Near Poverty

Examples of Near Poverty in the following topics:

• Poverty

  • Poverty is the condition of not having access to material resources, income, or wealth.
  • Near poverty is when one earns up to 25% above the poverty line; put otherwise, a person near poverty has an income below 125% of the current poverty line.
  • Absolute poverty is the level of poverty where individuals and families cannot meet food, shelter, warmth, and safety needs, while relative poverty refers to economic disadvantage compared to wealthier members of society.
  • Countries with low HDI tend to be caught in a national cycle of poverty -- they have little wealth to invest, but the lack of investment perpetuates their poverty.
  • This is a commonly used measure of poverty to allow international comparisons.

• Poverty

  • Poverty is the condition of not having access to material resources, income, or wealth.
  • The United States officially defines poverty using the poverty line.
  • "Near poverty" is the term for an income level that is just above the poverty line; it refers to incomes that are no more than 25% above the poverty line.
  • While some factors that contribute to poverty are the result of individual choices, such as dropping out of school or committing a crime, other factors affect poverty that are beyond individual control.
  • In the United States, minorities and women are more likely to be living in poverty.

• The Lower Class

  • The lower class in the United States refers to individuals who are at, or near, the lower end of the socioeconomic hierarchy.
  • The poverty line is defined as the income level at which an individual becomes eligible for public assistance.
  • While only about 12% of households fall below the poverty threshold at one point in time, the total percentage of households that will, at some point during the course of a single year, fall below the poverty line, is much higher.
  • Lower class households are at the greatest risk of falling below this poverty line, particularly if a job holder becomes unemployed.

• The Nonworking Poor

  • The nonworking poor are unemployed people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line.
  • The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line.
  • Conversely, the nonworking poor are unemployed people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line .
  • Since the start of the War on Poverty in the 1960s, scholars and policymakers on both ends of the political spectrum have paid an increasing amount of attention to tackling poverty.
  • Many conservative scholars tend to see nonworking poverty as a more urgent problem than working poverty because they believe that non-work is a moral hazard that leads to welfare dependency and laziness, whereas work, even poorly paid work, is morally beneficial.

• Measuring Poverty

  • Someone living in economic poverty may be homeless; someone living in social poverty may be illiterate.
  • The European Union's poverty threshold is based on relative poverty -- it measures how far below median income a person is, rather than whether or not they can meet their daily needs.
  • Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative poverty.
  • The World Bank uses this definition of poverty to label extreme poverty as living on less than US $1.25 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 or $5 a day.
  • Relative poverty explains poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context.

• The Dynamics of Poverty

  • Poverty operates in a dynamic cycle, with the effects of poverty increasing the likelihood that it will be transferred between generations.
  • This perpetuation of deprivation is the cycle of poverty.
  • The basic premise of the poverty cycle the idea that poverty is a dynamic process—its effects may also be its causes.
  • Without these resources, poverty-stricken individuals experience disadvantages that, in turn, increase their poverty.
  • Finally, poverty increases the risk of homelessness.

• Current Issues in Finance

  • The financial crisis of 2007–2008 caused the near-total collapse of many large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world.
  • Microcredit is a part of microfinance and involves the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers, often with the goal of supporting entrepreneurship and/or alleviating poverty.
  • Peer-to-peer lending over the Internet is another growing development in the financial sector, to which the principles of microcredit have also been applied in attempting to address poverty as well as various non-poverty-related issues.

• Assessing the Great Society

  • The War on Poverty coincided with a reduction in poverty rates.
  • The poverty rate declined further after the implementation of the War on Poverty, hitting a low point of 11.1% in 1973.
  • Even noting the decline in poverty rates, there is still disagreement about the effects of the War on Poverty and the Great Society.
  • Number of People in Poverty and Poverty Rate in the United States, 1959-2009
  • Observers debate the impact of the Great Society and War on Poverty on poverty rates and the economy.

• Defining and Measuring Poverty

  • Absolute poverty is poverty to the extent of which an individual is deprived of the ability to fulfill basic human needs (i.e. water, shelter, food, education, etc.).
  • In observing poverty over time, the rates of poverty alongside the advances in economic production, demonstrates the value in technological and economic progress.
  • Poverty is generally divided into absolute or relative poverty, with absolute concepts referring to a standard that is consistent over time and geographic location.
  • Income distribution measures lend insight into relative poverty levels.
  • One interesting perspective is the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

• Global Inequality

  • Almost half the world, over 3 billion people, lives on less than $2.50 a day. 78 percent of Ethiopians earn less than $2.00 a day. 86% of the population in Zambia lives in poverty while 4% of the population in Belgium lives in poverty.
  • Who is to blame for poverty?
  • This theory blames tradition for global poverty.
  • Modernists believe large economic growth is the key to reducing poverty in poor countries.
  • Dependency theorists believe large economic growth is not necessarily the key to reducing poverty and developing.