POVERTY AND THEORIES USED TO EXPLAIN POVERTY

POVERTY

1. PRESENTER # 12 ESPANTE, DEVINE MARIE S. BSED-SOCIAL STUDIES 1C_EVE

2. Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living. Poverty means that the income level from employment is so low that basic human needs can’t be met. Poverty-stricken people and families might go without proper housing, clean water, healthy food, and medical attention. Each nation may have its own threshold that determines how many of its people are living in poverty.

3. The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way: “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action – for the poor and the wealthy alike – a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.”

4. 11 FACTS ABOUT GLOBAL POVERTY 1. Global poverty lines are used to measure the financial dimension of poverty. The thresholds of $1.90, $3.20, and $5.50 per day represent different standards for poverty around the world. People living on $1.90 per day are considered to live in extreme poverty.
2. Money isn’t a complete measure of poverty. Other dimensions of poverty include access (or lack thereof) to work, health, nutrition, education, sanitation, housing, etc.
3. In 2015 (the latest estimates available), 10% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty (less than $1.90 a day).
4. Half of the 736 million people living in extreme poverty globally live in five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh.
5. It’s estimated that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global recession, poverty rates will increase for the first time since 1990.

5. 6. Internationally, 2.2 million people lack access to a safely-managed drinking water service (located nearby, available when needed, and free from contamination).
7. Approximately 297,000 children under five die every year from diarrhea diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water.
8. About 13% of people globally do not have access to electricity, and 40% of people globally do not have access to clean fuels for cooking. 9. Malnutrition is the leading cause of poor health and death around the world. Globally, 1 in 9 people is hungry or undernourished. 10. A study of 13 developing countries found that government spending on education and health accounted for 69% of the total reduction of economic inequality. 11. The entire health budget of Ethiopia, a country of 105 million people, is equivalent to just 1% of the fortune of the world’s richest man, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.]

6. POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES

7. Comprising of 7,641 islands, the Republic of the Philippines is a country located in the western Pacific Ocean with the population of. Poverty has always been present and is one of the biggest and seemingly the most evident problem in the country.

8. THE SIX TYPES OF POVERTY

9. 1. Situational poverty is generally caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often temporary. Events causing situational poverty include environmental disasters, divorce, or severe health problems.

10. 2. Generational poverty occurs in families where at least two generations have been born into poverty. Families living in this type of poverty are not equipped with the tools to move out of their situations.

11. 3. Absolute poverty, which is rare in the United States, involves a scarcity of such necessities as shelter, running water, and food. Families who live in absolute poverty tend to focus on day-to-day survival.

12. 4. Relative poverty refers to the economic status of a family whose income is insufficient to meet its society’s average standard of living.

13. 5. Urban poverty occurs in metropolitan areas with populations of at least 50,000 people. The urban poor deal with a complex aggregate of chronic and acute stressors (including crowding, violence, and noise) and are dependent on often-inadequate large-city services.

14. 6. Rural poverty occurs in nonmetropolitan areas with populations below 50,000. In rural areas, there are more single-guardian households, and families often have less access to services, support for disabilities, and quality education opportunities.

15. THEORIES USED TO EXPLAIN POVERTY

16. CLASSICAL THEORY Classical economic traditions contend that individuals are ultimately responsible for poverty, thereby providing a foundation for laissez-faire policies.

17. NEOCLASSICAL THEORY Neoclassical (mainstream) economics is more diverse and provides explanations for poverty that are beyond individuals’ control (notably, market failures). Both classical and neoclassical approaches overemphasize monetary aspects, the individual as opposed to the group, and a limited role for government.

18. KEYNESIAN/ NEOLIBERAL THEORY Keynesian/neoliberal schools focus on macroeconomic forces and emphasize the role of government in providing economic stabilization and public goods. Poverty is considered largely as involuntary and caused by unemployment.

19. MARXIAN/RADICAL THEORY Marxian/radical views consider class and group discrimination as central to poverty and assign a key role to the state in its intervention/regulation of markets. Anti-poverty proposals in this vein include minimum wages and anti-discrimination laws.

20. THE END