11 Top Causes of Global Poverty - World | ReliefWeb

Around 8% of the world's population lives in extreme poverty — but do you know why? We look at 11 of the top causes of global poverty. Skiptomaincontent Around8%oftheworld’spopulationlivesinextremepoverty—butdoyouknowwhy?Welookat11ofthetopcausesofglobalpoverty. Livingonlessthan$2adayfeelslikeanimpossiblescenario,but’sarealityforaround600millionpeopleinourworldtoday.Approximately8%oftheglobalpopulationlivesinextremepoverty,commonlydefinedassurvivingononly$1.90aday,orless Thereissomegoodnews:In1990,thatfigurewas1.8billionpeople,soseriousprogresshasbeenmade.Whilemanywonderifwecanreallyendextremepoverty,weatConcernbelievetheendisnotonlypossible—butpossiblewithinourlifetimes.There’sno“magicbullet”solutiontopoverty,butunderstandingitscausesisagoodfirststep.Hereare11ofthosecauses,fullyrevisedfor2020. 1.INEQUALITYANDMARGINALIZATION “Inequality”isaneasy,butsometimesmisleadingtermusedtodescribethesystemicbarriersleavinggroupsofpeoplewithoutavoiceorrepresentationwithintheircommunities.Forapopulationtoescapepoverty,allgroupsmustbeinvolvedinthedecision-makingprocess—especiallywhenitcomestohavingasayinthethingsthatdetermineyourplaceinsociety.Someofthesemaybeobvious,butinothersituations,itcanbesubtle. Genderinequality,castesystems,marginalizationbasedonraceortribalaffiliationsarealleconomicandsocialinequalitiesthatmeanthesamething:Littletonoaccesstotheresourcesneededtoliveafull,productivelife.Whencombinedwithdifferentcombinationsofvulnerabilityandhazardswhichcomprisetherestofthislist—amarginalizedcommunitymaybecomeevenmorevulnerabletothecycleofpoverty. 2.CONFLICT Conflictisoneofthemostcommonformsofriskdrivingpovertytoday.Large-scale,protractedviolencethatwe’veseeninareaslikeSyriacangrindsocietytoahalt,destroyinginfrastructureandcausingpeopletoflee(oftenwithnothingbuttheclothesontheirbacks).Initstenthyearofconflict,Syria’smiddleclasshasbeenallbutdestroyed,andover80%ofthepopulationnowlivesbelowthepovertyline. Butevensmallboutsofviolencecanhavehugeimpactsoncommunitiesthatarealreadystruggling.Forexample,iffarmersareworriedabouttheircropsbeingstolen,theywon’tinvestinplanting.Womenalsobearthebruntofconflict,whichaddsalayerofinequalitytoallconflict:Duringperiodsofviolence,female-headedhouseholdsbecomeverycommon.Andbecausewomenoftenhavedifficultygettingwell-payingworkandaretypicallyexcludedfromcommunitydecision-making,theirfamiliesareparticularlyvulnerable. 3.HUNGER,MALNUTRITION,ANDSTUNTING Youmightthinkthatpovertycauseshunger(andyouwouldberight!),buthungerisalsoacause—andmaintainer—ofpoverty.Ifapersondoesn’tgetenoughfood,they’lllackthestrengthandenergyneededtowork(ortheirimmunesystemwillweakenfrommalnutritionandleavethemmoresusceptibletoillnessthatpreventsthemfromgettingtowork). Thefirst1,000daysofachild’slife(fromwombtoworld)arekeytoensuringtheirfuturehealthandlikelihoodofstayingoutofpoverty.Ifamotherismalnourishedduringpregnancy,thatcanbepassedontoherchildren,leadingtowasting(lowweightforheight)orstunting(lowheightforage).Childstunting,bothphysicalandcognitive,canleadtoalifetimeofimpacts:Adultswhowerestuntedaschildrenearn,onaverage,22%lessthanthosewhoweren’tstunted.InEthiopia,stuntingcontributestoGDPlossesashighas16%. ADULTSWHOWERESTUNTEDASCHILDRENEARN,ONAVERAGE,22%LESSTHANTHOSEWHOWEREN’TSTUNTED.INETHIOPIA,STUNTINGCONTRIBUTESTOGDPLOSSESASHIGHAS16%. 4.POORHEALTHCARESYSTEMS—ESPECIALLYFORMOTHERSANDCHILDREN Extremepovertyandpoorhealthoftengohandinhand.Incountrieswherehealthsystemsareweak,easilypreventableandtreatableillnesseslikemalaria,diarrhea,andrespiratoryinfectionscanbefatal—especiallyforyoungchildren.Andwhenpeoplemusttravelfardistancestoclinicsorpayformedicine,itdrainsalreadyvulnerablehouseholdsofmoneyandassets,andcantipafamilyfrompovertyintoextremepoverty. Forsomewomen,pregnancyandchildbirthcanbeadeathsentence.InmanyofthecountrieswhereConcernworks,accesstoqualitymaternalhealthcareispoor.Pregnantandlactatingmothersfaceamultitudeofbarrierswhenseekingcare,fromnotbeingallowedtogotoaclinicwithoutamalechaperonetoreceivingpoororevenabusivecarefromadoctor.Thisisespeciallytrueforadolescentgirlsaged18andunder,leavingmothers-to-beandtheirchildrenatincreasedriskfordiseaseanddeath. 5.LITTLEORNOACCESSTOCLEANWATER,SANITATION,ANDHYGIENE Currently,morethan2billionpeopledon’thaveaccesstocleanwaterathome.Thismeansthatpeople(whichistosay,womenandgirls)collectivelyspendsome200millionhourseverydaywalkinglongdistancestofetchwater.That’sprecioustimethatcouldbeusedworking,orgettinganeducationtohelpsecureajoblaterinlife. Contaminatedwatercanalsoleadtoahostofwaterbornediseases,rangingfromthechronictothelife-threatening.Poorwaterinfrastructure—suchassanitationandhygienefacilities—cancompoundthis,orcreateotherbarrierstoescapingpoverty,suchaskeepinggirlsoutofschoolduringmenstruation. 6.CLIMATECHANGE Climatechangecreateshunger,whetherthroughtoolittlewater(drought)ortoomuch(flooding),anditseffectscontributetothecycleofpovertyinseveralotherwaysincludingdisproportionatelyaffectingwomen,creatingrefugees,andeveninfluencingconflict.OneWorldBankestimatesthatclimatechangehasthepowertopushmorethan100millionpeopleintopovertyoverthenextdecade. Manyoftheworld’spoorestpopulationsrelyonfarmingorhuntingandgatheringtoeatandearnaliving—forexample,Malawiis80%agrarian.Theyoftenhaveonlyjustenoughfoodandassetstolastthroughthenextseason,andnotenoughreservestofallbackonintheeventofapoorharvest.Sowhenclimatechangeornaturaldisasters(includingthewidespreaddroughtscausedbyElNiño)leavemillionsofpeoplewithoutfood,itpushesthemfurtherintopoverty,andcanmakerecoveryevenmoredifficult. 7.LACKOFEDUCATION Noteverypersonwithoutaneducationislivinginextremepoverty.Butmostoftheextremelypoordon’thaveaneducation.Therearemanybarrierstoeducationaroundtheworld,includingalackofmoneyforuniformsandbooks,abiasagainstgirls’education,ormanyoftheothercausesofpovertymentionedhere. Buteducationisoftenreferredtoasthegreatequalizer,becauseitcanopenthedoortojobsandotherresourcesandskillsthatafamilyneedstonotjustsurvive,butthrive.UNESCOestimatesthat171millionpeoplecouldbeliftedoutofextremepovertyiftheyleftschoolwithbasicreadingskills.Povertythreatenseducation,buteducationcanalsohelpendpoverty. 8.POORPUBLICWORKSANDINFRASTRUCTURE Imaginethatyouhavetogotowork,buttherearenoroadstogetyouthere.Orheavyrainshavefloodedyourrouteandmadeitimpossibletotravel.Alackofinfrastructure—fromroads,bridges,andwells,tocablesforlight,cellphones,andinternet—canisolatecommunitieslivinginruralareas.Livingoffthegridoftenmeanslivingwithouttheabilitytogotoschool,work,orthemarkettobuyandsellgoods.Travelingfurtherdistancestoaccessbasicservicesnotonlytakestime,itcostsmoney,keepingfamiliesinpoverty. Isolationlimitsopportunity.Withoutopportunity,manyfinditdifficult,ifnotimpossible,toescapeextremepoverty. ISOLATIONLIMITSOPPORTUNITY. 9.LACKOFGOVERNMENTSUPPORT ManypeoplelivingintheUnitedStatesarefamiliarwithsocialwelfareprogramsthatpeoplecanaccessiftheyneedhealthcareorfoodassistance.Butnoteverygovernmentcanprovidethistypeofhelptoitscitizens—andwithoutthatsafetynet,there’snothingtostopvulnerablefamiliesfrombackslidingfurtherintoextremepoverty.Ineffectivegovernmentsalsocontributetoseveraloftheothercausesofextremepovertymentionedabove,astheyareunabletoprovidenecessaryinfrastructureorhealthcare,orensurethesafetyandsecurityoftheircitizensintheeventofconflict. 10.LACKOFJOBSORLIVELIHOODS Thismightseemlikeano-brainer:Withoutajoboralivelihood,peoplewillfacepoverty.Dwindlingaccesstoproductiveland(oftenduetoconflict,overpopulation,orclimatechange)andoverexploitationofresourceslikefishormineralsputsincreasingpressureonmanytraditionallivelihoods.IntheDemocraticRepublicofCongo(DRC)forexample,mostofthepopulationlivesinruralcommunitieswherenaturalresourceshavebeenplunderedovercenturiesofcolonialrule—whileconflictoverlandhasforcedpeopleawayfromtheirsourceofincomeandfood.Now,morethanhalfofthecountrylivesinextremepoverty. 11.LACKOFRESERVES Alloftheaboveriskfactors—fromconflicttoclimatechangeorevenafamilyillness—canbeweatheredifafamilyorcommunityhasreservesinplace.Cashsavingsandloanscanoffsetunemploymentduetoconflictorillness.Properfoodstoragesystemscanhelpifadroughtornaturaldisasterruinsaharvest. Peoplelivinginextremepovertyusuallydon’thavethesemeansavailable.Thismeansthat,whenariskturnsintoadisaster,theyturntonegativecopingmechanisms,includingpullingchildrenoutofschooltowork(orevenmarry),andsellingoffassetstobuyfood.Thatcanhelpafamilymakeitthroughonebadseason,butnotanother.Forcommunitiesconstantlyfacingclimateextremesorprolongedconflict,therepeatedshockscansendafamilyreelingintoextremepovertyandpreventthemfromeverrecovering. RelatedContent