What is Poverty?

To start with, we need to know what poverty is. Many writers assert that there are two main types of poverty. These are absolute poverty and relative poverty. (a) ABSOLUTE POVERTY With absolute poverty people generally do not have what they need. They are short of basic foodstuff, shelter, clothing and adequate or sufficient health care. (b) RELATIVE POVERTY On the other hand just like beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, poverty may be viewed to be a subjective term and what is poverty to someone may not be poverty to someone else. What is poverty under relative terms is viewed as being what some people lack in relation to other people. Under relative poverty measures, a mean level of income may be established under which a person may be considered to be living in poverty. Any one living above that level may be considered not to be living in poverty.

Hunger and World Poverty About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds, as you can see on this display. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often. Yet there is plenty of food in the world for everyone. The problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty. They lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves. Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families. There are effective programs to break this spiral. For adults, there are food for work programs where the adults are paid with food to build schools, dig wells, make roads, and so on. This both nourishes them and builds infrastructure to end the poverty. For children, there are food for education programs where the children are provided with food when they attend school. Their education will help them to escape from hunger and global poverty.

Facts

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Almost half the world over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the worlds 7 richest people combined.

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Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didnt happen. 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).

Causes of poverty Poverty is an exceptionally complicated social phenomenon, and trying to discover its causes is equally complicated. The stereotypic (and simplistic) explanation persiststhat the poor cause their own povertybased on the notion that anything is possible in America. Some theorists have accused the poor of having little concern for the future and preferring to live for the moment; others have accused them of engaging in self-defeating behavior. Still other theorists have characterized the poor as fatalists, resigning themselves to a culture of poverty in which nothing can be done to change their economic outcomes. In this culture of povertywhich passes from generation to generationthe poor feel negative, inferior, passive, hopeless, and powerless. The blame the poor perspective is stereotypic and not applicable to all of the underclass. Not only are most poor people able and willing to work hard, they do so when given the chance. The real trouble has to do with such problems as minimum wages and lack of access to the education necessary for obtaining a better-paying job. More recently, sociologists have focused on other theories of poverty. One theory of poverty has to do with the flight of the middle class, including employers, from the cities and into the suburbs. This has limited the opportunities for the inner-city poor to find adequate jobs. According to another theory, the poor would rather receive welfare payments than work in demeaning positions as maids or in fast-food restaurants. As a result of this view, the welfare system has come under increasing attack in recent years. Again, no simple explanations for or solutions to the problem of poverty exist. Although varying theories abound, sociologists will continue to pay attention to this issue in the years to come.

1)Low Productivity in Agriculture: The level of productivity in agriculture is low due to subdivided and fragmented holdings, lack of capital, use of traditional methods of cultivation, illiteracy etc. This is the main cause of poverty in the country. 2) Under Utilized Resources: The existence of under employment and disguised unemployment of human resources and under utilization of resources has resulted in low production in agricultural sector. This brought a down fall in their standard of living. 3) Low Rate of Economic Development: The rate of economic development in India has been below the required level. Therefore, there persists a gap between level of availability and requirements of goods and services. The net result is poverty. 4) Price Rise: The continuous and steep price rise has added to the miseries of poor. It has benefited a few people in the society and the persons in lower income group find it difficult to get their minimum needs. 5) Unemployment: The continuously expanding army of unemployed is another cause of poverty. The job seeker is increasing in number at a higher rate than the expansion in employment opportunities. 6) Shortage of Capital and Able Entrepreneurship: Capital and able entrepreneurship have important role in accelerating the growth. But these are in short supply making it difficult to increase production significantly. 7) Social Factors: The social set up is still backward and is not conducive to faster development. Laws of inheritance, caste system, traditions and customs are putting hindrances in the way of faster development and have aggravate" the problem of poverty. In terms of individuals, some key factors are seen as making a person more at risk if being in poverty such as: o o unemployment or having a poor quality (i.e. low paid or precarious) job as this limits access to a decent income and cuts people off from social networks; low levels of education and skills because this limits peoples ability to access decent jobs to develop themselves and participate fully in society;

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the size and type of family i.e. large families and lone parent families tend to be at greater risk of poverty because they have higher costs, lower incomes and more difficulty in gaining well paid employment; gender - women are generally at higher risk of poverty than men as they are less likely to be in paid employment, tend to have lower pensions, are more involved in unpaid caring responsibilities and when they are in work, are frequently paid less ; disability or ill-health because this limits ability to access employment and also leads to increased day to day costs; being a member of minority ethnic groups such as the Roma and immigrants/undocumented migrants as they suffer particularly from discrimination and racism and thus have less chance to access employment, often are forced to live in worse physical environments and have poorer access to essential services; living in a remote or very disadvantaged community where access to services is worse.

All these factors create additional barriers and difficulties, but should be seen within the overall structural context of how a particular country chooses to distribute wealth and tackle inequality. The effects of poverty The effects of poverty are serious. Children who grow up in poverty suffer more persistent, frequent, and severe health problems than do children who grow up under better financial circumstances. Many infants born into poverty have a low birth weight, which is associated with many preventable mental and physical disabilities. Not only are these poor infants more likely to be irritable or sickly, they are also more likely to die before their first birthday. Children raised in poverty tend to miss school more often because of illness. These children also have a much higher rate of accidents than do other children, and they are twice as likely to have impaired vision and hearing, iron deficiency anemia, and higher than normal levels of lead in the blood, which can impair brain function.

Poor children suffer higher incidences of adverse health, devel- opmental, and other outcomes than non- poor children. The specific dimensions of the wellbeing of children and youths con- sidered in some detail in this article include physical health (low birth weight, growth stunting, and lead poisoning), cognitive ability (intelligence, verbal ability, and achievement test scores), school achieve- ment (years of schooling, high school com- pletion), emotional and behavioral outcomes, and teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing. Other outcomes are not addressed owing to a scarcity of available research, a lack of space, and because they overlap with included outcomes.

Compared with nonpoor children, poor children in the United States experience diminished physical health as measured by a number of indicators of health status and outcomes (see Table 1). In the 1988 National Health Interview Survey, parents reported that poor children were only two- thirds as likely to be in excellent health and almost twice as likely to be in fair or poor health as nonpoor children. These large dif- ferences in health status between poor and nonpoor children do not reflect adjustment for potentially confounding factors (factors, other than income, that may be associated with living in poverty) nor do they distin- guish between long- or short-term poverty or the timing of poverty. This section reviews research on the relationship of poverty to several key measures of child health, low birth weight and infant mortality, growth stunting, and lead poisoning. For the most part, the focus is on research that attempts to adjust for important confounding factors and/or to address the effect of the duration of poverty on child health outcomes. Growth Stunting Although overt malnutrition and starvation are rare among poor children in the United States, deficits in childrens nutritional status are associated with poverty. As described more fully in the Child Indicators article in this journal issue, stunting (low height for age), a measure of nutritional status, is more prevalent among poor than nonpoor chil- dren. Studies using data from the NLSY show that differentials in height for age between poor and nonpoor children are greater when long-term rather than single- year measures of poverty are used in models to predict stunting. These differentials by poverty status are large even in models that statistically control for many other family and child characteristics associated with poverty.17

Emotional and Behavioral Outcomes Poor children suffer from

emotional and behavioral problems more frequently than do nonpoor children (see Table 1). Emotional outcomes are often grouped along two dimensions: externalizing behav- iors including aggression, fighting, and act- ing out, and internalizing behaviors such as anxiety, social withdrawal, and depression. Data regarding emotional outcomes are based on parental and teacher reports. This section reviews studies that distinguish between the effects of long- and short-term poverty on emotional outcomes of children at different ages. One study of low birth weight five-year- olds using the IHDP data set found that chil- dren in persistently poor families had more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than children who had never been poor. The analysis controlled for maternal education and family structure and defined long-term poverty as income below the poverty threshold for each of four consecu- tive years. Short-term poverty (defined as poor in at least one of four years) was also associated with more behavioral problems, though the effects were not as large as those for persistent poverty.6 Two different studies using the NLSY report findings consistent with those of

the IHDP study. Both found persistent poverty to be a significant predictor of some behav- ioral problems.26,32 One study used data from the 1986 NLSY and found that for four- to eight-year-olds persistent poverty (defined as a specific percentage of years of life dur- ing which the child lived below the poverty level) was positively related to the presence of internalizing symptoms (such as depen- dence, anxiety, and unhappiness) even after controlling for current poverty status, moth- ers age, education, and marital status. In contrast, current poverty (defined by cur- rent family income below the poverty line) but not persistent poverty was associated with more externalizing problems (such as hyperactivity, peer conflict, and headstrong behavior).32 Parents who are poor are likely to be less healthy, both emotionally and physically, than those who are not poor.45 And parental irritability and depressive symptoms are associated with more conflictual interac- tions with adolescents, leading to less satis- factory emotional, social, and cognitive development.43,46,47 Some studies have established that parental mental health accounts for some of the effect of economic circumstances on child health and behavior. Additionally, poor parental mental health is associated with impaired parent-child inter- actions and less provision of learning expe- riences in the home.
Levels of stress in the family have also been shown to correlate with economic circumstances. Studies during economic recessions indicate that job loss and subsequent poverty are associated with violence in families, including child and elder abuse. Poor families experience much more stress than middle-class families. Besides financial uncertainty, these families are more likely to be exposed to series of negative events and bad luck, including illness, depression, eviction, job loss, criminal victimization, and family death. Parents who experience hard economic times may become excessively punitive and erratic, issuing demands backed by insults, threats, and corporal punishment. Homelessness, or extreme poverty, carries with it a particularly strong set of risks for families, especially children. Compared to children living in poverty but having homes, homeless children are less likely to receive proper nutrition and immunization. Hence, they experience more health problems. Homeless women experience higher rates of low-birth-weight babies, miscarriages, and infant mortality, probably due to not having access to adequate prenatal care for their babies. Homeless families experience even greater life stress than other families, including increased disruption in work, school, family relationships, and friendships. Sociologists have been particularly concerned about the effects of poverty on the black underclass, the increasing numbers of jobless, welfare-dependent African Americans trapped in inner-city ghettos. Many of the industries (textiles, auto, steel) that previously offered employment to the black working class have shut down, while newer industries have relocated to the suburbs. Because most urban jobs either require advanced education or pay minimum wage, unemployment rates for innercity blacks are high. Even though Hispanic Americans are almost as likely as African Americans to live in poverty, fewer inner-city Hispanic neighborhoods have undergone the same massive changes as many black neighborhoods have. Middle and working class Hispanic

families have not left their barrio, or urban Spanish-speaking neighborhood, in large numbers, so most Hispanic cultural and social institutions there remain intact. In addition, local Hispanic-owned businesses and low-skill industries support the barrio with wage-based, not welfare-based, businesses. Climbing out of poverty is difficult for anyone, perhaps because, at its worst, poverty can become a self-perpetuating cycle. Children of poverty are at an extreme disadvantage in the job market; in turn, the lack of good jobs ensures continued poverty. The cycle ends up repeating itself until the pattern is somehow broken.

Nations that are unable to keep up with world economy, lack raw materials and markets to do so may turn to war in a bid to obtain new markets for its goods, and simultaneously acquire raw materials from the state as well. This, however, is not a viable option - often this will lead to international condemnation, resulting in trade embargos from various countries, or even conflict between peacekeeping forces (i.e. the UN) and the nation itself. Therefore, it can be said that such a move isn't ideal - the negative aspects overshadow the positive ones. In the face of a nation's poor economy and weak rule of the government, the population may seek to migrate to areas with a better-faring economy, where the trade is more profitable, where there is low cost for all. Since the people of such poverty-stricken nations choose to migrate in search of better living/job/social conditions, it may undermine the nation's ability to recuperate from the far-reaching effects of poverty. This is a most extreme case of poverty, where there has only been one example in history - Uganda under the regime of the totalitarian and brutalistic Idi Amin , army colonel turned leader. In this case, Idi Amin spending spree quickly landed the beleaguered nation to total economic collapse. It is known that he systematically organized a mass killing pogrom of his fellow countrymen. Relatives of the victims were to pay an exorbitant sum to "recover" the bodies, and this was how he kept Uganda's battered economy afloat. Terrorism Through recent years, analysts have been able to point out that politically and economically weak nations often fall prey to terrorism. i.e. Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen . Poverty too is a major factor in explaining the spike in terrorism in recent years. Between the years of 1933 to 1973 were times when Afghanistan experienced political and economic stability. By the end of the Soviet-Afghan War , the country had been ravaged by infighting and devestation caused by the Soviets. Only then did terrorism flourish.
Feminist perspective on poverty

Finally, recent decades have witnessed the feminization of poverty, or the significant increase in the numbers of single women in poverty alone, primarily as single mothers. In the last three decades the proportion of poor families headed by women has grown to more than 50 percent. This feminization of poverty has affected African-American women more than any other group. This feminization of poverty may be related to numerous changes in contemporary America. Increases in unwanted births, separations, and divorces have forced growing numbers of women to head poor households. Meanwhile, increases in divorced fathers avoiding child support coupled with reductions in welfare support have forced many of these women-headed households to join the ranks of the underclass. Further, because wives generally live longer than their husbands, growing numbers of elderly women must live in poverty. Feminists also attribute the feminization of poverty to women's vulnerability brought about by the patriarchal, sexist, and gender-biased nature of Western society, which does not value protecting women's rights and wealth.

Hernandez, D.J. Americas children: Resources from family government and the economy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1993. Duncan, G.J., and Brooks-Gunn, J., eds. Consequences of growing up poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997. Duncan, G.J., and Rodgers, W.L. Longitudinal aspects of childhood poverty. Journal of Marriage and the Family (November 1988) 50,4:100721. Chase-Lansdale, P.L., and Brooks-Gunn, J., eds. Escape from poverty: What makes a difference for children? New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Childrens Defense Fund. Wasting Americas future. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994; Klerman, L. Alive and well? New York: National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, 1991. Duncan, G.J., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Klebanov, P.K. Economic deprivation and early-childhood development. Child Development (1994) 65,2:296318. Duncan, G.J., Yeung, W., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Smith, J.R. How much does childhood poverty affect the life chances of children? American Sociological Review, in press. Hauser, R., Brown, B., and Prosser, W. Indicators of childrens well-being. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, in press.

http://www.eapn.eu/en/what-is-poverty/causes-of-poverty-and-inequality http://economybuilding.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/poverty-top-three-causes/ http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Causes-and-Effects-of-Poverty.topicArticleId26957,articleId-26882.html