Poverty Flashcards
What is poverty?
Poverty is the inability to access a good standard of living
It’s been measured in various different ways, and is often used relative to the expectations in particular societies
What is the “Three Worlds” definition of poverty?
Used between 1948-1989
First world - industrialised, capitalist countries
Second world - industrialised, communist countries
Third world - everyone else
Why has the term “Third World” been criticised?
It has been criticised as encouraging a “them and us” mentality
It ignores nuances and differences that aren’t respected by the old superpowers
It’s a reductionist definition
What is the “Global North and Global South” definition of poverty?
Common in the 1970s-1990s
Northern hemisphere countries tended to be richer/more “developed”
The UK has its own “North/South divide” which is unrelated
What is the “Majority & Minority Nations” definition of poverty?
Majority and Minority - common from the 2000s
Attempt to respect other cultures in definitions
Majority are “Third World”, minority are “developed” countries
What is the “Developed & Underdeveloped Nations” definition of poverty?
Developed and Underdeveloped - common from 2000s-now
Implies that some countries have “missed out” on development
Focus on exploitation (Neo-Marxist)
What is the Levels of Economic Development “MEDC, LEDC, & LLEDC” definition of poverty?
Economic Development - common from the 2000s-now
MEDC - more economically developed country
LEDC - less economically developed country
LLEDC - least economically developed country
What is “The Bottom Billion” (Collier, 2007)?
The Bottom Billion (Paul Collier) - common from 2007-now
Says 1bn out of 7.8 bn are developed or developing well
We need to focus on those who are still in the “bottom billion”
What are the current UN measures of poverty?
GNI is used for countries
This is useful for comparing countries against each other
For individuals or families, it’s more difficult
Why is it difficult for the UN to measure poverty by individuals or families?
We need to know how poor they are within their country
The World Bank define “extreme poverty” as <$1.25/day, adjusted for your country’s prices
1.2/7.8 billion people are estimated to live in “extreme poverty” - 15% of the world population
The UN goes further - <$1.25/day is “absolute poverty”
Being very poor compared to the average in your country is “relative poverty”
What did the UN propose to address poverty in 2000?
In 2000, the UN agreed to “Millenium Development Goals” (MDGs) that aimed to decrease poverty
They set the target of completing them all by 2015
For poverty the UN aimed to:
- “Halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015”
- Between 2000 & 2015, extreme poverty fell from 1.2 billion to 736 million
What did the UN agree to address poverty in 2015?
MDGs were mostly successful but we need to change focus
New “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” were introduced with 17 goals
- “Eliminating poverty” rather than “reducing poverty” and a focus on protecting the environment
- Responsibility often passed from governments to NGOs such as Oxfam, Amnesty International and WWF
What criticisms have been made of the UN’s MDGs and SDGs?
MDGs set absolute, unachievable goals without guidance
SDGs are loosely defined, hard to monitor and too open to interpretation
SDGs move responsibility away from government
MDGs failed so the UN just “moved the goalposts”
