Poverty is general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain a mount of material possessions or money.

[1] Absolute poverty or destitution refer s to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty is de fined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which pe ople live.[2][3] After the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made production go ods increasingly less expensive and more accessible. Of more importance is the m odernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, to provide enough yield to fee d the population.[4] The supply of basic needs can be restricted by constraints on government services such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditio nalities and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. St rategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically incl ude welfare, economic freedoms, and providing financial services. Poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for many international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. The World Bank estimated 1.29 bi llion people were living in absolute poverty in 2008. Of these, about 400 millio n people in absolute poverty lived in India and 173 million people in China. In terms of percentage of regional populations, sub-Saharan Africa at 47% had the h ighest incidence rate of absolute poverty in 2008. Between 1990 and 2010, about 663 million people moved above the absolute poverty level. Still, extreme povert y is a global challenge; it is observed in all parts of the world, including dev eloped economies.[5][6] Contents [hide] 1 Etymology 2 Measuring poverty 2.1 Definitions 2.2 Absolute poverty 2.3 Relative poverty 2.4 Other aspects 3 Characteristics 3.1 Health 3.2 Hunger 3.3 Education 3.4 Housing 3.5 Utilities 3.6 Violence 4 Poverty reduction 4.1 Increasing the supply of basic needs 4.1.1 Food and other goods 4.1.2 Health care and education 4.1.3 Removing constraints on government services 4.1.4 Reversing brain drain 4.1.5 Controlling overpopulation 4.2 Increasing personal income 4.2.1 Income grants 4.2.2 Economic freedoms 4.2.3 Financial services 4.2.4 Cultural factors to productivity 5 Climate change 6 Voluntary poverty 7 Notes 8 See also 8.1 Nations 8.2 Theology 8.3 Organizations and campaigns 8.4 In documentary photography and film

9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links Etymology The word poverty comes from old French povert (Modern French: pauvret), from Latin paupertas, from pauper (poor).[7] The English word "poverty" via Anglo-Norman povert.[citation needed] There are s everal definitions of poverty depending on the context of the situation it is pl aced in, and the views of the person giving the definition. Measuring poverty See also: List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty and Po verty threshold Definitions Percentage of population living on less than $1.25 per day, 2009. Percentage of population suffering from hunger, World Food Programme, 2008 Life expectancy, 2008. The Human Development Index, 2006 The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, 2009. United Nations: Fundamentally, poverty is the inability of getting choices and o pportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to p articipate 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 me ans insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and commu nities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marg inal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.[8] World Bank: 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, inade quate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunit y to better one s life. [9] Copenhagen Declaration: Absolute poverty is a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitatio n facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services.[10] The term 'absolute poverty' i s sometimes synonymously referred to as 'extreme poverty.'[11] Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative (the latter being act ually an index of income inequality).