Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to asabsolute poverty or destitution. Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or country, or compared to worldwide averages. About 1.7 billion people live in absolute poverty.
Poverty is additionally seen as a state of mind and a lifestyle- more than just a lack of materials. It is a state of deprivation and insecurity. Even those who can get above poverty are always close to falling back into its clutches.
Accumulation of wealth, sometimes resulting in overall poverty reduction within a nation or society, has historically been a result of economic growth as increased levels of production, such as modern industrial technology, made more wealth available for some individuals and groups within societies and nation states. Wealth distribution however, often occurs along highly unequal lines. This sometimes prompts redistributive approaches to poverty reduction. Investments in modernizing agriculture and increasing yields via green revolution technology is often considered the core of theantipoverty effort, given three-quarters of the world's poor are rural farmers. However, alternative theories of development economics cite the process of agricultural industrialization as a driver of unequal land distribution, declining food security, and rural-urban migration.
neoliberal approaches to development, as promoted by the World Bank, IMF, and WTO include extending and enforcing property rights, especially to land, to the poor, and making financial services, notably savings, accessible. While this process encourages integration into the global market, some sectors of society, especially informal subsistence farmers and indigenous peoples, who often struggle to gain legal recognition of property rights, can be negatively affected. Inefficient institutions, corruption and political instability can also make state recognition of such rights difficult. Government support in health, education and infrastructure helps alleviate poverty by increasing human and physical capital.
There are a few definitions for Poverty:
Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life.—World Bank
Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.—United Nations
Poverty is a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services. It includes a lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by lack of participation in decision making and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets.— World Summit on Social Development
To meet nutritional requirements, to escape avoidable disease, to be sheltered, to be clothed, to be able to travel, and to be educated.—Amartya Sen
People are living in poverty if their income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is regarded as acceptable by Irish society generally. As a result of inadequate income and resources people may be excluded and marginalised from participating in activities which are considered the norm for other people in society.—Government of Ireland
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