Poverty is a major issue in the world nowadays. Warfare and poverty are two of the largest cancers that humanity suffers, and unfortunately the first one is both cause and effect of the other. Just as cancer have many causes and consequences, also the poverty. But there are ways to combat poverty.
The definition of poverty has a relationship of two categories: Absolute poverty and relative poverty. The first meaning refers to the socioeconomic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain basic necessities required to life, such as food, housing, clothing, health service and education. Absolute poverty is far worse than relative poverty because they could quite possible not have a house or food to live, such as for everyday survival. Whereas relative poverty refers to the condition in which one can not afford that is considered a normal standard of living.[1] As a result, some things considered “basic possession” for normal life in some countries, are considered “luxury” in other poorer place around the world. For example, one is guilty, because I have hot water and for other living in poverty this basic possession (hot water) is a luxury. This complex issue has not only one cause or effect, is more correct to say “cycle of poverty”, because the effects are on the causes, and vice versa.
In the first place, it is a killer issue, the biggest causes for death in the world. Many people have died because of the lack of food. Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before their fifth birthday. Approximately 1.02 billion people go to bed hungry each night, 17.64% of the world’s population (calculated about 6.8 billion people)[2]. Even, poverty has caused death of millions because of the lack of medicine and unsanitary living conditions of poor people. Hunger, disease, and less education describe a person in poverty. One third of deaths (some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day) are due to poverty-related causes. Most of them women and children have died as a result of poverty since 1990[3].
In the second place, poverty has raised the rate of crime, because of the lack of essential items people need for survival (especially food). Those people live with fear, especially for their children. This fear is caused because many people without money or food will resort to violence to be able to survive everyday life. Too many kids were born into poverty will not be living to see the age of 25 years. It also was caused for hunger across the world. Poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on food, and for this reason poor households can be particularly vulnerable to increases in food prices. “For example in late 2007 increases in the price of grains led to food riots in some countries. The World Bank warned that 100 million people were at risk of sinking deeper into poverty[4]”.
In the third place, poverty increases healthy diseases. People in poverty are exposed to crowded living conditions which result in an increased exposure to contagious and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases run rampant in poverty stricken areas. Poverty increases the risk of homelessness. There are over 100 million street children worldwide. Increased risk of drug abuse may also be associated with poverty[5]. Those living in poverty suffer lower life expectancy. According to the World Health Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases. As a result, women who have children born in poverty can not nourish their children efficiently with the right prenatal care[6]. They may also suffer from disease that may be passed down to the child through birth. For example, the Asthma is usual problem children acquire when born into poverty.
For poverty to be a complex problem, the solutions are also alike. The first solution is donating money. Its simplest form is a basic income grant, providing citizens with money for care about basic necessities. Another solution is to increase micro finance projects, made famous by the Grameen Bank[7]. These projects consist of small amounts of money for poor people (mostly women) to start small businesses. With these capital gains they can obtain economic rewards to support their families. Finally, one of the best ways to help the poor is to cancel the external debt of these countries, at least for the poorest. If poor countries do not have to spend so much on debt payments, they can use the money instead for priorities which help reduce poverty and may well provide basic health-care and education to their people[8].
Bibliography
Global Issues (2010, October 10). Causes of Poverty. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from Global Issues website:
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty.
123helpme.com (2010, October 10). Poverty Essays. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from 123helpme website: http:// www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=Poverty.
Fight Poverty (2010, October 10). Causes of Poverty. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from Fight Poverty website:
http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/poverty/reasons.html#causes.
Poverty in Wikipedia (2010, October 10). Retrieved October 10, 2010, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty.
The definition of poverty has a relationship of two categories: Absolute poverty and relative poverty. The first meaning refers to the socioeconomic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain basic necessities required to life, such as food, housing, clothing, health service and education. Absolute poverty is far worse than relative poverty because they could quite possible not have a house or food to live, such as for everyday survival. Whereas relative poverty refers to the condition in which one can not afford that is considered a normal standard of living.[1] As a result, some things considered “basic possession” for normal life in some countries, are considered “luxury” in other poorer place around the world. For example, one is guilty, because I have hot water and for other living in poverty this basic possession (hot water) is a luxury. This complex issue has not only one cause or effect, is more correct to say “cycle of poverty”, because the effects are on the causes, and vice versa.
In the first place, it is a killer issue, the biggest causes for death in the world. Many people have died because of the lack of food. Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before their fifth birthday. Approximately 1.02 billion people go to bed hungry each night, 17.64% of the world’s population (calculated about 6.8 billion people)[2]. Even, poverty has caused death of millions because of the lack of medicine and unsanitary living conditions of poor people. Hunger, disease, and less education describe a person in poverty. One third of deaths (some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day) are due to poverty-related causes. Most of them women and children have died as a result of poverty since 1990[3].
In the second place, poverty has raised the rate of crime, because of the lack of essential items people need for survival (especially food). Those people live with fear, especially for their children. This fear is caused because many people without money or food will resort to violence to be able to survive everyday life. Too many kids were born into poverty will not be living to see the age of 25 years. It also was caused for hunger across the world. Poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on food, and for this reason poor households can be particularly vulnerable to increases in food prices. “For example in late 2007 increases in the price of grains led to food riots in some countries. The World Bank warned that 100 million people were at risk of sinking deeper into poverty[4]”.
In the third place, poverty increases healthy diseases. People in poverty are exposed to crowded living conditions which result in an increased exposure to contagious and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases run rampant in poverty stricken areas. Poverty increases the risk of homelessness. There are over 100 million street children worldwide. Increased risk of drug abuse may also be associated with poverty[5]. Those living in poverty suffer lower life expectancy. According to the World Health Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases. As a result, women who have children born in poverty can not nourish their children efficiently with the right prenatal care[6]. They may also suffer from disease that may be passed down to the child through birth. For example, the Asthma is usual problem children acquire when born into poverty.
For poverty to be a complex problem, the solutions are also alike. The first solution is donating money. Its simplest form is a basic income grant, providing citizens with money for care about basic necessities. Another solution is to increase micro finance projects, made famous by the Grameen Bank[7]. These projects consist of small amounts of money for poor people (mostly women) to start small businesses. With these capital gains they can obtain economic rewards to support their families. Finally, one of the best ways to help the poor is to cancel the external debt of these countries, at least for the poorest. If poor countries do not have to spend so much on debt payments, they can use the money instead for priorities which help reduce poverty and may well provide basic health-care and education to their people[8].
Bibliography
Global Issues (2010, October 10). Causes of Poverty. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from Global Issues website:
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty.
123helpme.com (2010, October 10). Poverty Essays. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from 123helpme website: http:// www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=Poverty.
Fight Poverty (2010, October 10). Causes of Poverty. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from Fight Poverty website:
http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/poverty/reasons.html#causes.
Poverty in Wikipedia (2010, October 10). Retrieved October 10, 2010, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty.
[1] Original meaning from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty. I check ideas for a new meaning.
[2] Take from: http://erlc.com/article/do-people-really-go-to-bed-hungry/.
[3] Take from http://www.oneworldyouthproject.org/pdfs/aprilcurriculum.pdf.
[4] Take from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty.
[5] Take from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty.
[6] Idem.
[7] Take from: http://www.grameenfoundation.org/who-we-are.
[8] Take from: http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/poverty/reasons.html#causes.
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