what´s POVERTY?

Answer 1

According to what I have learnt at University, there is no concrete definition of poverty, simply because the nature of poverty differs form region to region. What is agreed upon is that poverty has three pillars:

* Material conditions: Lack of of goods and services due to lack of money.

* Economic position: refers to low income, limited resources or to low social class.

* Social position of the poor, through lack of entitlement, dependency or social exclusion.

Poverty goes hand in hand with many problems, such as bad health, lack of education, child labour, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, prenatal birth, low life expectancy, inadequate housing.

Answer 2

Poverty is the condition of a dire lack of wealth.

Most of the world must live under this condition so that some very few people may hoard more than their share of the world's wealth and live disgustingly extravagant lives.

Globally the richest 2% of all people in the world possess more than half of the world's wealth. In the US, the richest country in the world, 10% of the population owns 71% of the wealth and the top 1% owns 38%.

So, when you get down to it, poverty is a state caused by the hoarding of wealth by the world's upper and middle classes.

Answer 3

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.

Here are some other definitions that organisations use when they're talking about poverty.


"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."
Scottish Poverty Information Unit

"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 World Bank Organisation

"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. The Prime Minister described social exclusion as "…a 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"."
The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/int/ms/health/wealth/def_of_poverty/definitions.shtml

See also:

http://www.sociologyonline.co.uk/soc_essays/Poverty.htm

Answer 4

Poverty is understood in many senses. The main understandings of the term include:

Descriptions of material need, typically including the necessities of daily living (food, clothing, shelter, and health care). Poverty in this sense may be understood as the deprivation of essential goods and services.

Answer 5

Good question. I guess it means different things to different people. Here's a definition I found on the web:

"having little or no money, goods, or means of support".

To me, poverty is when I don't have enough money to buy food after paying all the bills. But maybe that's just because I spend too much :)

Answer 6

making less than 10,000 dollars a year and have a family of four counting on you to make ends meet. To keep food on the table, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads. That is also called stress. The words poverty and stress go hand in hand, most don't handle either one well that is why are prisons are full and bursting at the seams.

Answer 7

Poverty is having little or no money, goods, or means of support. to me poverty is when someone does not have enough money to buy food, drink, shelter and are in a very sad atmosphere.

Answer 8

Depends who's judging!
If you own a mansion then owning a 4 bedroom detached is poverty.

For most western people it's regarded as when the local political system allows people to starve to death. IE the majority of land is controlled by a minority of people, preventing the majority from working to feed themselves....and there is no social welfare system.

Although a lot of the '3rd world' is regarded as poverty stricken by our material standards. If the people have land and the crop fails that would be considered bad luck or an unhappy god. They would not consider themselves in a state of poverty.

It is very scalable.

Answer 9

This can mean alot of things but to me down right in poverty to me is to be wondering where your next meal is coming from , and everything that goes with it like having maybe two out fits and needing a pair of shoes with holes in them . Not having a place to live .

Answer 10

Poverty is having to live on 60% of national average earnings. So, if the nae is 30,000 then someone on 18,000 is living in poverty.