Poverty is a situation that has existed for a very long period of time and is still present in this 21st century.
Poverty is a situation that has existed for a very long period of time and is still present in this 21st century. It has been felt both individually and socially but the impact can only be explained individually. The issue of poverty has mainly been a great problem to the developing countries and the less developed. To the societies in the olden days the case was most often that everybody was equally poor and therefore this made poverty not to be a major issue. However the case is different in the world today as many do not like associating with poverty. There are situations where some developed countries will look down upon the developing countries that have a poverty crisis. Various causes have been associated with poverty and they include:
Poverty is a situation that has existed for a very long period of time and is still present in this 21st century.
Economic crisis
For many poverty-stricken countries, the poverty arises from the economic problems within the country. This may be due to lack of adequate resources in the country which may force that particular country to acquire resources from other countries. This may be in the form of donations or through borrowing. If a country acquires its resources through loans, it means that the government is likely to suffer from deficit funds and will utilize all the present resources to clear the debts.
Political instability
Another cause may be political conflicts which may result to regional wars. These political conflicts are usually encouraged by the present political leaders, especially during the annual elections. The leaders may incite the civilians towards rioting and during such periods of wars a lot of property is destroyed. Many people are also left homeless and this means that the government will have to set aside some of its funds to resettle them. This increases the poverty level in that particular country due to the reduced resources.
High rates of unemployment
When people have no specific source of income, it becomes difficult to manage the various expenses especially for those with families to take care of. Unemployment has been highly associated with poverty and is known to be he major cause. In most developing countries there is high level of unemployment thus the high rates of poverty. If the government in a particular country cannot manage the resources, the result is a deficit, meaning that there are insufficient funds for the country. The case results into many civil workers being retrenched so as to reduce the amount set aside to pay those civil workers. This leaves many unemployed, making it difficult for them to provide for their families thus resulting to poverty.
Poverty is usually classified into absolute and relative basis. Absolute poverty is the case where the rate of poverty is to an extent where people suffer from starvation. This case is usually catalyzed by the drought factor where the country is unable to handle the situation. Drought being a natural factor cannot be controlled by human power but can be prevented through maintaining the water catchment areas. This kind of poverty has been associated with the primitive society although it is still present in the third world countries which include Africa, South America and Asia. In such cases it is well known to afflict the majority of the populations.
Conversely, relative poverty generally involves the inability to acquire the social necessities. Those inflicted by this type of poverty rarely suffer starvation as they have the basic necessities. This type of poverty is found in the richer and developed countries which include the USA and UK.
Conclusion
The governments in the poverty stricken countries should consider the issue of poverty reduction as their priority and should therefore look for alternative strategies of managing the countries resources so as to ensure that they do not suffer from deficits. They should also work towards reducing the issue of unemployment so as to reduce poverty.
