Retrospective essay

Al Marri

A Universal Issue: Poverty

Many people in the world live below the poverty line due to their inability to satisfy basic needs such as nutrition, clothing, and shelter. However, poverty cannot be defined as a lack of money. This concept is frequently associated with hunger, lack of housing, lack of opportunities to learn, absence of work, and the ability to receive medical services. Poverty affects the physical, moral, and psychological aspects of the human conditions (Olowa 25) in which this issue requires comprehensive solutions as poverty is a complicated phenomenon that can occur due to different causes.

There are various reasons which can lead to global poverty in multiple countries, including inadequate access to clean water and food, little or no access to jobs, conflicts, and inequality (“The Top 9 Causes of Global Poverty”). Access to clean water, as well as enough food, is a massive issue for many people, in which lack of water and food causes energy loss; hence, this issue affects individuals and increases unemployment levels. The absence of jobs is another factor contributing to poverty, which is considered to be an acute issue for rural parts of the world. It is worth noting that conflicts also can be the reasons for poverty in several ways; hence, they may destroy infrastructure and force people to leave their homes. Besides, female-headed households become common in periods of violence, and it is harder for women to get well-paid work than for men. This causes a kind of inequality. There are also other types of inequalities, such as caste systems, or tribal affiliations. However, all of them have the same consequence: a lack of resources that can keep people out of poverty.

There are also other reasons that increase the risk of poverty, which includes poor education, climate change, lack of infrastructure, limited capacity of the government, and lack of reserves among others (“The Top 9 Causes of Global Poverty”). Many families around the world have no capabilities to provide education for their children due to various circumstances. Besides, lots of people do not see reasons for educating girls. It is evident that without education, people cannot find a highly paid job due to a lack of experience. It should be noted that climate change causes such events as droughts, flooding, and storms. Communities living in poverty suffer the most from these events because they rely on farming, hunting, and gathering. Besides, lack of infrastructure, particularly roads, bridges, internet, and cell phones, isolates inhabitants living in such areas, making it difficult for them to avoid poverty. Also, ineffective governments that are not able to provide enough food and medical services contribute to poverty. Another reason related to this issue is a lack of reserves, preventing vulnerable communities from recovering.

Poverty produces a lot of adverse effects on society, such as the absence of education, child labor, lack of basic hygiene, and transmission of various diseases. Unemployment, as well as low incomes, contributes to the fact that children can not go to school because they have to help their parents. Poor living conditions and the absence of basic hygiene can cause the spread of airborne diseases and respiratory infections. Besides, poverty influences crime rates. According to Papaioannou, adverse economic conditions may favor criminal activity (2). In such a situation, people can be engaged in crimes to have an alternative source of income. Due to this, socioeconomic inequalities that often occur in the contemporary world create an increased potential for crimes within communities that are struggling with the problem of poverty. In this way, poverty affects various areas of humans’ lives.

Certain solutions can stop poverty, such as adequate nutrition, which is considered to be very important for the ability to overcome this issue. This is especially important for children and pregnant women who require high levels of vitamins and nutrients. To provide sufficient food for the entire population, it is necessary to allocate resources effectively and support agro-cultural areas. Besides, it is vital to increase and manage access to clean water and proper sanitation. Implementing rainwater harvesting systems, providing toilets and latrines, and promoting good hygiene habits to reduce the risk of different diseases can improve the situation. Also, it is crucial to provide education for all members of society, regardless of income or gender. To do this, the number of educational institutions should be increased. In addition, it is necessary to create access to jobs and provide access to health care. Besides, gender inequality should be minimized. This strategy is aimed at reducing poverty for future generations. Another great solution to reduce poverty is transparency in government spending of money, which will help decrease corruption and use the funds for the intended purpose. Thus, poverty can be reduced by following the stated solutions.

To sum it up, poverty is a complex issue, but specific strategies can help overcome this problem. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to understand the causes of poverty which include inadequate access to clean water and food, little or no access to jobs, conflicts, inequality, poor education, climate change, lack of infrastructure, limited capacity of the government, and lack of reserves. Besides, poverty has many negative effects on society, such as child labor, the absence of basic hygiene, the transmission of various diseases, and high crime rates. Overcoming poverty requires integrated solutions that will provide access to water and food, education, jobs, and health services.

Works Cited

“The Top 9 Causes of Global Poverty.” Concern Worldwide US, 4 Feb. 2019, https://www.concernusa.org/story/top-9-causes-global-poverty/ . Accessed 06 Nov. 2019.

Olowa, Olatomide W. “Concept, Measurement and Causes of Poverty: Nigeria in Perspective.” American Journal of Economics, vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, pp. 25-36. doi: 10.5923/j.economics.20120201.04.

Papaioannou, Kostadis J. “Hunger Makes a Thief of any Man: Poverty and Crime in British Colonial Asia.” European Review of Economic History, vol. 21, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hew019