The Effects of Poverty on Socioty - Research Paper Example

Today, poverty is an evil which haunts many people across the globe. Statistics reveal that about 1.8 billion people in the world live in absolute poverty. In the United States of America, it is estimated that about 15 percent of its total population live in poverty. The causes and effects of poverty are interrelated and severe. Some of the causes of poverty in the world include unemployment and overpopulation. Similarly the most common effects of poverty are homelessness, hunger, drug abuse and addiction and increase in crime.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that in spite of the cause, poverty causes lots of side effects and other problems which can stay within a society or country long after solving the economic and financial problems. The effects of poverty are numerous; this paper discusses about the social impacts of poverty. Effects of Poverty in the Society Poor Health Poverty causes mental and physical aliments which can lead to death. The many diseases caused by poverty are referred to as diseases of poverty.

A bout one third of deaths in the world-which is about 18 million people yearly, are as a result of these diseases. Some of the most common examples of diseases which affect people as a result of poverty are malaria, pneumonia, AIDS and tuberculosis. Consequently, these diseases reduce the life expectancy of individuals and make it difficult for them to improve their situation (Child Poverty Action Group, 2011). Terrorism Poverty fuels terrorism since it creates miserable and frustrating situations that push people to join organizations of terror.

Although this argument is not accepted by many people, it is important to note most terrorists in the world have come from nations with high unemployment rates. Furthermore, the terrorist organizations usually offer higher salaries as compared to other jobs, thus attract people living in poor conditions. Recent findings have shown that countries with more poor people likely to have more terrorist organizations. For example, Somalia has more terrorists and terrorist organizations because of the high level of poverty in the country (Poverties.org, 2010).

Poor Education Poverty is not a friend to education. Absolute poverty denies children basic education whereas relative poverty forces them to dropout half way into their elementary schooling. Children from poor families are also at high risk of educational under achievement. In fact, compared to those from high income earning families, children from poor backgrounds are at high risk for retention in their grade and dropping out from high school. Moreover, they rarely join colleges since they are regularly sent home for school fees and end up struggling with their education.

Consequently, with lack of a college degree, children from poor backgrounds are set for a lifetime struggle as career advancement is usually tied to educational qualification (Ambert, 1998). Increasing Crime As an effect of poverty, crime ranks highest among all the others. As the level of poverty increases, the number of desperate people who turn to crime to earn a living and support their families increases. Poverty pushes people to prostitution, robbery, violence, human trafficking and other criminal activities to support themselves and as a result increase the rate of crime in a society or a country.

Countries such as Afghanistan, Somali and Iraq which are politically and economically weak have high