essay english poverty

Poverty Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty essay.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence”. – Mahatma Gandhi.

How Poverty is Measured?

For measuring poverty United nations have devised two measures of poverty – Absolute & relative poverty.  Absolute poverty is used to measure poverty in developing countries like India. Relative poverty is used to measure poverty in developed countries like the USA. In absolute poverty, a line based on the minimum level of income has been created & is called a poverty line.  If per day income of a family is below this level, then it is poor or below the poverty line. If per day income of a family is above this level, then it is non-poor or above the poverty line. In India, the new poverty line is  Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Causes of Poverty

According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of poverty but the most important is population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources & budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.

The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack of education compels a person for less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. Lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country resulting in lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.

In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources & money is being spent in war instead of public welfare. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclone, etc. These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise.

Ill Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There are no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in slums & he falls ill often &  his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all social evils are related to poverty.

Government Schemes to Remove Poverty

The government of India also took several measures to eradicate poverty from India. Some of them are – creating employment opportunities , controlling population, etc. In India, about 60% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. Government has taken certain measures to promote agriculture in India. The government constructed certain dams & canals in our country to provide easy availability of water for irrigation. Government has also taken steps for the cheap availability of seeds & farming equipment to promote agriculture. Government is also promoting farming of cash crops like cotton, instead of food crops. In cities, the government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs. Government has also opened  ‘Ration shops’. Other measures include providing free & compulsory education for children up to 14 years of age, scholarship to deserving students from a poor background, providing subsidized houses to poor people, etc.

Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to control it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry.

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Essay on Poverty in English (150, 200, 250, 500 Words)

Here, we’ve presented essays on “Poverty” in 150, 200, 250 & 500 word samples. All the essays will be helpful for students of all classes i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & class 12.

Table of Contents

Essay on Poverty in 150 Words

Introduction.

Poverty is a condition where people lack the financial resources to meet their basic needs. It affects individuals and families, making it difficult for them to access necessities like food, shelter, and healthcare. Poverty can result from various factors, including unemployment, lack of education, and economic downturns. Addressing poverty requires understanding its root causes and implementing effective solutions.

Causes of Poverty

Several factors contribute to poverty. Unemployment is a significant cause, as it prevents individuals from earning a stable income. Lack of education also plays a crucial role, as it limits job opportunities and earning potential. Additionally, economic crises and natural disasters can devastate communities, pushing many into poverty. Governments and organizations must work together to create job opportunities, improve education systems, and provide support during crises to combat poverty.

Poverty is a serious issue that affects millions of people worldwide. It stems from various causes, including unemployment, lack of education, and economic challenges. Addressing poverty requires a multi-faceted approach, including improving education, creating jobs, and providing support during emergencies. By understanding and tackling the root causes of poverty, we can work towards a more equitable and prosperous society.

Poverty Essay in 200 Words

Poverty is a condition where individuals and families lack the financial means to meet basic needs like food, shelter, and healthcare. It is a pervasive issue that affects millions worldwide, hindering their ability to live a decent life. Understanding poverty involves examining its causes and impacts, as well as exploring effective strategies to alleviate it.

Unemployment is one of the main causes of poverty. Without stable jobs, people cannot earn the income necessary to support themselves and their families. Another significant factor is lack of education. Without proper education, individuals have fewer job opportunities and lower earning potential. Additionally, economic crises and natural disasters can destroy livelihoods, pushing many into poverty.

Impacts of Poverty

Poverty has far-reaching impacts on individuals and communities. It often leads to poor health due to lack of access to healthcare and nutritious food. Education is also affected, as children from poor families might not afford school supplies or tuition, limiting their future opportunities. Moreover, poverty can perpetuate a cycle of despair, where children born into poverty remain trapped in it as adults.

Solutions to Poverty

Addressing poverty requires comprehensive and sustained efforts. Governments and organizations need to create more job opportunities and improve access to quality education. Social safety nets, such as unemployment benefits and food assistance programs, are essential in providing immediate relief. Additionally, disaster preparedness and economic policies that support growth can help reduce the risk of falling into poverty.

Poverty is a complex issue with multiple causes and severe impacts. It arises from unemployment, lack of education, and economic disruptions. The effects of poverty are profound, affecting health, education, and overall quality of life. To effectively combat poverty, a multifaceted approach is necessary, including job creation, educational improvement, and robust social safety nets. Through concerted efforts, it is possible to reduce poverty and improve lives globally.

Essay Writing on Poverty in 250 Words

Poverty is a critical global issue where people lack sufficient income to meet their basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare. As of 2021, approximately 9.2% of the world’s population, or about 689 million people, live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 a day. Addressing poverty is crucial for improving quality of life and ensuring sustainable development.

There are multiple causes of poverty, with unemployment being a primary factor. Without stable jobs, individuals struggle to earn a living. In many developing countries, economic instability and lack of industrial growth contribute to high unemployment rates. For instance, in 2020, the global unemployment rate increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating poverty levels.

Lack of Education

Education plays a vital role in breaking the cycle of poverty. Unfortunately, many children in impoverished areas do not have access to quality education. UNESCO reports that around 258 million children and youth were out of school in 2018. Without education, individuals have limited opportunities for well-paying jobs, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

Health Impacts

Poverty severely impacts health, leading to malnutrition, disease, and higher mortality rates. According to the World Health Organization, about 45% of deaths among children under five are linked to malnutrition. Poor health prevents individuals from working and earning income, further deepening poverty.

Social Inequality

Social inequality is both a cause and consequence of poverty. Marginalized groups often face discrimination and limited access to resources. This inequality is evident in income disparities; the richest 10% of the global population holds 52% of the global income, while the poorest 50% earn only 8%.

Effective solutions to poverty include job creation, improved education systems, and robust healthcare services. Governments should implement policies that promote economic growth and create employment opportunities. Social protection programs, such as conditional cash transfers, have proven effective in reducing poverty. For example, Brazil’s Bolsa Família program has lifted millions out of poverty since its inception.

Poverty is a multifaceted issue that requires a comprehensive approach to address its root causes and impacts. Unemployment, lack of education, poor health, and social inequality all contribute to the persistence of poverty. By focusing on creating jobs, improving education, and ensuring equitable access to resources, we can make significant strides in reducing poverty and enhancing global well-being. Concerted efforts from governments, organizations, and communities are essential to achieve sustainable development and eradicate poverty.

Writing an Essay on Poverty in 500 Words

Poverty is a profound and pervasive issue that affects millions globally. Defined as the state where individuals or communities lack the financial resources to meet their basic needs, poverty manifests in various forms, including lack of access to food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare. As of 2021, around 9.2% of the world’s population, equivalent to approximately 689 million people, live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 per day. This essay explores the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to poverty, drawing on recent data and trends.

Economic Instability

Economic instability is a significant driver of poverty. Economic downturns, recessions, and financial crises can lead to job losses, reduced incomes, and increased poverty rates. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a global economic slowdown, pushing an additional 97 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 alone, according to the World Bank. This highlights the vulnerability of low-income populations to economic shocks and the need for resilient economic policies.

Unemployment and Underemployment

Unemployment and underemployment are critical factors contributing to poverty. Without stable, well-paying jobs, individuals cannot afford basic necessities. The International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that global unemployment rose to 6.6% in 2020, up from 5.4% in 2019, due to the pandemic. Even those employed often face underemployment, where they work in low-paying, insecure jobs that do not provide sufficient income to escape poverty.

Education Deficits

Education is a powerful tool in combating poverty, yet many impoverished areas lack access to quality education. UNESCO estimates that around 258 million children and youth were out of school in 2018. Education deficits limit individuals’ job prospects and earning potential, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Investment in education is crucial for equipping people with the skills needed for better employment opportunities.

Health and Nutrition

Poor health and malnutrition are both causes and consequences of poverty. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that nearly 45% of deaths among children under five are linked to malnutrition. Lack of access to healthcare services exacerbates health issues, preventing individuals from working and earning an income. Health interventions and nutrition programs are vital to breaking this cycle and improving the well-being of impoverished populations.

Social inequality exacerbates poverty, particularly for marginalized groups. Discrimination based on race, gender, or ethnicity can limit access to resources, education, and employment. According to Oxfam, the richest 1% of the global population have more than twice the wealth of 6.9 billion people combined. Addressing social inequality is essential for creating a fairer distribution of resources and opportunities.

Environmental Factors

Environmental factors, including climate change and natural disasters, significantly impact poverty. Floods, droughts, and other climate-related events destroy homes, livelihoods, and infrastructure, pushing vulnerable populations into poverty. The World Bank estimates that climate change could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030. Sustainable development practices and climate resilience measures are critical in mitigating these impacts.

Government and Policy Interventions

Effective government policies and interventions are crucial in addressing poverty. Social protection programs, such as Brazil’s Bolsa Família and India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), have successfully reduced poverty levels. These programs provide financial assistance and employment opportunities, helping lift millions out of poverty. Governments must continue to innovate and implement policies that promote economic stability, job creation, and social welfare.

Global Cooperation

Global cooperation and international aid play vital roles in combating poverty. Organizations like the United Nations and World Bank work with countries to develop strategies and provide funding for poverty reduction programs. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 1: No Poverty, highlight the global commitment to eradicating poverty by 2030. Collaborative efforts and resource sharing are essential for achieving these goals.

Poverty is a complex issue with far-reaching impacts that require multifaceted solutions. Economic instability, unemployment, education deficits, health issues, social inequality, and environmental factors all contribute to its persistence. Addressing poverty necessitates comprehensive strategies, including resilient economic policies, investment in education and healthcare, social protection programs, and global cooperation. By understanding and tackling the root causes of poverty, we can make significant progress towards creating a more equitable and prosperous world for all. Sustainable development and concerted efforts from all sectors of society are key to achieving this goal.

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7 Essays About Poverty: Example Essays and Prompts

Essays about poverty give valuable insight into the economic situation that we share globally. Read our guide with poverty essay examples and prompts for your paper.

In the US, the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people living below the poverty line. With a global pandemic, cost of living crisis, and climate change on the rise, we’ve seen poverty increase due to various factors. As many of us face adversity daily, we can look to essays about poverty from some of the world’s greatest speakers for inspiration and guidance.

There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer. There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

Writing a poverty essay can be challenging due to the many factors contributing to poverty and the knock-on effects of living below the poverty line . For example, homelessness among low-income individuals stems from many different causes.

It’s important to note that poverty exists beyond the US, with many developing countries living in extreme poverty without access to essentials like clean water and housing. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Essays About Poverty: Top Examples

1. pensioner poverty: fear of rise over decades as uk under-40s wealth falls, 2. the surprising poverty levels across the u.s., 3. why poverty persists in america, 4. post-pandemic poverty is rising in america’s suburbs.

• 5. The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty
• 6. The State of America’s Children 
• 7. COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

10 Poverty Essay Topics

1. the causes of poverty, 2. the negative effects of poverty, 3. how countries can reduce poverty rates, 4. the basic necessities and poverty, 5. how disabilities can lead to poverty, 6. how the cycle of poverty unfolds , 7. universal basic income and its relationship to poverty, 8. interview someone who has experience living in poverty, 9. the impact of the criminal justice system on poverty, 10. the different ways to create affordable housing.

There is growing concern about increasing pensioner poverty in the UK in the coming decades. Due to financial challenges like the cost of living crisis, rent increases, and the COVID-19 pandemic, under 40s have seen their finances shrink.

Osborne discusses the housing wealth gap in this article, where many under the 40s currently pay less in a pension due to rent prices. While this means they will have less pension available, they will also retire without owning a home, resulting in less personal wealth than previous generations. Osborne delves into the causes and gaps in wealth between generations in this in-depth essay.

“Those under-40s have already been identified as  facing the biggest hit from rising mortgage rates , and last week a study by the financial advice firm Hargreaves Lansdown found that almost a third of 18- to 34-year-olds had stopped or cut back on their pension contributions in order to save money.” Hilary Osborne,  The Guardian

In this 2023 essay, Jeremy Ney looks at the poverty levels across the US, stating that poverty has had the largest one-year increase in history. According to the most recent census, child poverty has more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

Ney states that the expiration of government support and inflation has created new financial challenges for US families. With the increased cost of living and essential items like food and housing sharply increasing, more and more families have fallen below the poverty line. Throughout this essay, Ney displays statistics and data showing the wealth changes across states, ethnic groups, and households.

“Poverty in America reflects the inequality that plagues U.S. households. While certain regions have endured this pain much more than others, this new rising trend may spell ongoing challenges for even more communities.” Jeremy Ney,  TIME

In this New York Times article, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist explores why poverty exists in North America.

The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most. Matthew Desmond,  The New York Times

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its annual data on poverty, revealing contrasting trends for 2022. While one set of findings indicated that the overall number of Americans living in poverty remained stable compared to the previous two years, another survey highlighted a concerning increase in child poverty. The rate of child poverty in the U.S. doubled from 2021 to 2022, a spike attributed mainly to the cessation of the expanded child tax credit following the pandemic. These varied outcomes underscore the Census Bureau’s multifaceted methods to measure poverty.

“The nation’s suburbs accounted for the majority of increases in the poor population following the onset of the pandemic” Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube,  Brookings

5.  The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty

Nearly 11 million children are living in poverty in America. This essay explores ow the crisis reached this point—and what steps must be taken to solve it.

“In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country.” Areeba Haider,  Center for American Progress

6.  The State of America’s Children  

This essay articles how, despite advancements, children continue to be the most impoverished demographic in the U.S., with particular subgroups — such as children of color, those under five, offspring of single mothers, and children residing in the South — facing the most severe poverty levels.

“Growing up in poverty has wide-ranging, sometimes lifelong, effects on children, putting them at a much higher risk of experiencing behavioral, social, emotional, and health challenges. Childhood poverty also plays an instrumental role in impairing a child’s ability and capacity to learn, build skills, and succeed academically.” Children’s Defense Fund

7.  COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

This essay explores how the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic 2020 led to a surge in U.S. poverty rates, with unemployment figures reaching unprecedented heights. The writer provides data confirming that individuals at the lowest economic strata bore the brunt of these challenges, indicating that the recession might have exacerbated income disparities, further widening the chasm between the affluent and the underprivileged.

“Poverty in the U.S. increased in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy and unemployment soared. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder were hit hardest, new figures confirm, suggesting that the recession may have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.” Elena Delavega,  World Econmic Forum

If you’re tasked with writing an essay about poverty, consider using the below topics. They offer pointers for outlining and planning an essay about this challenging topic.

One of the most specific poverty essay topics to address involves the causes of poverty. You can craft an essay to examine the most common causes of extreme poverty. Here are a few topics you might want to include:

• Racial discrimination, particularly among African Americans, has been a common cause of poverty throughout American history. Discrimination and racism can make it hard for people to get the education they need, making it nearly impossible to get a job.
• A lack of access to adequate health care can also lead to poverty. When people do not have access to healthcare, they are more likely to get sick. This could make it hard for them to go to work while also leading to major medical bills.
• Inadequate food and water can lead to poverty as well. If people’s basic needs aren’t met, they focus on finding food and water instead of getting an education they can use to find a better job.

These are just a few of the most common causes of poverty you might want to highlight in your essay. These topics could help people see why some people are more likely to become impoverished than others. You might also be interested in these essays about poverty .

Poverty affects everyone, and the impacts of an impoverished lifestyle are very real. Furthermore, the disparities when comparing adult poverty to child poverty are also significant. This opens the doors to multiple possible essay topics. Here are a few points to include:

• When children live in poverty, their development is stunted. For example, they might not be able to get to school on time due to a lack of transportation, making it hard for them to keep up with their peers. Child poverty also leads to malnutrition, which can stunt their development.
• Poverty can impact familial relationships as well. For example, members of the same family could fight for limited resources, making it hard for family members to bond. In addition, malnutrition can stunt the growth of children.
• As a side effect of poverty, people have difficulty finding a safe place to live. This creates a challenging environment for everyone involved, and it is even harder for children to grow and develop.
• When poverty leads to homelessness, it is hard for someone to get a job. They don’t have an address to use for physical communication, which leads to employment concerns.

These are just a few of the many side effects of poverty. Of course, these impacts are felt by people across the board, but it is not unusual for children to feel the effects of poverty that much more. You might also be interested in these essays about unemployment .

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty

The issue of poverty is a major human rights concern, and many countries explore poverty reduction strategies to improve people’s quality of life. You might want to examine different strategies that different countries are taking while also suggesting how some countries can do more. A few ways to write this essay include:

• Explore the poverty level in America, comparing it to the poverty level of a European country. Then, explore why different countries take different strategies.
• Compare the minimum wage in one state, such as New York, to the minimum wage in another state, such as Alabama. Why is it higher in one state? What does raising the minimum wage do to the cost of living?
• Highlight a few advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations actively lobbying their governments to do more for low-income families. Then, talk about why some efforts are more successful than others.

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty. Poverty within each country is such a broad topic that you could write a different essay on how poverty could be decreased within the country. For more, check out our list of simple essays topics for intermediate writers .

You could also write an essay on the necessities people need to survive. You could take a look at information published by the United Nations , which focuses on getting people out of the cycle of poverty across the globe. The social problem of poverty can be addressed by giving people the necessities they need to survive, particularly in rural areas. Here are some of the areas you might want to include:

• Affordable housing
• Fresh, healthy food and clean water
• Access to an affordable education
• Access to affordable healthcare

Giving everyone these necessities could significantly improve their well-being and get people out of absolute poverty. You might even want to talk about whether these necessities vary depending on where someone is living.

There are a lot of medical and social issues that contribute to poverty, and you could write about how disabilities contribute to poverty. This is one of the most important essay topics because people could be disabled through no fault of their own. Some of the issues you might want to address in this essay include:

• Talk about the road someone faces if they become disabled while serving overseas. What is it like for people to apply for benefits through the Veterans’ Administration?
• Discuss what happens if someone becomes disabled while at work. What is it like for someone to pursue disability benefits if they are hurt doing a blue-collar job instead of a desk job?
• Research and discuss the experiences of disabled people and how their disability impacts their financial situation.

People who are disabled need to have money to survive for many reasons, such as the inability to work, limitations at home, and medical expenses. A lack of money, in this situation, can lead to a dangerous cycle that can make it hard for someone to be financially stable and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Many people talk about the cycle of poverty, yet many aren’t entirely sure what this means or what it entails. A few key points you should address in this essay include:

• When someone is born into poverty, income inequality can make it hard to get an education.
• A lack of education makes it hard for someone to get into a good school, which gives them the foundation they need to compete for a good job. 
• A lack of money can make it hard for someone to afford college, even if they get into a good school.
• Without attending a good college, it can be hard for someone to get a good job. This makes it hard for someone to support themselves or their families. 
• Without a good paycheck, it is nearly impossible for someone to keep their children out of poverty, limiting upward mobility into the middle class.

The problem of poverty is a positive feedback loop. It can be nearly impossible for those who live this every day to escape. Therefore, you might want to explore a few initiatives that could break the cycle of world poverty and explore other measures that could break this feedback loop.

Many business people and politicians have floated the idea of a universal basic income to give people the basic resources they need to survive. While this hasn’t gotten a lot of serious traction, you could write an essay to shed light on this idea. A few points to hit on include:

• What does a universal basic income mean, and how is it distributed?
• Some people are concerned about the impact this would have on taxes. How would this be paid for?
• What is the minimum amount of money someone would need to stay out of poverty? Is it different in different areas?
• What are a few of the biggest reasons major world governments haven’t passed this?

This is one of the best essay examples because it gives you a lot of room to be creative. However, there hasn’t been a concrete structure for implementing this plan, so you might want to afford one.

Another interesting topic you might want to explore is interviewing someone living in poverty or who has been impoverished. While you can talk about statistics all day, they won’t be as powerful as interviewing someone who has lived that life. A few questions you might want to ask during your interview include:

• What was it like growing up?
• How has living in poverty made it hard for you to get a job?
• What do you feel people misunderstand about those who live in poverty?
• When you need to find a meal, do you have a place you go to? Or is it somewhere different every day?
• What do you think is the main contributor to people living in poverty?

Remember that you can also craft different questions depending on your responses. You might want to let the interviewee read the essay when you are done to ensure all the information is accurate and correct.

The criminal justice system and poverty tend to go hand in hand. People with criminal records are more likely to be impoverished for several reasons. You might want to write an essay that hits on some of these points:

• Discuss the discriminatory practices of the criminal justice system both as they relate to socioeconomic status and as they relate to race.
• Explore just how hard it is for someone to get a job if they have a criminal record. Discuss how this might contribute to a life of poverty.
• Dive into how this creates a positive feedback loop. For example, when someone cannot get a job due to a criminal record, they might have to steal to survive, which worsens the issue.
• Review what the criminal justice system might be like for someone with resources when compared to someone who cannot afford to hire expert witnesses or pay for a good attorney.

You might want to include a few examples of disparate sentences for people in different socioeconomic situations to back up your points. 

Affordable housing can make a major difference when someone is trying to escape poverty

Many poverty-related problems could be reduced if people had access to affordable housing. While the cost of housing has increased dramatically in the United States , some initiatives exist to create affordable housing. Here are a few points to include:

• Talk about public programs that offer affordable housing to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Discuss private programs, such as Habitat for Humanity , doing similar things.
• Review the positive impacts that stable housing has on both adults and children.
• Dive into other measures local and federal governments could take to provide more affordable housing for people.

There are a lot of political and social angles to address with this essay, so you might want to consider spreading this out across multiple papers. Affordable housing can make a major difference when trying to escape poverty. If you want to learn more, check out our essay writing tips !

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Essay on Poverty | Poverty Essay for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on Poverty: As commented by Mahatma Gandhi decades back, ‘Poverty is the worst form of violence’. During recent years, Poverty is the biggest hurdle in an entire way towards India’s development. Poverty is a worse condition in which the person entirely fails to fulfil his/her physiological needs and the need for food and luxurious life. Poverty-stricken people can also have the best facility for fighting against the diseases and get balanced nutrition and proper medical assistance whenever required.

Even since the immemorial times, poverty has been a more comprehensive concerning issue, and it intensified more in India under the British rule, reaching a peak in the 1920s. The essay on poverty contains various facts and details that are important for understanding the students about the concerned agenda.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Poverty for Students and Kids in English

We provide children and students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic “Poverty” for reference.

Short Essay on Poverty 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Poverty is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Poverty is the lack of food, clothing, proper shelter, medicine, education, and other essential elements for better survival in the World. It is also the assurance of having equal human rights. Poverty is a worse situation that forces people to starve without proper shelter, clothing, ethical rights, and educational assistance.

Several reasons lead to poverty in any country. Even though there are several solutions to avoid the poverty attack, the lack of proper unity among a country’s residents for following the answers leads to the issues. This is another primary reason why the poverty rate is rapidly rising with each passing day.

The spread of the epidemic diseases also leads to the rising rate of poverty in any country. This is because most poor people cannot maintain their health status and get appropriate medical aid in such situations. Poverty is the adverse situation that makes the people unable to go to the service assurers for their needs, and go even more towards the diseases and illness due to unclean and unhygienic food and water and living in unhealthy situations.

It is the effect that makes people powerless and risks their freedom. This is because a poverty-stricken person might enter the vicious circle of slavery. But, this is an inescapable issue, and thus the person who is stuck in it has to live with it. Poverty is an adverse human situation that brings grief, pain, and despair in individuals’ lives. It is the lack of money and necessities for living luxuriously and adequately with access to all the essential elements. This is an adverse situation that might also make a child unable to enter the school and study during childhood, and this is also the reason behind worse social issues like child labour and slavery.

Poverty means the shortage of money for arranging even the perfect two times meal and have a healthy nutritious diet. Such people do not have enough money to afford the essentials for living a perfect and healthy human life. Thus, there are several ways available that one can use for defining poverty.

Poverty is the most common social issue in the underdeveloped or developing nations, like India and Africa. These nations have a higher poverty rate than the developed countries across the World. This is because a significant segment of people in these countries do not have access to better-earning opportunities and income and cannot meet the basic needs of life. A more substantial segment of these nations’ population is illiterate, stays hungry, and lives without a home and proper clothes.

Poverty is also the primary reason that hinders the country’s economic, social, and political growth. Poor people do not have enough money to satisfy all their needs and lives the entire life without access to many facilities, including even a two-day meal and clean drinking water. Poor people are thus forced to enter into wrong paths and do crimes for earning their living. There are several reasons for poverty in a nation, and for India, it was mainly the British rule, slavery conditions, and rising epidemic illness rates. Children from low-income families do not even get access to education and facility to have proper schooling and medical aids. Many of them are not even aware of the modern advancements that the comparatively more prosperous people have access to.

Long Essay on Poverty 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Poverty is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Poverty is a worse situation that represents poor quality of life, rising illiteracy and malnutrition, lack of basic and essential elements of living, lower development of the human resource, and others. This is a more significant challenge, significantly hindering the growth of the developing nations, like India. Poverty is the phenomenon in which a segment of society does not have access to meeting the basic needs of life and have a healthier life. The experts also observe that poverty level is still declining since India’s last five years (reaching 26.1% in 1999-2000 to 35.97% in 1993-1994)

Poverty in India has also declined at the state level rapidly. In Madhya Pradesh, the poverty rate fell from 43.42% to 37.43%. Not only this, but in other states like UP, and Orissa too, the poverty rate has gone downwards. However, even though there is a downfall in the country’s poverty rate, to eradicate it from the routes, we must make use of some effective programs with combined efforts of Government. It is necessary for the Government of the country to formulate effective strategies for developing a socially poor sector of the society using the critical components like population control measures, and primary education made compulsory, employment generation, and others.

Several issues arise due to a higher poverty rate. Illiteracy increases with poverty as people cannot access proper education and get learning resources due to lack of money. Poverty also leads to rising malnutrition as poor people are unable to afford a proper two-time meal and get a nutritious diet to stay healthy. In turn, this leads to increasing illness and diseases that also remains uncured because of lack of medical aid. Due to poverty, families have lower income that is unable to meet their needs, and thus the children are also forced into child labour to meet the demands.

Unemployment is a significant cause of poverty as it leads to a shortage of money and affects the daily lives of the people. It also forces people to work against their will in harmful conditions. Poverty leads to social stress due to inequality in income between the rich and the poor. This also creates a worse issue for people as they have to stay out of their homes on roadways, sidewalks, open spaces, and without any shelter. Poverty is a worse issue that affects people from all the demographics and age group in adverse ways, causing severe losses and stress for them. This is a concerning factor, and only the Government of a nation can come up with practical ways to reduce the poverty rate.

Poverty is an adverse condition in which the people are left without shelter in a depriving state for basic necessities like food, water, clothes, etc. India has a higher poverty rate. A more significant segment of the entire population cannot afford even the two-time meals properly, have to sleep on the roadsides, wear dirty clothes, drink unclean water, and live in unhealthy and unhygienic conditions. Poor people lack access to proper and healthy nutrition, medical aid, educational assistance, and other essential services to better their lives and the lives of their children.

In urban India, poverty is rapidly rising due to the rise in urban population as people from many rural areas are shifting towards the urban ones. As people move in search of employment and a better lifestyle, but lack of employment opportunities forces them into a financially unstable situation where sometimes they are even forced to work under harmful and unpleasing conditions. In India, more than eight crore people’s income is still lower than the poverty line, and 4.5 crore urban people stand at the verge of the poverty level. A more significant number of urban people stays in the slums, and most of them are illiterates.

Despite many initiatives of Government and NGOs, there is still no satisfying effect regarding the lowering of the poverty level. Several reasons lead to poverty like one of India’s significant cause for poverty is the rising population, poor agriculture, lack of employment opportunities, corruption, a wider gap between poor and rich, epidemic diseases, and many more. A more significant per cent of the Indian population depends on the agriculture sector, which is getting poor rapidly. People also face a shortage of food due to poor agriculture and unemployment.

Furthermore, as there is no limitation on having children after marriage, the rising population also leads to poverty. There are more stomachs to feed, and the income cannot satisfy the same for many families. Furthermore, as the basic facilities are not available adequately, many people get poverty-stricken. With this, the poor become extra poor and richer ones get extra rich, widening the gap between both the segments.

Poverty leads to severe impacts ion the entire society and adversely affects the lives of the people. Poverty leads to illiteracy, lack of proper diet and nutrition, child labour, poor lifestyle and lousy sanitization, and other adverse effects. People are often unable even to get a proper two-time meal and clean drinking water, and due to lack of a healthy diet, the children are mostly malnutrition. Children are unable to study and get appropriate education, and thus the cycle of poverty continues in the families for generations. This eventually hinders the overall development of the nation.

For controlling poverty, there are specific measures that we can take to solve the issue for ensuring a better lifestyle for all the people staying on the planet. There are specific effective measures like farmers must receive proper and necessary access to facilities for better agriculture. The illiterate people must get adequate access to education and training to understand several aspects of a better life. People must be given training for family planning and sex education for population control. Every child must go to school, and there must also be new employment opportunities for all type of people.

Poverty Essay Conclusion

Poverty is not an individual-level problem, but it is a broader issue for the entire nation and the planet. This is a significant threat to human resource development and must be taken care of on a priority basis. People must consider essential and effective measures to control the poverty rate. We must combined work to eradicate all the loopholes in the government systems and encourage the organizations which work to handle the poverty crisis.

The article contains an essay on poverty to satisfy various students’ educational and academic requirements from different classes. This is a concerning factor. The students must understand the issue sufficiently to eradicate the problem and ensure a better and developed lifestyle for all the people Worldwide.

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Essay on Poverty: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

• Updated on  
• Oct 14, 2023

Poverty is a deep-rooted problem that continues to affect a large portion of the world’s population today. It touches on several aspects of human life including but not limited to political, economic, and social elements. Even though there are several methods to escape poverty, still issues arise due to a lack of adequate unity among the country’s citizens. Here are some essays on poverty which will give you insights about this topic.

Table of Contents

• 1 Essay on Poverty in 100 words
• 2 Essay on Poverty in 200 words
• 3.1 Reasons Behind Poverty
• 3.2 World Poverty Conditions
• 3.3 Role of NGOs to Eradicate Poverty
• 3.4 What Can be Done by Us?

Essay on Poverty in 100 words

Poverty is defined as a state of scarcity, and the lack of material possessions to such an extreme extent that people have difficulties in fulfilling their basic needs. Robert McNamara, a former World Bank President, states that extreme poverty is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant mortality rate, squalid conditions of living, and low life expectancy.

In order to eradicate poverty in a country, strict measures need to be taken on all levels. The political system needs to address this issue with utmost sincerity and strategic implementation in such a way that it improves the lives of people, especially the ones living below the poverty line. 

Also Read: Speech on Made in India

Essay on Poverty in 200 words

Poverty is like a parasite that degrades its host and eventually causes a lot of damage to the host. It is basically the scarcity of basic needs that leads to an extremely degraded life and even low life expectancy. It includes a lack of food, shelter, medication, education, and other basic necessities. Poverty is a more serious circumstance where people are forced to starve. It can be caused by a variety of factors depending upon the country. 

Every country that is hit with pandemic diseases, experiences an increase in poverty rates. This is because of the fact that poor people are unable to receive adequate medical care and hence are unable to maintain their health. This renders the people powerless and even puts their liberty in jeopardy. This is because of the fact that poor people can become trapped in a vicious cycle of servitude. The condition of poverty is a distressing one that causes pain, despair, and grief in the lives of the ones it affects. 

This is also a negative scenario that prevents a child from attending basic education. It’s the lack of money that prevents people from living sufficiently. Also, it is the cause of more serious social concerns such as slavery, child labour, etc. Hence action is needed on the same with utmost sincerity. 

Essay on Poverty in 300 words

Poverty is a multifaceted concept that includes several aspects such as social aspects, political elements, economic aspects, etc. It is basically associated with undermining a variety of essential human attributes such as health, education, etc. Despite the growth and development of the economies of countries, poverty still exists in almost every one of them. 

Reasons Behind Poverty

There are several contributing reasons behind poverty in a nation. Some of them are mentioned below:-

• Lack of literacy among citizens
• Lack of Capital in the country
• Large families and a rapidly growing population
• Limited employment opportunities

There are even urban areas where the slum population is increasing. These are deprived of many basic amenities such as sanitation, drainage systems, and low-cost water supply, etc. 

World Poverty Conditions

According to UNICEF , around 22000 children lose their lives each day due to poverty. There are approximately 1.9 billion children in developing countries in the world and India is also among them. Out of these, approximately 640 million don’t have a proper shelter, 270 million are living without medical facilities, and approximately 400 million don’t have access to safe water. This worldwide situation is growing at a fast pace. 

Role of NGOs to Eradicate Poverty

The approaches by NGOs basically include helping the poor by providing various public services such as medical services etc.

They also play a major role in mobilizing the services recommended by the government. They have various approaches and strategies that directly help the poor in various ways.

What Can be Done by Us?

We help in eradicating poverty by increasing employment opportunities.

Ensuring financial services and providing the same is another such measure that can be taken.

Recognizing social entrepreneurs as people of influence, conveying to them the seriousness of this situation, and then eventually making people aware of the same is another thing that can be done. 

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Writing an essay on poverty in 200 words requires you to describe various aspects of this topic such as what causes poverty, how it affects individuals and society as a whole, etc. The condition of poverty is a distressing one that causes pain, despair, and grief in the lives of the ones it affects.

An essay on poverty may be started as follows:- Poverty is a deep-rooted problem that continues to affect a large portion of the world’s population today. It touches on several aspects of human life including but not limited to political, economic, and social elements. Even though there are several methods to escape poverty, still issues arise due to a lack of adequate unity among the country’s citizens.

Poverty in 100 words: Poverty is defined as a state of scarcity, and the lack of material possessions to such an extreme extent that people have difficulties in fulfilling their basic needs. Robert McNamara, a former World Bank President, states that extreme poverty is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant mortality rate, squalid conditions of living, and low life expectancy. In order to eradicate poverty in a country, strict measures need to be taken on all levels. The political system needs to address this issue with utmost sincerity and strategic implementation in such a way that it improves the lives of people, especially the ones living below the poverty line.

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Deepansh Gautam

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Poverty: The Main Causes and Factors Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

At the moment, there is a great deal of debate in the scientific community as to what exactly should be considered poverty. Because of the constant process of societal development, the concept of poverty changes rapidly, adapting to the new standards of modern human life. Thus, it is impossible to determine the causes of poverty with absolute precision. Still, a range of empirical knowledge about humanity allows identifying three groups of causes most likely to lead people and entire societies to poverty. Thus, this paper’s central thesis is that a person’s poverty can be influenced not only by the characteristics of his behavior but also by the circumstances in which he was born. These may include political and economic factors, which often cause poverty for the individual and the whole society.

There are various theories that summarize the causes of poverty. Brady (2019) writes that all theories about the emergence of poverty can be divided into three conditional groups: structural, behavioral, and political. The behavioral factor refers to the set of qualities of an individual that impede his financial well-being. These may include various addictions, insufficient level of education, a person’s worldview, and other reasons. Structural factors include labor market conditions, demographic context, and other socio-economic circumstances. An example is the increase in poverty associated with the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Bank (2022), declining incomes, job losses and work stoppages during the pandemic have significantly reduced household incomes. Finally, political causes refer to the policies pursued by the government and its institutions, which hinder the economic well-being of the citizen and society.

Observing the behavioral causes of poverty, it is worth noting several vital factors highlighted by scholars. Brown (2018) writes that given the same circumstances, some people may become more prosperous than others, which may be due to a number of their behavioral characteristics. Various studies have tested the correlation between different measures of human character and one’s financial situation. Still, one can assume the deductive argument that greater diligence, striving for growth and development, ambition, and other personality traits can affect whether or not one will be poor. According to behavioral theory, if people become poor, then they themselves are responsible for this, since their individual shortcomings, laziness or lack of qualifications necessary for society lead to the impossibility of finding a job. Mavroudeas et al. (2019) note that the character traits of the unemployed can vary widely, from a lack of hard work or good morals to a low level of education or competitive market skills. Moreover, it is worth considering that some illnesses prevent a person from reaching their goals. Such illnesses include disabilities, congenital problems, and other factors affecting a person’s future expenses and employment.

The next group of reasons is related to the demographic characteristics of the region and the conditions of the labor market there. Fewer children are born in countries where the second demographic transition has occurred. It allows parents to concentrate all their efforts on upbringing, education, and health. In less developed countries or countries with higher fertility rates, parents have to rely on the number of their children. High infant mortality forces parents to have more children than their financial situation can afford, which is also a significant cause of poverty in the developing world.

Several political, social, historical, and economic factors prevent certain societies, and therefore most of their members, from crossing the poverty threshold. Being in a prolonged military conflict, a severe financial crisis, and insufficient valuable resources for economic development are important causes of poverty for many African and Asian countries (Wijekoon, 2021). All these factors harm the region’s economic development, creating several behavioral and structural problems. For example, higher levels of unemployment often lead to problems with alcohol addiction in society. It is also worth noting that Greve (2019) identifies certain categories of citizens who, due to demographic, social and economic reasons, find themselves in a state of poverty. These include the disabled, pensioners, people with a high incidence of disease, and those with a large number of dependents. Thus, the cause of poverty is a person’s belonging to these groups.

The political reasons also include a high level of state corruption, leading to an unfair allocation of resources. In situations where a limited number of people own most of the country’s natural reserves, resources, and finances, essential to discuss unnatural causes of regional poverty caused by the incompetent work of the state apparatus. Correct distribution of resources in the economy, which promotes competition between businesses and individuals, can lead a country to develop and reduce the number of poor people.

Thus, many causes of poverty affect individuals and society in different ways. Although the definition of poverty is constantly changing and varies from country to country, there are several universal reasons for the poverty of some and the wealth of others. These reasons are historical, political, demographic, and others, as many factors, influence a person’s financial situation. Each of these causes can be a consequence of the previous one, just as alcohol addiction can follow a wage fall or an increase in unemployment.

Brady, D. (2019). Theories of the Causes of Poverty. Annual Review of Sociology , 45 , 155-175.

Brown, U., & Long, G. (2018). Poverty and welfare. In Social Welfare (pp. 19-34). Routledge.

Greve, B. (2019). Poverty: The Basics (1 st ed.). Routledge.

Mavroudeas, S., Akar, S., & Dobreva, J. (2019). Globalization, poverty, inequality, & sustainability. IJOPEC.

The World Bank. (2022). Poverty. The World Bank. Web.

Wijekoon, R., Sabri, M. F., & Paim, L. (2021). Poverty: A literature review of the concept, measurements, causes and the way forward. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences , 11 (15), 93-111.

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IvyPanda. (2023, July 30). Poverty: The Main Causes and Factors. https://ivypanda.com/essays/poverty-the-main-causes-and-factors/

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IvyPanda . 2023. "Poverty: The Main Causes and Factors." July 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/poverty-the-main-causes-and-factors/.

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Poverty Essay in English For Students & Children in 1000 Words

In this article, you will read a poverty essay for students and children in 1000 words. This includes meaning, situation in India, causes, effects, reducing ideas, and 10 lines about poverty.

Table of Contents

Poverty Essay in English (1000 Words)

Many reasons are there for this huge amount of poverty in India, but in short, the population explosion, the increase in prices, the debt trap, lower agricultural productivity, and the lack of proper government development are the sole reasons for it. 

What is Poverty?

Poverty is the condition of being extremely poor for a human being. In this condition, the individual starts to lack the basic important things in their life: a roof over their heads, necessary food, medicine, clothes, etc., to continue their life. Several reasons for the cause of poverty are possible. 

An increase in the literacy rate and providing sustainable living conditions for the poor are some of the ways in which poverty can be curtailed to some extent. 

Poverty Situation in India

Central and state governments have successfully collaborated with many of the private and public sector organisations to deal with this situation. Their main agenda is to eradicate poverty in India completely. 

Cause of Poverty in India

Poverty is a dreadful problem in human life. Poverty is just like that of an enslaved person who cannot do the things he wants. Poverty has many faces, which keep on changing according to place, time, and person. 

The Colonials are solely responsible for the major and significant damage done to this country. They entered as traders and slowly started to occupy a monopoly on various sectors. 

Effects of Poverty in India

As a result, their immune systems are merely affected, making them prone to several ailments. It makes them susceptible to anaemia, cardiac issues, poor vision, etc. 

How to Reduce Poverty in India?

Access to education can promote higher education, and higher education can increase the employability of such individuals. In this way, poverty can be elevated as the individual starts earning. Education is the most effective way to combat poverty in India. 

10 Lines on Poverty Essay in Hindi

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• Poverty Essay

Poverty in India Essay

500+ words poverty in india essay.

Poverty is defined as a condition in which a person or family lacks the financial resources to afford a basic, minimum standard of living. Poor people don’t have adequate income; they can’t afford housing, health facilities and education which are essential for basic survival. So, poverty can be understood simply as a lack of money, or more broadly, barriers to everyday human life. With the help of this poverty essay, students will understand the meaning of poverty, the major causes of poverty and the efforts taken to eliminate poverty in India. So, students must go through this poverty in India essay in depth to get ideas on how to write effective essays and score high marks in exams.

What Causes Poverty?

There are various factors that are responsible for poverty. The major causes are unemployment, illiteracy, increasing population, and lack of proper education and training. As people are not able to find work for themselves, they are not able to earn their livelihood. Due to this, they lack access to basic education, health care, drinking water and sanitation. They are unable to feed their families and children. The other causes of poverty include war, natural disasters, political instability, etc. For example, World War II impacted many countries and they had to suffer from poverty for a long time. It took a lot of effort for such countries to recover their normal state. Similarly, natural disasters affect some areas so badly that poverty and hunger arise.

How is Poverty Measured in India?

The minimum expenditure (or income) required to purchase a basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs is called the Poverty Line. Poverty can be measured in terms of the number of people living below this line. It is measured by the State Governments and information is provided by Below Poverty Line (BPL) censuses. Different countries use different measures for measuring poverty but the basic concept remains the same. The definition of the poverty line remains the same, i.e, consumption required for maintaining the minimum standard of living in a country.

Efforts to Eliminate Poverty

Earning income is the first step towards poverty eradication. Poverty can be eliminated by empowering people, and by giving them a good education that will prepare them to have a better career and future. With the help of education, people can get good jobs which allow them to earn a good living. In this way, they will be able to provide their children with a better life. People should be given easy access to transportation, information, communication, technologies, and other public facilities and services to help remove poverty.

The government has also taken several steps to eradicate poverty in India. It has launched various programmes and schemes such as the Five Years Programme, Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana etc. These programmes help to generate wage employment for the poor, unskilled people living in rural areas. The government also has social security programmes to help a few specific groups such as poor women, elder people, and widows. Apart from these government initiatives, citizens of India have to take an active part in eliminating poverty because it can’t be achieved by just a few people. It needs the support of everyone.

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Frequently asked Questions on Poverty in India Essay

How can poverty in india be abolished completely.

Abolishing poverty in India completely can be challenging. Steps should be taken to ensure equality in education so that everyone gets equal opportunities to find better livelihoods. Proper sanitation and water facility 3. Economic security and development

When was the first plan implemented for Poverty abolition?

The fifth five-year plan was first implemented in the year 1974-79 and since then the government has taken several steps and made many reservations to take this plan forward.

What is the relation between Poverty abolition and economic development?

Poverty abolition and economic development go hand in hand with each other and they are interlinked to each other. Eradication of poverty automatically improves the overall economic situation of a country.

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5 Essays About Poverty Everyone Should Know

Poverty is one of the driving forces of inequality in the world. Between 1990-2015, much progress was made. The number of people living on less than $1.90 went from 36% to 10%. However, according to the World Bank , the COVID-19 pandemic represents a serious problem that disproportionately impacts the poor. Research released in February of 2020 shows that by 2030, up to ⅔ of the “global extreme poor” will be living in conflict-affected and fragile economies. Poverty will remain a major human rights issue for decades to come. Here are five essays about the issue that everyone should know:

“We need an economic bill of rights” –  Martin Luther King Jr.

The Guardian published an abridged version of this essay in 2018, which was originally released in Look magazine just after Dr. King was killed. In this piece, Dr. King explains why an economic bill of rights is necessary. He points out that while mass unemployment within the black community is a “social problem,” it’s a “depression” in the white community. An economic bill of rights would give a job to everyone who wants one and who can work. It would also give an income to those who can’t work. Dr. King affirms his commitment to non-violence. He’s fully aware that tensions are high. He quotes a spiritual, writing “timing is winding up.” Even while the nation progresses, poverty is getting worse.

This essay was reprinted and abridged in The Guardian in an arrangement with The Heirs to the Estate of Martin Luther King. Jr. The most visible representative of the Civil Rights Movement beginning in 1955, Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. His essays and speeches remain timely.

“How Poverty Can Follow Children Into Adulthood” – Priyanka Boghani

This article is from 2017, but it’s more relevant than ever because it was written when 2012 was the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. That’s no longer the case. In 2012, around ¼ American children were in poverty. Five years later, children were still more likely than adults to be poor. This is especially true for children of colour. Consequences of poverty include anxiety, hunger, and homelessness. This essay also looks at the long-term consequences that come from growing up in poverty. A child can develop health problems that affect them in adulthood. Poverty can also harm a child’s brain development. Being aware of how poverty affects children and follows them into adulthood is essential as the world deals with the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Priyanka Boghani is a journalist at PBS Frontline. She focuses on U.S. foreign policy, humanitarian crises, and conflicts in the Middle East. She also assists in managing Frontline’s social accounts.

“5 Reasons COVID-19 Will Impact the Fight to End Extreme Poverty” – Leah Rodriguez

For decades, the UN has attempted to end extreme poverty. In the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak, new challenges threaten the fight against poverty. In this essay, Dr. Natalie Linos, a Harvard social epidemiologist, urges the world to have a “social conversation” about how the disease impacts poverty and inequality. If nothing is done, it’s unlikely that the UN will meet its Global Goals by 2030. Poverty and COVID-19 intersect in five key ways. For one, low-income people are more vulnerable to disease. They also don’t have equal access to healthcare or job stability. This piece provides a clear, concise summary of why this outbreak is especially concerning for the global poor.

Leah Rodriguez’s writing at Global Citizen focuses on women, girls, water, and sanitation. She’s also worked as a web producer and homepage editor for New York Magazine’s The Cut.

“Climate apartheid”: World’s poor to suffer most from disasters” – Al Jazeera and news Agencies

The consequences of climate change are well-known to experts like Philip Alston, the special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. In 2019, he submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council sounding the alarm on how climate change will devastate the poor. While the wealthy will be able to pay their way out of devastation, the poor will not. This will end up creating a “climate apartheid.” Alston states that if climate change isn’t addressed, it will undo the last five decades of progress in poverty education, as well as global health and development .

“Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America” – Barbara Ehrenreich

In this excerpt from her book Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich describes her experience choosing to live undercover as an “unskilled worker” in the US. She wanted to investigate the impact the 1996 welfare reform act had on the working poor. Released in 2001, the events take place between the spring of 1998 and the summer of 2000. Ehrenreich decided to live in a town close to her “real life” and finds a place to live and a job. She has her eyes opened to the challenges and “special costs” of being poor. In 2019, The Guardian ranked the book 13th on their list of 100 best books of the 21st century.

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of 21 books and an activist. She’s worked as an award-winning columnist and essayist.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Essay on Poverty

Nations are suffering with various problems and challenges facing the world today, known as global issues. These issues range from environmental degradation, poverty, political instability, and disease, to international security, human rights, and economic inequality. In recent years, the world has seen an increase in the intensity and frequency of global issues, making it more important than ever to understand the causes and effects of these issues. Today we will discuss about poverty that is being a major global issue for various nations. By understanding this in detail, we can work together to create solutions and create a better future for all.

Short and Long Poverty Essay in English

Here, we are presenting long and short essays on Poverty in English for students under word limits of 100 – 150 Words, 200 – 250 words, and 500 – 600 words. This topic is useful for students of classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 in English. These provided essays on Poverty will help you to write effective essays, paragraphs, and speeches on this topic.

Poverty Essay 10 Lines (100 – 150 Words)

1) Poverty is the lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare.

2) Poverty is a global problem that affects more than 1.3 billion people worldwide.

3) Poverty can lead to a lack of access to education, health care, and employment opportunities.

4) Poverty can lead to malnutrition, disease, and poor quality of life.

5) Poverty can lead to a decrease in life expectancy.

6) Poverty can lead to increased crime rates and social unrest.

7) According to the World Bank, India accounted for 22% of the world’s population living in poverty.

8) The poverty rate in India is significantly higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

9) Literacy is the major factor for poverty.

10) The govt. of India has implemented a range of social welfare programs to reduce poverty.

Short Essay on Poverty (250 – 300 Words)

Introduction

Poverty is an increasing problem in the world today. It is defined as the lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and access to health care and education. It is a multifaceted issue that affects both individuals and societies.

Causes of Poverty

There are a number of causes of poverty, including conflicts, natural disasters, inadequate access to education, discrimination, and lack of economic opportunities. Conflict is a major cause of poverty, as it destroys the infrastructure and disrupts the economy of a country.

Natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, can also lead to poverty by destroying the infrastructure and resulting in loss of jobs. Inadequate access to education is another major cause of poverty, as it limits people’s ability to gain knowledge and skills that are needed to compete for jobs.

Impact of Poverty

Poverty has a number of negative impacts on individuals and societies. It can lead to poor health outcomes, as people may not have access to proper medical care or nutritious food. It can also lead to social exclusion and marginalization, as people who live in poverty may be seen as second-class citizens. Finally, poverty can lead to underdevelopment, as it limits a country’s ability to invest in infrastructure and other public services.

Poverty is an increasing problem in the world today. It is caused by a number of factors, including conflict, natural disasters, inadequate access to education, discrimination, and lack of economic opportunities. It has a number of negative impacts on individuals and societies, including poor health, social exclusion, and underdevelopment.

Long Essay on Poverty (500 Words)

Poverty is a major issue faced by people all over the world. It is a state of deprivation and lack of access to basic human needs and rights. Poverty exists in every country, but is particularly severe in developing countries. According to the UN, more than 1 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty, with their lives characterized by hunger, malnutrition, and lack of access to basic health services.

Reasons of Increasing Poverty

There are several causes of poverty, including natural disasters, war and conflict, lack of education, inequality, and poor health. Natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes, can cause poverty by destroying crops, homes, and livelihoods

 War and conflict can also lead to poverty, as it disrupts economic systems, destroys infrastructure, and causes displacement. Lack of education can limit people’s job prospects and their ability to make a living, leading to poverty. Inequality, which can be seen in unequal distribution of resources, can also lead to poverty. Poor health can lead to poverty, as people are unable to work or are unable to access health services.

Discrimination also contributes to poverty, as certain groups of people may be excluded from certain economic opportunities due to their race, gender, or ethnicity. Finally, lack of economic opportunities for individuals can lead to poverty, as it limits their ability to make a living.

Consequences of Poverty

Poverty has far-reaching consequences, including malnutrition, poor health, and limited access to education. Malnutrition is particularly common in areas of poverty, as people lack access to nutritious food. This can lead to a range of health issues, including anemia, stunting, and even death. Poverty also limits access to education, as people may not be able to afford school fees or supplies. This can create a cycle of poverty, as education is essential for people to be able to find jobs and escape poverty.

How Poverty Can be Controlled?

There are several ways to control poverty, including economic growth, access to education, and increased aid. Economic growth can help to reduce poverty by creating jobs and increasing incomes. Access to education is also important, as it can help people to gain the skills they need to find good jobs and escape poverty. Finally, increased aid from governments and international organizations can help to reduce poverty, as it can provide people with access to food, healthcare, and other services.

In conclusion, poverty is a major issue faced by people around the world. It is caused by a range of factors, including natural disasters, war and conflict, lack of education, inequality, and poor health. It has far-reaching consequences, including malnutrition, poor health, and limited access to education. There are several solutions to poverty, including economic growth, access to education, and increased aid.

I hope the above-provided essay on Poverty will be helpful for everyone to know about the how poverty is a very major global issue and how can we contribute to our nation to resolve this issue.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions on Poverty

Ans. Burundi is the poorest country in the world.

Ans. United States is the wealthiest country of the world.

Ans. There are many ways to help fight poverty, such as donating to charities, volunteering with organizations that provide services to those in need, and advocating for policies that help reduce poverty.

Ans. Different types of Poverty are Situational poverty, Generational poverty, Absolute poverty, Relative poverty, Urban poverty, Rural poverty.

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Poverty Essay

In this poverty essay, we had describe poverty, its effects & measures to control poverty.

Poverty is the condition of a person when he cannot fulfil his basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter.

Essay on Poverty 100 words:

Poverty is the condition of any person being very poor.

It is an extreme condition when a person feels a lack of essential commodities such as shelter, adequate food, clothing, medicines, etc. to continue life.

Some common causes of poverty are overgrowth, fatal and epidemic diseases, and natural disasters.

Low agricultural production, lack of employment, casteism, illiteracy, gender inequality, environmental problems in the country.

Changing trends of the economy in the country, lack of proper education, untouchability, limited or inadequate access to people’s own rights, political violence, organized crime, Corruption, lack of motivation, laziness, old social beliefs, etc.

Poverty in India can be reduced after effective solutions, but the individual efforts of all citizens are needed.

Poverty Essay 150 words:

We can define poverty as a lack of food, proper shelter, clothing, medicines, education and equal human rights.

Poverty forces a person to starve, without shelter, without clothing, education and proper rights.

There are various causes of poverty in the country, although there are solutions, due to lack of proper unity among Indian citizens to follow the solutions, poverty is getting worse day by day.

The spread of epidemic diseases is the cause of poverty in any country because poor people cannot take care of their health status.

Poverty makes people unable to go to the doctor, go to school, study, speak properly, eat three meals a day, dress in need, buy own house, get a proper salary for a job, etc.

A person can go towards illness due to drinking unclean water, living in dirty places and eating inappropriate food.

Poverty causes powerlessness and lack of freedom.

Essay on Poverty 200 words:

Poverty is like a slave situation when a person is unable to do anything he wishes, which change according to person, place and time.

It can be described in many ways that a person feels it or is living it.

Poverty is a condition that no one wants to live, but it has to be taken away due to custom, nature, natural disaster, or lack of proper education.

The person lives it, usually wants to escape.

It is an invisible problem that badly affects a person and his social life in many ways.

Poverty is a completely preventable problem, but there are many reasons that have persisted since the past.

Poverty causes a person to lack freedom, mental well-being, physical welfare and security.

It is very important for everyone to work together to remove poverty from the country and the world to bring about proper physical health, mental health, full literacy, home for all, and other essential things to lead a simple life.

Essay on Indian Poverty 250 words:

Poverty is a human condition that brings despair, grief and pain in human life.

Poverty is the lack of money and all that is necessary to live life properly.

Poverty makes a child unable to enter school in childhood and lives his childhood in an unhappy family.

Poverty is a shortage of few rupees for arranging two times daily bread and butter, buying textbooks for children, the grief of parents responsible for taking care of children, etc.

We can define poverty in many ways.

It is very common to see poverty in India because most of the people here cannot meet the basic needs of life.

A large percentage of the population here is illiterate, hungry and without homes and clothes.

This is the main reason for the poor Indian economy.

Almost half of the population in India is living a miserable life due to poverty.

Poverty creates a situation in which people fail to get sufficient income so they cannot buy essential things.

A poor man lives his life without any facilities, such as two meals a day, clean drinking water, clothes, home, proper education, etc. Existence.

There are various reasons for poverty in India, but the distribution of national income is also a reason.

People in the lower-income group tend to be relatively poorer than the higher income group.

Children from poor families never get proper schooling, proper nutrition and happy childhood.

The most important causes of poverty are illiteracy, corruption, increasing population, poor agriculture, the difference between poor and rich, etc.

Poverty Essay 300 words:

Poverty represents poor quality of life, illiteracy, malnutrition, lack of basic needs, low human resource development etc.

This is the biggest challenge for the developing country, especially in India.

It is a phenomenon in which a section of the society cannot meet the basic needs of its life.

It has seen some decline in the poverty level in the last five years (from 26.1% in 1999–2000, from 35.97% in 1993–94).

It has also declined at the state level such that it decreased to 47.15% to 48.56% in Orissa, 43.42% to 37.43% in Madhya Pradesh, 31.15% to 40.85% in UP and 27.6% to 35.66% in West Bengal.

Instead of some decline in poverty in India, it is not a pleasure because the Indian BPL is still a very large number (26 crores).

Poverty in India can be eradicated by the use of some effective programs, although a combined effort by the government is needed for all.

The Government of India should formulate some effective strategies to develop the poor social sector through key components like primary education, population control, family welfare, employment generation etc., especially in rural areas. Also, read poverty essay in 400 words .

Effects of Poverty:

Illiteracy: Poverty makes people unable to get a proper education due to lack of money.

Nutrition and Diet: Poverty leads to inadequate availability of diet and inadequate nutrition which brings many fatal diseases and deficiency diseases.

Child labour: This gives rise to a huge level of illiteracy as the future of the country becomes involved in child labour at an early age.

Unemployment: Unemployment causes poverty because it creates a shortage of money which affects the daily life of the people.

It forces people against their will to live an incomplete life.

Social stress: It creates social tension due to income inequality between rich and poor.

Housing problems: This creates a bad situation for people to stay outside the house on sidewalks, roadways, other open spaces, multiple members in one room, etc.

Disease: It gives rise to various epidemic diseases because people with money shortage cannot maintain proper sanitation and hygiene.

Apart from this, they cannot afford a doctor for proper treatment of any disease.

Poverty alleviation: Poverty affects the lives of women to a great extent due to gender inequality and deprives them of proper diet, nutrition, medicines and treatment.

Essay on Poverty 400 words:

Poverty is a condition in which people are deprived of the basic necessities of life such as inadequacy of food, clothes and shelter.

Most people in India cannot get their two-time meals properly, sleep on the side of the road and wear dirty and old clothes.

They do not get proper and healthy nutrition, medicines, and other essential things.

Poverty is increasing in urban India due to an increase in urban population as people from rural areas prefer to migrate to cities and towns to get employment or to do some financial activity.

The income of about 8 crore urban people is below the poverty line and 4.5 crore urban people are at the threshold level of the poverty level.

A large number of people live in slums which are illiterate.

Despite some initiatives, no satisfactory results have been shown regarding poverty reduction. Also, read poverty essay FAQ .

Reasons for Poverty:

• The main causes of poverty in India are increasing population, poor agriculture, corruption, old customs, a huge gap between poor and rich people, unemployment, illiteracy, epidemic diseases etc.
• A large percentage of people in India depend on agriculture which is poor.
• People usually face food shortages due to poor agriculture and unemployment.
• The ever increasing population is also the cause of poverty in India; more population means more food, money and houses.
• In the lack of basic facilities, poverty increases rapidly, becoming extra rich and extra poor creates a huge gap between rich and poor people.
• Rich people are getting rich and poor people are becoming poor which creates an economic difference.

Impact of Poverty:

Poverty affects people’s lives in many ways.

• Poverty has various effects such as illiteracy, poor diet and nutrition, child labour, poor housing, poor lifestyle, unemployment, poor sanitation, the feminization of poverty, etc.
• Poor people cannot arrange a healthy diet, nor maintain a good lifestyle, home, good clothes, proper education etc., due to lack of money which creates a huge difference between rich and poor.
• This difference leads to underdeveloped countries.
• Poverty forces young children to work at a low cost and help their family financially rather than going to school.

Also, read 1. Indian Education System Essay 2. Indian Culture Essay 3. Essay on Education

Control Measures for Poverty:

• It is very important to solve the problem of poverty on a crucial basis for the good of humanity on this planet.
• Some measures that can play a big role in solving the problem of poverty are:
• Farmers should get proper and necessary facilities for good agriculture as well as to make it profitable.
• Those who are illiterate should be given necessary training for the betterment of life.
• Family planning should be followed by people to check for the increasing population and thus poverty.
• Corruption should be eliminated worldwide to reduce poverty.
• Every child should go to school and take proper education.
• There should be employment opportunities where people from all categories can work together. Also, read poverty essay conclusion .

Conclusion:

Poverty is not just an individual problem but is a national problem; this should be solved on an instant basis by implementing some effective solutions.

Various steps have been taken by the government to reduce poverty but there are no clear results.

Eradication of poverty is essential for sustainable and inclusive development of the people, economy, society and country.

Poverty can be eliminated effectively by the combined efforts of each and every individual.

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Short Essay on Poverty [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

In this lesson, you will learn to write short essays on Poverty . Here I will be writing three sets of essays on the same topic covering different word limits relevant for various exams.

Table of Contents

Short essay on poverty in 100 words, short essay on poverty in 200 words, short essay on poverty in 400 words.

Poverty is when people do not have enough money to meet their basic needs including food, clean water, clothing, shelter and medical necessities. Today, more than 689 million people are living in poverty around the world. In India, about 6% of our total population of around 86 million people are poverty-stricken.

These people do not have enough to even eat two full meals a day. Many of them live on the streets and have no jobs. Those who have jobs work in extreme conditions and still do not get paid enough to provide for themselves or their families. Although governments around the world have taken measures to help these people, the situation wouldn’t get better unless better steps are taken to ensure that people get an education, enough food and an opportunity to live a dignified life. 

Poverty is often described as a state in which people are unable to meet their basic needs including food, clean water, clothing and medical necessities because they do not have enough money. Today, more than 689 million people are living in poverty around the world.

These people often don’t get to eat two full meals a day. Many of them live on the streets, in deplorable conditions, without any proper access to clean water. And these people aren’t all adults, there are little children, old men and women as well as disabled people. Most of them cannot find jobs even if they try to. Those who do find a job have to often work in extreme, unhygienic and inhuman conditions where others wouldn’t dare to work. 

Looking at the struggles of poverty-stricken people often makes one think about why do these poor people have to suffer so much. Now, on one hand, there are the mega-rich people who have more than they could ever need and on the other than there are extremely poor people who would be grateful if they could get one proper meal a day. If only we can bridge the gap between the two, everyone would be able to live well.

The governments around the world have taken some measures to help poverty-stricken people, but the situation wouldn’t really improve unless proper steps are taken to ensure that these people have the access to education, enough food and an opportunity to live a dignified life. 

The father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, once said – “poverty is the worst form of violence”. And it is true indeed. Poverty is when people do not have enough money to meet their basic needs including food, clean water, clothing, shelter and medical necessities. Today, more than 689 million people are living in poverty around the world.

Many of them live on the streets, in deplorable conditions, without any proper access to clean water, and don’t have food as well. When we compare this to the huge number of millionaires and billionaires we have in this world, it does paint a really cruel picture. 

Looking at the struggles of poverty-stricken people often makes one think about why do these poor people have to suffer so much. We have more than enough resources on this planet to provide for everyone.

The mega-rich in this world have more than they would ever need while the people living below the poverty line would be grateful if they could even get one proper meal a day. If only we could bridge this gap and bring everyone together, if only we could share what we have and help each other, there wouldn’t be so much suffering in this world. But the reality is that in this capitalist world, most people lack compassion and do not want to share.

The governments make some policies here and some changes there and make it seem like they are going to deal with the issues but by the time the help actually reaches those in need, it is negligible. 

The effects of poverty on a person’s life are manifold. A poor person who doesn’t have enough to buy bread for himself or his family can not think of sending his children to school. These kids who remain uneducated do not get the opportunity in life to rise above their situation or do something good for themselves and end up repeating the same cycle.

Some families remain poverty-stricken for generations, not knowing how to find a way out of it. Their situation can only improve if the government makes proper plans to provide education, food, shelter and jobs for them. It is important that the plan doesn’t just stay on the paper but is actually put to action. 

People who live below the poverty line are also human beings like us. We must always remember that and do our best to help them. Everyone deserves to live a dignified life. 

In this session, I’ve discussed the topic of poverty from a very wide perspective in simple words that everybody understands. If you still have any doubts regarding the topic, kindly let me know through the comment section below. 

Join us on Telegram to get all the latest updates on our upcoming sessions. Thank you. 

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Essay on poverty 3 Models

Essay on poverty explains the reasons for the spread of poverty, especially in third world countries, in addition to a short essay on poverty and how to mitigate its damage.

We will present several models on the topic of poverty such as a short essay on  poverty and a paragraph on poverty.

All of these topics are suitable for students in different educational stages, and are written by specialized professors, in an easy manner. Essay on poverty is one of the most important topics that you must practice on writing it.

Essay on poverty

Poverty is the most dangerous disease that destroys human dreams and aspirations. We write an essay on poverty to show how poverty makes a person miserable and has no ambitions, and his thinking focuses only on how to get money that secures him a decent life.

Poverty turns the life of the poor into darkness, and poverty may push a person to commit crimes he never planned.

In an essay on poverty, we will discuss the meaning of poverty, its causes, how to get rid of it, and the role of civil organizations in helping the poor.

What is the meaning of poverty?

We can define poverty as the lack of human possession of the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing, treatment and education. These are essential needs for human life, and none of them can be dispensed with. We can also define poverty as not having enough money to buy the necessities of a person’s life.

Poverty is a social problem that many societies suffer from, and the concept of poverty varies from one society to another depending on the nature of that society and its economic conditions.

Whoever is considered poor in a rich country with a strong economy, may be considered rich in a poor country with a weak economy. That is, poverty is a relative thing, the scale of which varies from one country to another.

From the above it is clear that the poor is the person whose living situation does not fit with the prevailing living situation in his society.

The Reasons of Poverty

There are many causes of poverty, some of which are related to the person, and some are related to the state, but in the end it is a serious problem that affects the life of the individual, and affects the renaissance and progress of society. Among the causes of poverty are the following:

• Wars and civil strife are among the most important causes of poverty, as wars and conflicts destroy the infrastructure of the state. In addition to allocating large sums of money to buy military equipment. Also, production is greatly reduced as young people go to conscription, and many of them are killed during the war. All this will lead to the spread of poverty among many segments of society.
• The spread of epidemics is also a strong reason for the spread of poverty, because the spread of epidemics leads to the death of many people, and leaves their families without a provider. Also, many companies and factories stop working during the spread of epidemics, for example what happened during the spread of the (Covid-19) virus.
• Natural disasters are a strong reason for the spread of poverty among people, as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanoes, heavy rains or droughts are all destructive natural phenomena, and cause a lot of havoc and destruction and destroy agriculture and industry, in addition to destroying homes and others.
• Failure to exploit the natural resources and capabilities available in the state, due to the corruption of the ruling regimes, or their being under pressure from powerful states that exploit their wealth.
• The failure of the state’s economic policy, and the accumulation of foreign debts, caused poverty to spread because the state could not provide subsidies to poor citizens, due to the lack of funds needed for that.
• The absence of social solidarity is one of the reasons for the spread of poverty, as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and this is the result of unjust laws that serve a specific group of citizens.
• Low salaries are a major factor in the spread of poverty, as the worker does not get the appropriate wage for his work, and therefore cannot provide for his basic needs.
• Lack of self-development and lack of interest in education is one of the causes of poverty. Every person must develop himself and look for a suitable job.

The serious effects of poverty

• The spread of the phenomenon of beggary in society, which is a bad and disturbing phenomenon.
• Increase in theft crimes, when a person does not find the money needed to buy his needs and the needs of his family, he may resort to theft, and in some cases he may commit heinous crimes.
• The high rate of unemployment among young people, and the lack of job opportunities lead to the spread of poverty among individuals, as well as to the backwardness of society.
• Lack of interest in education is one of the negative effects of poverty, as people focus on how to earn money in any way.
• The spread of bad morals is one of the phenomena resulting from poverty, where stress and anxiety increase.
• The deterioration of society as a result of the spread of poverty among many sects of society, which leads to the deterioration of production and a decrease in national income.
• Insecurity is one of the dangerous phenomena in which poverty is a cause, as the crime rate increases.
• The spread of mental and neurological diseases as a result of the psychological and nervous pressure that the poor person is exposed to, especially for those who have children and cannot provide them with basic needs.
• The spread of diseases among the poor is a dangerous phenomenon, because poverty prevents them from spending to improve health, where providing food, clothing and housing is more important.
• The prevalence of suicide or suicidal ideation is one of the most dangerous negative effects of poverty, as a person feels helpless and humiliated, and despair pushes him to commit suicide.
• Increasing family problems such as violence and divorce, because the failure to provide the basic needs of the family makes all family members live in nervous tension.

How do we get rid of poverty?

• Redistributing wealth among people, and not discriminating one group in society over the rest of the people.
• Achieving justice among people, and setting laws that guarantee workers’ rights, in terms of wages, working hours, and others.
• Providing job opportunities, encouraging small projects, and lending young people the money needed to run a small project, all of this contributes to solving the problem of poverty.
• Providing social protection for the poor, providing them with care, assisting them in providing food, clothing and housing, and providing them with appropriate education.
• Cooperation between state institutions and international organizations in providing assistance to the poor and providing them with job opportunities.

Poverty is one of the most dangerous diseases that afflict societies, and we will present several models such as an essay on poverty, a short essay and a paragraph on poverty and how to eradicate it.

We mentioned the definition of poverty and its causes, and what are the negative effects of the spread of poverty in society. I hope you have benefited from the essay on poverty.

To read more topics, please click on the following link:

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Essay on Poverty

The situation where one is unable to fulfil the minimum requirements of life such as food, clothing, housing, education, and health facilities is referred to as poverty. 

After reading our post ‘Essay on Poverty’ you will be able to understand the meaning of poverty, the causes of poverty and how to deal with it.

Poverty is the inability to secure the minimum human needs of food, clothing, housing, education, and health. When a person is unable to fulfil these basic needs, it leads to pain and distress.

Poverty can be categorized in many ways. In one of the methods of categorizing poverty, the people who always remained poor or are usually poor but sometimes have a little more money are grouped together and are known as chronic poor. The people who are rich most of the time but sometimes become poor are known as occasionally poor. The people who are never poor are called the non-poor. They can be categorized as not-so-poor, middle-class, upper-middle-class, rich, very rich, millionaires, and billionaires.

The problem of poverty can be solved by accelerating the pace of economic growth. A higher growth rate creates new employment and income-earning opportunities. Efforts should be made to incorporate new and modern techniques of production so as to improve productivity and production. Similarly, mechanization should be followed in the agriculture sector so as to improve production. An increase in production would lead to higher income and thereby, help eradicate poverty.

In addition to rapid economic growth, it is necessary to ensure that the increased income does not remain concentrated in a few hands. In other words, to remove poverty it is necessary to remove the inequality of income and wealth. This can be achieved by means of legislative and fiscal measures. Legislative measures include such measures as the Minimum Wages Act , Minimum Support Price, Right to Education, etc. Such measures raise the income earning capacity of people and improve their standard of living.

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On the other hand, fiscal measures comprise taxation and subsidy measures of the government. A high rate of taxes can be levied on the high-income group while the poor are granted subsidies. In this sense, the purchasing power is transferred from the rich to the poor. Similarly, pensions, scholarships, grants, etc. can be granted to the poor. Both the legislative as well as fiscal measures are aimed at encouraging an egalitarian society and reducing poverty.

A high population growth rate offsets the benefits of a high economic growth rate. Even when the level of national income is high, the per capita income will remain low if the population growth rate is high. Thus, to combat poverty, it becomes necessary to control the population growth rate.

People should be made aware of the benefits of a small family and different family control measures. Another measure of controlling the population is encouraging female education and employment. Stress should also be laid on other similar measures such as education, research in the field of family planning, and population control.

Poor are worse hit by the rising prices. Rising prices reduce purchasing power and make it difficult for the poor to purchase even the basic necessities. To reduce poverty steps must be taken to ensure stability in the prices. A two-fold methodology can be adopted for price stability. First, by increasing the production of goods and services, and second, by distributing the essential goods to the poor through fair price shops and ration shops.

Unemployment is one of the major causes of poverty. Steps must be taken to eradicate unemployment. India is a labour-abundant country, and one of the measures to increase employment can be to adopt labour-intensive techniques of production. Similarly, to absorb the labour in rural areas cottage and small-scale industries must be encouraged.

Self-employment must be encouraged in both rural areas and urban areas. Self-employed persons should be provided with such facilities as credit, marketing, transportation, technical training, etc. Besides, to improve employment in the country, it is necessary to make the education system more job-oriented, so that people have the practical knowledge and skill required for gainful employment. A reduction in unemployment through these measures will help in the reduction of poverty.

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Table of Contents

Essay on Poverty: Poverty is defined as the financial condition of a person, insufficient to sustain the vital needs of his/her own family. Any person of family which is unable to provide a square meal to the members or educate its children for the want of money is termed as poor and suffering from poverty. It is curse to the society and restricts the economical and social growth of a nation. Poverty eradication in a highly populous country as India could be a herculean task; though, it could be achieved through will power of the government and society. In the world scenario, poverty is great concern in the developing, under developed and the third world nations. Poverty also results in several diseases, law and order situations and very low standard of living.

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Long and Short Essay on Poverty in English

We have provided below various essay on poverty in order to help students.

Now-a-days, essays or paragraphs writing are common strategy followed by the teachers in the schools and colleges in order to enhance the skill and knowledge of students about any topic.

All the poverty essay are written using very simple words under various words limit according to the need and requirement of students.

They can select any of the essays given below according to their need and requirement in the class, any competition or exam.

Poverty Essay 1 (100 words)

Poverty is the state for any person of being extremely poor. It is the extreme situation when a person feels lack of essential items required to continue the life such as shelter, adequate food, clothing, medicines, etc. Some of the common reasons of poverty are like overpopulation, lethal and epidemic diseases, natural disasters, low agricultural output, lack of employment, casteism in country, illiteracy, gender inequality, environmental problems, changing trends of economy in the country, lack of proper education, untouchability, limited or inadequate access of people to their rights, political violence, organized crime, corruption, lack of motivation, idleness, old social beliefs, etc. Poverty in India can be reduced by following effective solutions however needs individual efforts of all the citizens.

Poverty Essay 2 (150 words)

We can define poverty as the lack of food, proper shelter, clothing, medicines, education, and equal human rights. Poverty forces a person to remain hungry, without shelter, without clothes, education and proper rights. There are various causes of poverty in the country however solutions too but because of the lack of proper unity among Indian citizens to follow solutions, poverty is increasing badly day by day. Spread of epidemic diseases in any country is the reason of poverty as poor people cannot take care of their health and hygienic condition.

Poverty makes people unable to go to doctor, to go to school, how to read, to speak properly, to eat three times meal, to wear needed clothes, to purchase own house, to get paid properly for job, etc. Poverty forces a person to go towards illness as they drink unclean water, lives at dirty places, and eat improper meal. Poverty causes powerlessness and lack of freedom.

Poverty Essay 3 (200 words)

Poverty is just like a condition of slave when a person becomes unable to do anything according to his/her wish. It has many faces which changes according to the person, place and time. It can be described in many ways a person feel it or live it. Poverty is a situation which no one wants to live however has to carry it by custom, nature, natural disaster, or lack of proper education. The person lives it, generally wants to escape. Poverty is a call to action to the poor people to earn enough money to eat, have access to education, get adequate shelter, wear needed clothes, and protection from the social and political violence.

It is an invisible problem which affects a person and his/her social life very badly in many ways. Poverty is completely preventable problem however there are many reasons which carry and continue it from the past time. Poverty keeps a person lack of freedom, mental well-being, physical well-being, and security. It is very necessary for everyone to work jointly in order to remove poverty from the country and world to bring proper physical health, mental health, complete literacy, home for everyone, and other needed things to live a simple life.

Poverty Essay 4 (250 words)

Poverty is a human condition which brings despair, grief and pain in the human life. Poverty is the lack of money and all the things required to live a life in proper manner. Poverty makes a child unable to enter to the school in childhood and lives his/her childhood in an unhappy family. Poverty is the lack of few rupees to arrange bread and butter of two times daily, buy text books for kids, grief of parents responsible for the care of children, etc. We can define poverty in many ways. It is very common to see poverty in India because most people here cannot fulfill their basic necessities of the life. A huge percentage of population here is uneducated, hungry and without home and clothe. It is the main reason of the poor Indian economy. Because of the poverty, around half population in India is living a miserable life.

Poverty creates a situation in which people fail to get sufficient income so they cannot purchase necessary things. A poor man lives his/her life without any command over basic needs such as two times food, clean drinking water, clothing, house, proper education, etc. People who fail to maintain the minimum standard of living such as consumption and nutrition required for existence. There are various reasons of poverty in India however mal distribution of national income is also a reason. Low income group people are relatively poorer than the high income group. Children of the poor family never get chance of proper schooling, proper nutrition and happy childhood. The most important reasons of the poverty are illiteracy, corruption, growing population, poor agriculture, gap between poor and rich, etc.

Poverty Essay 5 (300 words)

Poverty represents poor quality of life, illiteracy, malnutrition, lack of basic needs, low human resource development, etc. It is a biggest challenge to the developing country especially in India. It is a phenomenon in which a section of people in the society cannot fulfill their basic necessities of life. It has seen some decline in the poverty level in the last five years (26.1% in 1999-2000 from 35.97% in 1993-94). It has also declined at state level such as in Orissa it has been declined to 47.15% from 48.56%, in Madhya Pradesh 37.43% from 43.52%, in UP 31.15% from 40.85%, and in West Bengal 27.02% from 35.66%. Instead of some decline in the poverty in India it is not the matter of happiness because the Indian BPL is still very large number (26 crore).

Poverty in India can be eradicated by the use of some effective programmes, however need a joint effort by everyone not by the government only. Government of India should make some effective strategies aiming to develop poor social sector through key components like primary education, population control, family welfare, job creation, etc especially in the rural areas.

What are Effects of Poverty

Some of the effects of poverty are like:

• Illiteracy: poverty makes people unable to get proper education because of the lack of money.
• Nutrition and diet: poverty causes insufficient availability of diet and inadequate nutrition which brings lots of lethal diseases and deficiency diseases.
• Child labor: it gives rise to the huge level illiteracy as the future of the country gets involved in the child labor at very low cost in their early age.
• Unemployment: unemployment causes poverty as it creates the lack of money which affects people’s daily life. It forces people to live unfulfilled life against their will.
• Social tensions: it creates social tension due to the income disparity between rich and poor.
• Housing problems: it creates the bad condition for people to live without home on the footpath, roadside, other open places, many members in one room, etc.
• Diseases: it gives rise to the various epidemic diseases as people with lack of money cannot maintain proper hygiene and sanitation. Also they cannot afford a doctor for the proper treatment of any disease.
• Feminization of poverty: poverty affects women’s life to a great extent because of the gender-inequality and keeps them deprived of the proper-diet, nutrition, medicines and treatment facility.

Poverty Essay 6 (400 words)

Introduction

Poverty is a situation in which people remain deprived of basic necessities of life such as inadequacy of food, clothes, and shelter. Most of the people in India cannot get their two times meal properly, sleep at roadside and wear dirty and old clothes. They do not get proper and healthy nutrition, medicines, and other necessary things. Poverty in the urban India is increasing because of the increase in urban population as people from rural areas like to migrate to the cities and towns to get employment or do some financial activity. The income of around 8 crore urban people is below poverty line and 4.5 crore urban people is on borderline of poverty level. A huge number of people live in slum become illiterate. In spite of some initiatives there is no any satisfactory results shown regarding reduction of poverty.

Causes of Poverty

The main causes of poverty in India are growing population, poor agriculture, corruption, old customs, huge gap between poor and rich people, unemployment, illiteracy, epidemic diseases, etc. A huge percentage of people in India depend on agriculture which is poor and cause poverty. Generally people face shortage of food because of poor agriculture and unemployment. Ever growing population is also the reason of poverty in India. More population means more food, money and houses. In the lack of basic facilities, poverty grows more rapidly. Becoming extra rich and extra poor creates a huge widening gap between the rich and the poor people. Rich people are growing richer and poor people are growing poorer which creates an economic gap between the two.

Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects people’s life in many ways. There are various effects of poverty such as illiteracy, poor diet and nutrition, child labor, poor housing, poor life style, unemployment, poor hygiene, feminization of poverty, etc. Poor people cannot arrange a healthy diet, maintain good life style, home, nice clothes, proper education, etc because of the lack of money which creates a huge difference between rich and poor. This difference leads to the undeveloped country. Poverty forces small children to do work at low cost and help their family financially instead of going to the school.

Solutions to Eradicate Poverty

It is very necessary to solve the problem of poverty on urgent basis for the goodness of humanity on this planet. Some of the solutions that can play great role in solving the problem of poverty are:

• Farmers should get proper and required facilities for good agriculture as well as to make it profitable.
• Adult people who are illiterate should be given required training for the betterment of life.
• Family planning should be followed by the people in order to check the ever-rising population and thus poverty.
• Corruption should be ended all over the world to reduce the poverty.
• Each and every child should go to the school and take proper education.
• There should be ways of employment where people of all categories can work together.

Poverty is not only the problem of a person however it is a national problem. It must be solved on urgent basis by implementing some effective solutions. Variety of steps has been taken by the government to reduce poverty however no clear results are seen. Eradication of poverty is necessary for the sustainable and inclusive growth of people, economy, society and country. Eradication of poverty can be done effectively by the unite effort of each and every person.

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• Poverty in India Essay for Students in English

Essay on Poverty In India

People living in poverty do not have enough money for basic necessities such as food and shelter. An example of poverty is the state a person is in when he is homeless and does not have enough money. The rate of poverty in India is increasing because of the population in the urban areas. Most importantly, crores of peoples are below the poverty line and most of the people are on the borderline of poverty. Poverty in India is seen mainly in the rural areas because of the uneducated and unemployed and increased population. Many people do not afford to get proper foods for their daily life and even they don’t have their own homes, they sleep on the footpath or road, more populations need more food, money, and for staying houses but due to lack of this poverty grows very quickly, thus in addition rich are growing richer and the poor becoming more poorer which becomes difficult to fill the gap. Poverty has many effects like it reduces poor housing, illiteracy, increase the rate of child labour and unemployment, poor hygiene hence these poor people can not afford a balanced diet, nice clothes, well education etc. reason only because they don’t have much money to afford this. Poverty can be controlled by giving them proper education and also providing the proper facilities to the farmers so that those farmers get more profitable and do not migrate to cities in search of employment. Also, the illiterate people should get proper education to make their life better. Family planning is also essential for coming out of poverty. Poverty in our country is from ancient times. Even earlier times the poor people were not given the place that rich people used to get even if they were not allowed to enter religious places. Main causes of poverty are like unemployment, lack of education, poor utilization of resources, corruption and poor government policy.

How You Can Improve or Solve Poverty in India?

Poverty can be solved by improving food security by providing three meals a day and making them healthy and providing houses for those people at low cost and giving them proper education and facilities so that they can earn well and take care of their family and live a peaceful life. Awareness on population so that once the population is under control, the economy of the country will improve and move towards development and decrease in the poverty line. Poverty is becoming a complex problem for the people and for the government. How to overcome this, in India the poverty is high compared to other countries because the growth rate of per capita income per person is very low.

With lack of job opportunities many people move as a rickshaw puller, construction workers, domestic servants etc, with irregular small incomes hence they live in slum areas. Also, lack of land resources has been one of the major causes of poverty in India, even the small farmers of our country lead to poverty because they cultivate but do not get proper money in terms of profit and leads to poverty.

Population of India

The population has been increasing in India at a rapid speed, India’s population in 1991 was around 84.3 crores where was poverty at a high rate but now the current population of our country is around 130 crores whereas the population is almost doubled in last three decades but still not enough done for controlling the poverty in our country. Due to an increase in population, there is more unemployment, hence poverty is just the reflection of unemployment. More capital is required for making industry, giving proper transport facilities and other projects, hence the deficiency of its country is still underdeveloped and causes more poverty. Lack of skilled labor also leads to poverty because less-skilled labor have insufficient industrial education and training. Lack of infrastructure means that transport and communication have not been properly developed so that the farmers are not getting fertilizers for cultivation on time and industries do not get power supply and raw materials on time and thus end products are not marketed properly and not reachable on time. Because of poverty sometimes we don’t get those things for what we actually are. Hence to come out of poverty our government has to be more serious and also the citizens should take equal responsibilities. Remove the poverty from country governments has started many steps, in last 2-3 years we have seen that they become more serious by bringing GST in the action, demonetization so because of GST all the businessman can pay full tax and which will help to develop the country and the poverty ratio can be reduced. Steps of demonetization were taken so that black money can be utilized for the poor people and poverty can be reduced. We can overcome poverty by following all the guidelines of the government and can be free from poverty.

India's Poverty Factors

One of the biggest problems of poverty in India is the country's rapid population growth. As a result, there is a high rate of illiteracy, poor health-care facilities, and a lack of financial resources. Furthermore, the high population growth rate has an impact on individual income, making individual income much lower. By 2026, India's population is predicted to surpass 1.5 billion, making it the world's largest country. However, Economic growth is not rising at the same rate as the rest of the world. This indicates a labor shortage. About 20 million new jobs will be required to accommodate this big population. If such a vast number of people are poor, the number of poor will keep rising.

How Much Research is Important for Students to Write Good Essays?

The students must realize that brainstorming and a mind map of the essay will take them in the direction of their research. With the advent of the internet, the days are numbered for students who rely on a well-tipped encyclopedia from the school library as their only authoritative source for their story. If there is any real problem for our readers today is reducing their resources to a manageable number. At this stage, it is important to:

Make sure the research material is directly related to the essay work

Record detailed sources of information that they will use in their story

Communicate in person by asking questions and challenging their own bias

Identify the main points that will be highlighted in the story

Gather ideas, arguments, and opinions together

Identify the major issue they will discuss in their case.

Once these stages have been completed by the student, the student will be ready to make his points in a logical order and prepare an essay.

Therefore, the topic discussed on this page is poverty and poverty is not a human problem but a national one. Also, it should be addressed immediately with the implementation of effective measures. In addition, the eradication of poverty has been a prerequisite for sustainable and inclusive growth for individuals, communities, the country and the economy.

Paragraph Tips on Essay Writing

Each paragraph should focus on one main idea

The Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence, students should collect similar ideas together to avoid collisions

Paragraphs should be stated consistently, learners should be able to choose which line to reverse or skip.

Transition words and similar phrases, as a result, should instead be used to provide flow and provide a bridge between Paragraphs.

General Structure of an Essay

Introduction: Give the reader the essence of the essay. It sets out the broader argument that the story will make and informs the reader of the author's general opinion and method of questioning.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘flesh’ of the essay and outline the point made in the introduction by a point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually the conclusion will repeat the middle argument while providing a summary of the main reasons supporting the story even before linking everything back to the first question.

FAQs on Poverty in India Essay for Students in English

1. What are the Causes of Poverty in India?

The cause of poverty is very obvious in a country like India. The people in India are very careless about the population growth and due to which there is a lot of hassle and unnecessary elevation in population growth rate. This is automatically leading to poverty as there are fewer resources and more people to be served in each state in India. Various causes affect poverty:

Unemployment.

The intensity of population.

The high rate of inflation.

Lack of skilled labor

2. What are the Types of Poverty?

Although there are only two main types of poverty existing in India we will be learning all of them as mentioned in the following lines. The two main classifications of poverty are relative poverty and absolute poverty and both of them emphasize income and consumption. Sometimes, poverty cannot be blamed or associated with economic problems but also it must be associated with society and politics.

There are six types of poverty which are listed below:

Situational poverty.

Generation poverty.

Absolute poverty.

Relative poverty.

Urban poverty.

Rural poverty.

3. How to Reduce the Poverty Line in India?

India is a country that has been under the radar of poverty for centuries. The people of India are making efforts to take themselves out of the poverty line but there are a lot of hindrances. The lack of resources and limited alternatives have thrown the rural and urban residents below the poverty line making life unhealthy and miserable for them. 

Here are some measures listed below

Provide food, shelter and clothes facilities to poor people.

Encourage them for education either male or female. 

Give employment.

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Students should refer to Vedantu for downloading as these solutions will be filling you with the basic knowledge of writing essays. There are loads of vocabulary words and phrases which will enable the students to write high-class essays. The Vedantu website provides 100% authentic content which will lead to additional accuracy of the student’s essay. Basic concepts of writing an essay are available free of cost on the Vedantu website. Avoid problems and enjoy hassle-free preparation with the help of Vedantu.

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• Introduction

Cyclical poverty

Collective poverty, concentrated collective poverty, case poverty.

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• Social Science LibreTexts - Poverty
• University of Minnesota Libraries - Open Textbooks - Explaining Poverty
• CORE - Theories of Poverty: A Critical Review
• Pressbooks at Howard Community College - Introduction to Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World - Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
• poverty - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

poverty , the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. In this context , the identification of poor people first requires a determination of what constitutes basic needs. These may be defined as narrowly as “those necessary for survival” or as broadly as “those reflecting the prevailing standard of living in the community.” The first criterion would cover only those people near the borderline of starvation or death from exposure; the second would extend to people whose nutrition, housing, and clothing, though adequate to preserve life, do not measure up to those of the population as a whole. The problem of definition is further compounded by the noneconomic connotations that the word poverty has acquired. Poverty has been associated, for example, with poor health, low levels of education or skills, an inability or an unwillingness to work, high rates of disruptive or disorderly behaviour, and improvidence. While these attributes have often been found to exist with poverty, their inclusion in a definition of poverty would tend to obscure the relation between them and the inability to provide for one’s basic needs. Whatever definition one uses, authorities and laypersons alike commonly assume that the effects of poverty are harmful to both individuals and society.

Although poverty is a phenomenon as old as human history, its significance has changed over time. Under traditional (i.e., nonindustrialized) modes of economic production, widespread poverty had been accepted as inevitable. The total output of goods and services, even if equally distributed, would still have been insufficient to give the entire population a comfortable standard of living by prevailing standards. With the economic productivity that resulted from industrialization , however, this ceased to be the case—especially in the world’s most industrialized countries , where national outputs were sufficient to raise the entire population to a comfortable level if the necessary redistribution could be arranged without adversely affecting output.

Several types of poverty may be distinguished depending on such factors as time or duration (long- or short-term or cyclical) and distribution (widespread, concentrated, individual).

(Read Indira Gandhi’s 1975 Britannica essay on global underprivilege.)

Cyclical poverty refers to poverty that may be widespread throughout a population, but the occurrence itself is of limited duration. In nonindustrial societies (present and past), this sort of inability to provide for one’s basic needs rests mainly upon temporary food shortages caused by natural phenomena or poor agricultural planning. Prices would rise because of scarcities of food, which brought widespread, albeit temporary, misery.

In industrialized societies the chief cyclical cause of poverty is fluctuations in the business cycle , with mass unemployment during periods of depression or serious recession . Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the industrialized nations of the world experienced business panics and recessions that temporarily enlarged the numbers of the poor. The United States’ experience in the Great Depression of the 1930s, though unique in some of its features, exemplifies this kind of poverty. And until the Great Depression, poverty resulting from business fluctuations was accepted as an inevitable consequence of a natural process of market regulation . Relief was granted to the unemployed to tide them over until the business cycle again entered an upswing. The experiences of the Great Depression inspired a generation of economists such as John Maynard Keynes , who sought solutions to the problems caused by extreme swings in the business cycle. Since the Great Depression, governments in nearly all advanced industrial societies have adopted economic policies that attempt to limit the ill effects of economic fluctuation. In this sense, governments play an active role in poverty alleviation by increasing spending as a means of stimulating the economy. Part of this spending comes in the form of direct assistance to the unemployed, either through unemployment compensation , welfare, and other subsidies or by employment on public-works projects. Although business depressions affect all segments of society, the impact is most severe on people of the lowest socioeconomic strata because they have fewer marginal resources than those of a higher strata.

In contrast to cyclical poverty, which is temporary, widespread or “ collective ” poverty involves a relatively permanent insufficiency of means to secure basic needs—a condition that may be so general as to describe the average level of life in a society or that may be concentrated in relatively large groups in an otherwise prosperous society. Both generalized and concentrated collective poverty may be transmitted from generation to generation, parents passing their poverty on to their children.

Collective poverty is relatively general and lasting in parts of Asia, the Middle East , most of Africa, and parts of South America and Central America . Life for the bulk of the population in these regions is at a minimal level. Nutritional deficiencies cause disease seldom seen by doctors in the highly developed countries. Low life expectancy , high levels of infant mortality, and poor health characterize life in these societies.

Collective poverty is usually related to economic underdevelopment. The total resources of many developing nations in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America would be insufficient to support the population adequately even if they were equally divided among all of the citizens. Proposed remedies are twofold: (1) expansion of the gross national product (GNP) through improved agriculture or industrialization, or both, and (2) population limitation. Thus far, both population control and induced economic development in many countries have proved difficult, controversial, and at times inconclusive or disappointing in their results.

An increase of the GNP does not necessarily lead to an improved standard of living for the population at large, for a number of reasons. The most important reason is that, in many developing countries, the population grows even faster than the economy does, with no net reduction in poverty as a result. This increased population growth stems primarily from lowered infant mortality rates made possible by improved sanitary and disease-control measures. Unless such lowered rates eventually result in women bearing fewer children, the result is a sharp acceleration in population growth. To reduce birth rates, some developing countries have undertaken nationally administered family-planning programs, with varying results. Many developing nations are also characterized by a long-standing system of unequal distribution of wealth —a system likely to continue despite marked increases in the GNP. Some authorities have observed the tendency for a large portion of any increase to be siphoned off by persons who are already wealthy, while others claim that increases in GNP will always trickle down to the part of the population living at the subsistence level.

In many industrialized, relatively affluent countries, particular demographic groups are vulnerable to long-term poverty. In city ghettos , in regions bypassed or abandoned by industry, and in areas where agriculture or industry is inefficient and cannot compete profitably, there are found victims of concentrated collective poverty. These people, like those afflicted with generalized poverty, have higher mortality rates, poor health, low educational levels, and so forth when compared with the more affluent segments of society. Their chief economic traits are unemployment and underemployment, unskilled occupations, and job instability. Efforts at amelioration focus on ways to bring the deprived groups into the mainstream of economic life by attracting new industry, promoting small business, introducing improved agricultural methods, and raising the level of skills of the employable members of the society.

Similar to collective poverty in relative permanence but different from it in terms of distribution, case poverty refers to the inability of an individual or family to secure basic needs even in social surroundings of general prosperity. This inability is generally related to the lack of some basic attribute that would permit the individual to maintain himself or herself. Such persons may, for example, be blind, physically or emotionally disabled , or chronically ill. Physical and mental handicaps are usually regarded sympathetically, as being beyond the control of the people who suffer from them. Efforts to ameliorate poverty due to physical causes focus on education, sheltered employment, and, if needed, economic maintenance.

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Essay on Poverty- Students seeking poverty essay for their project or school exams can take reference from below. The given essay on poverty is just an example on how to write a poverty essay in English. 

Essay on Poverty

Poverty is a pervasive issue affecting millions in India. It remains a complex socio-economic challenge for the growth of the country. Poverty means a lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter, and education that takes a toll on the well-being and aspirations of a significant portion of our population.

Causes of Poverty

Various factors contribute to the presence of poverty in India. India is the largest populated country where the consumption ratio is higher than the production. This also leads to a competitive job market and low wages. Lack of education and skills restricts job opportunities, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Additionally, issues like unequal distribution of wealth, unemployment, and economic disparities further exacerbate the problem.

Rural-Urban Disparities

A significant portion of India’s impoverished population resides in rural areas, facing challenges like inadequate infrastructure, limited access to education, and a lack of healthcare facilities. Urban poverty, marked by slums and informal settlements, reflects challenges related to migration, unemployment, and a high cost of living.

Impact on Education

Poverty often acts as a barrier to education. Children from impoverished families may struggle to attend school due to financial constraints or may drop out to contribute to family income. Limited access to quality education perpetuates the cycle of poverty as individuals lack the skills needed for better job opportunities.

Healthcare Challenges

Poverty is intricately linked to health issues. Lack of access to clean water, sanitation facilities, and nutritious food contributes to the prevalence of diseases. Impoverished individuals often face challenges in accessing healthcare services, leading to a higher mortality rate and reduced life expectancy.

Government Initiatives

Recognizing the severity of poverty, the Indian government has launched various initiatives to alleviate the issue. Schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) aim to provide employment opportunities in rural areas. Poverty eradication programs and subsidies for essential commodities also contribute to the government’s efforts.

Role of Education

Education plays a pivotal role in breaking the chains of poverty. Government initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan aim to ensure universal access to education. Empowering individuals with skills through vocational training programs enhances employability and economic independence.

Community Participation

Addressing poverty requires collective efforts. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based initiatives contribute significantly to poverty alleviation. These organizations focus on providing healthcare, education, and livelihood support to marginalized communities.

In conclusion, poverty in India is a multifaceted challenge that demands comprehensive solutions. Through government initiatives, education, and community participation, we can work towards breaking the cycle of poverty, creating a more equitable and prosperous society. Empowering individuals with the tools they need to escape poverty ensures a brighter future for the nation as a whole.

20 Lines on Poverty

• Poverty is a global challenge affecting millions of people, regardless of nationality or region.
• Lack of access to basic necessities like food, shelter, and education characterizes poverty.
• Economic disparities, unemployment, and unequal distribution of wealth contribute to the prevalence of poverty.
• Rural areas often face more significant poverty challenges due to inadequate infrastructure and limited resources.
• Urban poverty is marked by informal settlements and slums, where people struggle with issues like migration and unemployment.
• Education is a key tool to break the cycle of poverty, providing individuals with the skills needed for better opportunities.
• Poverty can lead to health challenges, as individuals may lack access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare services.
• Government initiatives like MGNREGA in India aim to provide employment opportunities and alleviate rural poverty.
• Subsidies for essential commodities and poverty eradication programs are part of government efforts to combat poverty.
• NGOs and community-based initiatives play a crucial role in providing support and services to impoverished communities.
• Lack of education often acts as a barrier to escaping poverty, as it limits job opportunities and economic independence.
• Poverty eradication requires a collective effort from governments, NGOs, and communities.
• Sustainable development goals include targets to reduce poverty and improve the living conditions of the impoverished.
• Income inequality is a significant factor contributing to the persistence of poverty in many societies.
• The cycle of poverty can be broken by empowering individuals through education and skill development.
• Access to healthcare is a fundamental right, and addressing healthcare challenges is essential in combating poverty.
• Social safety nets, such as welfare programs and financial assistance, can provide temporary relief to impoverished families.
• Microfinance initiatives empower individuals to start small businesses and generate income, reducing poverty.
• Poverty is often linked to social issues like discrimination and lack of opportunities for marginalized communities.
• Addressing poverty requires not only economic solutions but also a commitment to social justice and equality.

A Short Paragraph on Poverty

Poverty is a socio-economic issue of the country that is created due to a lack of essential resources for a basic standard of living. Millions around the globe are facing poverty, struggling to access adequate food, shelter, and healthcare. The consequences of poverty extend beyond material deprivation, affecting education opportunities and overall well-being. Families in poverty often face limited access to quality education and healthcare services, perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage. To eliminate poverty, governments should make comprehensive strategies involving NGOs, and community initiatives to ensure sustainable development, improved living conditions, and equal opportunities for all. Reducing poverty remains a global challenge, necessitating collective efforts for lasting positive change.

How to write an essay on Poverty?

While writing the essay on poverty, students should keep a few things in mind. Below are the tips to write a poverty essay.

• Make simple and short sentences.
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The Australian Professor Who Turned Breaking on Its Head

Rachael Gunn, known as B-girl Raygun, displayed some … unique moves as she competed in a field with breakers half her age. The judges and the internet were underwhelmed.

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By Dodai Stewart and Talya Minsberg

Reporting from Paris

Breaking made its debut as an Olympic sport Friday, and among the competitors was Dr. Rachael Gunn, also known as B-girl Raygun, a 36-year-old professor from Sydney, Australia, who stood out in just about every way.

By day, her research interests include “dance, gender politics, and the dynamics between theoretical and practical methodologies.” But on the world’s stage in Paris, wearing green track pants and a green polo shirt instead of the street-style outfits of her much younger fellow breakers, she competed against the 21-year-old Logan Edra of the United States, known as Logistx.

During the round robin, as Raygun and Logistx faced off, Raygun laid on her side, reached for her toes, spun around, and threw in a kangaroo hop — a nod to her homeland. She performed a move that looked something like swimming and another that could best be described as duckwalking. The high-speed back and head spins that other breakers would demonstrate were mostly absent.

The crowd cheered Raygun politely. The judges weren’t as kind. All nine voted for Logistx in both rounds of the competition; Logistx won, 18-0.

Online, Raygun’s performance quickly became a sensation, not necessarily in a flattering way.

“The more I watch the videos of Raygun, the Aussie breaker, the more I get annoyed,” one viewer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “There’s 27.7 million Australians in the world and that’s who they send to the Olympics for this inaugural event??? C’mon now!”

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