What is Poverty and Its Causes - Essay Example

People in the condition of extreme poverty are the poorest people living in any part of the world. Such people usually have no access to any basic necessities of life. In the United States of America, such people usually earn less than or equal to 1 dollar per day which is really very less income in the present world. People in moderate poverty are somewhat better in condition as compared to the people in extreme poverty. “People in moderate poverty generally have access to the basic necessities of life, but they do not have much if any disposable income beyond that” (Harrack, 2010). Such people earn around 2 dollars per day. If we talk about relative poverty, we can say that people in relative poverty live a better than the lowest standard of life. Such people are usually homeless and do low-skill jobs, which cannot earn them the money, which is required to live a better life.

            The U.S. sociologists refer to social class as the social status or economic position of a person. The economic position of a person makes him/her fall into the relative social category. Those people who are strong financially fall into the category of rich or privileged class whereas people having no proper source of income fall into the category of deprived social class. “Problems of hunger, malnutrition, and disease afflict the poorest in society” (Shah, 2011). The deprived or poor social class is the one, which is deeply affected by poverty. Such people do not get proper jobs, which can earn them high amounts of money. They do not have access to the necessities of life. It is their poor condition of life, which makes them use illegal ways, such as crimes and drug trafficking, to earn money.

Poverty existed in the past, still exists due to unstable economic conditions, and is likely to prevail in the future due to predicted economic instability and recession. The difference in wealth still exists and it is even growing with the passage of time. Some studies show that almost 925 million all over the world do not have access to food. Asia and the Pacific is a region where nearly 580 million people live in very poor conditions having no access to quality food. One of the major changes in society due to poverty is the increase in the graph of child labor. Poverty drives parents to insist their children work. Less education and unstable financial position of parents contribute towards an increase in the graph of child labor. Today, the number of people living in poverty is increasing in every part of the world because no considerable step is being taken by the governments to bring a decrease in the level of poverty.

            There exist some effective ways which governments can use to improve poverty. Two of the most considerable ways include making education affordable for low-class citizens and taking steps to control the birth rate. Education is the key to success for every individual. Good education not only creates awareness but also makes people get high-paying jobs which results in improving their standards of living. The dilemma is that today, education has become so much expensive that poor people cannot even think to provide high-quality education to their children. It is the responsibility of the governments to take steps to make quality education available to every individual at a low cost. Governments should realize the importance of education for poor people and should reduce the cost of education for them at least.

            Controlling the birth rate is another step, which government can take to improve poverty. The population of the world is increasing so rapidly that it is becoming impossible for the governments to provide a high standard of life to every individual. Governments need to do proper legislation along with creating awareness among people to control the birth rate, which will ultimately result in reducing the level of poverty.

Summing it up, poverty is one of the most critical issues being faced by almost every country. It creates a number of problems for the social and economic development of a country. It is the responsibility of the governments to take considerable steps to overcome the issue of poverty in order to provide a high standard of life to every individual.