essay on the meaning of poverty

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• Introduction

Cyclical poverty

Collective poverty, concentrated collective poverty, case poverty.

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• Social Science LibreTexts - Poverty
• University of Minnesota Libraries - Open Textbooks - Explaining Poverty
• Pressbooks at Howard Community College - Introduction to Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World - Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
• CORE - Theories of Poverty: A Critical Review
• poverty - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

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.

7 Essays About Poverty: Example Essays and Prompts

Essays about poverty give valuable insight into the economic situation that we share globally. Read our guide with poverty essay examples and prompts for your paper.

In the US, the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people living below the poverty line. With a global pandemic, cost of living crisis, and climate change on the rise, we’ve seen poverty increase due to various factors. As many of us face adversity daily, we can look to essays about poverty from some of the world’s greatest speakers for inspiration and guidance.

There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer. There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

Writing a poverty essay can be challenging due to the many factors contributing to poverty and the knock-on effects of living below the poverty line . For example, homelessness among low-income individuals stems from many different causes.

It’s important to note that poverty exists beyond the US, with many developing countries living in extreme poverty without access to essentials like clean water and housing. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Essays About Poverty: Top Examples

1. pensioner poverty: fear of rise over decades as uk under-40s wealth falls, 2. the surprising poverty levels across the u.s., 3. why poverty persists in america, 4. post-pandemic poverty is rising in america’s suburbs.

• 5. The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty
• 6. The State of America’s Children 
• 7. COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

10 Poverty Essay Topics

1. the causes of poverty, 2. the negative effects of poverty, 3. how countries can reduce poverty rates, 4. the basic necessities and poverty, 5. how disabilities can lead to poverty, 6. how the cycle of poverty unfolds , 7. universal basic income and its relationship to poverty, 8. interview someone who has experience living in poverty, 9. the impact of the criminal justice system on poverty, 10. the different ways to create affordable housing.

There is growing concern about increasing pensioner poverty in the UK in the coming decades. Due to financial challenges like the cost of living crisis, rent increases, and the COVID-19 pandemic, under 40s have seen their finances shrink.

Osborne discusses the housing wealth gap in this article, where many under the 40s currently pay less in a pension due to rent prices. While this means they will have less pension available, they will also retire without owning a home, resulting in less personal wealth than previous generations. Osborne delves into the causes and gaps in wealth between generations in this in-depth essay.

“Those under-40s have already been identified as  facing the biggest hit from rising mortgage rates , and last week a study by the financial advice firm Hargreaves Lansdown found that almost a third of 18- to 34-year-olds had stopped or cut back on their pension contributions in order to save money.” Hilary Osborne,  The Guardian

In this 2023 essay, Jeremy Ney looks at the poverty levels across the US, stating that poverty has had the largest one-year increase in history. According to the most recent census, child poverty has more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

Ney states that the expiration of government support and inflation has created new financial challenges for US families. With the increased cost of living and essential items like food and housing sharply increasing, more and more families have fallen below the poverty line. Throughout this essay, Ney displays statistics and data showing the wealth changes across states, ethnic groups, and households.

“Poverty in America reflects the inequality that plagues U.S. households. While certain regions have endured this pain much more than others, this new rising trend may spell ongoing challenges for even more communities.” Jeremy Ney,  TIME

In this New York Times article, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist explores why poverty exists in North America.

The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most. Matthew Desmond,  The New York Times

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its annual data on poverty, revealing contrasting trends for 2022. While one set of findings indicated that the overall number of Americans living in poverty remained stable compared to the previous two years, another survey highlighted a concerning increase in child poverty. The rate of child poverty in the U.S. doubled from 2021 to 2022, a spike attributed mainly to the cessation of the expanded child tax credit following the pandemic. These varied outcomes underscore the Census Bureau’s multifaceted methods to measure poverty.

“The nation’s suburbs accounted for the majority of increases in the poor population following the onset of the pandemic” Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube,  Brookings

5.  The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty

Nearly 11 million children are living in poverty in America. This essay explores ow the crisis reached this point—and what steps must be taken to solve it.

“In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country.” Areeba Haider,  Center for American Progress

6.  The State of America’s Children  

This essay articles how, despite advancements, children continue to be the most impoverished demographic in the U.S., with particular subgroups — such as children of color, those under five, offspring of single mothers, and children residing in the South — facing the most severe poverty levels.

“Growing up in poverty has wide-ranging, sometimes lifelong, effects on children, putting them at a much higher risk of experiencing behavioral, social, emotional, and health challenges. Childhood poverty also plays an instrumental role in impairing a child’s ability and capacity to learn, build skills, and succeed academically.” Children’s Defense Fund

7.  COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

This essay explores how the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic 2020 led to a surge in U.S. poverty rates, with unemployment figures reaching unprecedented heights. The writer provides data confirming that individuals at the lowest economic strata bore the brunt of these challenges, indicating that the recession might have exacerbated income disparities, further widening the chasm between the affluent and the underprivileged.

“Poverty in the U.S. increased in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy and unemployment soared. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder were hit hardest, new figures confirm, suggesting that the recession may have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.” Elena Delavega,  World Econmic Forum

If you’re tasked with writing an essay about poverty, consider using the below topics. They offer pointers for outlining and planning an essay about this challenging topic.

One of the most specific poverty essay topics to address involves the causes of poverty. You can craft an essay to examine the most common causes of extreme poverty. Here are a few topics you might want to include:

• Racial discrimination, particularly among African Americans, has been a common cause of poverty throughout American history. Discrimination and racism can make it hard for people to get the education they need, making it nearly impossible to get a job.
• A lack of access to adequate health care can also lead to poverty. When people do not have access to healthcare, they are more likely to get sick. This could make it hard for them to go to work while also leading to major medical bills.
• Inadequate food and water can lead to poverty as well. If people’s basic needs aren’t met, they focus on finding food and water instead of getting an education they can use to find a better job.

These are just a few of the most common causes of poverty you might want to highlight in your essay. These topics could help people see why some people are more likely to become impoverished than others. You might also be interested in these essays about poverty .

Poverty affects everyone, and the impacts of an impoverished lifestyle are very real. Furthermore, the disparities when comparing adult poverty to child poverty are also significant. This opens the doors to multiple possible essay topics. Here are a few points to include:

• When children live in poverty, their development is stunted. For example, they might not be able to get to school on time due to a lack of transportation, making it hard for them to keep up with their peers. Child poverty also leads to malnutrition, which can stunt their development.
• Poverty can impact familial relationships as well. For example, members of the same family could fight for limited resources, making it hard for family members to bond. In addition, malnutrition can stunt the growth of children.
• As a side effect of poverty, people have difficulty finding a safe place to live. This creates a challenging environment for everyone involved, and it is even harder for children to grow and develop.
• When poverty leads to homelessness, it is hard for someone to get a job. They don’t have an address to use for physical communication, which leads to employment concerns.

These are just a few of the many side effects of poverty. Of course, these impacts are felt by people across the board, but it is not unusual for children to feel the effects of poverty that much more. You might also be interested in these essays about unemployment .

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty

The issue of poverty is a major human rights concern, and many countries explore poverty reduction strategies to improve people’s quality of life. You might want to examine different strategies that different countries are taking while also suggesting how some countries can do more. A few ways to write this essay include:

• Explore the poverty level in America, comparing it to the poverty level of a European country. Then, explore why different countries take different strategies.
• Compare the minimum wage in one state, such as New York, to the minimum wage in another state, such as Alabama. Why is it higher in one state? What does raising the minimum wage do to the cost of living?
• Highlight a few advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations actively lobbying their governments to do more for low-income families. Then, talk about why some efforts are more successful than others.

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty. Poverty within each country is such a broad topic that you could write a different essay on how poverty could be decreased within the country. For more, check out our list of simple essays topics for intermediate writers .

You could also write an essay on the necessities people need to survive. You could take a look at information published by the United Nations , which focuses on getting people out of the cycle of poverty across the globe. The social problem of poverty can be addressed by giving people the necessities they need to survive, particularly in rural areas. Here are some of the areas you might want to include:

• Affordable housing
• Fresh, healthy food and clean water
• Access to an affordable education
• Access to affordable healthcare

Giving everyone these necessities could significantly improve their well-being and get people out of absolute poverty. You might even want to talk about whether these necessities vary depending on where someone is living.

There are a lot of medical and social issues that contribute to poverty, and you could write about how disabilities contribute to poverty. This is one of the most important essay topics because people could be disabled through no fault of their own. Some of the issues you might want to address in this essay include:

• Talk about the road someone faces if they become disabled while serving overseas. What is it like for people to apply for benefits through the Veterans’ Administration?
• Discuss what happens if someone becomes disabled while at work. What is it like for someone to pursue disability benefits if they are hurt doing a blue-collar job instead of a desk job?
• Research and discuss the experiences of disabled people and how their disability impacts their financial situation.

People who are disabled need to have money to survive for many reasons, such as the inability to work, limitations at home, and medical expenses. A lack of money, in this situation, can lead to a dangerous cycle that can make it hard for someone to be financially stable and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Many people talk about the cycle of poverty, yet many aren’t entirely sure what this means or what it entails. A few key points you should address in this essay include:

• When someone is born into poverty, income inequality can make it hard to get an education.
• A lack of education makes it hard for someone to get into a good school, which gives them the foundation they need to compete for a good job. 
• A lack of money can make it hard for someone to afford college, even if they get into a good school.
• Without attending a good college, it can be hard for someone to get a good job. This makes it hard for someone to support themselves or their families. 
• Without a good paycheck, it is nearly impossible for someone to keep their children out of poverty, limiting upward mobility into the middle class.

The problem of poverty is a positive feedback loop. It can be nearly impossible for those who live this every day to escape. Therefore, you might want to explore a few initiatives that could break the cycle of world poverty and explore other measures that could break this feedback loop.

Many business people and politicians have floated the idea of a universal basic income to give people the basic resources they need to survive. While this hasn’t gotten a lot of serious traction, you could write an essay to shed light on this idea. A few points to hit on include:

• What does a universal basic income mean, and how is it distributed?
• Some people are concerned about the impact this would have on taxes. How would this be paid for?
• What is the minimum amount of money someone would need to stay out of poverty? Is it different in different areas?
• What are a few of the biggest reasons major world governments haven’t passed this?

This is one of the best essay examples because it gives you a lot of room to be creative. However, there hasn’t been a concrete structure for implementing this plan, so you might want to afford one.

Another interesting topic you might want to explore is interviewing someone living in poverty or who has been impoverished. While you can talk about statistics all day, they won’t be as powerful as interviewing someone who has lived that life. A few questions you might want to ask during your interview include:

• What was it like growing up?
• How has living in poverty made it hard for you to get a job?
• What do you feel people misunderstand about those who live in poverty?
• When you need to find a meal, do you have a place you go to? Or is it somewhere different every day?
• What do you think is the main contributor to people living in poverty?

Remember that you can also craft different questions depending on your responses. You might want to let the interviewee read the essay when you are done to ensure all the information is accurate and correct.

The criminal justice system and poverty tend to go hand in hand. People with criminal records are more likely to be impoverished for several reasons. You might want to write an essay that hits on some of these points:

• Discuss the discriminatory practices of the criminal justice system both as they relate to socioeconomic status and as they relate to race.
• Explore just how hard it is for someone to get a job if they have a criminal record. Discuss how this might contribute to a life of poverty.
• Dive into how this creates a positive feedback loop. For example, when someone cannot get a job due to a criminal record, they might have to steal to survive, which worsens the issue.
• Review what the criminal justice system might be like for someone with resources when compared to someone who cannot afford to hire expert witnesses or pay for a good attorney.

You might want to include a few examples of disparate sentences for people in different socioeconomic situations to back up your points. 

Affordable housing can make a major difference when someone is trying to escape poverty

Many poverty-related problems could be reduced if people had access to affordable housing. While the cost of housing has increased dramatically in the United States , some initiatives exist to create affordable housing. Here are a few points to include:

• Talk about public programs that offer affordable housing to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Discuss private programs, such as Habitat for Humanity , doing similar things.
• Review the positive impacts that stable housing has on both adults and children.
• Dive into other measures local and federal governments could take to provide more affordable housing for people.

There are a lot of political and social angles to address with this essay, so you might want to consider spreading this out across multiple papers. Affordable housing can make a major difference when trying to escape poverty. If you want to learn more, check out our essay writing tips !

What is Poverty? The Causes, Facts, and Ways to Take Action

In 2022, the World Bank estimated that about 8% of the world’s population (which is almost 650 million people) lived on less than $2.15 per day. This state is known as “extreme poverty.” While extreme poverty is the most urgent issue, 47% of the world’s population is still struggling with less than $6.85 per day. What is poverty exactly?

In this article, we’ll provide a thorough definition alongside key facts everyone should know and the best ways to take action.

Poverty occurs when individuals and communities don’t have enough money or resources for a basic standard of living. That includes good housing, food, clean water, healthcare, and much more. COVID-19 stalled years of progress on ending poverty, which makes solutions like improved gender equity, universal health coverage, and taxes on the world’s richest all the more essential.

What is poverty?

Poverty happens when someone lacks the income and resources necessary to maintain a good standard of living. That includes safe housing, medical care, food, clean water, and so on. The UN emphasizes that it’s also “more than a lack of income.” There are varying socioeconomic factors at play such as race, sexuality, ethnicity, gender, the ability to access services, and opportunities for decent work. Poverty also drives many social issues like poor education, child labor, forced labor, poor health, violence, and more.

For years, extreme poverty – which affects the poorest people on Earth – referred to living on less than $1.90 a day. In 2022, the World Bank updated its line to $2.15. It was changed to reflect cost increases for basic food, clothing, and shelter in low-income countries between 2011 and 2017 relative to the rest of the world. $2.15 in 2017 prices is equal to $1.90 in 2011 prices. Before COVID-19, the world was doing a decent job reducing extreme poverty. According to the World Bank’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report, 1 billion people escaped extreme poverty over 30 years. Then, COVID hit. In 2020, 70 million fell below the extreme poverty line. Based on estimates, about 7% of the world (most in Africa) will still be in extreme poverty by 2030. There’s also the matter of those vulnerable to poverty . These are people living on $2-$5 per day. There are 1.3 billion in this group. One financial setback like an illness, injury, job loss, or other crisis would be enough to push them into extreme poverty.

What causes poverty?

Many factors drive poverty, which is one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to eliminate. Here are five causes:

A lack of good education

Education is key to breaking long poverty cycles. Without a good education, it’s very difficult for people to get better-paying jobs that help them afford necessities and build wealth. A 2017 report from UNESCO and the Global Education Monitoring Report found that if all adults finished secondary school, the global poverty rate could be cut in half. Unfortunately, for those who are already in poverty, completing school is often difficult or impossible. Governments and NGOs need to step in to ensure students get as much education as possible.

Conflict and war

Conflict and poverty have a close, reinforcing relationship . Poverty fuels conflict. Conflict can then make poverty worse. The most obvious reason is that conflict disrupts people’s lives and destroys infrastructure. Those displaced by violence – especially women, children, disabled people, and the elderly – are much more likely to fall into poverty. Even when a conflict has ended, recovery can take a long time and fail to support the most harmed.

Environmental disasters and climate change

Like conflict, environmental disasters disrupt communities and destroy infrastructure. Climate change is quickly becoming a persistent source of disasters worldwide. While the world’s poorest contribute the least to climate change, they’re impacted the most. This is because poor people depend on agriculture, which climate change disrupts through floods, famines, hurricanes, and more. If significant changes aren’t made, climate change could push 130 million people into extreme poverty over the next decade.

Inaccessible healthcare

Poor healthcare is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Cost is a big reason why. One expensive emergency can tip people into poverty and keep them there. Poverty also increases the risk of health issues that quickly drain a person’s wallet. There are issues beyond pure cost, however. Disenfranchised groups aren’t given equal access to information, services, nutritious food, and other resources necessary for good health. Even if healthcare were more affordable, there would be other steps needed to make it truly accessible.

Social injustice

There’s an established link between poverty and social injustices like racism and gender inequality. Take the United States. According to research from sociologist Regina Baker , Black populations living in southern states with a “strong historical racial regime” experience worse poverty. There’s also a wider poverty gap between Black and white populations in these states. Worldwide, gender inequality and poverty are deeply linked. If everyone received equal rights and opportunities, it would eliminate a lot of poverty.

What are the main facts about poverty?

There’s a lot to know about poverty, but here are three main facts everyone should remember:

#1. Around 1 billion children live in poverty

Children are deeply affected by poverty. According to UNICEF , 1 billion kids don’t have access to education, housing, nutrition, water, sanitation, or healthcare. Around 356 of those kids are living in extreme poverty. As a result, kids from the poorest households die at twice the rate of kids who aren’t as poor. The kids that do survive continue to face difficulties like poor nutrition, chronic disease, mental health problems, and hindered emotional development. Childhood poverty could even cause long-term effects on the brain , though environmental factors affect behavior, too.

#2. Poverty is concentrated in a few areas

According to data from the World Bank , South Sudan has the highest poverty rate at 82.30%. Equatorial Guinea is next at 76.80%. This is followed by Madagascar (70.70%), Guinea-Bissau (69.30%), and Eritrea (69.30%). In Burundi , which is a small country in East Africa with 12.1 million people, 70% of the population is poor. 52% of kids under 5 have stunted growth and high levels of malnutrition. In terms of GDP per capita, Burundi is the poorest country in the world.

#3. It’s not just poverty; it’s wealth inequality

Wealth inequality refers to differences in income, as well as the value of stocks, investments, houses, personal possessions, and so on. According to the World Bank Gini Index , South Africa has the highest rate of wealth inequality: 63%. That’s followed by Namibia (59.1%) and Suriname (57.9%). The United States, which has the largest economy in the world, also has issues. 2021 data showed that income at the top of the income distribution was 13.53 times higher than income at the bottom. Inequality is a global problem; in the past ten years, the world’s richest 1% have gotten almost 50% of all new wealth.

How can the world eliminate poverty?

The world was making great progress on ending poverty until COVID-19. Things need to improve quickly if we’re going to achieve SDG Goal #1 by 2030. Because poverty is such a complex, large-scale issue, it’s hard for individuals to make much of a difference on their own. However, people can educate themselves on the best solutions and pressure those in power to take action. Here are three solutions to learn more about:

#1. Focus on gender equity

As we mentioned before, poverty and gender inequality are deeply linked. It’s impossible to eliminate poverty without gender equality. According to the World Bank , about 2.4 billion women of working age aren’t getting equal economic opportunities. 95 countries don’t mandate equal pay for equal work. Improving equity would lift a huge number of women and their families out of poverty. What can individuals do to help? Support organizations that focus on women and children. Advocate for better policies at your workplace, like more paid family leave, more flexible hours, and an end to gender pay gaps.

#2. Advocate for universal health coverage

According to the WHO , universal healthcare is the assurance that everyone has “access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.” It’s a key part of eliminating poverty. While there was progress before COVID-19, 2 billion people are facing what the WHO calls “catastrophic or impoverishing health spending.” Individuals can support universal health coverage by donating to organizations and pressuring leaders to pass legislation.

#3. Tax the rich

According to an Oxfam report called Survival of the Richest , the fortunes of billionaires are rising by $2.7 billion a day. Meanwhile, 1.7 billion workers live in countries where inflation is rising faster than wages. In 2022, 95 food and energy corporations more than doubled their profits, which were passed on to billionaire shareholders. These massive corporate profits also drove half of the inflation in the US, UK, and Australia. If the world wants to end poverty, these excesses need to be addressed. According to the Oxfam report, a tax of up to 5% on the world’s richest could raise $1.7 trillion a year. That’s enough to help 2 billion people escape poverty.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Why poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of society

Research Investigator of Psychiatry, Public Health, and Poverty Solutions, University of Michigan

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As the Senate prepares to modify its version of the health care bill, now is a good time to back up and examine why we as a nation are so divided about providing health care, especially to the poor.

I believe one reason the United States is cutting spending on health insurance and safety nets that protect poor and marginalized people is because of American culture, which overemphasizes individual responsibility. Our culture does this to the point that it ignores the effect of root causes shaped by society and beyond the control of the individual. How laypeople define and attribute poverty may not be that much different from the way U.S. policymakers in the Senate see poverty.

As someone who studies poverty solutions and social and health inequalities, I am convinced by the academic literature that the biggest reason for poverty is how a society is structured. Without structural changes, it may be very difficult if not impossible to eliminate disparities and poverty.

Social structure

About 13.5 percent of Americans are living in poverty. Many of these people do not have insurance, and efforts to help them gain insurance, be it through Medicaid or private insurance, have been stymied. Medicaid provides insurance for the disabled, people in nursing homes and the poor.

Four states recently asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for permission to require Medicaid recipients in their states who are not disabled or elderly to work.

This request is reflective of the fact that many Americans believe that poverty is, by and large, the result of laziness , immorality and irresponsibility.

In fact, poverty and other social miseries are in large part due to social structure , which is how society functions at a macro level. Some societal issues, such as racism, sexism and segregation, constantly cause disparities in education, employment and income for marginalized groups. The majority group naturally has a head start, relative to groups that deal with a wide range of societal barriers on a daily basis. This is what I mean by structural causes of poverty and inequality.

Poverty: Not just a state of mind

We have all heard that the poor and minorities need only make better choices – work hard, stay in school, get married, do not have children before they can afford them. If they did all this, they wouldn’t be poor.

Just a few weeks ago, Housing Secretary Ben Carson called poverty “ a state of mind .” At the same time, his budget to help low-income households could be cut by more than US$6 billion next year.

This is an example of a simplistic view toward the complex social phenomenon. It is minimizing the impact of a societal issue caused by structure – macro‐level labor market and societal conditions – on individuals’ behavior. Such claims also ignore a large body of sociological science.

American independence

Americans have one of the most independent cultures on Earth. A majority of Americans define people in terms of internal attributes such as choices , abilities, values, preferences, decisions and traits.

This is very different from interdependent cultures , such as eastern Asian countries where people are seen mainly in terms of their environment, context and relationships with others.

A direct consequence of independent mindsets and cognitive models is that one may ignore all the historical and environmental conditions, such as slavery, segregation and discrimination against women, that contribute to certain outcomes. When we ignore the historical context, it is easier to instead attribute an unfavorable outcome, such as poverty, to the person.

Views shaped by politics

Many Americans view poverty as an individual phenomenon and say that it’s primarily their own fault that people are poor. The alternative view is that poverty is a structural phenomenon. From this viewpoint, people are in poverty because they find themselves in holes in the economic system that deliver them inadequate income.

The fact is that people move in and out of poverty. Research has shown that 45 percent of poverty spells last no more than a year, 70 percent last no more than three years and only 12 percent stretch beyond a decade.

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics ( PSID ), a 50-year longitudinal study of 18,000 Americans, has shown that around four in 10 adults experience an entire year of poverty from the ages of 25 to 60. The last Survey of Income and Program Participation ( SIPP ), a longitudinal survey conducted by the U.S. Census, had about one-third of Americans in episodic poverty at some point in a three-year period, but just 3.5 percent in episodic poverty for all three years.

Why calling the poor ‘lazy’ is victim blaming

If one believes that poverty is related to historical and environmental events and not just to an individual, we should be careful about blaming the poor for their fates.

Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell them. It is a common psychological and societal phenomenon. Victimology has shown that humans have a tendency to perceive victims at least partially responsible . This is true even in rape cases, where there is a considerable tendency to blame victims and is true particularly if the victim and perpetrator know each other.

I believe all our lives could be improved if we considered the structural influences as root causes of social problems such as poverty and inequality. Perhaps then, we could more easily agree on solutions.

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Concept of Poverty Definition Essay

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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Why Our Definition of Poverty Matters

Methods commonly used to measure poverty can lead to vastly different conclusions about who actually lives in poverty, according to a new Stanford University–led study . Based on household surveys in sub-Saharan Africa, the first-of-its-kind analysis published February in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences underscores the importance of accurately defining and measuring poverty. Its findings could help inform how governments, nonprofit organizations, and international development agencies allocate resources and evaluate the effectiveness of poverty-alleviation policies around the world.

“They say you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said study co-author Eric Lambin , the George and Setsuko Ishiyama Provostial Professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment .

“In our study, we find how one chooses to measure poverty can completely change the extent to which programs and policies reach vulnerable populations,” said study lead author Christine Pu , a Ph.D. student in environmental engineering at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

Comparing definitions

Governments around the world want to support households living in poverty, but it’s not always easy to determine which households need help. For example, two U.S. families of the same size could be classified as poor—and eligible for public support programs like food assistance and subsidized utility services—because their annual income is less than the federal $31,200 poverty guideline. In actuality, the families might have dramatically different overall costs or assets. For example, one might own their home and two cars, while the other might rent their home and depend on public transportation.

The study examined four widely used poverty measurement approaches. Each metric is based on different priorities ranging from reported assets, such as appliances, to self-defined well-being milestones, such as being able to send children to school. Working with colleagues in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Uganda, the Stanford researchers surveyed 16,150 households. Surprisingly, the research revealed almost no agreement in how these approaches ranked households by poverty status. The lack of agreement persisted even among households classified in the bottom 20% in terms of poverty.

Even after controlling for geographic variability, the study found weak correlations between the measurement approaches, indicating that the discrepancies were not simply due to regional differences. The differences in relative rankings were not small either. On average, households’ poverty rankings differed by 25 percentage points. In other words, a household ranked in the 25th percentile by one measurement might be ranked as the most impoverished household or as the median household by another measurement.

“Organizations that adopt a measurement approach without reflecting on how it fits their conception of poverty are, at best, rolling the dice about creating classifications of households that work in alignment with their mission and objectives,” the researchers write. “At worst, these organizations are adopting methodologies that may be wholly inappropriate for their poverty alleviation goals.”

Choosing wisely

One striking example of this conceptual misalignment is the U.S. government’s Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program wealth index. The index was designed to explain disparities in health outcomes. However, it is widely used to represent a household’s poverty status. This application can lead to counterintuitive rankings of households. For example, whereas most rural development specialists would consider livestock ownership to be a sign of family wealth, in Ghana and Ethiopia the value of a household’s DHS wealth index goes down for every additional livestock unit they own.

Given the widespread influence of the DHS wealth index, this measurement problem is being propagated and amplified through many applications and decision-making processes. The issue is not unique to the DHS wealth index, but emblematic of a larger problem embedded in many indices and measurement tools.

Overall, the findings suggest that the choice of a measurement approach can lead to very different conclusions about who qualifies for poverty alleviation programs and policies, and how much these efforts achieve. The authors argue that organizations should carefully consider their definition of poverty and select measurement approaches that align with their specific objectives.

This article was originally published on Stanford News . Read the original article .

About the Author

Rob Jordan is the associate editor for environment and sustainability at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

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