causes of poverty

Poverty is a multifaceted and pervasive issue affecting societies around the globe, characterized by a lack of essential resources and opportunities.{{Cite web |title=The Multifaceted Nature of Poverty: A Global Perspective |url=https://econ.sites.northeastern.edu/wiki/microeconomics/income-inequality-and-poverty/the-multifaceted-nature-of-poverty-a-global-perspective/ |last=Piao |first=Richeng |date=2025-02-16 |website=Northeastern University RP World}} Understanding its causes—economic, social, political, and environmental—is crucial for developing effective strategies to combat it. Behavioral, structural, and political theories help explain poverty's persistence, while philosophical and historical perspectives, including both micro and macro-level factors, provide additional insights. Moreover, poverty can be understood in terms of absolute and relative measures, each offering a unique perspective on this global issue.{{Cite web|last=Echenberg|first=Havi|date=17 May 2012|title=The Poverty Prism: Causes of Poverty|url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/bdp-lop/eb/YM32-5-2009-14-1-eng.pdf|website=Parliament of Canada - Library of Parliament|access-date=26 November 2020|archive-date=4 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904185950/http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/bdp-lop/eb/YM32-5-2009-14-1-eng.pdf|url-status=live}} File:一日1.9ドル以下で生活する人口の割合（世界銀行の統計による）.png

There are three main theories on the causes of poverty:

• Behavioral Theories: Focus on individual behaviors driven by incentives and culture.{{Cite journal|last=Brady|first=David|date=2019|title=Theories of the Causes of Poverty|journal=Annual Review of Sociology|language=en|volume=45|issue=1|pages=155–175|doi=10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022550|s2cid=151307998|issn=0360-0572|doi-access=free}}

• Structural Theories: Emphasize demographic and labor market contexts, which influence both behavior and poverty.

• Political Theories: Argue that power and institutions shape policy, which in turn causes poverty and influences the relationship between behavior and poverty.

Absolute poverty is defined as a lack of basic necessities based on a set income level. According to World Bank guidelines, people living on less than $2.15 a day are considered to be living in extreme poverty. This generally applies to low-income countries. For lower-middle-income countries, the threshold is $3.20 a day, and for upper-middle-income countries, it is $5.50 a day. These standards account for economic differences, as a poor household in a wealthy region is more privileged than one in a deprived area. Therefore, discussions about poverty in advanced economies must consider that absolute poverty might not be directly applicable to people in that economy.{{Cite web|last=Silver & Gharib|first=Marc & Malaka|title=What's The Meaning Of The World Bank's New Poverty Lines?|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/10/25/558068646/whats-the-meaning-of-the-world-banks-new-poverty-lines|website=NPR|date=25 October 2017|access-date=26 September 2020|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923133758/https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/10/25/558068646/whats-the-meaning-of-the-world-banks-new-poverty-lines|url-status=live}}

File:Thomas B. Kennington - The pinch of poverty - Google Art Project.jpg

Relative poverty refers to individuals or entities that do not meet minimum standards compared to others in the same area, place, and time. Poorer economies can experience both absolute and relative poverty, while relative poverty is more common in advanced economies.{{Cite web|date=20 October 2020|title=The Poor In Developed Countries|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/news-and-education-magazines/poor-developed-countries|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=26 September 2020|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127125719/https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/news-and-education-magazines/poor-developed-countries|url-status=live}}

High unemployment, low wages, and economic inequality are key economic drivers of poverty. Unemployment and low wages create financial instability, while economic inequality hinders access to essential services and limits social mobility.{{Cite web |title=Poverty and inequality |url=https://gsdrc.org/topic-guides/poverty-and-inequality/understanding-and-addressing-extreme-poverty-and-inequality/key-references-poverty/ |last=Rohwerder |first=Brigitte |access-date=2025-02-16}}{{Cite web |title=Economic Inequality Seen as Major Challenge Around the World |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/01/09/economic-inequality-seen-as-major-challenge-around-the-world/ |access-date=2025-02-16}}{{Cite web|last=Myers|first=Kristin|date=3 May 2018|title=The top 9 causes of global poverty|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/world/top-9-causes-global-poverty|website=OCHA - ReliefWeb|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923065243/https://reliefweb.int/report/world/top-9-causes-global-poverty|url-status=live}}

File:Schoolgirls in Bamozai.JPG

Limited access to quality education, systemic discrimination, and single-parent households contribute to poverty. Education disparities and discrimination restrict opportunities, and single-parent households often struggle with economic challenges.{{cite conference |last1=Ahmed |first1=Akhter U. |last2=Hill |first2=Ruth Vargas |last3=Smith |first3=Lisa C. |last4=Frankenberger |first4=Tim |title=Characteristics and causes of severe poverty and hunger |date=October 2007 |page=4 |conference=2020 Focus Brief on the World’s Poor and Hungry People |url=http://conferences.ifpri.org/2020Chinaconference/pdf/beijingbrief_ahmed2.pdf |access-date=15 July 2015 |publisher=7 International Food Policy Research Institut |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812110422/http://conferences.ifpri.org/2020Chinaconference/pdf/beijingbrief_ahmed2.pdf |archive-date=12 August 2011 }}

File:Picketers, including Charles Zimmerman, carry signs such as "End Discrimination at Lunch Counters" (5279334695).jpg

Ineffective government policies, corruption, and armed conflicts exacerbate poverty. Poor social welfare policies and corruption hinder economic development, while wars disrupt economies and displace populations.{{cite news|title=The economics of violence|newspaper=The Economist|date=16 April 2011|url=http://www.economist.com/node/18558041|access-date=23 July 2015|archive-date=1 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101200236/http://www.economist.com/node/18558041|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last4=Stewart|first4=Frances|title=Root Causes of Violent Conflict in Developing Countries..|journal=BMJ: British Medical Journal|date=2002|pages=342–345|pmc=1122271|pmid=11834564|volume=324|issue=7333|doi=10.1136/bmj.324.7333.342}}

Natural disasters and climate change have long-term impacts on communities, leading to displacement and food insecurity. These environmental challenges contribute significantly to poverty.{{Cite web|author1=Olivia Giovetti |author2=Kieran McConville |date=25 September 2019|title=HOW THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE KEEP PEOPLE IN POVERTY|url=https://www.concernusa.org/story/effects-of-climate-change-cycle-of-poverty/|website=CONCERN worldwide US|access-date=30 August 2020|archive-date=13 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013192732/https://www.concernusa.org/story/effects-of-climate-change-cycle-of-poverty/|url-status=live}} File:Litter.JPG

• Socialist perspective: the socialist perspective attributes poverty to the ill-distribution of capital, wealth and resources that favor the interests of the "wealthy elite" or the "financial aristocracy" versus the community at large.{{Cite web|last=White|first=Jerry|date=9 Oct 2009|title=The socialist answer to unemployment and poverty|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/10/pers-o09.html|website=World Socialist Website - Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)|access-date=30 August 2020|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101123602/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/10/pers-o09.html|url-status=live}} The socialist tradition calls for the re-distribution of wealth as the solution to poverty. In essence, the "major levers of the economy" must be de-privatized and allocated to the working community-class that will adequately represent "the interests of ordinary people, rather than [those of] the wealthy elite." Marxists believe the structural nature of society (which is the cause of poverty) has to be changed to remedy poverty in society.{{Cite journal|last=Peet|first=Richard|title=Inequality and Poverty: A Marxist-Geographic Theory∗|date=15 March 2010|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1975.tb01063.x|journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|volume=65|issue=4|pages=564–571|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1975.tb01063.x|access-date=19 September 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030202536/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1975.tb01063.x|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}} Conversely, critics to this perspective, like Milton Friedman postulated that under the socialist perspective, the suppression of individual rights and that of a free-market economy can result in political absolutism and authoritarianism.{{Cite book|last=Friedrich|first=Hayek|title=The Road to Serfdom|year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0226320618}}

• Neoliberal perspective: the neoliberal perspective attributes poverty to centralization of free markets, sole government ownership of business enterprise, and de-capitalization – a system in which capital, wealth, and resources are at the sole discretion of government versus the individual.{{cite web | url=https://anthropologyreview.org/anthropology-glossary-of-terms/neoliberalism-history-and-impact/ | title=The Rise of Neoliberalism - Understanding its History and Impact | date=27 April 2023 }}{{bsn|date=August 2024|reason=The explanation given in this source is not bad, but it's still some random blog by a literally who}} In the context of neoliberalism, a delicate balance between government and the economy is achieved. The private sector plays a key role in driving profit generation, leading to objective changes, more perceived efficiency, and innovation. Simultaneously, the government ensures a competitive and responsible marketplace wherein economic activity can thrive. {{cite web | url=https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/can-government-be-run-like-business | title=Can Government be Run Like a Business? | date=27 April 2018 }} From this perspective, private investments in infrastructure can combat poverty both in the present and the future. However, only $6 billion of private infrastructure investment was directed toward the world’s poorest economies between 2010 and 2019, representing about 1% of the total $1.1 trillion invested during that period. This occurred during a historic era of erratic monetary policy, with central banks injecting liquidity into global markets. Since 2021, there have been concerted efforts to promote private investment in infrastructure projects in low-income economies. {{cite journal | url=https://hbr.org/2021/02/private-investors-can-help-end-poverty-they-just-need-to-think-small-and-local | title=Private Investors Can Help End Poverty. They Just Need to Think Small and Local | journal=Harvard Business Review | date=9 February 2021 | last1=Jackson | first1=David | last2=Machano | first2=Jaffer }}

See other considerations below

• Micro level: Some major causes of poverty, at this level, include the inability of poor households to invest in property, increased cost of living, fewer job or work opportunities, and limited access to credit.

File:Cost of living protest in London - 12 February 2022.jpg

• Macro level: Factors such as colonialism and its after-effects contribute to poverty. Economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson maintain that poverty is associated with colonialism.{{Cite web|url=https://voxeu.org/article/economic-impact-colonialism|title=The economic impact of colonialism|last1=Acemoğlu|first1=Daron|last2=Robinson|first2=James|date=2017-01-30|website=VoxEU.org|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407121337/https://voxeu.org/article/economic-impact-colonialism|url-status=live}} Likewise, economic anthropologist Jason Hickel and Dylan Sullivan posit that it was the expansion of colonialism and the bulldozing of regions into the emerging capitalist world system starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries that created "periods of severe social and economic dislocation" which resulted in wages crashing to subsistence levels, rising mortality rates and the proliferation of famines.{{cite journal |last1=Sullivan |first1=Dylan |last2=Hickel|first2=Jason |date=2023 |title=Capitalism and extreme poverty: A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long 16th century|journal=World Development|volume=161 |issue= |page=106026 |doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106026|s2cid=252315733 |doi-access=free}} The effects of colonialism left behind institutions that were new, alien and unsustainable. The lack of continuity in these foreign institutions, left entirely in the untrained hands of the prior colonized populace, tended to generate poverty in the communities.{{Cite web|title=Causes of poverty and inequality|url=https://www.eapn.eu/what-is-poverty/causes-of-poverty-and-inequality/|website=The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN)|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=29 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829003548/https://www.eapn.eu/what-is-poverty/causes-of-poverty-and-inequality/|url-status=live}}

• Excessive debt: On a micro level, excessive individual debt can cause poverty as people without resources borrow more to live within or outside their financial means. On a macro or national level, unfavorable terms of debt repayment can burden poorer economies.{{Cite web|last=Abate|first=Tom|date=18 June 2009|title=Debt pushes millions below poverty line|url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Debt-pushes-millions-below-poverty-line-3227038.php|website=SFGATE|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=27 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127114448/https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Debt-pushes-millions-below-poverty-line-3227038.php|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Hurt|first=Stephen R.|title=Third World debt - Economics|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Third-World-debt|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=5 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005034319/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Third-World-debt|url-status=live}}

• Overpopulation: Can strain limited resources and lead to environmental degradation.{{Cite news|last=TEODORO|first=LUIS V.|date=15 August 2015|title=Poverty is the cause, not the result, of overpopulation|work=Bulatlat|url=https://www.bulatlat.com/2015/08/15/poverty-is-the-cause-not-the-result-of-overpopulation/|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=8 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808085454/https://www.bulatlat.com/2015/08/15/poverty-is-the-cause-not-the-result-of-overpopulation/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food |website=The Guardian |date=31 August 2007 |access-date=14 June 2023 |archive-date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094959/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food |url-status=live }}

• Inadequate food and water access: Limited access to food and clean water can drain resources and exacerbate poverty.{{Cite web|title=Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016) {{!}} Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs|url=https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/archive/policy_innovations/index|access-date=2020-09-06|website=www.carnegiecouncil.org|language=en-US|archive-date=13 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213084317/https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/archive/policy_innovations|url-status=live}}File:Eyes of Hunger (8512780714).jpg
• Healthcare access: poor or limited access to healthcare leads to decreased productivity and greater poverty.{{Cite web|date=25 August 2014|title=Poverty and Health|url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/brief/poverty-health|website=The World Bank - Working for a World Free of Poverty|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=5 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905083009/https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/brief/poverty-health|url-status=live}}

File:Medical care in Afghanistan.jpg

• Unequal distribution of resources – disparities in the distribution of resources causes systemic poverty while those with more resources get wealthier and better access to services.

Several scholars have linked mass incarceration of the poor in the United States with the rise of neoliberalism.{{sfnp|Haymes|Vidal de Haymes|Miller|2015|pp=3, 346}}{{cite journal |last=Aviram |first=Hadar |date=7 September 2014 |title=Are Private Prisons to Blame for Mass Incarceration and its Evils? Prison Conditions, Neoliberalism, and Public Choice |url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol42/iss2/2/ |journal=Fordham Urban Law Journal |publisher=Fordham University School of Law |ssrn=2492782 |access-date=27 December 2014}}{{sfnp|Gerstle|2022|pp=130–132}}{{cite book |last=Gottschalk |first=Marie |url=http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html |title=Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics |date=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691164052 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CzDFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 10] |author-link=Marie Gottschalk}} Sociologist Loïc Wacquant and Marxist economic geographer David Harvey have argued that the criminalization of poverty and mass incarceration is a neoliberal policy for dealing with social instability among economically marginalized populations.{{sfnp|Wacquant|2009|pp=125–126, 312}}{{sfnp|Harvey|2005|p=}} According to Wacquant, this situation follows the implementation of other neoliberal policies, which have allowed for the retrenchment of the social welfare state and the rise of punitive workfare, whilst increasing gentrification of urban areas, privatization of public functions, the shrinking of collective protections for the working class via economic deregulation and the rise of underpaid, precarious wage labor.{{sfnp|Wacquant|2009|pp=53–54}}{{cite web |last=Shaw |first=Devin Z. |date=29 September 2010 |title=Loïc Wacquant: "Prisons of Poverty" |url=http://notes-taken.blogspot.com/2010/09/loic-wacquant-prisons-of-poverty.html |website=The Notes Taken}}

(listed alphabetically)

Bangladesh has made some strides in eradicating poverty through poverty reduction strategies (PRS). As a result of those strategies, some critical markers indicative of poverty show promise, such as decreased child mortality, promoted gender parity, practiced micro-credit, and a vibrant non-governmental sector in place.{{Cite web|title=Bangladesh|url=https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF002/14051-9781451804171/14051-9781451804171/14051-9781451804171_A001.xml?redirect=true|website=IMF E-library|access-date=19 September 2020|archive-date=24 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224054122/https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF002/14051-9781451804171/14051-9781451804171/14051-9781451804171_A001.xml?redirect=true|url-status=live}}

Notwithstanding, some notable causes of poverty that Bangladesh is fighting against include remnants of inequality, burdened healthcare costs, poor governance at multiple levels, inadequate sanitation, and limited access to safe drinking water.

Statistics Canada reported in 2013 that high-risk groups for poverty in Canada include "people with activity limitations (physical or mental disability), singles (unattached individuals), persons in lone-parent families, people with less than a high school education and minorities who are immigrants."{{Cite web|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/75F0011X|title=Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) - A Survey Overview|last=Government of Canada|first=Statistics Canada|date=27 June 2013|website=www150.statcan.gc.ca|access-date=10 June 2019|archive-date=28 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628030659/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/75F0011X|url-status=live}}

Activist group Canada Without Poverty, referencing Statistics Canada, identifies that 1 in 7 individuals or 4.9 million persons in the nation are experiencing poverty.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwp-csp.ca/poverty/just-the-facts/|title=Just the Facts - Poverty in Canada|website=Canada Without Poverty|date=16 February 2017|language=en|access-date=10 June 2019|archive-date=5 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605160328/http://www.cwp-csp.ca/poverty/just-the-facts/|url-status=live}}

As of 2024, China is considered to be an upper-middle-income country having eradicated extreme poverty in 2020. However, approximately 17 percent of the population was living on less than $6.85 per day (in 2017 PPP terms) which is what the World Bank considered the Upper-Middle-Income poverty line in 2021.{{Cite web |title=China Overview |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930014300/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview |archive-date=30 September 2020 |access-date=29 September 2020 |website=The World Bank}}

The causes of poverty in China revolve around:

• "income inequality" with persistent "low paid labor" jobs {{Cite web|last=Chan|first=Elaine|date=26 Oct 2019|title=China's countryside 'returning to poverty' as lack of reforms help fuel urban-rural divide|url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3034590/chinas-countryside-returning-poverty-lack-reforms-help-fuel|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=29 September 2020|archive-date=26 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826123753/https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3034590/chinas-countryside-returning-poverty-lack-reforms-help-fuel|url-status=live}}{{Needs verification|date=January 2025|reason=Unable to review due to paywall on original, and archived link wouldn't load.}}
• a rapidly aging labor force and a rising proportion of the rural poor {{Verification needed|date=January 2025|reason=Unable to review - paywall on original and archived link wouldn't fully load.}}
• lack of a pension system for the rural elderly.{{Verification needed|date=January 2025|reason=Unable to review - paywall on original and archived link wouldn't fully load.}}
• economic stagnation—in which low cost, "low end" manufacturing has plateaued (and a "new growth model" is long overdue){{Needs verification|date=January 2025|reason=Unable to review - paywall on original and archived link wouldn't fully load.}}
• diminishing returns in investment vehicles{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}
• slowing in productivity {{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Haiti, regarded as "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere", has a GDP (per capita) of about US$797, as reported in 2019.{{Cite web|title=Haiti Overview|url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/haiti/overview#1|access-date=20 Oct 2020|website=The World Bank In Haiti|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021060233/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/haiti/overview#1|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=SMITH|first=KAREN FRAGALA|date=15 January 2010|title=Reasons Behind Haiti's Poverty|url=https://www.newsweek.com/reasons-behind-haitis-poverty-70801|website=Newsweek}} Greater than 6 million Haitians reportedly live on less than US$2.41 per day, and more than 2.5 million on US$1.12 per day.

The causes of poverty in Haiti have been rooted in "institutional and political instability" that chronically suffocate the growth of its social and economic sectors.{{Cite web|title=Clean Water Projects in Haiti|url=https://www.charitywater.org/our-projects/haiti|website=Charity - Water|access-date=26 November 2020|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127012755/https://www.charitywater.org/our-projects/haiti|url-status=live}}

Apart from the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic that has affected it (both politically and economically), particularly the poor and most vulnerable, Haiti has other natural elements such as hurricanes and earthquakes that have rendered some damage to its fragile infrastructure and limited economic resources. Deforestation has also exacerbated the effects of storms, floods and hurricanes.

Despite this depiction, the World Bank has committed financial resources (in the tune of over US$834.41 million—in October 2020) to resuscitate Haiti's economy. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has also rendered support in revitalizing Haiti's economy in the areas of "energy, beverage [production], garment manufacturing, financial markets, and hospitality." Other resources from donors include over US$40 million for economic remedy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, overall, promising results are being observed in the sectors of education, health, better access to safe drinking water, energy production, agriculture and transport.

{{main|Causes of poverty in Mexico}}

Once part of the USSR, Moldova is regarded as the poorest country in Europe, with a reported "GDP per capita of $2,289".{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

One cited reason behind Moldova's poverty is an increase in inequality, with the growing increase in urban and rural poverty.{{Cite web|date=21 April 2002|title=MOLDOVA - Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper|url=https://www.imf.org/External/NP/prsp/2002/mda/01/042102.pdf|website=MOLDOVA - Prepared by the Moldovan authorities|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=7 September 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907123225/http://www.imf.org/External/NP/prsp/2002/mda/01/042102.pdf|url-status=live}}

Nigeria is the most populated African nation with 42.54% of the population falling within the age group of 0 -14.{{Cite web|title=Nigeria - The World Fact Book|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/|website=Central Intelligence Agency|date=7 June 2022|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109223449/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria|url-status=live}} Despite the population growth and its status as an OPEC member, Nigeria has [https://worldpoverty.io/map 51% of the population] living in extreme poverty, with some people living on as little as $1.90 a day.{{Cite web|title=World Data Lab|url=https://worldpoverty.io/map|website=World Poverty|access-date=23 September 2020|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920174749/https://worldpoverty.io/map|url-status=live}}

From 1621 to 1901, food prices increased due to a change in the policies of commodity pricing which—in turn—increased the poverty rate.{{cite journal|last1=Balisacan|first1=Arsenio M.|title=Anatomy of Poverty during Adjustment: The Case of the Philippines|journal=Economic Development and Cultural Change|date=October 1995|volume=44|issue=1|page=57|doi=10.1086/452200|s2cid=154383564|issn=0013-0079}} From 1960 to 2009, slow economic growth has contributed to the persistence of poverty and has also contributed to the non-poor becoming poor. Although poverty has been reduced overall, the inequality of poverty has increased, according to the Asian Development Bank.{{cite book|title=Poverty in the Philippines : causes, constraints, and opportunities..|date=2009|publisher=Asian Development Bank|location=Mandaluyong, Philippines|isbn=978-971-561-857-1|page=39}}

According to Russia's State Statistics Service (Rosstat), Russia's poverty statistics equaled 14.3%, or 20.9 million people versus 13.9%, or 20.4 million people, in the first three months of 2018.{{Cite web|date=30 July 2019|title=21M Russians Live in Poverty, Official Data Says|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/30/21m-russians-live-in-poverty-official-data-says-a66618|website=The Moscow Times|access-date=30 September 2020|archive-date=19 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919023650/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/30/21m-russians-live-in-poverty-official-data-says-a66618|url-status=live}}

The causes of poverty in Russia are complex: a shrinking economy, inflation, falling oil prices and in a rise in "consumer prices". High transportation costs, including the cost of logistics, and the perception of inequality have hindered growth in investments, which, in turn, has generated a cycle of poverty.{{Cite web|last=Ostroukh|first=Andrey|date=6 April 2016|title=Poverty in Russia to rise sharply: World Bank|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/poverty-in-russia-to-rise-sharply-world-bank-2016-04-06|website=MarketWatch|access-date=30 September 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031073010/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/poverty-in-russia-to-rise-sharply-world-bank-2016-04-06|url-status=live}}

Vladimir Putin is promoting a program aims to reduce poverty in the face of economic difficulties due to international sanctions.

Despite South Africa being ranked 38th in the "ranking of the richest countries with net financial assets per capita of $8,385 (R140,200)",{{Cite web|date=23 September 2020|title=South Africa's average household wealth versus the world|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/wealth/435429/south-africas-average-household-wealth-versus-the-world/|website=BUSINESSTECH|access-date=28 September 2020|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927154250/https://businesstech.co.za/news/wealth/435429/south-africas-average-household-wealth-versus-the-world/|url-status=live}} the causes of poverty in South Africa are multi-faceted.{{Cite web|date=28 March 2020|title=What Are the Causes of Poverty in South Africa?|url=https://www.reference.com/world-view/causes-poverty-south-africa-f4c0efd2c42b1fa9|website=Reference|access-date=28 September 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030160353/https://www.reference.com/world-view/causes-poverty-south-africa-f4c0efd2c42b1fa9|url-status=live}} Major causes of poverty, precipitated by a history of apartheid, involve disparities in the distribution of resources, coupled with poor educational opportunities. Non-whites have also had poor access to job opportunities and health care—known catalysts in the generation and cycle of poverty. In response to these challenges, South Africa initiated the so-called Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to participate in job creation and promoting equitable policies in employment practices. The government has also endeavored to improve schools, provide health care for the poor, children (ages 6 and below) and pregnant women.

The United States economy, complex and highly developed, is the largest global economy with the sixth highest per capita GDP (PPP) and about 20% of the total global output. The economy comprises dominant production sectors such as technology, financial services, healthcare, and retail. More than 20% of companies on the Fortune Global 500 originate from the United States.{{Cite web|date=2 January 2014|title=U.S. Economic Outlook|url=https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/united-states|website=FocusEconomics - Economic Forecasts from the World's Leading Economists|archive-date=21 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121130024/https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/united-states|url-status=live}}

The poverty rate in the United States, in 2019, was 10.5 percent, the reported lowest reported since 1959.{{Cite web|last=Creamer|first=John|date=15 September 2020|title=Inequalities Persist Despite Decline in Poverty For All Major Race and Hispanic Origin Groups|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/poverty-rates-for-blacks-and-hispanics-reached-historic-lows-in-2019.html|website=US Census Bureau|archive-date=17 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917070757/https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/poverty-rates-for-blacks-and-hispanics-reached-historic-lows-in-2019.html|url-status=live}} The poverty rate varies across racial lines and was reported to have reached "historic lows in 2019". For black Americans, the rate was about 18.8%; for white Americans (non-Hispanic), the rate was 7.3% and for Hispanics, it was 15.7%. For Asians, the rate was 7.3%, "the lowest on record".

Specifically, the poverty rate, in 2019, was most notable in the younger age category of 18 to 24 years old, of which 17.1% were males versus 21.35% females.{{Cite web|last=Duffin|first=Erin|date=21 September 2020|title=Poverty rate in the United States in 2019, by age and gender|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/233154/us-poverty-rate-by-gender/|website=Statista|archive-date=27 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127114529/https://www.statista.com/statistics/233154/us-poverty-rate-by-gender/|url-status=live}} Children were, as a group, most affected by poverty between the period, 1990 and 2018. Between 2000 and 2010, the poverty rate increased. A dip of 14.4% was later noted in 2019.{{Cite web|last=Duffin|first=Erin|date=17 September 2020|title=Poverty rate in the United States from 1990 to 2019|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/200463/us-poverty-rate-since-1990/|website=Statista|archive-date=6 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206160556/https://www.statista.com/statistics/200463/us-poverty-rate-since-1990/|url-status=live}} People of ages 65 to 74 had the lowest poverty rate.

The number of people living in relative poverty, across the country, tends to vary from state to state, e.g. in California (in 2018), 4.66 million people lived in poverty versus in Minnesota with about 456,000 people that lived in poverty.

The causes of relative poverty in the US are complex and revolve around the following:

• Societal inequity with associated disparities in pay, skills, opportunities and employment.{{Cite web|last=Haveman|first=Robert|title=Causes of Poverty|url=https://www.irp.wisc.edu/newsevents/workshops/teachingpoverty101/participants/Presentations/Haveman-CausesofPoverty1.pdf|website=Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112014537/https://www.irp.wisc.edu/newsevents/workshops/teachingpoverty101/participants/Presentations/Haveman-CausesofPoverty1.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=25 January 2016|title=Society or the Individual: Root Causes of Poverty in America|url=https://mountsaintvincent.edu/society-or-the-individual-root-causes-of-poverty-in-america/|website=College of Mount Saint Vincent - For Public Policy Research|archive-date=27 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127114459/https://mountsaintvincent.edu/society-or-the-individual-root-causes-of-poverty-in-america/|url-status=live}}
• Inequitable distribution of resources.{{cite book |last1=Raphael |first1=Dennis |title=Poverty in Canada: implications for health and quality of life |date=2020 |publisher=Canadian Scholars |location=Toronto |isbn=9781773381923 |page=28 |edition=Third}}
• Labor market issues – which adversely impact wages, skills and benefits.
• Limited access to educational opportunities – which impacts communities with low skilled labor. Adults without a high school diploma or college degree and/or marketable skills end up earning less.
• Intermingled social and demographic factors – which create unsustainable family structures and barriers, viz. single headed families with children and those with an unemployed head of household tend to gravitate towards less pay and higher rate of poverty.
• Policies and practices – that adversely impact health, food security and crime.

According to the World Bank, in 2015, approximately 734 million people, equating to 10 percent of the world's population, survived on less than $1.90 a day—versus 1.9 billion people in 1990 (equating to about 36 percent of the world's population).{{Cite web|title=Poverty - The World Bank Group was committed to fighting poverty in all its dimensions.|url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview|access-date=16 April 2020|website=The World Bank|archive-date=10 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110182335/https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview|url-status=live}}

The aforementioned progress made will be (and has been) reversed by the current global COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which is significantly affecting national, regional and global economies through unemployment, layoffs, poor delivery of essential goods and services as well as disruptions in the education and health sectors. One fact is clear: the effects of COVID-19 will impact the poor and poor economies to a disproportionately high degree, and causing more people to become poor.

In retrospect, countries, all over the world, injected vast monetary resources into social programs to mitigate the financial woes associated with the pandemic.{{Cite web|last=Dooley & Khara|first=Meagan & Homi|title=Long-run impacts of COVID-19 on extreme poverty|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2021/06/02/long-run-impacts-of-covid-19-on-extreme-poverty/|url-status=live|access-date=24 October 2021|website=BROOKINGS|date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602202455/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2021/06/02/long-run-impacts-of-covid-19-on-extreme-poverty/ |archive-date=2 June 2021 }}

Advanced economies utilized almost 28 percent of their GDP to keep their communities and others beyond them afloat. Similarly, middle income economies spent 7% of their GDP while developing economies spent 2% of their GDP for the upkeep of their own communities. These measures, ultimately, protected many families and communities from plunging into poverty.

The full impact of COVID-19 on poverty, in countries world-wide, is expected to be fully discerned in a period of 12 to 24 months, from 2021.

Projections reveal that the long-term effects of COVID-19 will likely expand poverty in countries with the following defining parameters:

1. Middle income economies
2. Developing economies
3. Conflict ridden regions with fragile governance

It is projected that by 2030, nine countries with an expanded segment of the "extreme poor" will be in Africa, with Burundi and North Korea tied together in tenth place. A number of middle-income economies will likely see an increased incidence of poverty in their nations as well. Notwithstanding, these projected trends are reversible with the creation of social programs that can be utilized to protect the most vulnerable in each community nation.

• Causes of income inequality
• Culture of poverty
• Cycle of poverty
• Involuntary unemployment
• Poverty reduction
• Theories of poverty

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|2}}

• {{cite book |last=Gerstle |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Gerstle |date=2022 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-neoliberal-order-9780197519646?cc=us&lang=en& |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0197519646}}
• {{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=David |author-link=David Harvey (geographer) |year=2005 |title=A Brief History of Neoliberalism |isbn=978-0-19-928326-2 |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-brief-history-of-neoliberalism-9780199283279?cc=us&lang=en& |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Haymes |editor1-first=Stephen |editor2-last=Vidal de Haymes |editor2-first=Maria |editor3-last=Miller |editor3-first=Reuben |title=The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415673440 |location=London |url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415673440}}
• {{cite book |last=Wacquant |first=Loïc |author-link=Loïc Wacquant |year=2009 |title=Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham NC |isbn=9780822392255 |oclc=404091956 |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/1399/Punishing-the-PoorThe-Neoliberal-Government-of}}

{{refend}}

• File:Wikibooks-logo.svg The factors causing poverty and suffering

{{Poverty}}

{{World topic|prefix=Causes of poverty in|title=Causes of poverty|noredlinks=yes}}

Category:Poverty

Poverty