Development Problems, Policies: Causes and Definitions of Poverty

This portfolio delves into the critical issues surrounding poverty, focusing on its causes and definitions. It highlights that nearly half the world's population lives on less than $2.50 per day, while a small fraction of the wealth could have provided education for every child. The portfolio examines how political, cultural, and religious factors contribute to poverty, alongside the significant role of education. It further discusses the consequences of poverty at both individual and societal levels and proposes remedies such as promoting education through scholarships, improving healthcare access, and implementing economic growth policies. The analysis of poverty definitions emphasizes their importance in setting standards for acceptable living conditions and guiding effective eradication strategies. The portfolio also touches on the challenges faced by individuals in poverty in accessing bank loans and the potential for such loans to alleviate poverty if managed effectively. The work concludes by referencing scholarly articles that support the analysis and provide further insights into poverty-related issues.

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Development Problems, Policies and Programs
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Introduction
Estimates provide that almost half of the world population (over 3 billion people) live
under $ 2.5 per day. At the same time, the Gross Domestic Product of the 41 nations which are
regarded as heavily indebted and poor (567 million people), is considerably lower compared to
the wealth of the 7 richest people in the world (Turner, Brandon, Brooks, Gascon, Gibbs,
Lawrence, Mittermeier and Selig, 2012 p.90). Another report indicates that approximately one
billion of the world’s population transitioned into the 21st century without the slightest
knowledge of how to read or sign their names (Edmonds and Schady, 2012 p.100). It is also
surprising to note that less than one percent of the annual spending on weapons was required to
place every child into a learning institution by the start of 2000, yet this was not executed. The
aforementioned startling facts gave me the urge to choose the topics of “causes of poverty” and
“definition of poverty by people” and conduct an in-depth research on them.
While most of the literary studies focus more about sexuality, gender, and race, too many
ignore the topic about the economically struggling and this was one of the main reasons why I
choose to focus on this seemingly snubbed topic. Besides this, I was interested in knowing the
various ways in which institutions and the society at large causes some individuals to be rich and
others to be poor. Notably, poverty is driven by some factors evident in the society such as
politics, culture, and religion. Bad politics suppresses one section of the society and keeps them
poor so as to constantly dictate and rule them. Second, the issue of culture keeps a fraction of the
society poor since they possess a mindset that refuses to accept anything modern. Third, some
religious practices and beliefs contribute to poverty as they cause people to misinterpret God’s
provision and goodness to mean no work or effort (Yoshikawa, Aber, and Beardslee, 2012

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p.272). Additionally, as discussed in my earlier post, lack of education in the society contributes
significantly to the poverty levels. In essence, education offers people a chance to secure a job,
create a functional business idea, make meaningful budgets, and so forth.
Another reason why I decided to study the causes of poverty is to determine the
consequences of poverty at both an individual and societal level and develop remedies to solve
the situation. As seen in the discussion post, promoting education can help to eradicate poverty.
This can be done by awarding scholarships to academically excellent but poor students. In
addition to this, ill health has been noted to increase poverty. Hence, there is the need for people
to take care of their health to avoid spending their resources on treating diseases. Governments
should also focus more on creating economic growth policies and programs in multiple sectors
including education, health, sanitation, and nutrition, giving the poor an opportunity to contribute
and participate in the building of the economy. According to studies, a 10 percent rise in a
nation’s average income minimizes the number of poor people by approximately 20-30 percent
(Hagenaars, 2017 p.101). Other worthy initiatives that can be taken to minimize or completely
eradicate poverty include enhancing the management of natural resources such as water,
investing in agricultural programs, encouraging trade, creating more jobs, providing access to
social services, continuously creating social protection systems, and empowering the
economically unstable.
The second topic I discussed is the definition of poverty by various people. In essence,
definitions of poverty matter a lot as they place the standards by which people examine whether
the living conditions and incomes of the most deprived in the society are acceptable or
unacceptable (Adena and Myck, 2014 p.202). Moreover, defining poverty is important in

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answering the questions of fairness. By properly defining poverty, then the necessary procedures
aimed at eradicating it can follow. The past years have seen unrelenting debates on overall and
absolute poverty. However, the recent years have seen a wide acceptance that poverty is relative
to the location of a person. A good number of official definitions of poverty apply relative
income to determine the poor; a certain threshold of income is set and the people below it are
considered to be poor. The UK government, for instance, considers 60 percent of the median
income as the line of poverty (Quinones and Remenyi, 2014 p. 43). It must be noted that while
this is an easy way to measure poverty and gives worthy comparisons, it is an arbitrary definition
which has been greatly criticized.
World Bank (2000) defines poverty as “pronounced deprivation in well-being.” Having
noted this definition, it becomes easier to target the poor in the society. Notably, the poor cannot
be helped without being pinpointed. On the same note, a credible poverty definition can be a
strong tool for making the policymakers focus more on the poor (Ürge-Vorsatz and Herrero,
2012, p.45). Putting this in a better way, the poor can be easily ignored if they are statistically
unrecognized. Hence, the definition of poverty is essential if it is to be considered as an
economic and political agenda. Another reason why I choose the topic on the definition of
poverty is that it enables one to predict its impacts and outline the various programs and policies
that can be implemented to help the economically deprived. Besides this, the institutions that are
set to help the poor can become more effective if they have the proper definition of poverty
(Moore, 2012 p.26). In other words, it may prove difficult to determine whether certain
institutions are doing well in eradicating poverty unless there is a good definition of the same.

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In response to the reply on the discussion post, Individuals living in poverty have low
opportunities of borrowing loans from the banks. Moreover, they have fewer chances to access
bank credits since they may not have the collateral needed to apply for loans. It is anticipated that
bank loans can help in eradicating poverty. Through loans, the poor in the society can engage in
multiple worthwhile economic activities capable of generating sustainable income. However, the
bank loans are best if there are better loan repayment rates. Poor people may experience
challenges to repay high-interest rates on the loans.

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Bibliography
Adena, M. and Myck, M., 2014. Poverty and transitions in health in later life. Social Science &
Medicine, 116, pp.202-210.
Edmonds, E.V. and Schady, N., 2012. Poverty alleviation and child labor. American Economic
Journal: Economic Policy, 4(4), pp.100-124.
Hagenaars, A.J., 2017. The definition and measurement of poverty. In Economic Inequality and
Poverty: International Perspectives (pp. 148-170). Routledge.
Moore, R., 2012. Definitions of fuel poverty: Implications for policy. Energy Policy, 49, pp.19-
26.
Quinones, B. and Remenyi, J. eds., 2014. Microfinance and poverty alleviation: Case studies
from Asia and the Pacific. Routledge.
Turner, W.R., Brandon, K., Brooks, T.M., Gascon, C., Gibbs, H.K., Lawrence, K.S.,
Mittermeier, R.A. and Selig, E.R., 2012. Global biodiversity conservation and the alleviation of
poverty. BioScience, 62(1), pp.85-92.
Ürge-Vorsatz, D. and Herrero, S.T., 2012. Building synergies between climate change mitigation
and energy poverty alleviation. Energy policy, 49, pp.83-90.
Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J.L. and Beardslee, W.R., 2012. The effects of poverty on the mental,
emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: implications for prevention. American
Psychologist, 67(4), p.272.