Types of poverty

1

TYPES OF POVERTY

W.A.M Harindra11/AG/056EG 808

2

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 Definition)

What is poverty?

3 Major types of poverty

Absolute poverty Relative poverty

4 Absolute poverty

Declaration of Copenhagen “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 on access to social services” (United Nations, 1995)

5 This is a level of poverty in terms of the minimum requirements

necessary to afford minimal standards of food, clothing, health care and shelter.

For the measures to be absolute, the line must be the same in different countries, cultures and technological level.

In 2015, the World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$1.90 per day.

Data: Ferreira et al 2015Chart by Kenny and Sandefur.

6 Absolute poverty makes comparison easier. But it gives contradictory meanings.

7 David Gordon’s paper of “Indicators of poverty and hunger” for

UN, further defines absolute poverty as the absence of any two of the following eight basic needs:

Food Safe drinking water Sanitation facilities Health Shelter Education Information Access to services

8 Living in absolute poverty is harmful and can endanger your life!

9 Relative poverty

“Relative poverty refers to individuals or groups lack of resources when compared with that of other members of the society—in other words, their relative standard of living” (Oxford Dictionary of Sociology -1994)

Relative poverty is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live.

This is defined relative to the members of a society and therefore differs across countries.

Relative poverty changes over time.

10 Most of our country’s current social progress is viewed in relative terms. Our commonly used measure of relative poverty is the nation’s poverty

line. The poverty line or the poverty threshold is the minimum level of income

deemed adequate in a given country. Determining the poverty line is usually done by finding the total cost of

all the essential resources that an average human adult consume in one year.

In Sri Lanka, Official Poverty line at national level for July 2016 is Rs. 4132

11 7 Types of poverty

ECONOMIC POVERTY – Lack of monitory demands for providing themselves with food, cloth and shelter

BODILY POVERTY – Lack of property physical health and access to health living conditions

MENTAL POVERTY – Lack of thinking, access to education and knowledge

CULTURAL POVERTY – Lack of coming together in a society SPIRITUAL POVERTY – Lack of feeling of

brotherhood/togetherness POLITICAL POVERTY – Lack of understanding of how the

system works SOCIETAL POVERTY – Lack of social connectivity

12

13

14

15

16 https://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/default/files/jrf/migrated/files/poverty-definitions.pdf http://www.poverty.org.uk/summary/social%20exclusion.shtml http://www.poverties.org/blog/relative-vs-absolute-poverty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty https://www.reference.com/world-view/different-types-poverty-1e83a1cf0dcf086f https://blog.udemy.com/types-of-poverty/ http://richmondvale.org/types-of-poverty/ http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/Understanding-the-Nature-of-Poverty.aspx http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-poverty-line-faq http://

www.yourarticlelibrary.com/poverty/poverty-difference-between-absolute-poverty-and-relative-poverty/31409

17