POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

Poverty, its causes, effect and solution Students name Name of the Institute

POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Definition of Poverty ................................................................................................................................... 3 Reasons of Poverty ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Solutions to End Poverty ............................................................................................................................ 6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 7

POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

Introduction
Since ages poverty has been a major problem across globe, and with every passing day this issue is spreading and engulfing different classes of society. Poverty is one critical reason for many socio-economic problems including population explosion, unemployment, rampant rise in child labour and rising graph of crimes. Poverty cant be ignored as an issue of a specific class, or any specific nation. In the present scenario when every class, society or for that matter every nation is interlinked with each other, this issue of poverty cannot be overlooked. Important to note is that poverty today is not just a problem of third world countries like India, or Africa but developed nations like Canada, America and one major part of Europe are also pondering on this serious issue. Based on Salvation Army Report, 2011 Canadians ranked poverty as the third most important issue facing the country today, after the economy and health care. (S. Army, 1-8)i Thus it underlines the fact that how poverty remains a cause of concern for developed countries like Canada. For a country like Canada where more than 1 in 10 Canadians between 18 to 65 live in poverty this fact highlights that how poverty is impacting people across different age groups. Poverty today is not about problem of one specific individual it is every body`s problem, if one part of society experiences success then the other part experiences poverty. Poverty eradication should be taken up as a matter of fundamental importance because of its direct impact on development of country.

Definition of Poverty
Important to understand is that what exactly is poverty? Basically poverty is a state or condition in which a person is unable to maintain a standard of living suitable to his physical and

POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

mental efficiency. In acute case of poverty people often fail to meet their basic set of requirements like food or shelter. To draw a clear line between affluence and poverty is extremely debatable, there are no specific set of definition which clearly indicates that what is affluence and what is poverty, making poverty more of a relative concept. According to Adam Smith, Man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, the conveniences and the amusements of human life.ii (Petrella, Frank, 365-374). However countries keep trying to define and redefine definition of poverty with changing time and various other factors. For example statistics Canada applies a benchmark named LICO which means Low Income Cut-Off to determine poverty, according to which If families spend more than 56% (the average amount + 20%) of their income on shelter, food and clothing, they are considered to live below the poverty line. If seen in very practical aspect then one fact becomes clear that poverty is a pollutant, something which leads to a situation that diminishes self-esteem of an individual. Poverty reduces purchasing power of an individual in spite of the fact, that everything that person aspires for is very much present in the market. Such kind deprivations not only affect personality development of a person but also creates gaps between what to have and what not to have. Should poverty be measured using an" absolute" or a" relative" approach?iii (Foster, James, 335-341) This question on types of poverty has been debated since long time. However poverty can be broadly classified in two categories. In a way, these are more of relative definition of poverty 1. Absolute Poverty: a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and

POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.iv (Gordo, David, 12-14) 2. Relative poverty: describes inequality, a situation where a person is noticeably worse off than most people in his or her community Thus from above two definitions, poverty can be categorized in two categories. Poverty today is not problem of a specific set of people or a country, people and societies from rural, urban area, people young and old, there is no specific demarcation. At time poverty is more like a vicious circle, where a poor individual keeps trying to come out of poverty through various futile efforts, which eventually gets negated by various other factors like inflation, socio-economic situation etc.

Reasons of Poverty
Reason for poverty can vary. Lack of education, job opportunities, lack of finance and several other factors can contribute towards someone being poor. Irrespective of reasons of poverty or types of poverty, one fact which remains constant is unhappiness. No individual or society appreciates or enjoy being poor. There is always a resentment, anger and apathy among such people. Situation of poverty is detrimental not for individual but for society as well. Poverty today has created paradoxical situation where on one hand wealth is concentrated in few homes while millions still fail to meet both their ends. One major class of poor people is working class, ironically we believe that work, employment is a stepping stone out of poverty, but this might not be true always, If an individual is working on a low wage, then there is no way poverty can be avoided , courtesy-high cost of living, inflation. Thus even if they work hard, have more source of income, chances are high that they end up

POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

being poor. Poverty is neither specific to gender, for example in Canada Women form the majority (about 53%) of people living in poverty, important to understand is that why women are more likely to be poor, and reason for that is either unpaid work or pay inequality. Thus a woman might be working like its male counterpart, but at times, in order to take care of family, parents or in-laws they have to cut down on their paid work, which leads to lifelong effect on their professional growth and other factors like wages, pension benefits etc. Dimension of poverty has been changing and is independent of time or place. Whether it is poverty in working class or whether it is poverty in women or children, ultimately it leads to disparity and suffering. One major factor which should be highlighted as a cause of poverty is inflation. The rising living expense affects adversely on poor people, not only it makes a dent in their already weak situations but it also worsens the overall situation, whereas middle class struggles hard to maintain a decent living standard which at times drag them to poor class. With inflation whole economy goes in vicious cycle. Where there is no spending power for even basic products further pushing situation towards negative end.

Solutions to End Poverty

Poverty alleviation is one prime goal of all the governments across globe. One major solution is setting up minimum wage to a level which takes inflation into consideration, this is very important for people working on low wages. Governments from time to time launch schemes which aids poor people in terms of health and food benefits, what remains critical is that how much advantage poor people are able to extract out of such schemes. At times community participation and awareness campaigns also play crucial role in making poor

POVERTY, ITS CAUSES, EFFECT AND SOLUTION

people aware of their rights, and opportunity in front of them. Overall in reducing poverty government needs to ensure accountability and sincerity in its efforts.

Conclusion
To get rid of poverty, effective strategies have to be made and implemented with determination and persistence. Although the dream of eradicating poverty is practically impossible, we as a part of society can definitely reduce the overall impact of this problem in an organized manner. If the government and society in general will display a stronger will to help poor people, then poor wouldnt have to beg for his rights or mercy and life will surely become better, if not the best.

References
i Army, Salvation. Debunking myths about poverty in Canada. The Dignity Project Survey

(2011): 1-8.
ii

Petrella, Frank. "Adam Smith's rejection of Hume's Price-Specie-Flow mechanism: a minor mystery resolved." Southern Economic Journal (1968): 365-374.

iii

Foster, James E. "Absolute versus relative poverty." The American Economic Review 88.2 (1998): 335-341.

iv

Gordon, David. "Indicators of Poverty & Hunger." Expert group meeting on youth development indicators. 2005.