Topics: Poverty, Pollution, Ponzi and Network Issues

Student Name

Department, Institution

Course Title

Instructor Name

Due Date

POVERTY IN PAKISTAN 10

What Have Researchers Learned About Poverty in Pakistan

Four out of ten people in Pakistan lack the most basic communities to take care of their lives due to poverty, a trend that fluctuated for the past decade, with the highest rate of 84.5% in 2018 (Ullah & Chishti, 2023). Researchers have found that poverty is a preventable problem in the country if the necessary policies are implemented. The increased population growth of 1.86, the highest in the world, imbalanced taxes, and the highest. Research conducted in Iceland realized that the country had the lowest poverty rate at 4.4%, courtesy of the different policies used to lower the taxation rates (Bashir et al., 2021). Adjusting the tax policies was one of the country's mitigation strategies to lower the poverty rate. Pakistan can also apply the policy and incorporate other actions to ensure its poverty rate has been resolved. I. A number of policies and other strategies have been put in place to ensure that poverty has been eradicated in the said nation and applying strategies similar to those applied in Iceland to eradicate poverty considerably (Hassan et al., 2021). The poverty levels in Pakistan have been fluctuating over time, and, therefore, mitigation measures are needed, such as enacting appropriate taxation policies and improving education levels, which is a catalyst for improved living standards.

Literature Review

Introduction

Pakistan is in poverty, which indicates that citizens do not have enough income or spending to maintain a certain quality of life (Ullah & Chishti, 2023). Assessing the poverty rate by location aligns with the sustainable development goal (SDG) number 1 and is crucial for reducing poverty in Pakistan. The literature review conducted herein referenced only those sources pertaining to the state of poverty in Pakistan. The literature review analyzed various factors like the distribution of poverty by location, the factors that promote the intergenerational transfer of poverty among the population, and the impact of income support groups in alleviating poverty. The author used the Monroe College Library's databases to evaluate the literature, including ProQuest and EBSCO Host. The key terms and phrases essential for selecting relevant literature included poverty, area, Pakistan, support program, and household size.

Review of Literature

Poverty in Pakistan

Ullah and Chishti (2023) researched Pakistan to survey household poverty levels and establish an asset index for provinces, districts, and tehsils. In volume nine, issue two, the researchers published their study in the Future Business Journal. The researchers conducted their research using data from the National Socioeconomic Registry (NSER) data from 2010 to 2011. This study used a literature review to develop multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) instead of principal component analysis (PCA). The authors then provided separate weights and contributions of dimensions of binary variables through the MCA. The MCA, on average, provided the poverty level in Pakistan, where a higher level of poverty corresponded to higher index levels from the analysis. The study involved a total of 953,652 households, most of which came from Punjab (53.5%), followed by Sindh (24%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) (13.42%), Baluchistan (3.66%), Azad Kashmir (AJK) (2.13%), Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) (1.67%), Islamabad (0.73%), and finally Gilgit Baltistan (0.56%). Asset distribution by province indicated that the poorest was FATA, with an index of 0.73, followed by Baluchistan (0.72), Sindh (0.71), KPK (0.70), Gilgit (0.70), AJK (0.69), and Islamabad (0.61). Asset-based poverty by the district showed that Rajanpur district of South Punjab was the poorest with a 0.75 MCA score, Badin (0.77565) in Sindh, Lakki Marwat (0.742) in KPK, and Sherani (0.7876) in Baluchistan. The study showed that Pakistan is facing a very high poverty level, especially in the large administrative units of FATA and Baluchistan. However, the authors also found that Islamabad needed to be a better sizeable administrative unit in the country. The poorest districts belonged to the Pakistan Provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh, whereas Punjab had the lowest asset-based poverty. The study is relevant to policymakers who want to achieve SDG 1 for Pakistan. The study recommends that the poverty-stricken areas of Pakistan receive financial assistance schemes to alleviate poverty. These policies should further consider the asset ownership of households at the tehsil level of Pakistan.

Transmission of Poverty among Generations

Another study by Bashir et al. (2021) was used to bring out the determinants of intergenerational transmission of poverty in the population of Pakistan. The four researchers published their article in the journal of Review of Economics and Development Studies, in volume seven, issue one. The authors conducted the research in the year 2021 in Pakistan. The authors used simple random sampling to collect data from 301 respondents who live in both rural and urban areas of the district of Muzaffargarh. The authors use descriptive statistics and the per capita income method to measure poverty. The study showed that half of the respondents experienced transmission of poverty from one generation to another. While most of the respondents were from rural areas (70%), few came from Muzaffargarh's urban areas. The study shows that as more citizens live in urban areas, the rate of intergenerational transmission of poverty reduces. Urban populations are more experienced, educated, married, living in the joint family system, and have good asset value. However, the transmission of poverty to other generations may increase if Pakistan's household size and dependency ratio increase. The authors recommend that people in rural areas receive free education and earning opportunities to deal with the intergenerational transmission of poverty in Pakistan.

Dealing with Poverty in Pakistan

Given the high prevalence of poverty in Pakistan, Hassan et al. (2021) study the impact of support programs in combating poverty levels. The researchers conducted a study by collecting data from February to October 2014. The authors conducted the study in the province of Punjab by splitting it into four geographical areas comprising nineteen districts and thirteen tehsils. The authors use the interview method with multi-structured questionnaires to collect first-hand data from one thousand residents of the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The province of Punjab was analyzed under four areas, including north, south, central, and west districts. Most of the districts were located in Central Punjab (17), west (8), south (7), and north (4). The study assessed each district proportionally using the size sample technique and included central (10), west (5), south (4), and north (2). The study included 500 respondents from the central region, 200 from the west and south, and 100 from the north. The study revealed that the family head beneficiaries are employed (70.8%), with 7.5% working at beauty parlors and barber shops, 7.5% at embroidery, 15.3% as maids or servants, and 61.9% receiving daily wages. While 58% of the respondents acknowledged that Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) was enough for their basic needs, 41.9% disagreed.

Additionally, 40.3% acknowledged that the support group alleviates poverty, while 12.6% denied this. The findings were similar to Jahangir et al. (2020), who assert that BISP beneficiary households mainly relied on cash to buy food, making cash grants a significant source of additional revenue for food purchases. The study shows that grants like the BISP help control the poverty level among the Pakistani population but do not alleviate them of poverty. The BISP helps poor populations to meet household needs like food, education, and clothing. The study suggests that the scope of BISP needs to increase to cater to and benefit the maximum poor population.

Analysis of Literature

Poverty in Pakistan is a matter of concern for many researchers. Various studies have delved into this topic, including Ullah and Chishti (2023), Bashir et al. (2021), and Hassan et al. (2021). The first authors embark on finding the poverty level in Pakistan using asset ownership by households in different areas. The study would further determine an asset index for provinces, districts, and tehsils and survey household poverty levels in Pakistan. The analysis demonstrated that Pakistan is experiencing extremely high poverty levels at these various geographic boundaries. The authors found that Islamabad was the country's most minor significant administrative entity, despite high poverty levels in the large administrative units of FATA and Baluchistan. Other researchers, Bashir et al. (2021), were interested in learning the factors that influence how poverty is passed down through generations among Pakistan's population. The study found that the transfer of poverty from one generation to the next occurred for half of the respondents. To combat the transmission of poverty between generations in Pakistan, people in rural regions should have access to free education and employment possibilities.

In the same way, Hassan et al. (2021) were concerned with the strategies to combat poverty in Punjab, Pakistan. The study demonstrates that while subsidies like the BISP are helpful in reducing Pakistan's population's poverty level, they are insufficient to lift them out of it. As a result, poverty is an issue in Pakistan, and authorities must discover strategies to assist the populace in coping with such disasters.

Discussion

The poverty level in Pakistan has become a topic of discussion by many researchers and authors alike since residents cannot meet their basic demands (Ullah & Chishti, 2023). Enough evidence rules out the high poverty level in Pakistan as a significant problem for the residents who live in low economic conditions. According to research by Ullah and Chishti (2023), Pakistan suffers asset-based poverty across several provinces, districts, and tehsils. The problem of poverty also moves from one generation to the next, as a study by Bashir et al. (2021) shows. To counter these disparities in the Pakistani population, Hassan et al. (2021) research the effectiveness of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

Evidence-Based Recommendation

Hassan et al. (2021) recommends that to combat the issue of poverty in Pakistan, changes in policy and support groups need to improve. Policies will need improvement in free education and financial support groups. Since the population suffers greatly from poverty, stakeholders should provide more education opportunities (Hassan et al., 2021). Access to education, in turn, will give the population more growth opportunities as they become skilled in different areas of the job and employment market. Given the poverty that affects the population of Pakistan, policy changes are essential for improvements. Policymakers can achieve the different subcategories of the sustainable development goal (SDG) 1 by initiating changes in the processes of the nation (Ullah & Chishti, 2023). Pakistan's provinces, districts, and tehsils need good financial aid schemes to fight the poverty crisis. The government of Pakistan needs to establish conducive policies at the social, legal, and political levels to combat Pakistani poverty (Ullah & Chishti, 2023). More specifically, the strategies for alleviating poverty can focus on improving the number of assets that Pakistani households have.

Concerning the transmission of poverty from one generation to another, Bashir et al. (2021) studied the determinants. The researchers revealed that poverty would elevate Pakistan's problem if household size and dependency ratio increased (Bashir et al., 2021). The authors recommend that the government of Pakistan and significant stakeholders provide free education to the population. When offered, especially in rural areas, free education can help Pakistani residents move out of poverty (Bashir et al., 2021). Free education will equip the population with more earning opportunities. As a result, the rate of intergenerational transfer of poverty among the population will reduce. Similar policy implications lie in the increasing financial position of the Pakistani population. Hassan et al. (2021) provide that support schemes like the BISP can significantly reduce poverty among the population. Likewise, Jahangir et al. (2020) claimed that households receiving BISP assistance generally utilized cash to buy food, making cash handouts an essential source of extra revenue for food purchases. Support programs in Pakistan face the drawback of family size that negates their effectiveness. The study suggests the expansion of BISP so that many families in poverty can get the assistance they need to meet their necessities (Hassan et al., 2021). Establishing more programs similar to BISP across Pakistan can help impoverished households live better since they will be financially empowered.

Conclusion

The poverty levels in Pakistan have been fluctuating over time, and, therefore, mitigation measures are needed, such as enacting appropriate taxation policies and improving education levels, which is a catalyst for improved living standards. As witnessed in Iceland's case strategy and the proposals by Bashir et al. (2021), taxation policies and improving education levels are the key to eradicating poverty in a country. Increased population increases competition for the available resources, while poor education results in the population being unable to take care of their needs. People in Pakistan are more likely to suffer poverty at a rate of 36.4% unless strategies are taken into account to lower the poverty rate in the country. When people are more educated and able to take up employment opportunities, many will have a chance to earn a living and take care of their families. In a nutshell, poverty in Pakistan is a leadership problem that can be solved by ratifying the correct laws and policies to ensure that all the causes of poverty are worked on and eliminated in the discourse. It is, therefore, vital for nations to evaluate the risk factors for poverty and apply customized policies to overcome the challenge. Four out of ten people in Pakistan lack the most basic communities to take care of their lives due to poverty, a trend that fluctuated for the past decade, with the highest rate of 84.5% in 2018 (Ullah & Chishti, 2023).

References

Bashir, F., Ashraf, M., & Naveed, T. (2021). Determinants of Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty in Pakistan: A Case Study. Review of Economics and Development Studies, 7(1), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.47067/reads.v7i1.324

Hasan, M. U., Waqas, M., & Shaheen, S. (2021). Cash Grant for Women: What we achieved from the Income Support Program of Pakistan? Annals of Social Sciences and Perspective, 2(1), 71–88. https://doi.org/10.52700/assap.v2i1.44

Jahangir, A., Zaidi, S., Das, J. K., & Habib, S. (2020). Do cash transfer scheme recipients make the right household food expenditure decisions? A study from a rural district in Pakistan. JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 70(5), 796. https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_chs_chs/707/

Ullah, K., & Chishti, M. Z. (2023). Spatial distribution of poverty in Pakistan: an asset-based approach. Future Business Journal, 9(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-022-00162-4