Poverty and Underdevelopment in Modern Times - Essay Example

Underdevelopment Underdevelopment, coupled with poverty, is an indicator of a country’s ability to change with the modern times. While what is considered technological advancement is seen through the infrastructures and computers that are present today, underdevelopment is seen through more vicious means. Naturally, the more underdeveloped countries are those that are yet to develop. In these countries, which are commonly known as developing countries or Third World countries, the quality of education and the presence of health benefits are considered a luxury instead of a necessity. Hence, this serves as grounds for the presence of the sick, the poor and the illiterate. These three are not only indicators of poverty, but are also indicators of underdevelopment. A country is said to be underdeveloped if it has a high rate of illiteracy. While First World countries have high literacy rates, the opposite is seen in countries that do not have enough teaching facilities and teachers. The cycle of underdevelopment is one that is hard to break. Through the lack of university graduates that add up to their workforce, there is not much to be expected of professionals in the underdeveloped country. Furthermore, the quality of industrial products produced in a country where native is more advanced than technology itself cannot be seen as worthy of being exported. Another determining factor of an underdeveloped country is the preference of imported products over the locals. Due to the availability of high priced imports, the local sector is depleted of wealth and therefore the budget is decreased. Furthermore, the growing populations which cannot be supported by the government due to the lack of enough funds are forced to live daily on malnutrition. The cost of living in rural areas differs significantly with urban areas, and the marginalized sector is ever present. Poverty Simply put, poverty is the outcome of a country’s underdevelopment. The lack of funds for every citizen in the country to receive the benefits due him results to inefficiency and deprivation. These in turn lead to a poor way of life that will be resulting to a country which is poor. Poverty is an issue that cannot be easily alleviated. Even with the presence of organizations that claim to target the elimination of poverty, it still lingers and is growing still. Along with the population explosion comes the increase in poverty. It is a primordial matter of country security. Due to the underdevelopment of the country, its monetary value when compared to the dollar is low, meaning that the imported goods sold in this country cost much and cannot be afforded by the masses. Poverty can be measured. Statistics and economics concepts have introduced the threshold, from which everything is measured against. The same is true with poverty, wherein the number of people living below the income threshold is included in the absolute poverty line. The number of households that cannot afford basic goods and needed services also fall under this line. Meanwhile, relative poverty refers to the household’s financial resources when compared to the average income threshold. The farther your salary is to the average income threshold, the farther you are from poverty. These measures depend largely on group input however. As the population in the area increases, the relation of poverty also increases. With the population increase, the poverty line is expected to change drastically, and soon it will brand almost everyone within the average income line. The margin that divides the rich and the poor grows stronger, and the average salary marks them as either too rich or too poor. It has been determined that one of the problems why underdevelopment cannot be alleviated is because of the divide between the very rich and the very poor. As the spread widens, the divide strengthens and people become even poorer while others are blessed beyond their need. Fighting Poverty It does not need telling that relying on charitable organizations is not enough to answer poverty issues. To truly eradicate poverty, there needs to be a homogenized country. The homogenization must be led by changing the minimum amount that is earned on a per day basis. This will change the poverty line and will give the poor an opportunity to afford the basic necessities in life. Furthermore, the government needs to implement serious changes in its charter. One of the changes that are relevant is the educational system. Public schools which can be accessible for everyone must be installed, and their quality must be internationally acceptable. There is no firmer stepping stone than receiving education that can be useful in honing one’s skills to be used later on it life. In line with this, the businesses in the country must be supported by local laborers in order to provide jobs for the jobless. Contractual must be lessened to give the employees access to heath benefits and social security claims. The repercussions of these changes can be seen overtime, and if it is to be continued, such actions will change the development of the country. The government must be able to pinpoint the families and localities that are unable to live a decent life and give them food coupons to alleviate their needs. Furthermore, housing projects and relocation sites must be given to informal settlers. Their presence around commercialized areas will not make business establishments easier. The population in different provinces must also be controlled so that every family will be able to live comfortably. Crowded cities must be given a reprimand to relocate some of their settlers to enhance the living condition in the area. An international approach to poverty would be to guide foreigners to drive by the area and see for themselves the wonders available there. Their presence makes for a better economy, as their money will be good investments that will help the underdeveloped country. Child Poverty in Developing Countries Census studies in Britain have reported that one in every six children is living in poverty in 2001 (Montgomery 2009, p.2). Even Britain, which has been determined one of the most powerful countries in the world today, is bothered by the growing number of poor children. This data had been obtained based from the number of child laborers and illegal settlers in an area. Child labor for full working hours is not only illegal; it is also a deprivation of the human rights. Children are meant to be provided for by their parents, and the failure of parents to do so means that they cannot care for their children; this leads to the children being taken by social workers and fostered to more worthy families. This is the ideal situation. However, what is more common is that the children run away from home and find themselves fending for their own. It is not usual in developing countries to have factory workers and beggars that are under underage. Based from the population pyramid, the bulk of the population is young; however, not all of these are educated and end up as productive individuals. Some are actually illiterate and dwells on alternative methods of earning money, some of which are illegal. The presence of child laborers marks child poverty in developing countries. Not only are they out of school, they are also out of a decent household. Instead of being prepared to be skilled individuals of the future, they are being prepared to be a part of the larger portion of the workforce that is unemployed. In a world where education is a necessary prerequisite of a job, they will ponder on without the slightest formal education to their name. Government reforms have been made in UK as an answer to child poverty. These have been seen as successful, with the rate of poverty declining. However, these have only lessened their number; the situation is still troubling, and poor children are still present. UK based organizations and the government of UK itself has made it a point to focus on the children coming from the poorest families. It has been seen that although the number of poor families have lessened with the reforms, those that have been poor have become poorer with the changes (Magadi and Middleton 2007, p.1). This is only an indication that any change cannot answer to everything; that to save some children from poverty, families must be sacrificed. Poverty in Developing versus the Developed While there is a remarkable difference between the developing countries and the developed countries, so are their conditions regarding poverty. For the sake of argument, developing countries are those whose economy is being threatened by the slightest change in the global market. Their situation is tethering on the hooks and their situation cannot be anticipated to get worse or better with each minute. Simply put, they are countries that have an unstable but generally poor circulation. Within these countries are citizens that serve as employees to other countries; a large percentage of their graduates would prefer to work overseas for the promise of a better life. Meanwhile, developed countries have nothing to worry about when it comes to economical changes. They have high quality standards that are not affected by the slightest changes. These are the countries that have made their names popular in the field of business. Although not everyone in these countries is employers, most of them are entrepreneurs while others are high ranking officials. Even the employees earn a good sum of money that is enough to support their high cost of living. In comparison, even the middle class citizens in a developed country can live better than an upper class in developing countries. What is the difference in poverty between developing and developed countries? The answer is relative poverty. Because relative poverty is measured in terms of the average income in the area, it is not the same for all countries. It is the estimate of the average compensation and the area, and a family is said to be relatively poor when their salary is less than the average; rich otherwise. This simple analogy can be explained using examples. For instance, suppose America can have an average income of $30000 per month. Every family below this line is said to be poor in comparison; compared with England whose estimate of income we will put at $45000 (converted to US dollars). The discrepancy on the values is enough to account for the difference in poverty. Those who are poor in English standards may in fact be rich when in the American realm. Hence, the difference is actually not comparable when different areas are to be studied. The developing and the developed country both have poverty-stricken families, but the difference in the setting and the cost of living in the areas make for almost impossible comparison. An alternative is to use the percentage of poor families over the number of all families in the country, but this would prove erroneous due to the large numbers to be used. A more appropriate method is to use absolute poverty as the basis. Because the absolute poverty depends on the ability to provide basic needs for the family, it is a better measure. This scale is simpler in unit and in interpreting. Everyone who is not able to have enough means to satisfy their daily needs is considered absolutely poor, regardless of where they are. In the absolute measure, the number of people characterized as poor in the developing areas can be compared with that of the developed countries. It is therefore concluded that the measure of poverty can be alleviated with revisions in governmental decisions; however, before any decisions must be made, the number of poor families must first be analyzed in order to know whether the decisions will positively affect majority or them or not. Word Count: 1954 References: Bourgignon, F., (1999), ‘Absolute poverty, relative deprivation and social conclusion’, Villa Borsig Workshop Series. [pp.1-4]. ‘Child poverty in the UK’, (2004), House of Commons, London: The Stationery Office Limited. [pp.9-144]. Gordon et al., (2003), ‘Child poverty in the developing world’, Great Britain: The Policy Press. [pp.1-31]. Harriss-White et al., (2009), ‘Revisiting technology and underdevelopment’, Overcoming Persistent Inequality and Poverty, Oxford Department of International Development Magadi and Middleton, (2007), ‘Severe child poverty in UK’, London: Save the Children. [pp.1-52]. Micklewright, J., (2003), ‘Child poverty in English-speaking countries’, Innocenti Working Papers No. 94, UNICEF, [pp.1-22]. Montgomery, M., (2009), ‘Urban poverty and health in developing countries’. Population Reference Bureau. 64 (2). [pp.1-16] Nwachukwu, J., (2008), ‘Halving poverty in Post-HIPC-MDRI economies by 2015: How much will it cost and is it achievable?’, BWPI Working Paper 34. Manchester: Brooks World Poverty Institute. [pp.1-23]. Read More