Poverty Flashcards
What is the definition of absolute poverty?
The original, absolute standard means to be deprived of the necessities of life, food, fuel, shelter and clothing. This concept is founded on the idea of ‘basic needs’ which correspond to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
World Bank definition of absolute poverty
2004
World Bank uses an income level of $1.25 a day and estimates that 1.4 billion people live at or below the international poverty line
Problems with definition of absolute poverty
It is exclusively economic and not social. It measures poverty in terms of that person’s ability to meet their basic needs
It does not take into account social factors
Example of a country in absolute poverty
India has the largest population of those in the world living in absolute poverty
What is the definition of relative poverty?
This puts the poverty that people are experiencing into context by comparing it with other people who live in the same society or state. It compares people’s incomes against the average income in that country. It judges whether people have the minimum income needed to maintain the average standard of living that people in the country enjoy.
Frequently based around those who live in households that earn 60% below the middle or median income in the state
Relative Poverty in UK
UK House of Commons estimated that 10 million people are living in relative poverty
Amartya Sen and Human Development
Believes that famines arise not from a lack of food but from a complex web of social, economic and political factors. Poverty is therefore about restricted opportunities and the absence of freedom
What are the Human Development Indicators as per the UN?
Life expectancy
Education
Access to resources needed for a decent standard of living
Preserving resources for future generations
Ensuring human capacity
Achieving equality for all
What is development?
The combination of activities by which a variety of actors in global politics attempt to reduce poverty and improve the economic and social development of a defined group of people
How would a realist measure poverty?
States should focus on their own economic development first
States only help other states to develop if this helps to protect or advance their own interests
Aid is likely to make the recipient nations dependent upon funds and skills from other states
How would a liberal measure poverty?
Developed states have a responsibility to help less-developed states
It is in the global interest of all
Economic Growth
Why is it used? What is it?
Most quantitive measure of development
What is GDP?
A measure of the economic activity that takes place within a state
What is GNP?
A measure of all economic activity wherever it takes place in the world
Venezuela
2017
Suffering one of the worst recessions
Economy decreasing output by 13%
China and India
Economies looked successful in 2017
Decreasing massively
Critics of the measures of GDP and GNP
Poor measure of poverty and does not take into account the fact that a state may have high economic growth but the economic benefits of this growth are not shared fairly among the population
Serious problems with poverty may be hidden in seemingly positive GDP figures
Does not take into account any human rights or democracy factors
Economic growth can be misleading
Example of economic growth being misleading
2008 Pakistan
7% GDP growth
Required an IMF bailout
What is the Human Development Index?
Key focus of both MDGs and has become of major assistance to the World Bank
It is a measure of poverty along with the Multi-dimensional poverty index which focuses on human development priorities of human wellbeing and empowerment
What are some indicators for the HDI?
Life expectancy at birth
Amount of years spent in education
Income based on GNP
How many countries agree to the HDI?
188
Examples of country on the HDI
2015 Norway was the highest with a life expectancy of 81, 17.5 years of schooling and $64,992 GNI per capita
Niger is the lowest with a life expectancy of 61 years, 5.4 years of school and an average of $908 GNI per capita
What are the four theories of what causes poverty?
North-South Divide
Richer, more developed states exploit the poor and less developed
Globalisation bringing large inequality
Colonialism
What is the North-South Divide?
Brandt line divides the Global North and South in which the North is more developed and industrialised than the South.
1944 Bretton Woods Conference was designed to benefit the North
