Poverty: Meaning, Causes, Effects, and Control Measures

Seeing so much poverty everywhere makes me think that God is not rich. He gives the
appearance of it, but I suspect some financial difficulties. [Victor Hugo, "Les
Misérables," 1862] The word poverty comes from old French poverté (Modern French:
pauvreté), from Latin paupertas from pauper (poor).[ The English word "poverty" via
Anglo-Norman povert.
Poverty is the scarcity or the lack of a certain (variant) amount of material possessions or
money.
Meaning: Poverty can be defined as the lack of basic needs that are necessary for one to
lead a relatively comfortable life. Such requirements may include shelter, clothing, food,
education, and healthcare.
Poverty can either be relative or absolute because whereas other people may be
comfortable with their lives, they may be deemed to be living in poverty when compared
against those who are extremely wealthy.
A person can also be described to be living in poverty when he or she is unable to make
ends meet. It can range from not being able to afford things like a good meal or running
behind on bill payments and the inability to service existing debts.
To many people, a life of poverty is one where an individual lacks money or is without
material possession. Poor people mostly live from hand to mouth and have to seek for
assistance to make ends meet.
Life is always a struggle for people who are poor. They experience different hardships
and are often deprived of the simple joys and pleasures that make life worth living. A
person living in poverty on many occasions does not have peace of mind because of
always worrying about what tomorrow will bring.
It is a life filled with inadequacies and insufficiencies. From the shortage of resources to
the lack of basic needs, it is a constant struggle to get by through each day.
Poverty refers to a situation when people are deprived of basic necessities of life. It is
often characterized by inadequacy of food, shelter and clothes. In other words, poverty
refers to a state of privation where there is a lack of essential needs for subsistence.
India is one of the poorest countries in the world. Many Indian people do not get two
meals a day. They do not have good houses to live in. Their children do not get proper
schooling.
Poor people are the depressed and deprived class. They do not get proper nutrition and
diet. Their conditions have not sufficiently improved even long after over 70 years of our
Independence.
Definitions Of Poverty
There are several definitions of poverty
depending on the context of the situation it is placed in, and the views of the person
giving the definition.
There is no one single definition of poverty. One figure which has been suggested is that
an income of half the national average indicates poverty. In Scotland this would be an
income of £7,000.
United Nations: Fundamentally, poverty is the inability of having 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.
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, inadequate physical
security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one's life.
Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative (the latter being actually an
index of income inequality).
According to Scottish Poverty Information Unit, "Poverty is defined relative to the
standards of living in a society at a specific time. People live in poverty when they are
denied an income sufficient for their material needs and when these circumstances
exclude them from taking part in activities which are an accepted part of daily life in that
society."
The World Bank Organisation: "The most commonly used way to measure poverty is
based on incomes. A person is considered poor if his or her income level falls below
some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. This minimum level is usually called
the "poverty line". What is necessary to satisfy basic needs varies across time and
societies. Therefore, poverty lines vary in time and place, and each country uses lines
which are appropriate to its level of development, societal norms and values."
The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee": "There are basically three current
definitions of poverty in common usage: absolute poverty, relative poverty and social
exclusion.
Absolute poverty is defined as the lack of sufficient resources with which to keep body
and soul together. Relative poverty defines income or resources in relation to the average.
It is concerned with the absence of the material needs to participate fully in accepted
daily life.
 Social exclusion is a new term used by the Government. Social exclusion is: "shorthand
label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked
problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime
environments, bad health and family breakdown"."

In the United Kingdom, the second Cameron ministry came under attack for their
redefinition of poverty; poverty is no longer classified by a family's income, but as to
whether a family is in work or not. Considering that two-thirds of people who found work
were accepting wages that are below the living wage (according to the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation) this has been criticised by anti-poverty campaigners as an unrealistic view of
poverty in the United Kingdom.

Poverty in urban India: Just like most of the growing and developing countries, there
has been continuous increase in Urban population.
· Poor people migrate from rural areas to cities and towns in search of
employment/financial activity.
· The income of more than 8 crore urban people is estimated to fall below poverty
line (BPL).
· In addition to this, there are around 4.5 crore urban people whose income level is
on borderline of poverty level.
· A income of urban poors is highly unstable. A large number of them are either
casual workers or self-employed.
· Banks and Financial institutions are reluctant to provide them loan because of the
unstable income.
· Five states that constitutes around 40% of all urban poor people of India are Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.
· Around 35% of the total population of the four metro cities (Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai and Mumbai) consists of slum population.
· A large portion of people living in slums are illiterate.
· The initiatives taken to deal with the problem of urban poverty has not yielded the
desired results.
Poverty in rural India: It is said that rural India is the heart of India. In reality, the life
of people living in rural areas is marked with severe poverty. Inspite of all the efforts, the
condition of poor villagers is far from satisfactory. The report on Socio-economic and
Caste Census (2011) reveal the following facts:
· SCST: Of all the rural households, around 18.46 percent belongs to scheduled
castes, and around 10.97 belongs to scheduled Tribes.
· Major source of income: Manual causal labour jobs and cultivation are the major
sources of income for rural people. Nearly 51 percent of all households are economically
engaged in manual casual labour and nearly 30 percent of them is engaged in cultivation.
· Deprived: Around 48.5 percent of rural households are deprived according to the
census.
· Assets: Only 11.04 percent of families own a refrigerator while there is a vehicle
(including two-wheeler, boat, etc. )in around 29.69 percent of the rural houses.
· Income Tax: Only 4.58 percent of rural households pay income tax.
· Land ownership: Around 56 percent of village households doesn’t own a land.
· Size of rural houses: The houses of around 54 percent rural families consists of
either one or two-rooms. Out of them, around 13 percent lives in a one-room house.

Poverty is the scarcity or the lack of a certain (variant) amount of material

possessions or money. Poverty is a multifaceted concept, which may include social,
economic, and political elements. Absolute poverty, extreme poverty, or destitution
refers to the complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs such
as food, clothing and shelter.

The threshold at which absolute poverty is defined is considered to be about the

same, independent of the person's permanent location or era. On the other hand,
relative poverty occurs when a person who lives in a given country does not enjoy a
certain minimum level of "living standards" as compared to the rest of the
population of that country. Therefore, the threshold at which relative poverty is
defined varies from country to another, or from one society to another.[2]

Providing basic needs can be restricted by constraints on government's ability to

deliver services, such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditionalities
and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Strategies of
increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare,
economic freedoms and providing financial services.

Poverty reduction is still a major issue (or a target) for many international
organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

Causes of Poverty
There are different situations that may cause an individual to live in poverty. Some of
these situations are unique to every person while others are universal. These are some of
the causes of poverty:
1. Over-population: When too many people live in a geographical location, they compete
for the available resources. The chances are that the resources are not always going to be
enough to support everyone. Those who miss out will have to struggle to make ends
meet. Overpopulation can result in the unavailability of land which is an important factor
of production. Even without formal employment, those who have land can cultivate crops
for food and sale.
2. Illiteracy: Lack of education can lead to poverty in different ways. When people go to
school, they become equipped with skills and techniques that make them employable.
They can thus earn good incomes and lead good lives. On the other hand, people who
have not gone to school will either be employed as casual laborers with minimum wages
or completely be without a means of getting income. Education opens a path to success
even for people who are born into low-income families. Illiteracy also means that an
individual lacks the intellectual capacity to make sound financial decisions. It can result
in poor investment moves or bad spending habits that cause poverty.
3. Casteism and Untouchability: Caste systems deny those who are considered as less
worthy a fair shot at success. It condemns them to a mediocre kind of life even when they
have the potential to be great and find success. It means that if one is born into the wrong
caste, he or she will be confined to the living standards of it.
4. Gender inequality: This is still a major problem in the 21st century. Even though there
have been some remarkable improvements in addressing the issue of gender equality, a
lot of challenges still exist. The phenomenon of unequal pay based on gender has caused
more women than men to live in poverty. The failure to educate the girl child by several
communities around the world condemns them to a life of poverty. They have to depend
on men to provide for them and sometimes get married just to escape poverty. Some
societies do not let the girl child inherit property such as land from a parent. They,
therefore, have no means to generate income and make a good life for themselves.
5. Economic inequality: Inequal distribution of wealth especially in countries where the
ruling elite come from a certain region usually lives those who are not represented in
government wallowing in poverty. They are denied basic infrastructures that are critical
to the development and have to contend with the little resources available. This creates a
cycle of poverty and many socio-economic problems.
6. Natural Causes: Environmental and geographical factors may also cause poverty.
Floods, earthquakes, and droughts can cause devastations and economic hardships as well
as poverty. People may lose their businesses, sources of income, and houses as a result of
natural disasters. Change in weather patterns and soil degradation can sometimes lead to
poor agricultural harvests. If the community depends on farming for income, it will be
left without a viable way to generate money.
7. Labor exploitation: Unethical business practices like labor exploitation also result in
poverty. There are business owners who in a bid to increase profit margins, pay workers
very little amounts of wages. As they accumulate wealth, the poor people who break
blood and sweat while earning them money live in very poor conditions.
8. Resistance to change: This can cause poverty in many ways. When the people of a
country refuse to usher in a new and visionary leadership that has good plans to bring
socio-economic development, the nation is left lagging behind in development. A lot of
countries have been plagued by bad leadership and this has caused economic hardships
among the citizens. Resisting change such as the need to educate girls, opening up the
country to foreign direct investment and a call to embrace new ways of doing business
can also cause poverty.
9. Unorganized Loans at higher interest rates in rural areas: Such loans that are paid at
higher interest rates reduce profit margins and kill off small businesses. They also
encourage consumerism, and this creates several financial problems especially for those
living in rural areas. Unorganized loans can leave the borrower worse of than he or she
was before taking the credit facility.
10. Wastage of resources: Improper utilization of resources by government agencies and
individuals can later lead to poverty. People who are initially rich can also become poor
through wasteful expenditure. This is greatly driven by the culture of consumerism.

The growing population inflates the problem of poor techniques used in Agriculture.
Further, there is unequal distribution of wealth. As a result, the poor people are often
exploited by the wealthy community. The most important causes of Poverty in India are
poor agriculture, growing Population, gap between rich and poor, corruption and black
money.
Poor agriculture: India is mainly an agricultural country. About 80% people of our
country depend on agriculture. But our agriculture is in a bad way. Farmers are poor and
uneducated. They do not know the modern methods of farming. They have no good
facilities of irrigation. They do not get seeds and fertilizers in time. Thus, the yield is
poor. Agriculture is not profitable today. We face the shortage of food. We have to
import it. So, poor agriculture is one of the causes of India’s poverty.
Growing population: Our population is growing rapidly. But our resources are limited.
The growth in population creates problems for us. Today, our population is 1.20 billion;
tomorrow we will be 1.21 billion and so on. We need more food, more houses, and more
hospitals for them. So we have no money to spend on development projects. The ever-
growing rate of population must be checked. If not, we may not be able to remove India’s
poverty.
Gap between the rich and the poor: The widening gap between the rich and the poor is
also responsible for India’s poverty. The rich are growing richer. The poor are growing
poorer. This economic gap between the two must be reduced. Our social system should
be changed. The poor people must get all help to reap the fruits of Independence.
Corruption and black-money: There are corruptions in every walk of life. There is
inefficiency in offices. People have become selfish. They neglect the national interests.
Black money causes the problem of rising prices. Some people have all the privileges.
But many others are suffering. Black money affects our economy. It causes poverty.

Effects of Poverty
Poverty has so many negative effects on both the individual and the society. These are
some of the reasons why poverty is not a good thing:
1. Hinders economic prosperity of the nation: The economic growth of a country is
mostly driven by the business ventures of its citizens. If many of them are poor, the
country will be underdeveloped.
2. Crimes: It has been established that crime rates are usually higher in areas or countries
with high levels of poverty compared to those that are experiencing rapid economic
growth and good amounts of income per household.
3. Malnutrition: Insufficient food and the inability to afford a decent meal results in
malnutrition. Many people who live in poverty forego several meals and sometimes when
they eat, the food lacks essential nutrients necessary for good growth.
4. Health problems: Many people living in poverty are unable to afford good healthcare.
They are therefore plagued by different health problems since they cannot afford
treatment. The poor living conditions may also cause diseases.
5. Less liberty: They say money is not everything but nevertheless, it is important to have
it. It can afford you the best things in life and give you different options to choose from.
Poor people do not get to choose their professions because they have to make do with
what is available. Many will get you a good education and make it possible to study the
career of your choice.
6. Moral and self-esteem: This is something that is easy to observe in a social setup.
Those who live in poverty usually feel like they do not have the moral authority to
demand better services or ask that they are treated fairly. Many of them also suffer from
low self-esteem because they think that they are not good enough.
7. Insufficient food and water: To eat, one has to have money to buy the food. That is one
luxury that those who live in poverty do not have. Poor areas have insufficient food and
lack clean water to use in the home.
8. Lack of basic amenities: Important public amenities such as good drainage systems,
piped water, schools, health centers, and personal amenities like heating are things that
those who live in poverty lack.
9. Stress: Increased social disturbances can cause stress. The mind will be at constant war
thinking of where to get the next meal, what the future holds or how to overcome the
different problems associated with poverty. A poor person rarely experiences peace of
mind.
10. Feminization of poverty: This is where the burdens of poverty are borne by women.
They are left with the responsibility of taking care of the children and holding the family
together. Feminization of poverty: Women are the worst victims of poverty. Poverty
effects greater number of women then men. The total of poor women outnumbers the
total population of poor men. The causes include low income, gender-inequality, etc.
They are deprived of proper-diet, medicines and health treatment.

Illiteracy: Poor people constitutes greater share of illiterate population. Education

becomes extremely difficult when people are deprived of basic necessities of life.
Child Labor: In India, a large number of young boys and girls are engaged in child
labour. Also read, article on Poverty and Child labour in India.
Nutrition and diet: Poverty is the leading cause of insufficient diet and inadequate
nutrition. The resources of poor people are very limited, and its effect can be seen in their
diet.
Poor living condition and Housing problems: The don’t get proper living conditions.
They have to fight the hardship of poverty to secure food, clothes and shelter. A large
number of poor families live in houses with one room only.
Unemployment: Poor people move from villages to towns and form one town to another
in search of employment/work. Since, they are mostly illiterate and un-skilled, there are
very few employment opportunities open for them. Due to unemployment, many poor
people are forced to live an unfulfilled life.
Hygiene and sanitation: These people have little knowledge about hygiene and proper
sanitation system. They are not aware of the harmful consequences of not maintaining
proper hygiene. The government is taking initiatives to make available clean and safe
water, and proper sanitation system to them.
Social tensions: Poverty is often characterized with income disparity and unequal
distribution of national wealth between the rich and the poor. Concentration of wealth in
the hands of few rich people lead to social disturbances and revolts. Fair or even
distribution of wealth leads an overall improvement in general standard of living of
people.

Control Measures / Solutions

How can poverty be controlled? These are some of the ways in which it can be done:
1. Free education: This opens up opportunities for many people and provides individuals
as well as families with a means to escape poverty. It is the ideal way to break the cycle
of poverty that has bedeviled several families.
2. Government grants: These can be in the form of free mid-day meals or even
scholarships. It eases the financial pressure on families and allows them to direct the little
money that they have towards business ventures.
3. Creation of job opportunities: A high rate of employment reduces the level of poverty
in a country. When more people are employed, many households also earn incomes and
live comfortably.
4. Vocation and Technical training: This is skill based training meant to equip individuals
within the society with technical skills to enable them become entrepreneurs or
professionally employed even without higher education. Such a move would be key in
uplifting the lives of people in rural areas and reducing poverty levels.
5. Free medical care facilities: This would ensure that people living in poverty have good
healthcare services. It would also help keep them healthy and strong to seek out money
making opportunities. Staying healthy and active is very important in fighting poverty
and improving living standards.
6. Educating about family planning: One interesting factor is that a lot of people living in
poverty have very large families compared to those who are considered to be well off.
Taking care of a big family requires resources. There is thus a need to carry out civic
education about the necessity of family planning.
7. Increase in earning capacity: Gradually and systematically increasing the minimum
wage should be the objective of every government. This will increase the incomes earned
and subsequently reduce poverty levels. There should also be laws that deter employees
from paying workers less than they deserve.
8. Casteism and untouchability need to be abolished: No one should be condemned to a
life of poverty and mediocrity at birth. It hinders the utilization of talents and denies well-
deserving people the chance to take a shot at their dreams. To borrow an example from
capitalism, everyone should be free to pursue financial success and be rewarded
according to efforts.
9. Women empowerment: Gender inequality should be abolished if the society is to
realize meaningful growth and development. Denying women the opportunity to pursue
financial success does the community no good. If anything, it compounds the problems
associated with poverty. Statistics has shown that regions with many economically
empowered women are more developed than those with glaring gender disparities.
10. Low-cost loans: Cheap credit facilities will encourage the growth of small businesses
and provide people, especially those in rural areas, with a means to escape poverty. Low-
cost loans are essential for spurring economic growth in the local community.
We have to solve this problem of India’s poverty.
· Farmers must get all facilities for irrigation.
· They should be trained and educated.
· Agriculture must be made profitable.
· The ever-rising population should be checked.
· Family planning schemes should be introduced.
· More and more industries should be set up to meet the needs of our country.
· Corruption must end. Our offices should work efficiently.
These are some of the ways by which our poverty can be removed.
Poverty is a national problem and it must be solved on a war footing. The government is
taking a number of steps to mitigate poverty. Eradication of poverty would ensure a
sustainable and inclusive growth of economy and society. We all should do everything
possible and within our limits to help alleviate poverty from our country.

Conclusion
Everyone aspires to attain financial prosperity and live a comfortable life. To realize
these aspirations, it is crucial to seek out reasonable opportunities and pursue them. One
cannot succeed without working towards a goal. A life of poverty means that an
individual is not able to enjoy some of the good things in life. It is, therefore, important to
eliminate obstacles to prosperity by controlling poverty and creating an environment
where everyone has a fair shot at success. Every individual is bestowed with certain gifts,
and the fulfillment of potential can only be possible when the available conditions allow
it.