Essay on Poverty

Essay on Poverty

Essay on Poverty/Poverty Essay 1000 words for students

What is Poverty?

Poverty is a condition when the people do not get usual acceptable amount of money and material things, as a result, they unable to get their basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and other essentials for survive.

Poverty is a curse in human life. The word poverty is derived from the old French word poverte, which means poor.

Classification of poverty

There are six types of poverty, based on social, economic and political aspects. They are

·       Absolute poverty

·       Relative poverty

·       Generational poverty

·       Urban poverty

·       Rural poverty

·       Situational poverty

Absolute poverty-Absolute poverty or the extreme poverty is the scarcity of the basic needs such as food, shelter, running water, education health care. In developed countries. When it was first introduced in 1990, the "dollar a day" poverty line measured absolute poverty by the standards of the world's poorest countries.According to World Bank, when a person earns and lives on $1.90 a day, falls under the category of absolute poverty. About 88 million of people live under absolute poverty. Normally 10% of world’s population live in absolute poverty.

Relative poverty-When a person can afford necessities but does not able to meet their society average standard of living is said to be under relative poverty.

Generational poverty-When at least two generation of a family has been born into poverty and unable to move out of the situation is called general poverty.

Situational poverty- This kind of poverty is temporary. When adverse events like environmental disasters such as flood, drought, storm etc., job loss, health problems occur, People face this kind of poverty.

Rural poverty- This kind of poverty occurs in the rural areas where the population is below 50,000. These areas have less job and education opportunities, less services etc.

Urban poverty- This kind of poverty occurs in the metropolitan areas where the population is over 50,000.The people living in these areas do not get proper health and education services and also housing and social protection mechanism.

Causes of poverty

Poverty is a crush on human life. If we want to get rid of poverty, then we have to know the causes of poverty. Currently, 800 million people are suffering hunger and 2 billion people are not getting the clean drinking water at home. The people need money to get their necessity so they have to do work. If they do not get enough food, they don’t get strength to do work and simply they will be work-less. Lack of clean water leads them to water-borne diseases and they spend amount on treatment which lead them to extreme poverty.

Natural disasters like floods, droughts, storm, heavy rainfall etc. destroy the agricultural activities which lead the people to poverty.

Growth of population is one of the main causes of poverty. In the last 45 years, the annual population growth rate increases 2.2 which is the extra burden on the countries and the Governments of those countries unable to provide their basic needs which make the population poor.

Another cause of poverty is continuous and steep price rise, for which a person with low income does not buy minimum needs.

Conflict is one of the most common and important causes of poverty. Example Syria, where 80% of population now live below the poverty line after its tenth years of conflict.

There are many poorest people in the world who are relying on farming or hunting to survive. Malawi is 80% agrarian but the population lives in hunger and poverty due to the natural disasters like droughts caused by El Nino which is a global phenomenon, when the water temperature increases in the Pacific Ocean.

Lack of job opportunity is another cause of poverty. Incompatible work and low-paying jobs give poverty to a family.

Effects of poverty

“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher

Poverty affects a lot on a poor family. They do not access their basic needs such as shelter, food, health care, education etc. They cannot send their children to school due to their insufficient income. They forced to their children to work which increase the number of children labours and could negatively impact the child’s personality.

They do not get clean water and health care so they suffer many diseases like malaria, cholera, dehydration, diarrhoea, tuberculosis etc. which increases infant and child mortality rates.

 The children become depressed, helpless and hopeless. Poverty increases stress, depression, anxiety and criminal behaviour in the poor family which increase violence.

Reducing of poverty

Poverty is a global problem but we can get rid of this problem by identifying the causes of poverty.

The best way to get rid of poverty is a job which opens the door of income. Trade is a path out of poverty which leads a country to growth and prosperity. The poorest countries in the world like Indonesia, Brazil etc. have done their business to get out of poverty.

Education develops skills and abilities. According to UNESCO, if all students, from low- income family, had basic reading skills, then 171 million people could overcome the extreme poverty. Poverty alleviation requires empowerment of people living in poverty through free education and training which will help them to get a job and earn money.

Agricultural growth is an important factor to reduce poverty. Increasing the growth of agriculture leads the decreasing of poverty. To eradicate poverty by 2020, Agricultural Bank of China will give loans of more than $400 billion for developing rural areas, fund education, crop production

 The whole world is trying to overcome the poverty. Since 1990, 35% of the world population was living under extreme poverty but hopefully now less than 10% of world is living in extreme poverty.

Conclusion

“Poverty is the worst form of violence” – Mahatma Gandhi

Poverty is a curse in human life. Poverty brings wailing, anxiety, mental exhaustion in people’s lives. We can provide free educational training or tutoring to the poor children. Our cooperation can put a smile on the face of a poor family. Our will, cooperation and effort will make this world poverty free