“The definition of what is poverty or who is poor and how it can be alleviated is specific to each and every place” (Buchy, 2010), in other words, poverty is relative. The British sociologist Peter Townsend provides a much more relevant definition where to be in poverty people: “lack the resources to obtain the types of diets, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary...in the societies to which they belong...they are, in effect, excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities.” (Townsend, 1979, p.31) Nevertheless, the advantages of income and expenditure measures shall be explored along with the other dimensions of poverty measurement and why they are needed. There is much debate on the short-comings and the advantages of the measurement of poverty by poverty lines as used by the Worldbank. Certainly its primary advantage is that it provides a clear and tangible ”criterion for deciding if an individual or household is poor” (Allen and Thomas, 2000), and with a Millenium Development goal of reducing by one half the proportion of people in extreme poverty by 2015, this is the most logical measurement to equip. It allows for the
In society today poverty is measured to ways either absolute poverty, or relative poverty. Lets start with Absolute poverty, Absolute poverty measures the number of people living below a certain income threshold or the number of households unable to afford certain basic goods and services like food water and shelter. This is the level of poverty you most likely picture when you hear the word poverty. Usually commercials of foreign children, with bloated bellies who suffer from malnutrition and lack of clean water. Absolut poverty is mostly prevalent in developing countries like India or Haiti, but the United States is not immune from it.
Another explanation of poverty is the poverty cycle. The poverty cycle means that poverty is passed on through generations. In the poverty cycle, children who are born into poverty have a deprived childhood - they experience material and cultural deprivation, and as a result of this they are less likely to do well at school, gain qualifications and stay in education beyond the minimum school leaving age. This means that their future opportunities are limited because their lack of qualifications means that the jobs available to them are mostly unskilled and low-paid. Consequently, they are likely to live in poverty as adults.
“Assess the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing poverty in the past and present.” Poverty may mean different things to different people. Openheim and Harker (1996) state that “Poverty means going short materially, socially and emotionally. It means spending less on food, on heating and on clothing than someone on an average income.” There isn’t an official definition for poverty but it is suggested that if an income is half of the national average then it indicates poverty. (BBC Scotland.) The World Bank Organisation says that poverty is mostly based on incomes and writes that “A person is considered poor if his or her income falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs.” The minimum level that is referred to in this quote is commonly known as ‘the poverty line’ and varies is different parts of the country.
Poor and Working In today society and before, we see poverty as a huge social issue and view the working poor as the main target. The working poor constitute is the fastest growing population in poverty in the United States (Rocha, 1997). It is viewed as individuals who work full-time but still seem to fall short or below the federal poverty threshold based on rather their wages are less than 70% of the median income or falls below the 10th percentile range of all workers. This issue is examined in many ways. First and foremost the poverty line is below the realistic standards of adequately living, it does not consider the fact that income tax and Social Security taxes are both taking out of everyone’s pay.
Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Eszter Siposne. N (2011) highlights that absolute concepts of poverty assume that minimum material needs can be defined regardless of space and time, and those who are not able to satisfy these needs are considered to be poor. This document also then defines relative poverty as being below certain threshold. World health organisation (WHO, 2011) defines relative poverty contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live.
Absolute poverty is the type which most would generally assume what poverty is. It means that a person does not own or consume enough basics to live such as food, shelter, water or clothing. Unlike relative poverty, absolute poverty is measured the same across all countries, for example, all people
To the Editor: Poverty is the inability to obtain the necessities of life. In Canada, we measure poverty by the Low Income Cut-Off line (LICO). According to Stats Canada, LICO represents an income threshold where a family is likely to spend 20% more of its income on food, shelter and clothing than the average family, leaving less income available for other expenses. Canada is a wealthy country… yet 3.5 million Canadians live in Poverty. According to the LICO rates in 2011, poverty troubles mainly seniors, aboriginals, and single parents.
The six solutions that I will list can help decrease the amount of poverty. First government can provide a balance Nutrition for those who live in poverty. Nearly 15 percent of American households had low or very low food security in 2008, according to the USDA. In 2010, even more families are food insecure. The government can give out meals for those families that are in dire need of food.
So what is this reality of life called poverty? Poverty is defined by Merriam-Webster as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. When people hear of poverty, most people think of the people who don’t have anything; the last, the lost and the least. But contrary to what most people believe, there are actually two types of poverty. These are the income and non-income poverty.