1. FACTORS IN GLOBAL POVERTY
LIVING STANDARDS, PART 2

2. CAUSES OF POVERTY

3. the poverty cycle Dire Poverty
Not enough money for food, medicine, etc.
Malnutrition, illness, lack of education, etc.
Inability to work/look for work or lack of skills for well paying work
Poverty is a vicious cycle that is difficult to break out of.

4. causes of global poverty
Armed conflict
Historical factors (e.g. colonialism)
Natural disasters
Government corruption
Lack of education
Crime
High unemployment
Inadequate medical care
International debt
Famine
Discrimination
Mental illness
Overpopulation
Addiction
Exploitation of the poor by the rich
Disease
Lack of democracy
Inequitable distribution of global resources
Geographic factors (e.g. lack of arable land)
Poverty itself
The underlying causes of poverty are frequently debated and rarely agreed upon.
Systemic poverty has no single cause; it is often a combination of causes that traps people in the poverty cycle.
This is a list of the factors most likely to lead to dire poverty.

5. Imbalances in global spending
Global Necessities
(Not currently available in all nations)
Estimated cost in billions (USD)
Elementary level education for all 6
Fresh drinking water and sanitation for all 9
Reproductive health for all women 12
Basic health and nutrition for all 13
World Spending
Cost in billions
Cosmetics in the United States 8
Ice cream in Europe 11
Pet food in Europe and the United States 50
Narcotic drugs worldwide
400
Global military spending
780
No need to copy this into your notes.
Figures prepared in 1998, so numbers could have changed since that time.
Estimates in US dollars

6. Higher risk groups
Women & Children

7. IMPOVERISHED WOMEN
In male-dominated societies, women & children have lower status & fewer legal rights than men.
Women often eat less & work longer hours than men.
More likely to be illiterate, especially where public education isn’t available or where only males can attend school.
Often married at a young age to reduce the financial burden on their families.
Under the law in some countries, women are considered property, not people with individual legal rights.
Eat less because they must eat whatever is left after husband and male children eat, which contributes to higher rates of malnutrition.
Work longer because they are paid less or because they must care for the home as well as perform their job.
They are also left to care for their family on their own if the men decide to migrate for work.
Even where education is affordable, girls are often kept home to care for younger siblings.

8. IMPOVERISHED WOMEN
Improving women’s access to education could make a significant difference in the developing world because educated women:
marry later & have fewer children.
understand contraception & are more likely to resist pressure to have more children.
have children who live longer because they understand the importance of immunization, clean water & proper nutrition.
Education is the key to improving women’s status as well as child health.
Women without a secondary education have an average of 7 children; women with a secondary education have an average of 3 children.
The infant mortality rate drops for every year of schooling a mother has.
Smaller families and better education add up to increased time and opportunity to improve their family’s circumstances.

9. IMPOVERISHED children
UNICEF publishes an annual child-risk index based on 5 factors:
Under-five mortality rate (U5MR)
Percentage of moderately to severely underweight children
Number of children not attending primary school
Risk from armed conflict
Risk from HIV/AIDS
The high birth rates in developing countries place children at great risk.
UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund
According to the UN any score higher than 0 should be a concern for the country.
Angola had the highest risk with a score of 96.

10. IMPOVERISHED children
Each country receives a score of
Most developed nations (e.g. Canada) have scores of 5 or below.
African countries average a score of 61.

11. IMPOVERISHED children
Poverty is strongly linked to the U5MR:
50% of these deaths are caused by malnutrition.
Lack of access to fresh water & vaccines are the other primary cause.
Poverty is the leading cause of child labour:
Children work to support their families or themselves
Many countries lack labour laws to protect children
U5MR: under-five mortality rate
It is not uncommon for children to work up to 15 hours a day, often in dangerous work, which includes the sex trade and slave labour.
Some children are even sold into the sex trade/slave trade so their families can get money

12. IMPOVERISHED children
Armed conflict endangers 540 million children each year:
Children as young as 11 have been used as soldiers in civil wars & 16-year-olds are legally allowed to serve in the military in many countries
Land mines, commonly used in armed conflicts, mean that the danger doesn’t end when the fighting stops.