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According to the World Bank, "The most commonly used way to measure poverty is based on incomes or consumption levels"
A person is considered poor if his or her consumption or income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs - called the "poverty line." A common unit has been developed called "Purchasing Power Parity" (PPP) to measure relative purchasing power of currencies across countries. Using the base line of US $1 per day in 1993 Purchasing Power, it is estimated that in 1998 1.2 billion worldwide had consumption levels below $1 per day and 2.8 billion lived on less than $2 per day.
For the 2.8 billion human beings living at or below the "poverty line," their definition might be:
- Poverty is hunger
- Poverty is lack of shelter
- Poverty is being sick and not able to see a doctor
- Poverty is not being able to go to school
- Poverty is not knowing how to read
- Poverty is not being able to speak properly
- Poverty is not having a job
- Poverty is losing a child to illness from unclean water
- Poverty is powerlessness
- Poverty is lack of representation and freedom
- Poverty is fear of the future, living one day at a time
About 46,000 humans die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. 37,000 of them are children age 5 or younger, Famine and wars cause just 10% of hunger-related deaths, although these are the ones you hear about.
About 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Besides death, chronic malnutrition causes impaired vision, listlessness, stunted growth, and greatly increased susceptibility to disease. Severely malnourished people are unable to function at even a basic level.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) uses a Human Poverty Index (HPI) to measure deprivation by looking at five real-life attributes of poverty:
- Illiteracy
- Malnutrition among children
- Health Care
- Early death
- Poor access to safe water
The UNDP presents six measures to eradicate poverty
- Gender equity and empowerment of women
- "Pro-poor" economic growth policies in 100 developing and transitional countries
- Better trade policies and fairer rules that allow poor countries to enter markets
- Actions to give the poor power to organize and act collectively
- Measures to prevent economic reversal in vulnerable countries
- Promotion of accountability, transparency and openness in governance
Page Updated: June 20, 2009
