Poverty

Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.
[1]

Absolute poverty or destitution refers to being unable to afford basic human needs,

which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, care,

education, clothing and shelter.

About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live in absolute poverty today. Relative poverty refers to lacking a usual or socially acceptable level of resources or income as compared with others within a society or country.
[1]

For most of history poverty had been mostly accepted as inevitable as traditional modes of production were insufficient to give an entire population a comfortable standard of living.
[1][2]

After

the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made wealth increasingly more inexpensive and accessible. Of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, in order to provide enough yield to feed the population.
[3]

The supply of basic needs can be restricted by constraints on government services such as corruption, debt and loan conditionalities and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare, accommodating business regulations and providing financial services. Today, poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for many international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

Different Types of Poverty...More thoughts on reading Ruby Payne

Report Email Written by dcmsstiles on Jul-4-07 8:02am From: krististiles.blogspot.com 1. Financial 2. Emotional 3. Mental 4. Physical 5. Support System 6. Knowledge of hidden rules We all think of the term "poverty" in a financial sense. But Ruby Payne eloquently points out that

while financial poverty is the most frequently thought of, there are varieties of poverty that can accompany financial poverty. She also points out that financial poverty need not be present for the other types of poverty such as when emotional, mental, physical, support system and knowledge of hidden rules are not present. We can all think of children who came from wealthy or middle class families who experienced poverty in support or in mental/emotional arenas. Financial Poverty isn't the be all/end all for at risk students...there is so much more to consider! http://www.zimbio.com/The+philosophy+of+education/articles/8/Different+Types+Poverty+More +thoughts+reading 1. Types of poverty

Poverty has many dimensions, monetary and non-monetary, absolute and relative, material and psychological. One can distinguish between three types of poverty:
Poverty type A

Insufficient resources to meet basic needs, such as nutrition, shelter, health and education. This insufficiency can result in the following material symptoms of poverty:

Low income or consumption levels Low average calorie intake levels High infant mortality rates Low life expectancy rates High illiteracy rates High unemployment Widespread diseases, especially curable ones Famine or high risk of famine High rates of economic migration.

Poverty type B

Apart from these absolute monetary and non-monetary kinds of poverty, there is also relative poverty: people compare themselves to others, mostly others who are relatively close by and better off. This inequality of income or consumption can result in the following psychological symptoms of poverty:

Feelings of loss of dignity Low self-esteem Feelings of relative powerlessness Feelings of lack of participation in culture and politics Feelings of discrimination and resentment.

As you can read in this post, poverty type A is often linked to poverty type B, i.e. the more unequal a society, the more people suffer from absolute poverty.

Poverty type C

A third kind of poverty is vulnerability, the actual or perceived risk of future poverty. This vulnerability can result in the following psychological symptoms of poverty:

Fear, stress Feelings of insecurity Irrational precaution measures Family planning decisions Migration.

2. Measuring poverty

These are three kinds of poverty. Not all of them can be easily measured. Some perhaps cannot be measured at all. Even the apparently easy ones, such as infant mortality rates or income levels, can and do pose problems, such as the availability of data (poor countries often do not have the institutional resources to generate high quality statistics), international comparability of data, definitions of data etc. However, it is important to measure the levels of poverty and their evolution as good as we can. Only if we have data can we judge the effectiveness of specific programs to alleviate specific symptoms of poverty. Some traditional measures of some symptoms of poverty type A above are:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP, or total annual country income) per capita or per citizen Calorie intake levels (an average adult male has to eat food representing approximately 2000-2500 calories per day in order to sustain the human body) Level of income (e.g. 1 $ a day level, which is the World Bank definition of extreme poverty level; moderate poverty is less than $2 a day; these levels are of course expressed in purchasing power parity) Number of years in education Literacy levels

See an overview of measures here. Poverty type B above is traditionally measured using the Gini coefficient (see here) although most symptoms of this kind of poverty, as well as type C poverty, are intangible. The difficulties of aggregating the different available measures, together with the difficulties of measuring other indicators, result in the impossibility to establish a single, binary poverty indicator, are you poor or not, yes or no type of indicator. One may be poor according to one indicator but not according to another. On the other hand, you may not be poor according to any indicator but the fact that you skim the borders of many indicators may result, on aggregate, in poverty nevertheless.

As a result, many scientists and politicians use a simplified rule to establish poverty, for example the 1 $ a day rule, of some other kind of poverty level expressed quantitatively. It is also important to measures the time frame of poverty, i.e. incidental or chronic poverty. This difference should be taken into account when devising policies. Moreover, the depth of poverty should be measured. This depth is the distance to the poverty line. Just below the poverty line or way below makes a lot of difference.
3. Causes of poverty

When you know what kind of poverty people suffer, and when you have measured their poverty, you can start to look at the causes of their poverty. This will be important once you start working on the solutions. The causes can be of different kinds:

Accidental causes, such as drought, disease, birth defects, handicaps etc. Historical causes, such as colonialism Economic causes, such as energy prices, food prices etc. National political causes, such as bad governance, corruption, absence of the rule of law, rights violations, war, oppression, misguided agricultural policies, lack of investment in economic infrastructure and education etc. International political causes, such as trade policy, protectionism etc. Social causes, such as racism, sexism, discrimination, ethnic division Individual causes, irresponsible behavior, self-destructive behavior Demographic causes such as overpopulation or a high percentage of people who are too young or too old to be economically active Geographic causes such as access to fertile land, fresh water, minerals, energy, and other natural resources Environmental causes, such as climate change, soil erosion and desertification etc. Poverty traps

http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/poverty/

Acute causes of poverty:

Warfare: The material and human destruction caused by warfare is a major development problem. For example, from 1990 to 1993, the period encompassing Desert Storm, per capita GDP in Iraq fell from $3500 to $761. The drop in average income, while a striking representation of the drop in the well-being of the average Iraqi citizen in the aftermath of the war, fails to capture the broader affects of damages to the infrastructure and social services, such as health care and access to clean water. Agricultural Cycles: People who rely on fruits and vegetables that they produce for household food consumption (subsistence farmers) often go through cycles of relative abundance and scarcity. For many families that rely on subsistence production for survival, the period immediately prior to harvest is a 'hungry period.'

During these periods of scarcity, many families lack sufficient resources to meet their minimal nutritional needs. Being familiar with these cycles has enabled development practitioners to anticipate and prepare for periods of acute need for assistance. Droughts and Flooding: Besides the immediate destruction caused by natural events such as hurricanes, environmental forces often cause acute periods of crisis by destroying crops and animals. Natural Disasters: Natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes have devastated communities throughout the world. Developing countries often suffer much more extensive and acute crises at the hands of natural disasters, because limited resources inhibit the construction of adequate housing, infrastructure, and mechanisms for responding to crises.

Entrenched factors associated with poverty:

Colonial Histories: One of the most important barriers to development in poor countries is lack of uniform, basic infrastructure, such as roads and means of communication. Some development scholars have identified colonial history as an important contributor to the current situation. In most countries with a history of colonization, the colonizers developed local economies to facilitate the expropriation of resources for their own economic growth and development. Centralization of Power: In many developing countries, political power is disproportionately centralized. Instead of having a network of political representatives distributed equally throughout society, in centralized systems of governance one major party, politician, or region is responsible for decision-making throughout the country. This often causes development problems. For example, in these situations politicians make decisions about places that they are unfamiliar with, lacking sufficient knowledge about the context to design effective and appropriate policies and programs. Corruption: Corruption often accompanies centralization of power, when leaders are not accountable to those they serve. Most directly, corruption inhibits development when leaders help themselves to money that would otherwise be used for development projects. In other cases, leaders reward political support by providing services to their followers. Warfare: Warfare contributes to more entrenched poverty by diverting scarce resources from fighting poverty to maintaining a military. Take, for example, the cases of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The most recent conflict over borders between the two countries erupted into war during 1999 and 2000, a period when both countries faced severe food shortages due to drought. Environmental degradation: Awareness and concern about environmental degradation have grown around the world over the last few decades, and are currently shared by people of different nations, cultures, religions, and social classes. However, the negative impacts of environmental degradation are disproportionately felt by the poor. Throughout the developing world, the poor often rely on natural resources to meet their basic needs through agricultural production and gathering resources essential for household maintenance, such as water,

firewood, and wild plants for consumption and medicine. Thus, the depletion and contamination of water sources directly threaten the livelihoods of those who depend on them. Social Inequality: One of the more entrenched sources of poverty throughout the world is social inequality that stems from cultural ideas about the relative worth of different genders, races, ethnic groups, and social classes. Ascribed inequality works by placing individuals in different social categories at birth, often based on religious, ethnic, or 'racial' characteristics. In South African history, apartheid laws defined a binary caste system that assigned different rights (or lack thereof) and social spaces to Whites and Blacks, using skin color to automatically determine the opportunities available to individuals in each group.

Addressing the Underlying Causes of Poverty

Building a more widespread commitment to overcoming poverty is an essential first step in overcoming poverty, and actions to address this are discussed below.

Share the benefits of economic growth through an emphasis on more widespread employment. The phenomenon of jobless economic growth that increases income inequalities and generates too few jobs for low income groups poses a serious threat to the wellbeing of many nations, both North and South. Government policies should consider not only aggregate economic impact but also the distribution of employment. Socially responsible venture capital and microcredit initiatives can foster employment-generating businesses that complement the local culture and environment. Rout out corruption, which harms society as a whole. Corruption, both in government and business, places heavy cost on society. Businesses should enact, publicize and follow codes of conduct banning corruption on the part of their staff and directors. Citizens must demand greater transparency on the part of both government and the corporate sector and create reform movements where needed. Broaden access to education and technology among marginalized groups, and especially among girls and women. The educational attainment of women has strong bearing on the well-being of their families, and efforts to improve education for women and girls must be strengthened. At the same time, steps should be taken to ensure that the current revolution in information technology benefits marginalized groups. This must begin in school. Improve government capacity to provide universal access to essential goods and services, including potable water, affordable food, primary health care, education, housing and other social services. Governments around the world have made commitments to this through the 20/20 Initiative, which calls for 20% of national budgets and 20% of foreign aid to be spent on human services. But raising adequate resources through effective taxation and other mechanisms is often politically difficult. New mechanisms for public

policy dialogue that enable citizens of all classes to recognize the benefit of universal access to key services must be put in place. Nonprofit groups and even corporations can provide essential support here, helping articulate a vision of a healthy society. These nongovernmental actors can also help in the actual provision of services.
http://www.gdrc.org/icm/poverty-causes.htm

nology and providing simple services.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

7 Types of Poverty Bhagavatula Charitable Trust (BCT), runs Innovative Experimental Primary Schools (IEP) in 72 Villages in Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. What is the difference between IEP and regular Government Schools? IEP schools, apart from regular academics, work towards education children in the age group 1115 on the 7 types of Poverty which are required to uplift the quality of life. Our usual assumption of Poverty is only Economic Poverty. However, this is just one of the kinds. We have to even look at the following types to ensure quality of life improved: 1. Economic Poverty 2. Bodily Poverty 3. Mental Poverty 4. Cultural Poverty 5. Spiritual Poverty 6. Political Poverty 7. Societal Poverty Now, it makes more interesting to understand these aspects. Even though the above are talked about in the BCT Project homepage, I will write again here in my own words and understanding. Economic Poverty - Lack of monitory demands for providing themselves with Food, Cloth and Shelter. Please note that money need for only the mentioned attributes falls under this category. Bodily Poverty - Lack of property physical health and access to health living conditions. Mental Poverty - Lack of thinking, which is resultant of lack of access to education and knowledge. Cultural Poverty - Lack of coming together in a society. No collaborative activities taking place which leads to disconnect between people.

Spiritual Poverty - surprising right? Yes, lack of feeling of togetherness/brotherhood plays an important role in bringing people together. Political Poverty - Lack of understanding of how system works. The basic problem is the understanding of how to cast one's vote and elect their leader. Societal Poverty - Lack of social connectivity. http://societyforward.blogspot.com/2007/08/7-types-of-poverty.html

Types of Poverty

By Dana Hinders

Understanding the different types of poverty is key to helping people get the assistance they need to make a better life for themselves.

What Is Poverty?
Poverty is defined as the condition of not having sufficient resources. Traditionally, we think of poverty in a purely economic sense. However, a person living in poverty may be lacking more than just money. Other resources can include:

Emotional, as in the capacity to control and choose responses to a situation without resorting to self-destructive behavior. Mental, as in the basic literacy skills needed to deal with the tasks of everyday life. Physical, as in health and mobility. Support systems, as in friends, family, and community members who can provide assistance in times of crisis. Role models and relationships, as in people who are nurturing and set a good example. Spiritual, as in a belief in divine purpose and guidance - not necessarily participation in organized religion.

All of these resources are connected. For example, people who don't have enough money to pay for health insurance may not get the care needed to treat depression or other forms of mental illness. These untreated problems can lead to difficulty maintaining relationships and the support systems that would help them deal with crisis situations effectively.

Types of Poverty: Situational vs. Generational

Dr. Ruby K. Payne, author of the book A Framework for Understanding Poverty, reports that there are two types of poverty: situational and generational.
Situational Poverty

Situational poverty is a type of poverty that occurs as the result of a specific event. For example:

Immigrants who are building a new life in a foreign country. A man who must find a new career after becoming injured or disabled at his previous employment. A mother struggling to make ends meet while she attends school after her divorce. Parents who are having trouble repaying medical debt from the birth of a premature baby. Trouble with finances after the unexpected death of a spouse.

Since situational poverty usually has one specific cause, this type of poverty is most often temporary. Once the main problem has been addressed, the person's financial situation improves. For example, once a single mother finishes her schooling, she has a much greater earning power to help take care of her children.
Generational Poverty

While the American dream is to have your children enjoy a higher quality of life than you, sometimes this does not happen. Generational poverty refers to the ongoing poverty that is passed down from parent to child. In economics, this is sometimes called the cycle of poverty. There are a number of reasons why generational poverty remains a problem:

A mother who grew up in poverty may find it hard to imagine any other way of life for her child; the "culture of poverty" is all she knows. Parents struggling with drug addiction or mental illness that is not properly treated due to a lack of suitable health care options find it hard to properly supervise their young children. Parents who did not attend college themselves simply do not know how to help their teens navigate the world of higher education. Young adults with parents who are living in poverty miss out on the networking opportunities that can lead to finding stable employment.

The Role of Public Assistance

The two types of poverty are portrayed very differently in the media and in policy debates about the best way to help those in need. Situational poverty is often seen as more deserving of help than generational poverty, even though both result in similar daily

struggles. This is why the government places limits on the length of time families can receive cash assistance; the goal is to avoid having poverty become a "lifestyle" choice. While not traditionally thought of as anti-poverty programs, the following are also examples of how the government is working to fight situational poverty:

Programs to help high school dropouts earn their GEDs Scholarships for college Day care assistance for single mothers Help paying medical bills

Dealing with generational poverty is much more complicated than resolving the issues associated with situational poverty. The most commonly accepted theory, however, is that education is key. This includes working to improve the quality of education in public schools as well as providing mentors and resources to help low-income children make smart decisions about their future. http://save.lovetoknow.com/Types_of_Poverty

CAUSES OF POVERTY

Overpopulation
Overpopulation, the situation of having large numbers of people with too few resources and too little space, is closely associated with poverty. It can result from high population density (the ratio of people to land area, usually expressed as numbers of persons per square kilometer or square mile) or from low amounts of resources, or from both. Excessively high population densities put stress on available resources. Only a certain number of people can be supported on a given area of land, and that number depends on how much food and other resources the land can provide. In countries where people live primarily by means of simple farming, gardening, herding, hunting, and gathering, even large areas of land can support only small numbers of people because these labor-intensive subsistence activities produce only small amounts of food.

Global Distribution of Resources

Many experts agree that the legacy of colonialism accounts for much of the unequal distribution of resources in the world economy. In many developing countries, the problems of poverty are massive and pervasive. In recent decades most of these countries have tried to develop their economies with industry and technology with varying levels of success. Some nations have become fairly wealthy, including the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. Many developing countries, however, lack essential raw materials and the knowledge and skills gained through formal education and training. They also often lack the infrastructure provided by, for example, transportation systems and power-generating facilities. Because these things are necessary for the development of industry,

developing countries generally must rely on trade with developed countries for manufactured goods, but they cannot afford much.

High Standards of Living and Costs of Living

Because people in developed nations may have more wealth and resources than those in developing countries, their standard of living is also generally higher. Thus, people who have what would be considered adequate wealth and resources in developing countries may be considered poor in developed countries. People in the United States, for example, may expect to make, on average, about $30,000 each year. They also probably expect to rent an apartment or own a house with electricity and running water, to be able to afford to eat and dress well, and to receive quality health care. In addition, many people aspire to afford discretionary expensesthat is, purchases unessential to survival, such as cars, higher-priced foods, and entertainment. In contrast, people in developing countries may consider themselves to be doing well if they have productive gardens, some livestock, and a house of thatch or mud-brick. In rural areas, people may be accustomed to not having plumbing, electricity, or formal health care. By the standards of developed countries, such living conditions are considered hallmarks of poverty.

Inadequate Education and Employment

Illiteracy and lack of education are common in poor countries. Governments of developing countries often cannot afford to provide for good public schools, especially in rural areas. Whereas virtually all children in industrialized countries have access to an education, only about 60 percent of children in sub-Saharan Africa even attend elementary school. Without education, most people cannot find income-generating work. Poor people also often forego schooling in order to concentrate on making a minimal living. In addition, developing countries tend to have few employment opportunities, especially for women. As a result, people may see little reason to go to school.

Environmental Degradation
In many parts of the world, environmental degradation the deterioration of the natural environment, including the atmosphere, bodies of water, soil, and forests is an important cause of poverty. Environmental problems have led to shortages of food, clean water, materials for shelter, and other essential resources. As forests, land, air, and water are degraded, people who live directly off these natural resources suffer most from the effects. People in developed countries, on the other hand, have technologies and conveniences such as air and water filters, refined fuels, and industrially produced and stored foods to buffer themselves from the effects of environmental degradation.

Economic and Demographic Trends

Poverty in many developed countries can be linked to economic trends. In the 1950s and 1960s, for example, most people in the United States experienced strong income growth. Taking inflation into account, average family income almost doubled during this period. However, between the early 1970s and the early 1990s typical incomes, adjusted for inflation, grew little while the cost of living increased. Periods of economic recession tend to particularly affect young and less-educated people, who may have difficulty finding jobs that pay enough to support themselves. Changes in labor markets in developed countries have also contributed to increased poverty levels. For instance, the number of relatively high-paying manufacturing jobs has declined, while the demand for workers in service- and technology-related industries has increased. Historically, people have learned the skills required for jobs that involve manual labor, such as those in manufacturing, either on the job or through easily accessible school vocational programs. As these jobs are replaced by service- and technology-related jobsjobs that usually require skills taught at the college levelpeople who cannot afford a college education find it increasingly difficult to obtain well-paying work.

Individual Responsibility and Welfare Dependency

There are differing beliefs about individual responsibility for poverty. Some people believe that poverty is a symptom of societal structure and that some proportion of any society inevitably will be poor. Others feel that poverty results from a failure of social institutions, such as the labor market and schools. These people feel that poverty is beyond the control of those who experience it, but might be remedied if appropriate policies were enacted. Other people feel that the poor intentionally behave in ways that cause or perpetuate their poverty. For instance, if people voluntarily choose to use drugs and this leads them to poverty, it can be argued that they are to blame for their situation. However, such an argument cannot completely explain cases in which poverty leads to drug dependence.

http://fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/poverty/reasons.html