POVERTY, INEQUALITY, AND LIVELIHOOD

Poverty, Inequality, and Livelihood

Poverty, Inequality and Livelihoods

Micro Causes of Poverty

There are many different reasons why poverty occurs and as such there are many different avenues to pursue in the eradication of poverty. The term poverty may have vastly differing meaning to people from different countries or backgrounds. This occurs because poverty is not uniform everywhere and the methods of eradicating poverty need to be adapted to the different situations that exist. Nevertheless the need for support from governments, the business sector, non-profit organizations and the public is needed on a worldwide basis.

Government action, charity from the business sector and private individuals helps in the eradication of poverty. For instance, the government may institute school feeding programmes so that underprivileged children will have at least one meal a day. Members of the business sector may contribute funds towards building a shelter for the homeless and private individuals may donate items such as clothing to the poor. Provision of shelter, meals and clothing to the poor and homeless is the first step towards increasing their standard of living as their basic needs are being met.

Education is a way of helping the poverty stricken to better themselves and increase their standard of living. The government and non-profit organizations working alone or together can provide free training to the poor. The provision of training will allow these less fortunate individuals to learn a skill, which they can use to make themselves employable or earn a higher wage. This will enable them to enjoy a better standard of living as they can better provide for themselves and their families.

The injection of money into the economy by the government, foreign investment or foreign aid may help decrease poverty by creating jobs. People who were previously unemployed may be able to find gainful employment. They would then be able to increase their standard of living as they now have a reliable source of income to provide for their needs.

Family planning is another useful tool in the eradication of poverty. Many families still experience poverty even though both parents are employed. This occurs many of the times because there are too many children to support with the income being earned. Through education about family planning people can learn to have manageable sized families where they can enjoy a reasonable standard of living even if their income is not very high.

Lastly, drug treatment centers will aid in the task of eradicating poverty. Many people become destitute because of their addiction to drugs. Centers are needed where these people can go to for help to overcome their addiction. Overcoming drug addiction will be the first step to overcoming poverty for these people. Once a drug addict has been rehabilitated he can move on with his life and once more become a useful member of society and provide for himself.

Poverty may be caused by many factors for instance lack of jobs, lack of skills, one may be born into poverty or one may be forced into poverty by lifestyle ...