poverty definition essay

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• Introduction

Cyclical poverty

Collective poverty, concentrated collective poverty, case poverty.

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poverty , the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. In this context , the identification of poor people first requires a determination of what constitutes basic needs. These may be defined as narrowly as “those necessary for survival” or as broadly as “those reflecting the prevailing standard of living in the community.” The first criterion would cover only those people near the borderline of starvation or death from exposure; the second would extend to people whose nutrition, housing, and clothing, though adequate to preserve life, do not measure up to those of the population as a whole. The problem of definition is further compounded by the noneconomic connotations that the word poverty has acquired. Poverty has been associated, for example, with poor health, low levels of education or skills, an inability or an unwillingness to work, high rates of disruptive or disorderly behaviour, and improvidence. While these attributes have often been found to exist with poverty, their inclusion in a definition of poverty would tend to obscure the relation between them and the inability to provide for one’s basic needs. Whatever definition one uses, authorities and laypersons alike commonly assume that the effects of poverty are harmful to both individuals and society.

Although poverty is a phenomenon as old as human history, its significance has changed over time. Under traditional (i.e., nonindustrialized) modes of economic production, widespread poverty had been accepted as inevitable. The total output of goods and services, even if equally distributed, would still have been insufficient to give the entire population a comfortable standard of living by prevailing standards. With the economic productivity that resulted from industrialization , however, this ceased to be the case—especially in the world’s most industrialized countries , where national outputs were sufficient to raise the entire population to a comfortable level if the necessary redistribution could be arranged without adversely affecting output.

Several types of poverty may be distinguished depending on such factors as time or duration (long- or short-term or cyclical) and distribution (widespread, concentrated, individual).

(Read Indira Gandhi’s 1975 Britannica essay on global underprivilege.)

Cyclical poverty refers to poverty that may be widespread throughout a population, but the occurrence itself is of limited duration. In nonindustrial societies (present and past), this sort of inability to provide for one’s basic needs rests mainly upon temporary food shortages caused by natural phenomena or poor agricultural planning. Prices would rise because of scarcities of food, which brought widespread, albeit temporary, misery.

In industrialized societies the chief cyclical cause of poverty is fluctuations in the business cycle , with mass unemployment during periods of depression or serious recession . Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the industrialized nations of the world experienced business panics and recessions that temporarily enlarged the numbers of the poor. The United States’ experience in the Great Depression of the 1930s, though unique in some of its features, exemplifies this kind of poverty. And until the Great Depression, poverty resulting from business fluctuations was accepted as an inevitable consequence of a natural process of market regulation . Relief was granted to the unemployed to tide them over until the business cycle again entered an upswing. The experiences of the Great Depression inspired a generation of economists such as John Maynard Keynes , who sought solutions to the problems caused by extreme swings in the business cycle. Since the Great Depression, governments in nearly all advanced industrial societies have adopted economic policies that attempt to limit the ill effects of economic fluctuation. In this sense, governments play an active role in poverty alleviation by increasing spending as a means of stimulating the economy. Part of this spending comes in the form of direct assistance to the unemployed, either through unemployment compensation , welfare, and other subsidies or by employment on public-works projects. Although business depressions affect all segments of society, the impact is most severe on people of the lowest socioeconomic strata because they have fewer marginal resources than those of a higher strata.

In contrast to cyclical poverty, which is temporary, widespread or “ collective ” poverty involves a relatively permanent insufficiency of means to secure basic needs—a condition that may be so general as to describe the average level of life in a society or that may be concentrated in relatively large groups in an otherwise prosperous society. Both generalized and concentrated collective poverty may be transmitted from generation to generation, parents passing their poverty on to their children.

Collective poverty is relatively general and lasting in parts of Asia, the Middle East , most of Africa, and parts of South America and Central America . Life for the bulk of the population in these regions is at a minimal level. Nutritional deficiencies cause disease seldom seen by doctors in the highly developed countries. Low life expectancy , high levels of infant mortality, and poor health characterize life in these societies.

Collective poverty is usually related to economic underdevelopment. The total resources of many developing nations in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America would be insufficient to support the population adequately even if they were equally divided among all of the citizens. Proposed remedies are twofold: (1) expansion of the gross national product (GNP) through improved agriculture or industrialization, or both, and (2) population limitation. Thus far, both population control and induced economic development in many countries have proved difficult, controversial, and at times inconclusive or disappointing in their results.

An increase of the GNP does not necessarily lead to an improved standard of living for the population at large, for a number of reasons. The most important reason is that, in many developing countries, the population grows even faster than the economy does, with no net reduction in poverty as a result. This increased population growth stems primarily from lowered infant mortality rates made possible by improved sanitary and disease-control measures. Unless such lowered rates eventually result in women bearing fewer children, the result is a sharp acceleration in population growth. To reduce birth rates, some developing countries have undertaken nationally administered family-planning programs, with varying results. Many developing nations are also characterized by a long-standing system of unequal distribution of wealth —a system likely to continue despite marked increases in the GNP. Some authorities have observed the tendency for a large portion of any increase to be siphoned off by persons who are already wealthy, while others claim that increases in GNP will always trickle down to the part of the population living at the subsistence level.

In many industrialized, relatively affluent countries, particular demographic groups are vulnerable to long-term poverty. In city ghettos , in regions bypassed or abandoned by industry, and in areas where agriculture or industry is inefficient and cannot compete profitably, there are found victims of concentrated collective poverty. These people, like those afflicted with generalized poverty, have higher mortality rates, poor health, low educational levels, and so forth when compared with the more affluent segments of society. Their chief economic traits are unemployment and underemployment, unskilled occupations, and job instability. Efforts at amelioration focus on ways to bring the deprived groups into the mainstream of economic life by attracting new industry, promoting small business, introducing improved agricultural methods, and raising the level of skills of the employable members of the society.

Similar to collective poverty in relative permanence but different from it in terms of distribution, case poverty refers to the inability of an individual or family to secure basic needs even in social surroundings of general prosperity. This inability is generally related to the lack of some basic attribute that would permit the individual to maintain himself or herself. Such persons may, for example, be blind, physically or emotionally disabled , or chronically ill. Physical and mental handicaps are usually regarded sympathetically, as being beyond the control of the people who suffer from them. Efforts to ameliorate poverty due to physical causes focus on education, sheltered employment, and, if needed, economic maintenance.

Concept of Poverty Definition Essay

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Introduction

Poverty as a measure of low income, the “basic needs” approach, poverty as an inescapable political act, the freedoms approach, poverty as the lack of wealth, how to measure poverty.

Poverty is a widely useful and common concept in many spheres of socioeconomic development. Albeit a universal concept, many people have different conceptions of the term. In fact, Misturelli and Heffernan (2010) say the concept has different clusters of meanings and definitions.

Other researchers believe the evolving nature of poverty contributes to its varied meanings. The discourse analysis of Misturelli and Heffernan (2010) was among the first research studies to document how the evolving nature of poverty gave it different meanings and definitions. Pantazis, Gordon and Levitas (2006) take a pragmatic construction of this argument by arguing that most people cannot define poverty in any way that they like.

The discourse, or subject areas, of these meanings provide the differences. This paper builds on these arguments by reviewing different conceptions of the term.

Since the 1880s, researchers have come up with three main conceptions of the term – “subsistence, basic needs and relative deprivation” (Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith 2013). Pantazis, Gordon and Levitas (2006) use the first criterion to define poverty by saying that it is “The Lack of income, access to good quality health, education and housing, and the exposure to poor quality living environments” (p. 30).

They say these attributes affect people’s well-being. In line with the same understanding, Pantazis, Gordon and Levitas (2006) say low income is an important component of poverty because it affects people’s well-being as well. Here, it is important to understand that short spells of low incomes do not necessarily affect people’s well-being.

However, long spells of low incomes are bound to have the reverse effect (ill-being). Although this discussion does not directly contribute to our understanding of poverty, it helps us to understand the views of other researchers who group low-income people as “poverty-stricken” people (Pantazis, Gordon & Levitas 2006).

This is false. In fact, unless the low income has a negative effect on the people affected, it is incorrect to equate low income with poverty. Nonetheless, this is one perception that outlines people’s understanding of the term.

Booth and Rowntree (cited in Pantazis, Gordon & Levitas 2006) are among the first researchers to explore the concept of poverty. They did so by studying the concept in the context of early 19 th century England.

Here, they opposed the commonly held belief that poverty meant the lack of financial resources (only). Instead, they expanded this understanding by saying that poor health, housing, and the lack of education (among other socioeconomic variables) also defined poverty (Pantazis, Gordon & Levitas 2006).

The United Nations (UN) also adopts a similar understanding of poverty by saying that the concept is “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information” (United Nations Development Programme 2006, p. 5).

The main difference between this definition and other definitions of poverty highlighted in this paper is the broad understanding of the concept. Stated differently, other researchers use a narrow definition of socioeconomic factors (such as the lack of income) to define poverty, while the basic needs approach constructs poverty through a wider realm of factors that affect human well-being.

Many researchers have often explored the relationship between poverty and politics (United Nations Development Programme 2006). Most of them say that poverty is an inescapably political act. Global institutions, such as the UN, also hold the same view.

For example, the UN has often argued that poverty rarely exists in “politically mature” democracies (such as Europe) (United Nations Development Programme 2006). Conversely, they argue that poor countries, which do not have “politically mature” democracies, report the highest levels of poverty.

This argument further stretches to social and political structures. For example, many researchers believe that poverty is a product of extreme capitalistic societies (Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith 2013). This view closely aligns with the Marxist school of thought, but the United Nations Development Programme (2006) defines it as the Anglo-Saxon preoccupation.

Proponents of such views say that capitalistic structures create significant wage differentials that limit people’s growth opportunities (Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith 2013). Therefore, people who are born in poverty find it difficult to escape this cycle because of structural limitations (caused by capitalistic systems).

The United Nations Development Programme (2006) expounds on this analysis by saying that political structures (representative of capitalistic societies) need an “industrial reserve army,” which owners of factors of production can use and dispose at their will. Since researchers have different reservations regarding the factuality of this view, its proponents argue that political structures created poverty by relating it to income (Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith 2013).

They also say that although poverty existed before the creation of these capitalistic structures, it was mainly limited to life-cycle changes (such as elderly people experiencing the highest rates of poverty) (United Nations Development Programme 2006).

Understanding poverty through people’s ability to live freely and valuable lives emerged from critiques of the income approach to poverty. Its proponents believed that reducing poverty to income deprivation was a shallow understanding of the concept (United Nations Development Programme 2006). Instead, they argued that poverty was a broad concept that included people’s liberties and their enjoyment of the same.

For example, the Sen’s capability approach uses the same premise to define poverty (United Nations Development Programme 2006). The UN has also used this approach to construct the human development index (United Nations Development Programme 2006).

This approach rejects income deprivation as the main proxy for understanding poverty. Comparatively, it proposes an alternative approach of constructing poverty as the deprivation of the freedom to live a valuable life.

Researchers have defined poverty as the lack of wealth (or little wealth). Proponents of this view also define poverty as the inability to consume goods and services (low purchasing power) (Misturelli & Heffernan 2010). Additionally, this definition also includes no (or poor) access to quality services.

The subsistence conception of poverty emerged from Victorian England when nutritionists defined poverty as people’s inability to have an income that could maintain their physical health (United Nations Development Programme 2006). Although people had other needs, such as shelter and clothing, subsistence was the main proxy for defining poverty.

The United Nations Development Programme (2006) says, although this understanding is old, it has influenced scientific dogma for more than ten decades. For example, statistical figures used to describe the social conditions of different countries have often used subsistence measures to do so.

International agencies still use the same measure today. Past British territories used the same measure to rule their colonies. For example, former British authorities used the measure to determine the wages of black people in South Africa (during the apartheid era). They also used the same model to frame development plans in Asian colonies (United Nations Development Programme 2006).

Poverty measurement metrics mainly depend on the multiple definitions of the concept. Furthermore, different countries have varying measurements of the concept. For example, some European countries measure poverty by evaluating national statistics regarding the number of people who apply for social welfare support (United Nations Development Programme 2006).

Most of these measurement metrics relate to the construction of poverty as a lack of income. For example, Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith (2013) say many European countries use income metrics to define at-risk-populations of poverty. Others define poverty-stricken people as those that earn less than 60% of the national median of disposable income (Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith 2013).

Other measures of poverty align with the “basic needs” approach of poverty. However, this analysis is contextual because different parts of the world have different types of basic needs. For example, Europeans may define their basic needs as an annual holiday, quality food, and adequate housing (among other factors) (Vecernik 2004).

Therefore, here, it is difficult to define relative poverty as merely lacking enough resources to survive. In this regard, relative measurements make it difficult for statisticians to compare the rate of poverty across different regions.

This paper shows that most definitions of poverty align with the “resource view” (gaining access to resources, or lacking them). This paper has also shown that some researchers define poverty as an inescapable political act. Although mature democracies have low levels of poverty, it is misleading to argue that such democracies do not suffer from poverty at all.

Furthermore, these countries still grapple with inequality challenges, despite their low levels of poverty. In fact, these countries use a relative definition of poverty (Talbot, Madanipour & Shucksmith 2013). An interesting finding about this analysis is that most professionals (“non-poor” people) developed most of the definitions of poverty outlined in this paper. In other words, their definitions of poverty are expressions of their training and educational skills.

In fact, such definitions reflect the power of development professionals to define poverty based on their perceptions. This is an unfair representation of the concept because poor people should have the power to define it.

Based on the findings of this paper, safely, one could say that the definition of poverty depends on who is asking, how people understand it, and the type of audience. However, income is at the centre of the definition because, historically, people have used it to define the concept.

However, based on the varied views and constructs of poverty, and its relation to income, the latter is no less problematic than the concept of poverty itself. Nonetheless, based on an overall assessment of the findings of this paper, correctly, one could say that poverty affects income-deprived people who are unable to gain access to quality life determinants, such as quality food and shelter.

Therefore, a correct (or informed) understanding of poverty cannot merely depend on an abstract understanding of low income as the main proxy. Therefore, to understand the real measurement, or definition, of income, it is crucial to identify a specific income level, beyond which people experience deprivation.

Misturelli, F & Heffernan, C 2010, ‘The concept of poverty a synchronic perspective’, Progress in Development Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 35-58.

Pantazis, C, Gordon, D & Levitas, R 2006, Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain , The Policy Press, Bristol.

Talbot, H, Madanipour, A & Shucksmith, M 2013, The Territorial Dimension of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe, University of Newcastle, New Castle.

United Nations Development Programme 2006, Poverty in Focus , < https://ipcig.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus9.pdf >.

Vecernik, J 2004, ‘Who Is Poor in the Czech Republic? The Changing Structure and Faces of Poverty after 1989’, Czech Sociological Review , vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 807–834.

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IvyPanda. (2019, June 22). Concept of Poverty. https://ivypanda.com/essays/concept-of-poverty/

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1. IvyPanda . "Concept of Poverty." June 22, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/concept-of-poverty/.

Bibliography

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• 30 Jan 2020
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Introduction

• Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living. Poverty means that the income level from employment is so low that basic human needs can't be met.
• According to World Bank, Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one's life.
• In India, 21.9% of the population lives below the national poverty line in 2011.
• In 2018, almost 8% of the world’s workers and their families lived on less than US$1.90 per person per day (international poverty line).

Types of Poverty: There are two main classifications of poverty:

• It was first introduced in 1990, the “dollar a day” poverty line measured absolute poverty by the standards of the world's poorest countries. In October 2015, the World Bank reset it to $1.90 a day.
• Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of the population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income.

Poverty Estimation in India

• Poverty estimation in India is carried out by NITI Aayog’s task force through the calculation of poverty line based on the data captured by the National Sample Survey Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).
• Poverty line estimation in India is based on the consumption expenditure and not on the income levels.
• Poverty is measured based on consumer expenditure surveys of the National Sample Survey Organisation. A poor household is defined as one with an expenditure level below a specific poverty line.
• The incidence of poverty is measured by the poverty ratio, which is the ratio of the number of poor to the total population expressed as a percentage. It is also known as head-count ratio.
• Alagh Committee (1979) determined a poverty line based on a minimum daily requirement of 2400 and 2100 calories for an adult in Rural and Urban area respectively.
• Subsequently different committees; Lakdawala Committee (1993), Tendulkar Committee (2009), Rangarajan committee (2012) did the poverty estimation.
• As per the Rangarajan committee report (2014), the poverty line is estimated as Monthly Per Capita Expenditure of Rs. 1407 in urban areas and Rs. 972 in rural areas.

Causes of Poverty in India

• Population Explosion: India’s population has steadily increased through the years. During the past 45 years, it has risen at a rate of 2.2% per year, which means, on average, about 17 million people are added to the country’s population each year. This also increases the demand for consumption goods tremendously.
• Low Agricultural Productivity: A major reason for poverty in the low productivity in the agriculture sector. The reason for low productivity is manifold. Chiefly, it is because of fragmented and subdivided land holdings, lack of capital, illiteracy about new technologies in farming, the use of traditional methods of cultivation, wastage during storage, etc.
• Inefficient Resource utilisation: There is underemployment and disguised unemployment in the country, particularly in the farming sector. This has resulted in low agricultural output and also led to a dip in the standard of living.
• Low Rate of Economic Development: Economic development has been low in India especially in the first 40 years of independence before the LPG reforms in 1991.
• Price Rise: Price rise has been steady in the country and this has added to the burden the poor carry. Although a few people have benefited from this, the lower income groups have suffered because of it, and are not even able to satisfy their basic minimum wants.
• Unemployment: Unemployment is another factor causing poverty in India. The ever-increasing population has led to a higher number of job-seekers. However, there is not enough expansion in opportunities to match this demand for jobs.
• Lack of Capital and Entrepreneurship: The shortage of capital and entrepreneurship results in low level of investment and job creation in the economy.
• Social Factors: Apart from economic factors, there are also social factors hindering the eradication of poverty in India. Some of the hindrances in this regard are the laws of inheritance, caste system, certain traditions, etc.
• Colonial Exploitation: The British colonisation and rule over India for about two centuries de-industrialised india by ruining its traditional handicrafts and textile industries. Colonial Policies transformed india to a mere raw-material producer for european industries.
• Climatic Factors: Most of india’s poor belong to the states of Bihar, UP, MP, Chhattisgarh, odisha, Jharkhand, etc. Natural calamities such as frequent floods, disasters, earthquake and cyclone cause heavy damage to agriculture in these states.
• Poverty Trap:

Poverty Alleviation Programs in India

• Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP): It was introduced in 1978-79 and universalized from 2 nd October, 1980, aimed at providing assistance to the rural poor in the form of subsidy and bank credit for productive employment opportunities through successive plan periods.
• Jawahar Rozgar Yojana/Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana: The JRY was meant to generate meaningful employment opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed in rural areas through the creation of economic infrastructure and community and social assets.
• Rural Housing – Indira Awaas Yojana: The Indira Awaas Yojana (LAY) programme aims at providing free housing to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in rural areas and main targets would be the households of SC/STs.
• Food for Work Programme: It aims at enhancing food security through wage employment. Food grains are supplied to states free of cost, however, the supply of food grains from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns has been slow.
• National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS): This pension is given by the central government. The job of implementation of this scheme in states and union territories is given to panchayats and municipalities. The states contribution may vary depending on the state. The amount of old age pension is ₹200 per month for applicants aged 60–79. For applicants aged above 80 years, the amount has been revised to ₹500 a month according to the 2011–2012 Budget. It is a successful venture.
• Annapurna Scheme: This scheme was started by the government in 1999–2000 to provide food to senior citizens who cannot take care of themselves and are not under the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), and who have no one to take care of them in their village. This scheme would provide 10 kg of free food grains a month for the eligible senior citizens. They mostly target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent senior citizens’.
• Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY): The main objective of the scheme continues to be the generation of wage employment, creation of durable economic infrastructure in rural areas and provision of food and nutrition security for the poor.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005: The Act provides 100 days assured employment every year to every rural household. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women. The central government will also establish National Employment Guarantee Funds. Similarly, state governments will establish State Employment Guarantee Funds for implementation of the scheme. Under the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment within 15 days s/he will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.
• National Rural Livelihood Mission: Aajeevika (2011): It evolves out the need to diversify the needs of the rural poor and provide them jobs with regular income on a monthly basis. Self Help groups are formed at the village level to help the needy.
• National Urban Livelihood Mission: The NULM focuses on organizing urban poor in Self Help Groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana: It will focus on fresh entrant to the labour market, especially labour market and class X and XII dropouts.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: It aimed at direct benefit transfer of subsidy, pension, insurance etc. and attained the target of opening 1.5 crore bank accounts. The scheme particularly targets the unbanked poor.
• The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index-2018 released by the UN noted that 271 million people moved out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16 in India. The poverty rate in the country has nearly halved, falling from 55% to 28% over the ten-year period. Still a big part of the population in india is living Below the Poverty Line.
• Rapid economic growth and the use of technology for social sector programs have helped make a significant dent in extreme poverty in the country.
• Despite rapid growth and development, an unacceptably high proportion of our population continues to suffer from severe and multidimensional deprivation. Thus, a more comprehensive and inclusive approach is required to eradicate poverty in India.

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