Why am I poor?This question is asked myself every day, hundreds of thousands of people on the planet.They are trying to buy a minimum of things that are needed, but even they often lack the meager salaries or pensions.Poverty - a spider's web from which escape is difficult.But it is absolutely real.The main thing is to collect will in a fist and act.Do not sit still, do not cry and do not put up with the sad state of affairs.Any life changes give at least a chance to end the unenviable social position, as opposed to the complete apathy, lack of initiative and passivity.
Poverty as a social phenomenon
This is an extreme shortage of funds and necessary for the existence of resources that meet the immediate needs of the individual, the whole family, society and state.For example, in today's world it is accepted that each individual in the house there were basic things: television, stove, table, bed and so on.Their absence or inability to purchase makes a person poor in the eyes of others.Of course, it is still not on the porch because it earns and tries to lead a normal life.But the money that a person receives in the enterprise or plant are sorely lacking, and he could barely make ends meet.
Poverty - a lack of property values, the financial capacity, the goods for a full existence.If you look in a more global scale, it is impossible to live, continue the family line, to develop.Extremely poor people do not even have money to buy bread, so go out into the street to beg.
Absolute poverty
Under this concept refers to the inability of man to lead a normal life.Absolute poverty - the inability to meet even basic needs for food and nutrition, clothing, and warmth.Such an individual is buying only the minimum of food, which is able to maintain its vital functions.He usually does not pay for utilities, and abandons acquisition of personal belongings.To determine this kind of poverty is possible by comparing the minimum subsistence level and the ability to use it to provide themselves with everything necessary.If the gap is very significant, the economists say about the phenomenon of poverty threshold - is the lack of a decent society lifestyle, inability to maintain an epoch of imposed stereotypes and avoiding the usual standards.
World Bank counted where there is a boundary.According to experts, the poverty line - is the existence on less than 1.25 US dollars a day.But it does not take into account the household, are quite a bit above this line.Therefore, a situation arises where inequality and poverty in the country are growing, while the number of people living below the poverty line is reduced.
Relative poverty
Sometimes people consider themselves poor, not because they essentially something is missing, but because their income is much lower than that of friends, neighbors, relatives.Relative poverty - a measure of how much you do not fit into the framework established by the people around them.For example, your circle of friends is consistent enough: my sister and her husband resting in the Canary Islands, a friend goes on shopping in Paris.Instead, you can spend your vacation just in the domestic Crimea.Of course, comparing yourself with your friends, you call your family poor.But if you think, other people can not afford even a visit to a sanatorium outside the city, so consider yourself poor in this situation is unfair.
short, relative poverty - the discrepancy decent standard of life that surround you.She often tries to themselves incomes if they grow up, and the distribution of funds remains the same, then this type of need is constant.
concept Townsend
He saw poverty as a condition in which a person familiar to the joy of life fade into the background or are unavailable.In view of the circumstances (job loss, lack of financial resources), he is deprived who change their usual lifestyle.For example, a businessman travels to the office in his own car.But the country has come the economic crisis, the price of gasoline shot up rapidly, and the salary of the population remained the same.Because of this, one must abandon the car in favor of a cheaper fare on the subway.This does not mean that he was poor - rather cramped temporary cash.
Townsend argues that relative poverty - income is below the level at which continues to be a large part of society.The analyst in his works often used the concept of multidimensional deprivation, which implies the disadvantage of the individual or his family against the backdrop of a general mass of people.It may be a material that is characterized by indicators such as clothing, food, living and working conditions, and social - is the essence of employment, education level of activities.
two directions concept
poverty level - a rather abstract concept that has no clear framework or boundaries.Therefore, the concept Townsend defines it more narrowly and broadly.Firstly, according to the analyst, assessing the level of need, it is necessary to focus on the analysis of the availability of funds for the purchase of goods for a normal life.This is taken into account the index of personal (median) income available to the people.For example, in Scandinavia relative poverty threshold corresponds to 60% of the material resources in Europe - 50% in the US - 40%.
Secondly, the relative neediness is considered a global scale.In this case, taking into account the opportunity to fully participate in society, drawing on the resources available.Interestingly, absolute poverty - is a deeper concept.Its range does not coincide with the relative.The first can be eliminated, while the second will always be present, as inequality in society - the phenomenon of the eternal and ineradicable.About relative poverty can talk even in the case where all citizens suddenly become millionaires.
deprivation approach
It is based on no amount of money, resources and income, and the level of human consumption of certain goods and services.In this case, the poverty line - a position in a society where the individual does not have access to certain things, so he ended up buying their cheaper counterparts.For example, a girl Anya wants a mobile phone.On a brand new fashion touch device, it has no money, but that stock is stored in her personal piggy bank, enabling it to become the owner of a good enough push-button device.
deprivation approach also involves the refusal of some public services and purchases from the small income.Thus, a person buys fewer goods in the supermarket, refuses Barber, walking distance to work.Here the basis of the level of needs of the main emphasis on consumption.But to define the poverty threshold in this case is rather difficult: the population may have a good financial reserves, but for some time to give up luxury goods, taking into account the seasonality of a particular purchase.
causes of poverty
There may be many.Sometimes people are not able to influence the circumstances that pushed them over the line needs.In other cases, they are to blame for the circumstances.Causes of poverty can be grouped:
- Economical - low wages, unemployment, crisis in the country, the currency devaluation.
- Political - war, forced migration.
- Socio-medical - old age, high incidence in the state.
- Demographics - parent family, having children, dependents.
- Qualifying - limited knowledge and skills, lack of access to education and its low level.
- Geographic - the presence of depressed regions, their uneven development.
- Personal - alcoholism, passion for drugs, gambling addiction.
Whatever the causes of poverty, most importantly, remember that you can get out of the plight.He mistakes the one who says: "Poverty - is a vice."No, it is not necessary to be ashamed of.Need - a temporary phenomenon, at her with a great desire you can always influence.
explanation of the causes of poverty
There are two approaches that correlate with poverty, social phenomenon in society:
- Cultural explanations.Proponents of this theory say that the poor in the society formed a kind of behavior: fatalism, depression, humility, frustration.Instead of acting, people find themselves doomed, begin to become an inveterate drunkard, or beg.In this case, poverty - it is a kind of hereditary disease transmitted genetically.Experts advise to abolish welfare payments, pensions and benefits for this population to encourage him to look for work and the manifestation of the slightest initiative.
- structural explanation.Based on this theory, analysts say that poverty occurs when there is a state recession.The uneven distribution of wealth among the population in these periods is felt particularly acutely.They also pay attention to changes in the structure of the international labor market.For example, there are often kept artificially low wages in order to attract more investment.
addition to the above reasons, poverty may also occur due to other circumstances specific to a particular person, his way of life and the policy of the state in which he resides.
What causes poverty?
There are also two interesting theories, which adherents of different views on this social problem and offer a diametrically opposite ways to eliminate it.Representatives of the first consider poverty a positive development.Analysts say that it is becoming a factor that pushes a person to act, makes him to improve themselves and their skills to give to the surface new ideas.As a result, society develops, operates, the economic position of the state at the same time improves.This theory, called Darwinian, supported by the Liberals.
Others called for equalization.His followers believe that poverty - is evil.In their view, poverty does not force a person to work harder to provide themselves with everything necessary.On the contrary, it will lead to the fact that he simply will slowly roll to the bottom of society.Analysts believe: to avoid the total degradation of the individual, who becomes desperate and lack of initiative due to fetter its needs, should be possible to equally divide the country's existing resources and tools among all citizens.
negative consequences
poverty level - this is the catalyst that determines the atmosphere in the entire state.Agree, if people are suffering from poverty, social tensions arise, increasing the number of crimes.Lowering his hands in despair, people stealing from the state, begins to earn illegally, evading taxes, takes bribes to feed his family.Sometimes he even goes on the more serious crime of murder for profit, robbery, theft.Society, suffering from poverty, often sick because of the unsanitary conditions.It is characterized by a very high mortality rate and the risk of the spread of epidemics.
particularly tragic hereditary poverty.Indeed, among the poor are often born gifted kids are capable of in the future to create a cure for cancer, invent a flying car, or come up with a way to combat global warming.But this will never happen: the lack of finance and resources leads to the fact that the child can not get a good education and become the new Einstein.He also convinced from childhood that all his attempts to change the lives of zero, therefore forced to silently tolerate circumstances and ruin their talents.
extent of poverty
most affected by the needs of the citizens of Africa, of Asia, some nations of Eastern Europe.Experts in 2014 ranked the most impoverished countries, given the poverty gap - the difference in income between the different layers of the population ratio.Also draws attention to the criteria such as the degree of economic development, standard of living and freedom, sovereignty.The result turned out to be the most impoverished Egypt, Zambia, India, Senegal, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ghana, Algeria, Nepal, Bosnia, Honduras, Guatemala.
The maximum good people live in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Finland and Luxembourg.US ranking of the most successful nations took only 11th place, Russia - 32, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia - 45, 48 and 49, Belarus - 56, Ukraine - 68. This list shows how good or bad living population of a state.But he will always be modified, if we evaluate other indicators such as level of education, quality health care and employment opportunities.
