Poverty

Poverty is a social problem which has wide ranging repercussions. Can the problem be easily solved?

Poverty conjures up the image of people who are in need of help. Think of those thousands of vulnerable people worldwide for whom life is a daily struggle. People become poor due to rises in the cost of living which compels them to spend a greater portion of their budgets on food than rich people. As a result poor households and those near the poverty threshold are particularly vulnerable to increases in food prices. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The failure of governments to provide essential infrastructure such as public sanitation, schools and social welfare condemn them to remain destitute. Often, children are kept from school because they are needed at home to support their family with additional income. Lack of education keeps children from obtaining jobs that would lift them and their families out of poverty. Likewise, opportunities in richer countries drive away talent which is essential to the country’s progress. Brain drain has cost the African continent a huge sum of money in the employment of 150,000 expatriate professionals annually.

Poor health and lack of affordable education severely affect production. Inadequate nutrition in childhood reduces the ability of individuals to develop their full capabilities. A deficiency in essential minerals such as iodine and iron can impair brain development. In developing countries, it is estimated that 40% of children aged 4 and younger suffer from anaemia because of insufficient iron in their diets. Similarly, alcoholism and drug abuse can condemn people to vicious poverty cycles. Infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis can perpetuate poverty by diverting health and economic resources from investment and productivity. The onset of disease, such as HIV/AIDS or malaria, can result in death which can cut off a major source of income for a family or high medical cost that many impoverished families cannot afford. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes have devastated developing countries by destroying crops and animals. They suffer much more extensive and acute crises at the hands of natural disasters because limited financial resources slow down the construction of adequate housing, infrastructure, and mechanisms for responding to crises.

Poverty has dramatic consequences for one third of deaths are due to poverty-related causes. In total, 270 million people, most of them women and children, have died as a result of poverty over the past two decades. Those living in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger, starvation, disease and have lower life expectancy. According to the World Health Organisation, hunger and malnutrition are the gravest threats to the worlds public health, and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases. Poverty increases the risk of homelessness as there are over 100 million street children worldwide. One impact of poverty is the high rate of early childbearing with all the related risks to family, health, and well-being.

Children from low income families are more prone to have a criminal behaviour, the more so if they live in a single parent family. Areas strongly affected by poverty tend to be more violent as children from disadvantaged inner cities witness serious assaults and homicide.

Studies have shown that there is a high risk of educational underachievement for children who are from low-income families. It is said that societies which have low levels of investment in the education and development of less fortunate children end up with less favourable results. They are also the ones who are less likely to perform well academically or to finish school. School truants and dropouts engage in juvenile delinquency and criminal behaviour. Poor children have a great deal less healthcare and this ultimately results in many absences from the academic year. Additionally, underprivileged children are much more likely to suffer from illnesses which could potentially restrict their focus and abilities to learn.

Poverty is a blow to human dignity and attempts at all levels must be combined to eradicate it. While the government can implement policies to reduce absolute poverty, it is also the responsibility of poor people to take an active part in improving their quality of life.