Poverty
Poverty is the inability to provide for basic needs due to lack money to buy the things you need to survive. Such needs can be food, water, clothing, sanitation, toilets, shelter, health care and education.
The World Bank estimated 1.29 billion people were living poverty in 2008. India and China have the most people that live in poverty. Africa has the largest percentage of population that lives in poverty. Even though poverty is a global problem, poverty is at an all time high in the United States due to the latest economic crisis.
Extreme poverty is living off of $1.25 a day and moderate poverty is living off of $2-$5 a day. In the US poverty is considered to be $15.15 a day for a family of four. In 2005, about 4.09 billion people in developing world lived above $1.25 per day and 1.4 billion people lived below $1.25 per day.
Poverty contributes to 18 million deaths a year or 50,000 per day. Over 270 million people, most of them women and children, have died as a result of poverty since 1990. People living in poverty suffer from hunger, starvation, and disease and have a lower life expectancy. Rises in the costs of food make poor households at the poverty level vulnerable to food prices. When the price of grains increase some countries experience food riots. Contributing to the poverty is the rise of natural disasters droughts and the water crisis that can disable farmers and farming. Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before the age of 5. 1.02 billion people go to bed hungry every night.
Low income and poverty stricken children are at high risk of educational underachievement. US schools tend to benefit schools with wealthier people than poorer and less fortunate children. As a result, poor children are at a higher risk than other children in getting good grades and completing their high school education. Low levels of investment in the education and development of less fortunate children is something people should help and care about. Everyone deserves a good education and a meaningful in a life.
Poverty also increases the risk of homelessness. There are over 100 million children living on the streets worldwide.
A lot of the children enter orphanages because of poverty. Orphanages are expensive and can cause stress during a child’s development by separating them from their families.
