NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Poverty: The condition of having insufficient resources or income. In its most extreme form, poverty is the lack of basic human needs (nutritious food, clothing, housing, clean water, and health services). Poverty can cause terrible suffering and possibly even death. Depending somewhat on where you live, depends on how severe the poverty you face may be. In many developing areas such as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, they suffer from severe malnutrition, disease outbreaks, famine, and war.
Poverty in these areas extremely differs from the poverty in somewhat wealthier countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe where the effects of poverty include poor nutrition, mental illness, drug dependence, crime, and high rates of disease. There are two types of poverty. There is extreme poverty, and there is relative poverty. Extreme poverty (also known as destitution or absolute poverty) is the poverty that threatens people's health or lives and is related more to developing countries. Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income that others within a society or country, or compared to worldwide averages. Relative poverty is related more to wealthier countries.
There are many different reasons for poverty, the basic reasons are over population, the unequal distribution of resources in the world economy, inability to meet high standards of living and costs of living, inadequate education and employment opportunities, environmental degradation certain economic and demographic trends, and welfare incentives. As basic as these causes may sound, more often than not, they interact and become more complex. Overpopulation is the situation of having large numbers of people with too few resources and too little space. This is one of the causes that is very closely related to poverty. Excessively high population densities put stress on available resources.
Certain areas of land can only support a certain number of people. When the number of people living on the land exceed the number of people the land can support, it causes malnutrition and hunger which in turn causes poverty. Inadequate education and employment are another huge part of poverty, especially in developing countries where illiteracy and lack of education are very common. Without an education, most cannot find income-generating work.
Many also pass up the opportunity for an education, especially if they are poor, so that they can work for a minimum living. Developing countries tend to have few employment opportunities, especially for women. As a result, people may have little reason to go to school. Even in developed countries, unemployment rates may be high. When people don't work, they don't make any money. This leads to poverty.
Environmental degradation leads to poverty because it leads to shortages of food, clean water, materials for shelter, and other essential resources such as forests, land, air, and water. When these resources are degraded, the people living directly off of them suffer. Most of these people live in developing countries. People living in developed countries don't suffer as much from this because they have better technology and other conveniences.
Many believe that poverty is beyond the control of those who experience it. Others believe that individual responsibility and welfare dependency cause poverty, and those who experience poverty can control it. They say that these people choose to use drugs for instance. This in turn causes poverty. In addition, many people in developed countries blame cycles of poverty, or the tendency for the poor to remain poor, on overly generous welfare programs. People believe that such programs provide incentives for people to stay poor in order to keep receiving payments and other support.
The effects of poverty are wide ranging and often devastating. There are different effects depending on what you are lacking. Poor nutrition and physical health problems result from having too little income or too few resources. Some different effects of poverty are malnutrition and starvation, infectious disease and exposure to the elements, mental illness and drug dependence, and crime and violence. People who grow up in poverty often suffer from lifelong effects.
Malnutrition is one of the most common effects of poverty. Especially in developing countries, the poorest people cannot obtain adequate calories to develop or maintain their appropriate body weight. Poor children often suffer the most, commonly from a deficiency known as protein-energy malnutrition. Prolonged malnutrition can lead to starvation.
Long-term starvation almost always leads to death. Malnutrition and starvation aren't only a problem in developing nations. Even in major cities of developed nations, the poor often have unhealthy diets. In addition to the effects of malnutrition, the poor experience high rates of disease.
Inadequate shelter or housing creates conditions that promote disease. Many poor people don't have decent shelter or protection so they are exposed to severe and dangerous weather and to bacteria and viruses carried by other people and animals. Once exposed, people tend to be more vulnerable to fluctuations in temperature that lower resistance to disease. Mental illnesses are highest among the poor when it comes to developed countries. Depression and anxiety are two of the most common disorders associated with poverty. This is because people begin to feel worthless because they don't have well-paying work and all of the resources that they may need.
Because the poor experience high rates of mental illness, they also have high rates of suicide. Many people who have drug dependency problems also are closely related to poverty. This is because people who have mental illnesses and drug dependency problems don't tend to hold steady jobs and relationships which causes them to fall into poverty. Some people believe that crime and violence are associated with poverty.
They say that poverty leads people to commit acts of violence and crime. They say that anger, desperation, and the need for money for food, shelter, and other necessities may all contribute to criminal behavior among the poor. Other people say that the link of cause and effect between crime and poverty is unclear. They say that in some cases, poverty undoubtedly motivates people to commit crimes, although it may not be the only factor.
Studies have shown that children who grow up in poor households, experience more problems throughout their lives than those who grow up in households that are above the poverty level. In many cases, those who had poor parents themselves, earning lower-than average income, may also have learned a lower mind set that keeps them from getting out of poverty. Poverty tends to perpetuate itself. There are a few different ways of measuring poverty, but most people traditionally choose income for measuring and defining poverty. None of the measurements of poverty are completely correct, although some are better than others. The statistics kept by the United Nations is based on its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The GDP measures the income of all the nation's people and businesses. The United States measures poverty by threshold income that is based on the annual income of all people too. People are then said to be poor if their income falls below a certain level called a threshold, also known as the poverty line. In the 1990 's developed countries typically enjoyed yearly income of an excess of $ 15, 000 and often $ 20, 000. The poorest countries had a yearly income of substantially $ 1, 000 and in one country, it was as low as $ 100. While people with such low incomes might be able to produce or obtain some food, and other basic needs, they generally have difficulties providing for themselves.
There are several other options in addition to definitions of poverty based on GDP or on threshold income. Some developed countries such as most nations of the European Union, define poverty as having significantly fewer resources than average, generally less than half of typical earnings or income. Another way to measure poverty, the human capital, defines poverty by the persons earning potential. National governments use poverty measurements to develop that can provide assistance to the poor. All developed countries have extensive antipoverty programs, primarily in the form of social security and welfare systems.
Most developing countries have some form of social security, but these programs typically do not provide enough to keep many people out of poverty. International organizations also use poverty measurements to decide how much money to give to national governments and how to advise countries on strategies for reducing poverty. The governments of most developing countries provide limited assistance to prevent some poverty. Most have at least minimal social security programs, which provide benefits during periods of unemployment, illness, or disability.
These programs also provide some benefits for the retired and to families of deceased workers. These programs usually only offer support for those who are employed full time (a very small percentage of the country in most developing countries). Some countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal, provide mandatory full support only to government employees. A variety of organizations support antipoverty programs in developing countries. They include international government organizations (such as the UN), aid agencies run by developed countries, non governmental (mostly nonprofit) organizations, and private development banks. In addition to antipoverty programs in developing countries, there is also many programs to help fight poverty in developed countries including the U.
S... A number of U. S. government agencies use poverty statistics to decide how much to spend on welfare programs and transfers money, goods, and services to help the poor.
Federal programs that aim directly at helping the poor people in the United States are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides short-term cash benefits to unemployed adults with children, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides extra income to poor people who are elderly, have disabilities, or are visually impaired, and Medicaid, which provides health care to those who are unable to buy health insurance. Along with government programs, many programs provide aid to the poor at local, state, and national levels. One of the largest non-government organizations is the United Way, which provides a variety of types of assistance to those in need. Habitat for humanity, another non-government organization that operates throughout the country, recruits volunteers to build affordable housing for the poor. Bibliography: Bibliography I. Title All the Trouble in the World: The Lighter Side of Overpopulation, Famine, Plague, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, and Poverty Author P.
J. O'Rourke Publisher Grove/Atlantic Inc. Copyright August 1995 II. Title Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle against World Poverty Author Muhammad Yunus and Alan Jolis Publisher Perseus Books Group Copyright May 1999 III. Title Encarta Encyclopedia @ web
Free research essays on topics related to: relative poverty, developing countries, crime and violence, developed countries, number of people
Research essay sample on Number Of People Crime And Violence
