...Culture and Poverty I, Introduction As every countries is developing their economics and societies, their people are enjoying the growth of the economics and modern society; however, still most people are left behind depend on what society they are live in. Those left behind are categories as poverty. Developing countries seem to have more poverty populations than those of developed countries. There are many definitions and explanations to define poverty. Many factors such as, income, non-materialist, feminist are examples of the poverty defined factors, with their own unique way of explanation. However, there is much scholar has ever discussed about culture as one factor of poverty. In other word, cultural factor seems to be the last thing people talk about poverty. In this paper, we shall discuss how culture influence to poverty progress. The paper will briefly discuss about some theories of poverty such as absolute poverty, relative poverty, and UN definition of poverty. The analysis will lead to the answer to the following question: 1, Should definition of poverty include culture as one factor? 2, Can culture contribute to the reducing in poverty? 3, How should definition of poverty be best defined? II, Body Absolute poverty is defines that, “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to...
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...Does Poverty Lead to Engaging in Criminal Activity? Within the African community of the Kipsigis, in the South Rift valley Province of Kenya, there is a common saying which is used to insult someone who is lazy and is bound to die poor. The saying goes “May thieves never visit you.” The assumption in the saying is that thieves will only visit the one who has something to be stolen. Hence, the saying expresses a sarcastic wish on the lazy one that ‘may you be so poor that even thieves cannot think of visiting you because you have nothing valuable in your house.’ Inherent within the saying is also the assumption that ‘thieves’ steal because they need something they do not have, i.e. they are poor. It is commonly assumed that there is a direct causal link between poverty and crime. Hardly does a day pass before the highlights in, say, a newspaper, radio or TV, report of crime associated with the poorest areas of any subject society. We are more easily appalled to hear of a burglary in those places where the rich and the well-off live than in the slums, for example. But, is it always true that poverty is an impetus to crime? This paper challenges this assumption by showing how an unclear definition of what we mean by ‘poverty’ and ‘crime’ or ‘criminal activities’ makes it difficult not only to identify crime or a criminal activity but also to prevent it. What, then, can be conceived as a more elaborate definition of poverty? According to the Scottish Poverty Information Unit (as...
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...There is no one-size-fits-all definition of poverty. The poorest people in an industrialized nation may well be richer than the average citizen of a less-developed country. According to the United Nations’ Human Development Report 1996, the average per capita income of the poorest one-fifth of Americans was $5,814 in 1993. That figure is ten times Tanzania’s average per capita income of $580 per year. By Tanzanian standards, Americans in that bottom 20 percent may seem quite well-off. However, by U.S. standards, they are not. Politicians and social scientists have sought to define poverty for over three decades. In 1965, the government officially adopted the definition set by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration, who placed the poverty threshold at an income three times the cost of a minimally nutritious diet. The threshold for a family of four in 1996 was $16,036. Similarly, the poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) placed the poverty level for a family of four at $16,450 in 1998. (Since 1966, poverty guidelines have been set higher in Alaska and Hawaii.) The poverty rate in 1996, according to the HHS, was 13.7 percent, or 36.5 million Americans. Although these figures may seem straightforward, experts disagree as to whether they are the most accurate measurements of poverty. Some believe poverty is overestimated, while others claim it is underestimated. Those who say poverty is overestimated argue that...
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...measured Poverty and Wealth. When discussing poverty, we soon become aware that it is indeed a difficult thing to measure. Although difficult, it can still be measured. There are a few ways to define poverty. Absolute poverty is a food-based measurement that defines poverty as the “point at which a household’s income falls below the necessary level to purchase food to physically sustain its members.” Poverty is generally thought to be associated with the inability to meet the basic needs of life; however, the definition of these “basic needs” is socially constructed and, therefore, varies widely internationally. Many people, therefore, may turn to relative poverty for what they may consider a more accurate measure of poverty. The definition of poverty in this case is based on “a percentage of the median income” in a given area. When discussing absolute poverty, we quickly learn that what is seen as poverty changes over time. In 1899, sociologist Rowntree, categorised poverty into 2 sections, Primary and Secondary. He said primary meant not having enough money coming in each week to live a normal, healthy life, even if every penny is well spent. There was then secondary, this was when selected citizens had earnings that were sufficient, but spent it on unnecessary items, such as alcohol and drugs, leaving them in poverty. When comparing this to the evaluation given in 2003 by Gordon and Townsend, we see the stark contrast between the definitions and how the definition has changed...
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...Development in this essay will be looked at according to Dudley Seers’ definition. As we proceed looking at the current extent of development in Zambia in view of Seers three pointers of development, recourse will be made to a number of authorities, such as books written by renown authors and or any other valid sources to support the argument. The essay will be concluded by making a summary of the whole essay and suggest possible way in which the government may deliver or even improve on the delivery of development to its people. Before proceeding to look at the extent of development in Zambia under the current government, it is important first to understand what “development” is according to Dudley Seers. According to Seers, (1969:5), to consider whether development has taken place in a particular country; you need to ask what has been happening to poverty, unemployment and inequality. He further states that, “If all the three of these have declined from high levels, then beyond doubt this has been a period of development for the country concerned. However, if one or two of these central problems have been growing worse, especially if all the three, it would be strange to call the result ‘development’ even if per capita income had doubled” ibid. Hence, the truth can be deduced from the aforementioned that ‘development’ according to Seers, is the fulfilment of human potential of through a reduction in poverty, unemployment and in inequality (opcit). Apart from this understanding...
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...Theories of Poverty and Community Development Jozette M. Broughton Introduction to Sociology Prof. Jeremy Bennett December 09, 2012 Abstract In this paper I will explore how two competing theories of poverty shape anti-poverty strategies. Since most rural community development efforts aim to relieve causes or symptoms of poverty, it makes a difference which theory of poverty is believed to be responsible for the problem being addressed. In this paper three theories of poverty are discussed from research in different news articles. It will be shown that two theories of poverty, not that these are the only two, place its origin from 1) individual deficiencies and 2) cumulative and circumstantial origins. Then, I show how each theory of poverty finds expression in common policy discussion and community development programs aimed to address the causes of poverty. Building a full understanding of each of these competing theories of poverty shows how they shape different community development approaches. While no one theory explains all instances of poverty, this paper aims to show how community development practices that address the complex and issues of poverty more effectively by reducing poverty compared to programs that address a single theory. Theories of Poverty and Community Development Community development has a variety of strategies available to meet the needs of those persons and groups who are less advantaged...
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...Introduction Since ages poverty has been a major problem across globe, and with every passing day this issue is spreading and engulfing different classes of society. Poverty is one critical reason for many socio-economic problems including population explosion, unemployment, rampant rise in child labour and rising graph of crimes. Poverty can’t be ignored as an issue of a specific class, or any specific nation. In the present scenario when every class, society or for that matter every nation is interlinked with each other, this issue of poverty cannot be overlooked. Important to note is that poverty today is not just a problem of third world countries like India, or Africa but developed nations like Canada, America and one major part of Europe are also pondering on this serious issue. Based on Salvation Army Report, 2011 “Canadians ranked poverty as the third most important issue facing the country today, after the economy and health care.” (S. Army, 1-8) Thus it underlines the fact that how poverty remains a cause of concern for developed countries like Canada. For a country like Canada where more than 1 in 10 Canadians between 18 to 65 live in poverty this fact highlights that how poverty is impacting people across different age groups. Poverty today is not about problem of one specific individual it is every body`s problem, if one part of society experiences success then the other part experiences poverty. Poverty eradication should be taken up as a matter of fundamental...
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...many issues involved when looking at poverty. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government’s) bad governance and management. In fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce trade agreements, which favor their interests more than the proper nations. This is a very serious problem in our society today. Poverty is everywhere and it needs to reduced so that our economy will be more stabilized and balanced that it has been. What does it mean to be poor? What does it mean to describe a nation as “developing� A lack of material wealth does not define one as deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation does not mean much when a significant percentage or a majority of the population is struggling to survive. Development usually implies an improvement in living standards such that a person has enough food, water, and clothing, a stable social environment, freedom, and basic rights to have a fair chance for a decent life. Is this actually progress? On the other hand, are we fooled into believing that it is? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services placed the poverty level for a family of four at $16,450 in 1998, and the poverty rate in 1996, according to the HHS, was 13.7 percent, or 36.5 million Americans. (Egendorf: 1999, 12). Is there really a way to measure poverty, and to decide exactly what poverty is? Hunger, income level, housing and...
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...Claire Chapman HDFS 311: Assignment #2 Child Poverty Child poverty is a worldwide issue that is in desperate need for action and improvement. Poverty does not allow children the adequate environment to fully develop or sometimes to even survive. These children are hit hard by their circumstances and should have the right to a healthy upbringing. I will discuss Unicef’s definition of poverty, research about families, and the differences in gender across child poverty. The Unicef article, Children Living in Poverty, uses a definition of child poverty from The State of the World’s Children 2005 that states, “Children living in poverty experience deprivation of the material, spiritual, and emotional resources needed to survive, develop, and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential or participate as full and equal members of society.” They really wanted to emphasize the fact that poverty is not just of material needs, but also social, emotional, and spiritual needs as well. Poverty can be operationally defined through specifics of their nutrition, water, sanitation, health, shelter, education, and information. Unicef has defined a threshold for each one in order to collect data about it. One of the studies that was trying to find percentage of children that are severely deprived used stricter guidelines to really show the depth of poverty around the world. They found that around one billion children are living in conditions that are considered...
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...explaining ways to measure poverty and what poverty is. Poverty portrays the powerlessness to bear the cost of fundamental merchandise and administrations that the vast majority underestimate. Individuals living in neediness not just have low levels of wage, they additionally pass up a great opportunity for circumstances and assets, for example, sufficient wellbeing and dental consideration, lodging, training, job opportunities, sustenance and entertainment. Therefore, the living benchmarks of individuals in destitution fall beneath general group standards. Income poverty (low levels of wage) can be measured utilizing 'poverty lines', which demonstrate least levels of pay important to accomplish a worthy expectation for everyday life. A generally utilized poverty line alludes to the disposable wage of families as in the measure of salary accessible for spending by parts of the family and characterizes a family unit as being underneath the poverty line. An option strategy for measuring poverty is to take a gander at 'hardship', which is the state of passing up a major opportunity for crucial things like sustenance and warming. Individuals may encounter hardship because of needing sufficient wage, or because of needing to spend the larger part of their salary on other essential needs, for example, lodging or social insurance. 'Numerous hardship' alludes to the absence of a few vital items. income poverty and different hardship measure various types of poverty. A few gatherings of individuals...
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...1. A perfectly competitive market has the following characteristics. (i) The market consists of buyers and sellers who are price takers. (ii) Each firm in the market produces undifferentiated and homogenous products. (iii) Buyers and sellers have perfect information about the price prevailing in the mark! About the availability of commodities at any given point of time. (iv) Firms can enter or exit the market freely. Implications: The implications of all these features is that there is single price in the mark no individual buyer can change it. On this price a firm can sell any amount of output. Because of flu demand of a firm is perfectly elastic and hence a horizontal line at the market price. Another implication is that a firm will produce only when it is profitable to produce, otherwise it will stop the products. * Characteristics of a Perfectly Competitive Market * The Law of One Price * Price Taking Behavior * Free Entry * Accounting vs. Economic Profit * Marginal Revenue * The Firm's Short Run Supply Curve * The Shut Down Price * The Short Run Market Supply Curve * Short Run Perfectly Competitive Equilibrium * The Firm's Long Run Supply Curve * Long Run Perfectly Competitive Equilibrium * The Long Run Market Supply Curve * Pecuniary Effects * Economic Rent * Producer's Surplus 1. Perfectly Competitive Market Characteristics of a perfectly competitive market/industry: * Numerous buyers and...
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...Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Introduction Poverty is a condition where people's basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met, which remains at the core of concept today. However, “food, clothing, and shelter” are itself no less problematic than the concept of poverty. Townsend (2010) posited that people can be said to be in poverty when they are deprived of income and other resources needed to obtain the conditions of life such as the diets, material goods, amenities, standards and services that enable them to play the roles, meet the obligations and participate in the relationships and customs of their society. In most developing countries, poverty is more widespread and severe in rural than in urban areas. According to International Fund for Agricultural Development (2011), the largest segment of the world’s poor is the women, children and men who live in rural environments. These are the farmers and herders, the fishers and migrant workers, the artisans and indigenous peoples whose daily struggles seldom capture world attention. Furthermore, Olinto (2013) cited that more than three quarters of those living in extreme poverty are in rural areas and nearly two thirds of the extremely poor earn a living from agriculture. The world of today performs strikingly well in terms of important measurable indicators of human development: nearly all children are immunized, almost all children of school going age are enrolled and attendance...
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...Poverty is the lack of funds to pay for basic needs. The lack of basic needs in which are used to survive means this is a problem with debatable solutions. Peter Singer has initiated an argument over the solution to poverty in what he and many others feel is a suitable course of action. Peter’s argument is this “The formula is simple: whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away”. This would have everyone in the world not in poverty donating one third of all wealth to poverty, as that is the average percentage of money spent on luxuries per the average family or person. The pros of this argument would be equalization of the economy and the curing of poverty. The cons of Peter Singer’s argument are taking...
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...Measurement of poverty By Name: Course code+ Name: Professor: Institution: City and State: Date: Measurement of Poverty Over the past few decades, there have been dramatic socio-economic and environmental changes around the globe. This has affected phenomena such as growth of the population, rapid urban development, and increased levels of poverty (D’Ambrosio, Deutsch and Silber, 2011). It has also influenced the changes in climatic conditions, increased natural calamities which impact the socio-economic development in different parts of the world. As a result, more people have been exposed to the negative effects of the occurrence of different hazards (D’Ambrosio, Deutsch and Silber, 2011). This leaves the affected populations suffering in poverty, thus increasing their numbers. Increased levels of poverty led to the formation of policies by the United Nations to combat the rising cases of poverty with the aim of reducing the number of people living in poverty by halve before the year 2015. Formulation of the millennium development goals which features the quantitative objectives and indicators set to measure the progress towards the war on poverty eradication took course. To establish the level of poverty in the society, therefore, measurement should be performed severally using a number of available tools (Davidson and Duclos, 2000). This will aid in determination of the extent of its effects throughout the world. This paper aims at discovering the major...
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...R. A E E 1 Professor Dr. L. Hamilton SOC 106 11/25/13 Section 1: Growing up in poverty Poverty is everywhere, It is in every race and every country. A child that grows up in poverty is largely at risk because he or she may speak another language, or be less healthy, or has even been abused in one way or another. When children are in the school system and they are labeled “at-risk” and that means that the student comes from a low-socioeconomic level or speaks another language. Today, there are more single parents, dual earner couples, and parents with more than one job living in both rural and urban areas in the United States than at any other time in history. Statistics show there is approximately one in five American children who live below the national poverty level (Causes of Poverty). In today’s society, many people live below the poverty line and those numbers continue to increase because of our high unemployment rates. The Census Bureau reported that 12% of Americans live in poverty. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the poverty level in 2009 for a family of four was $22,050. With today's unfortunate down turn of events in our economy, many families struggle to earn and still do not come close to that level. Welfare reform in the United States may pressure single mothers to be gainfully employed even though child care is extremely expensive and the mother may only have an income of minimum wage. At-risk children face so many seemingly...
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