In a society where 85% of global wealth is held by a mere 10% of the population, we in developed countries, have the duty to take an active approach in bridging the gap between the social classes and working to end extreme poverty (“Pioneering Study”). Poverty is possibly the most serious issues we face on a global scale. A society is measured by the treatment of its vulnerable and many in our global community are struggling for basic human needs. Though eradicating poverty not only helps those less fortunate; but it helps us all, through a more equal distribution of wealth, bettering technologies, and access to more and better resources. Helping others is not only a moral accomplishment, but will raise the overall standard of living. Eradicating poverty is not only possible but proper solutions have already been found. As of now we have the means and resources to feed, educate, and maintain the health of the nearly 7 billion inhabitants of this Earth. All that is needed is for those with the means and opportunities to take an active approach in achieving these goals and for developed nations, such as the United States to spearhead the campaign.
What is poverty?
Extreme poverty is defined by lacking the annual income to meet the most basic of human needs including limited access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing, sanitation, health care, or education. Until 2008, the agreed upon line of poverty was defined by living on less than one US dollar a day. After much reassessment, it was determined that these basic needs could still not be met at under $1.25 a day, causing the number of people worldwide living under the poverty line to be raised by 40% (Singer 6). With the raising of this line, awareness was also raised to th...
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...nly had the opportunity. By helping them, we will all be bettering the future generations of our global community.
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When a person is said to be living in poverty, certain assumptions come to mind as to how or why that person is deprived; some of society will speculate that the impoverished are poor through their own doing and that they should work their own way out of poverty and not rely on welfare. However, when the measurement of poverty is understood the true picture starts to emerge. All humans require the basic necessities in order to keep themselves and their families alive; basic necessities are classed as food, water, shelter, health care and security. Any human being who is living without access to these basic needs to survive can be defined as living in absolute poverty (Walsh et al, 2000). Absolute poverty is the term given to people or households that are living below a certain income threshold and cannot afford goods or services that are required for everyday living. For example, those that live in homes without electric could be classified as living in absolute poverty; these individuals will have no heat, no light and no...
What is absolute poverty? According to Robert McNamara it is "life at the very margin of existence" (Singer 219). It is a life that, if not ended by early death, causes a kind of misery unseen to those living in the United States. Compared to the estimated 1.2 billion people, worldwide living in poverty, those of us in developed countries experience a life of luxury. The things that we take for granted, such as cars, computers, microwaves, and televisions, are extravagant items that most people living in extreme economic poverty will never see. The gap between the affluent and the poverty-stricken is wide, and is getting even wider in many areas of the world. Are we morally obligated to help those less fortunate than ourselves? Should we merely go about our daily lives, forgetting about those on the other side of the world who are dying of malnutrition? These are just a few of the questions that I am about to explore.
More than $3billion people in the world which is nearly half of the world’s population are living on less than $2.50 a day and more than $1.3 billion live in extreme poverty which is less than$1.25 a day. (Unicef 2013). One third of deaths a year are cause by poverty. An estimate of 600 million children live in absolute poverty, every year more than 10 million innocent children die of hunger and PREVENTABLE diseases, such as diaorreah, pneumonia and malaria 19 million kids worldwide remain unvaccinated, even a simple net would prevent malaria. During 2011, 165 million kids under the age of 5 were stunted( reduced rate of growth and development) due to chronic malnutrition 870 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat. More than half a million women die in pregnancy and child birth every year… one death a minute. Why do we have cases of poverty in 2014? “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it’s an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man made an it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings”. Mandela (2005). It’s heart breaking that in this day and age there are children dying of hunger, and easily preventable diseases. Poverty reduction is one of the most dominant themes in current scholarship, policy formation and international discussion on economic development. A sign of it importance is shown by the fact that the very first target of the millennium development goals (MDG) is in fact to reduce the people living under $1 a day by half by 2015. Relative to this dissertation the role of economic growth in in poverty reduction is of high importance. Substantial and lasting reductions, if not complete eradication of poverty has been and will continue to b...
Blackburn, L. McKinley “International Comparison of Poverty.” The American Economic Review. Academic search complete. Web. 10, September 2015. The author gives us an idea of the different poverty levels that exist around the world. By doing this, the author helps you comprehend poverty, how it works, and the level of poverties in many societies. The author states, “In this paper, I use the household level data on annual income to make comparisons of the level of poverty in 11 industrialized nations in the mid 1980’s” (371). The author supports their information by using equations, charts, graphs, and uses six recourses.
Thousands of individuals living in poverty. Why is it that this worldwide dilemma is still rising in rapid numbers to this day? Is it the fault of a lack of authority power, or a lack of one’s self control to do good? Despite the unknown cause, it has managed to drastically affect the lives of many. Poverty is like a curse, one that is wrongfully placed, difficult to get out of, and resistant to many forms of help.
Poverty is not just an issue reserved for third world countries. Instead, poverty is a multifaceted issue that even the most developed nations must battle
Ferrante, J. (2006). Global inequality and the challenges of reducing extreme poverty. (Cover story). Sociological Viewpoints, 225-19.
Poverty in our country is at a drastic stake. Many of the people in the United States are in debt. There are millions million of people that hardly provide money to their family. All these people live in poverty which is defined as those who make less than the Federal government’s official poverty threshold, which for a family of four is $24,000.00 and for a family of seven is $37,000.00. (“Poverty Facts” 1) These
Poverty, also know as the “silent killer” (Causes of Poverty), exists in every corner of the world. The death rate of poor children is a staggering number; about 9 million die each year. Some view poverty as people not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. This isn’t true poverty; poverty is where people live on $1.25 or less a day. According to Causes of Poverty, 1.4 billion people live like this. Even more shocking than the last statistic is that half of the world’s population lives on $2.50 per day.
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As one of the biggest problems facing the world today, poverty continues to have significant negative implications for the society. The effects of poverty are extremely severe and far-reaching, so much so that it was one of the top Millennium Development Goals agreed upon at the Millennium Summit of the UN back in 2000 (Hatcher, 2016). To understand the effects that poverty has on the society, one must critically analyze the societies in which poverty is rampant, as well as analyze poverty from the relative perspectives that it presents. The core aim of this paper is to develop a holistic understanding of poverty and elaborate on the diverse ways in which it continues to affect societies across the world.
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