40% of children aged 4 and under suffer from anaemia because of insufficient iron in their diets. See also Health and intelligence. Hunger and Malnutrition paper by Jere R Behrman, Harold Alderman and John Hoddinott.
- Infectious disease#Mortality from infectious diseases, specifically diseases of poverty: AIDS, The long-run economic costs of AIDS: theory and an application to South Africa malaria The economic and social burden of malaria., and tuberculosis and others overwhelmingly afflict developing nations, which perpetuate poverty by diverting individual, community, and national health and economic resources from investment and productivity. Poverty Issues Dominate WHO Regional Meeting Further, many tropical nations are affected by parasites like malaria, schistosomiasis, and trypanosomiasis that are not present in temperate climates. The Tsetse fly makes it very difficult to use many animals in agriculture in afflicted regions.
- Lacking rule of law. Ending Mass Poverty by Ian Vásquez
- Lacking democracy. The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace by Morton Halperin, Joseph T. Siegle, Michael M. Weinstein, Joanne J. Myers
- Lacking infrastructure.Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum, , Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction: Cross-country Evidence Hossein Jalilian and John Weiss. 2004..
- Lacking health care.Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum,
- Lacking equitably available education.Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum,
- Government Political corruption. Transparency International FAQ Nigeria's corruption totals $400 billion
- Overpopulation and lack of access to birth control methods. Birth rates 'must be curbed to win war on global poverty The Independent. 31 January 2007. Record rise in wheat price prompts UN official to warn that surge in food prices may trigger social unrest in developing countries Note that population growth slows or even become negative as poverty is reduced due to the demographic transition. Demographic Transition by Keith Montgomery (Shows how population growth slows with industrialization.)
- Tax havens which tax their own citizens and companies but not those from other nations and refuse to disclose information necessary for foreign taxation. This enables large scale political corruption, tax evasion, and organized crime in the foreign nations. Western bankers and lawyers 'rob Africa of $150bn every year
- History factors, for example imperialism and colonialismThe Paradox of Africa's Poverty By Tirfe Mammo. 1999. ISBN 1569020493. Gives credit to imperialism/colonialism as a cause as one of two major schools of thought. Long-Run Development and the Legacy of Colonialism in Spanish America Reflections on Colonial Legacy and Dependency in Indian Vocational Education and Training (VET): a societal and cultural perspective by Madhu Singh
- Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Monarchy, Fascism and Totalitarianism have all been named as causes by scholars writing from different perspectives. For example, poorly functioning property rights is seen by some as a cause of poverty The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto (IMF), while communists see the institution of property rights itself as a cause of poverty.The Communist Manifesto
- Lacking free trade. In particular, the very high subsidies to and protective tariffs for agriculture in the developed world. For example, almost half of the budget of the European Union goes to agricultural subsidies, mainly to large farmers and agribusinesses, which 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’s 500 million people. Cultivating Poverty The Impact of US Cotton Subsidies on Africa This drains the taxed money and increases the prices for the consumers in developed world; decreases competition and efficiency; prevents exports by more competitive agricultural and other sectors in the developed world due to retaliatory trade barriers; and undermines the very type of industry in which the developing countries do have 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 cause of poverty. Almost all wealthy countries developed through some forms of import substitution and direct government protection of and investment in local industries.
- Substance abuse, such as alcoholism and drug abuse.
- Individual beliefs, actions and choices.See, e.g.,
- Discrimination of various kinds, such as age discrimination, stereotypeshttp://www.usccb.org/cchd/epic/www/causesofpovertya.html, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, caste. UN report slams India for caste discrimination
Effects of poverty
of the late 1960s. The abdomen is paradoxically swollen due to Kwashiorkor or severe protein malnutrition.Some effects of poverty may also be causes, as listed above, thus creating a "
poverty cycle" and complicating the subject further:
- Clinical depression
- Lack of sanitation Urban and Slum Trends in the 21st Century By Eduardo Lopez Moreno and Rasna Warah Lack of Toilets a Problem for the Poor, U.N. Says By CELIA W. DUGGER. New York Times. November 9, 2006.
- Increased vulnerability to natural disastersDealing with Increased Risk of Natural Disasters: Challenges and Options
PK Freeman, M Keen, M Mani - 2003 Social Protection and Risk Management at worldbank.org
Poverty reduction
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
per capita rapidly increased beginning with the Industrial Revolution.
Free Trade
What could broadly be called free market reforms are another strategy for reducing poverty. For example, the most dramatic 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. This was critical in fostering their dramatic economic growth.Can aid bring an end to poverty However, UN economists argue that for the market reforms to work, good infrastructure is needed. For example, today, China is investing in railways, roads, ports and rural telephony in various African countries as part of its formula for economic development. China becomes Africa's suitor
- 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 show that:
- Growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth as such does not 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. Poverty, Growth, and Inequality worldbank.org
- 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.
- Business groups see the reduction of barriers to the creation of new businesses The Doing Business database A member of the World Bank Group, or reducing barriers for existing business, as having the effect of bringing more people into the formal economy.
- 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
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.
- The Copenhagen Consensus is a listing of the most cost-effective methods for advancing global welfare.
Improving the social environment and abilities of the poor
- Subsidized housing development and urban regeneration.
- Subsidized education.
- Subsidized health care.
- Assistance in finding employment.
- Subsidized employment (see also Workfare).
- Encouragement of political participation and community organizing.
- Community practice social work.
Millennium Development Goals
, India.
Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goals. In addition to broader approaches, the Jeffrey 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:
- Directly assisting local enterpreneurs to grow their businesses and create jobs.
- Access to information on Sexually transmitted disease.
- Action against domestic violence.
- Appointing government scientific advisors in every country.
- Deworming school children in affected areas.
- Drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
- Eliminating tuition.
- Ending Fee-for-service for basic health care in developing countries.
- Free school meals for schoolchildren.
- Legislation for women’s rights, including rights to property.
- Planting trees.
- Providing fertilizer to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Providing mosquito nets.
- Rural electrification, water and sanitation.
- Supporting breast-feeding.
- Training programs for community health in rural areas.
- Upgrading slums, and providing land for public housing.
Development aid
Most developed nations give development aid to developing nations. 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 much of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy become 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 audit 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 The Borgen Project an anti-poverty advocacy organization, estimates the annual cost of eliminating starvation and malnutrition globally at $19 billion a year. borgenproject.org As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $1000 billion. SIPRI Yearbook 2006
Other approaches
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.
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 (magazine), 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 such as the 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.
Voluntary poverty
renounces his worldly goods in a painting attributed to Giotto di Bondone.
Among some individuals, such as asceticism, 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 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.
Etymology
The words "poverty" and "poor" came from Latin pauper = "poor", which originally came from pau- and the root (lingustics) of pario, i.e. "giving birth to not much" and referred to unproductive Farmland (farming) or livestock.
See also
Organizations and campaigns
References
Further reading
- "Educate a Woman, You Educate a Nation" - South Africa Aims to Improve its Education for Girls WNN - Women News Network. Aug. 28, 2007. Lys Anzia
- Atkinson, Anthony B. Poverty in Europe 1998
- Betson, David M., and Jennifer L. Warlickcccccc "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. Abstract: 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
- Herbert J. Gans, "The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All", Social Policy, July/August 1971: pp. 20-24
- Abraham George, Wharton Business School Publications - Why the Fight Against Poverty is Failing: A Contrarian View
- 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.
External links
- The Crime of Poverty by Henry George
- Global Distribution of Poverty Global poverty datasets and map collection
- Why Poor Countries are Poor
- The End of Poverty - an interview with Jeff Sachs - Yale Economic Review
- Fighting Hunger and poverty in Ethiopia (Peter Middlebrook)
- Poverty in the United States, by Isabel V. Sawhill. Concise encyclopedia of economics on Econlib
- Poverty on the World Bank portal
- Education Is The Key To Reducing Poverty, Omedia
- Causes of Poverty, GlobalIssues.org
, Indonesia shows what he found.
Poverty is being without things, having little money, not many material possessions and in need of essential goods.
Poverty is understood in many senses. P Spicker, S Alvarez Leguizamon, D Gordon,(eds) 2007, Poverty: an international glossary. The main understandings of the term include:
- Descriptions of material need, typically including the necessities of daily living (food, clothing, shelter, and health care). Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or community is deprived of, and or lacks the essentials for a minimum standard of well-being and life. These essentials may be material resources such as food, safe drinking water, and shelter, or they may be social resources such as information access, education, health care, social status, political power, Journal of Poverty or the opportunity to develop meaningful connections with other people in society. A Glossary for Social Epidemiology Nancy Krieger, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health
- Descriptions of social relationships and need, including social exclusion H Silver, 1994, social exclusion and social solidarity, in International Labour Review, 133 5-6, dependency G Simmel, The poor, Social Problems 1965 13 , and the ability to participate in society.P Townsend, 1979, Poverty in the UK, Penguin This would include education and information.
- Describing a (persistent) lack of income and wealth. The World Bank, for example, uses a global indicator of incomes of $1 or $2 a day. In relative terms disparities in income or wealth income disparity are seen as an indicator of poverty and the condition of poverty is linked to questions of scarcity and distribution of resources and power.
The World Bank's "Voices of the Poor," {http://www1.worldbank.org/prem/poverty/voices/ 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. These include
- precarious livelihoods
- excluded locations
- physical limitations
- gender relationships
- problems in social relationships
- lack of security
- abuse by those in power
- disempowering institutions
- limited capabilities, and
- weak community organizations.
Most important are those necessary for material well-being, especially food. Others of these issues relate to social rather than material issues. However it should be noted that this text has come in for scathing criticism that argues that it recreates old, highly pejorative and sometimes racialized colonial stereotypes and projects them on to poor people.For instance see the chapter on Voices of the Poor in David Moore's edited book The World Bank: Development, Poverty, Hegemony (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007)
Poverty may be defined by a government or organization for legal purposes, see Poverty threshold.
Poverty may be seen as the collective condition of poor people, or of poor groups, and in this sense entire nation are sometimes regarded as poor. A more neutral term is developing nations. Although the most severe poverty is in the developing world, there is evidence of poverty in every region. In developed countries examples include homelessness people and ghettos.
Poverty is also a type of religious promise, a state that may be taken on voluntarily in keeping with practices of piety. In Christianity it is one of the Evangelical counsels intended to aid the imitation of the example of Jesus.
Measuring poverty
.., a measure of income inequality.. The graph shows the 1950-2005 period. Frenchman in Paris.
When measured, poverty is the absolute poverty 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).
The World Bank Group defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$ (Purchasing power parity) 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. Worldbank.org reference There are various criticisms of these measurements. Institute of Social Analysis
Other indicators are also improving. Life expectancy has greatly increased in the developing world since World War II 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 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, List of countries by literacy rate 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
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 Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, 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). Home ownership in this context does not necessarily mean someone has paid for the house; it merely means that they have been given the credit to make monthly payments on it.Rector, Robert E. and Johnson, Kirk A., Understanding Poverty in AmericaExecutive 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, or net worth. 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 in low-income households then accounted for about one-third of the total money income. This one-time calculation has since been annually updated for inflation in food costs. US Department of Human Services-FAQ Poverty Guidelines and Poverty
Currently, 1% of the world's population get 80% of the world's income. Income inequality for the world as a whole is decreasing. 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 diverge away from it, and global inequality will rise. Thus, the economic growth of the African continent should be the priority of anyone concerned with increasing global income inequality. 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
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. The World Health Report, World Health Organization (See annex table 2)
- Every year nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday.
- In 2001, 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 night.
- An estimated 218 million children aged 5 to 17 are in child labor worldwide, excluding child domestic labor. UNICEF - Child labor
Causes of poverty
Many different factors have been cited to explain why poverty occurs. However, no single explanation has gained universal acceptance. Some possible factors include:
- Natural factors such as the climate or Environmental science The Geography of Poverty and Wealth by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Andrew D. Mellinger, and John L. Gallup. From Scientific American magazine
- The payment system which compels people to pay money in exchange for what they need. Those who don't have money cannot get what they need.
- Not enough jobs. For those willing to work, the availability of jobs is central for existence. Work is the primary if not exclusive means of income, it occupies a great portion of time and is a source of dignity and achievement.
- Human factors such as war and crime. Ethiopia rejects war criticism Brazil murder rate similar to war zone, data shows
- On the other hand, research on the resource curse has found that countries with an abundance of natural resources creating quick wealth from exports tend to have less long-term prosperity than countries with less of these natural resources.
- Inadequate nutrition in childhood in poor nations may lead to physical and mental stunting that may lead to economic problems. (Hence, it is both a cause and an effect). For example, lack of both iodine and iron has been implicated in impaired brain development, and this can affect enormous numbers of people: it is estimated that 2 billion people (one-third of the total global population) are affected by iodine deficiency, including 285 million 6- to 12-year-old children. In developing countries, it is estimated that 40% of children aged 4 and under suffer from anaemia because of insufficient iron in their diets. See also Health and intelligence. Hunger and Malnutrition paper by Jere R Behrman, Harold Alderman and John Hoddinott.
- Infectious disease#Mortality from infectious diseases, specifically diseases of poverty: AIDS, The long-run economic costs of AIDS: theory and an application to South Africa malaria The economic and social burden of malaria., and tuberculosis and others overwhelmingly afflict developing nations, which perpetuate poverty by diverting individual, community, and national health and economic resources from investment and productivity. Poverty Issues Dominate WHO Regional Meeting Further, many tropical nations are affected by parasites like malaria, schistosomiasis, and trypanosomiasis that are not present in temperate climates. The Tsetse fly makes it very difficult to use many animals in agriculture in afflicted regions.
- Lacking rule of law. Ending Mass Poverty by Ian Vásquez
- Lacking democracy. The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace by Morton Halperin, Joseph T. Siegle, Michael M. Weinstein, Joanne J. Myers
- Lacking infrastructure.Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum, , Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction: Cross-country Evidence Hossein Jalilian and John Weiss. 2004..
- Lacking health care.Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum,
- Lacking equitably available education.Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum,
- Government Political corruption. Transparency International FAQ Nigeria's corruption totals $400 billion
- Overpopulation and lack of access to birth control methods. Birth rates 'must be curbed to win war on global poverty The Independent. 31 January 2007. Record rise in wheat price prompts UN official to warn that surge in food prices may trigger social unrest in developing countries Note that population growth slows or even become negative as poverty is reduced due to the demographic transition. Demographic Transition by Keith Montgomery (Shows how population growth slows with industrialization.)
- Tax havens which tax their own citizens and companies but not those from other nations and refuse to disclose information necessary for foreign taxation. This enables large scale political corruption, tax evasion, and organized crime in the foreign nations. Western bankers and lawyers 'rob Africa of $150bn every year
- History factors, for example imperialism and colonialismThe Paradox of Africa's Poverty By Tirfe Mammo. 1999. ISBN 1569020493. Gives credit to imperialism/colonialism as a cause as one of two major schools of thought. Long-Run Development and the Legacy of Colonialism in Spanish America Reflections on Colonial Legacy and Dependency in Indian Vocational Education and Training (VET): a societal and cultural perspective by Madhu Singh
- Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Monarchy, Fascism and Totalitarianism have all been named as causes by scholars writing from different perspectives. For example, poorly functioning property rights is seen by some as a cause of poverty The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto (IMF), while communists see the institution of property rights itself as a cause of poverty.The Communist Manifesto
- Lacking free trade. In particular, the very high subsidies to and protective tariffs for agriculture in the developed world. For example, almost half of the budget of the European Union goes to agricultural subsidies, mainly to large farmers and agribusinesses, which 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’s 500 million people. Cultivating Poverty The Impact of US Cotton Subsidies on Africa This drains the taxed money and increases the prices for the consumers in developed world; decreases competition and efficiency; prevents exports by more competitive agricultural and other sectors in the developed world due to retaliatory trade barriers; and undermines the very type of industry in which the developing countries do have 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 cause of poverty. Almost all wealthy countries developed through some forms of import substitution and direct government protection of and investment in local industries.
- Substance abuse, such as alcoholism and drug abuse.
- Individual beliefs, actions and choices.See, e.g.,
- Discrimination of various kinds, such as age discrimination, stereotypeshttp://www.usccb.org/cchd/epic/www/causesofpovertya.html, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, caste. UN report slams India for caste discrimination
Effects of poverty
of the late 1960s. The abdomen is paradoxically swollen due to Kwashiorkor or severe protein malnutrition.Some effects of poverty may also be causes, as listed above, thus creating a "poverty cycle" and complicating the subject further:
- Clinical depression
- Lack of sanitation Urban and Slum Trends in the 21st Century By Eduardo Lopez Moreno and Rasna Warah Lack of Toilets a Problem for the Poor, U.N. Says By CELIA W. DUGGER. New York Times. November 9, 2006.
- Increased vulnerability to natural disastersDealing with Increased Risk of Natural Disasters: Challenges and Options
PK Freeman, M Keen, M Mani - 2003 Social Protection and Risk Management at worldbank.org
- Extremism
- Hunger and starvation Rising food prices curb aid to global poor
- Human trafficking
- High crime rate
- Increased suicides
- Increased risk of political violence; such as terrorism, war and genocide
- Homelessness Study: 744,000 homeless in United States
- Lack of opportunities for employment
- Low literacy
- Social isolation
- Loss of population due to emigration.
- Increased discrimination
- Lower life expectancy
- Drug abuse Health warning over Russian youth
- Death
Poverty reduction
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
per capita rapidly increased beginning with the Industrial Revolution.
Free Trade
What could broadly be called free market reforms are another strategy for reducing poverty. For example, the most dramatic 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. This was critical in fostering their dramatic economic growth.Can aid bring an end to poverty However, UN economists argue that for the market reforms to work, good infrastructure is needed. For example, today, China is investing in railways, roads, ports and rural telephony in various African countries as part of its formula for economic development. China becomes Africa's suitor
- 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 show that:
- Growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth as such does not 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. Poverty, Growth, and Inequality worldbank.org
- 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.
- Business groups see the reduction of barriers to the creation of new businesses The Doing Business database A member of the World Bank Group, or reducing barriers for existing business, as having the effect of bringing more people into the formal economy.
- 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
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.
- The Copenhagen Consensus is a listing of the most cost-effective methods for advancing global welfare.
Improving the social environment and abilities of the poor
- Subsidized housing development and urban regeneration.
- Subsidized education.
- Subsidized health care.
- Assistance in finding employment.
- Subsidized employment (see also Workfare).
- Encouragement of political participation and community organizing.
- Community practice social work.
Millennium Development Goals
, India.
Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goals. In addition to broader approaches, the Jeffrey 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:
Development aid
Most developed nations give development aid to developing nations. 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 much of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy become 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 audit 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 The Borgen Project an anti-poverty advocacy organization, estimates the annual cost of eliminating starvation and malnutrition globally at $19 billion a year. borgenproject.org As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $1000 billion. SIPRI Yearbook 2006
Other approaches
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.
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 (magazine), 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 such as the 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.
Voluntary poverty
renounces his worldly goods in a painting attributed to Giotto di Bondone.
Among some individuals, such as asceticism, 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 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.
Etymology
The words "poverty" and "poor" came from Latin pauper = "poor", which originally came from pau- and the root (lingustics) of pario, i.e. "giving birth to not much" and referred to unproductive Farmland (farming) or livestock.
See also
Organizations and campaigns
References
Further reading
- "Educate a Woman, You Educate a Nation" - South Africa Aims to Improve its Education for Girls WNN - Women News Network. Aug. 28, 2007. Lys Anzia
- Atkinson, Anthony B. Poverty in Europe 1998
- Betson, David M., and Jennifer L. Warlickcccccc "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. Abstract: 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
- Herbert J. Gans, "The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All", Social Policy, July/August 1971: pp. 20-24
- Abraham George, Wharton Business School Publications - Why the Fight Against Poverty is Failing: A Contrarian View
- 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.
External links
- The Crime of Poverty by Henry George
- Global Distribution of Poverty Global poverty datasets and map collection
- Why Poor Countries are Poor
- The End of Poverty - an interview with Jeff Sachs - Yale Economic Review
- Fighting Hunger and poverty in Ethiopia (Peter Middlebrook)
- Poverty in the United States, by Isabel V. Sawhill. Concise encyclopedia of economics on Econlib
- Poverty on the World Bank portal
- Education Is The Key To Reducing Poverty, Omedia
- Causes of Poverty, GlobalIssues.org
Poverty indicators - The Poverty Site
Statistics on poverty and social exclusion. Produced by New Policy Institute with support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Summary - European Union (Laeken) - The Poverty Site
Summary. European Union (Laeken) indicators. The European Union has agreed a core set of poverty and social exclusion indicators which are regularly produced for every EU country ...
Make Poverty History
Organisation seeking to eradicate poverty in the world. Overview, actions, schools and Edinburgh 2005.
Child Poverty Action Group
Campaigns for the abolition of child poverty in the UK and for a better deal for low-income families and children. Information about their activities and events, policy initiatives ...
DFID | Millennium Development Goals | Poverty and Hunger
Summary of the work DFID are performing in Poverty and Hunger reduction ... Tackling poverty and hunger. Poverty Factsheet (215 kb) | Hunger Factsheet (145 kb)
DWP - Child poverty
Information on child poverty, including policy and proposals ... Home; Child poverty; Child poverty. The Government is committed to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by ...
Poverty.com - Hunger and World Poverty
See a brief, simple display about world poverty. Animated maps show how often people die of hunger, AIDS, malaria, and preventable diseases.
Resources :: UK Poverty :: Oxfam GB
UK poverty How comfortable are you with poverty in the UK? Oxfam’s very uncomfortable that in a rich country, 1 in 5 people don’t have enough to live on.
Focus on London
Five chapters focus in depth on different aspects of London with commentary and figures: population and migration, education and training, labour market, child poverty and ...
BBC - Poverty - Definitions
There is no one single definition of poverty. One figure which has been suggested is that an income of half the national average indicates poverty.
