Eradicating Poverty

In September of 2000, world leaders came together at the United Nations headquarters in New York to form a set of aspirations that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals. There are eight goals that the countries have agreed to achieve by the year 2015; the first of which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger worldwide.

The are three targets to end poverty and hunger by 2015. The first is to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day between 1990 and 2015. The second is to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people. The third is to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

As of now, approximately 50,000 deaths a day are due to poverty-related causes. Also, one child dies every three seconds because of hunger and preventable diseases. It has become a world-wide goal to end extreme poverty within five years and to put an end to statistics such as these. This goal is well within reach. Failure to do so would be an unacceptable embarrassment. “Economic growth is the ‘only path to end mass poverty,’ says economist Ian Vásquez…” This matches well with the second target of the goal to end poverty. Economic growth would create jobs (hopefully sustainable) which would allow people to earn money. If this money was put into the same economy, it would further growth. Studies by the World Bank show that developing countries that experience economic growth will see a reduction in poverty related to the growth. The faster the growth, the faster poverty will be reduced. Vásquez argues that free enterprise and protection of private property is the way to encourage economic growth.

Another way that everyone can help reduce poverty is through proper purchasing decisions. Rather than support short sighted marketing decisions, consumers can look for products such as Fair Trade, which guarantee a minimum price to farmers, as well as premiums if their products are organic and environmentally sustainable. Supporting these products will help ensure that farmers are paid a living wage, and will make strides towards the first target of bringing people up out of an income of a dollar a day. An example of this is the banana price war that took place in the United Kingdoms. Supermarket chains began drastically cutting banana prices and forcing others to follow suit. From 2002 to 2009, the price of loose bananas in Britain’s supermarkets was 1.10 pounds per kilo. In 2009, one supermarket chain (Asda) cut the price of bananas per kilo to 38 pence. This is a drop of about $1.10, or a decrease of 65%. The farmers cannot make a living off of such prices, which will lead to unemployment and poverty. Without farmers, the product will no longer be available. Such low prices foster the image that the product can be sustainably produced at such a low price, which is not the case. Support of this reckless behavior will only be damaging in the long term.

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Resource Guide

1.Stop Child Poverty
This resource addresses child poverty, its causes and ways to prevent it. It gives a definition of poverty, and explains the grassroots movement to help end child poverty, as well as steps we can all take. I chose this resource because of the connection between poverty and slavery. Poverty can feed slavery, especially at a young age when people have no other options. It also touches on a number of topics such as war, environment and education.

2.Slavery: A Global Investigation
I chose this video because it provided me with a wealth of information that I was previously unaware of. It is another example of how poverty disrupts lives and fuels the slave trade. It gives personal examples and follows the story of people who have been directly affected by slavery. Often people are trapped into slavery while they are seeking a way to escape poverty. It also has examples of slavery in countries thought to be rid of slavery.

3.Exporting America
This source is a bit different. It is a list of U.S. companies known to send U.S. jobs overseas or that utilize overseas labor. It is useful as a way to know what companies take advantage of economic conditions and possibly increase poverty.

4.Poverty.com
This source discusses the problems that poverty causes, ranging from hunger to disease. The majority of the source is based on the negative impact that poverty has and the individuals and groups most affected by poverty.

5.U.S. Census Bureau
This site is about the statistics of U.S. poverty, how it is defined and how it is measured. While it does not examine causes or solutions in any great depth, it is useful in the sense that it gives a general idea of the extent poverty has affected the U.S., as well as it’s locations.

6.The World Bank
The World Bank is a general overview of most aspects involving poverty. Poverty is analyzed, mapped and another definition is given. There is also the World Bank’s stance and policies regarding poverty.

7.Poverty Facts and Stats
This source provides a wealth facts and statistics about poverty. It is a large source and provides the reader with a lot of information.

8.Structural Adjustment
Examines the impact that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have on poverty. The policies of the two organizations are looked at to determine how they are furthering poverty and poorer nations’ dependence on wealthier nations.

9.Institute for Research on Poverty
This institute is one of three Area Poverty Research Centers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It focuses primarily on poverty and family welfare in the Midwest of the U.S. It goes in depth to the resources available to the Midwest and underlying roots of poverty.

10.Development
This article briefly examines the effect of poverty on child development. Poverty leads to a deficit of resources need for infant and child development, which increases the risk of an improper development. Also, an impact on development will impact all aspects of that individual’s life.

11.Poverty Around the World
This site looks at poverty in a global context, not only in developing countries but the inequality of developed countries. It also provides more information on social factors that affect poverty and the inequality that is creates. Since it looks at inequality, differences between the wealthy and the poor are looked at.

12.Poverty Reducation
This is a resource that provides information on reducing poverty and obtaining the 8 millennium development goals. Through the United Nations Development Programme, various projects are supported in the hopes of ending poverty.

13.National Poverty Center
The National Poverty Center provides more information on how poverty is measured in the U.S., as well as how poverty has changed over the course of the country’s history. It provides statistics and research.

14.National Center for Children in Poverty
The NCCP addresses child poverty in the United States. It talks about research on child poverty as well as the effect of poverty on the current and future health of the child. It examines family and geographical settings.

15.The Huffington Post – Poverty
This source has a wide variety of information regarding poverty. It also contains blogs and quite a few pictures. It shows how other people think of poverty.

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Poverty's Impact on other Issues

Poverty exacerbates problems such as slavery and exploitation on a global scale. In a way, poverty contributes to the way our world is today. Items sold on the global market are often touched by enslaved or exploited hands. Everyday commodities used in the U.S. are often developed by workers in other countries who will work for lower wages. Not only are the foreign workers typically paid little, this outsourcing leaves an employment void that that removes jobs from U.S. workers. Companies such as Nike and General Electric use labor from other countries. This globalization utilizes the poverty of many to increase the profits of few and maintain the current economy.
In places such as Africa, poverty feeds the slave trade. In desperate need of work, many people will entrust themselves to recruiters who promise jobs and money. Occasionally the jobs are real, and the fortunate individual will return home with payment. However, in many cases there will be no payment and the people are sold into a life of slavery. In the video, “Slavery: A Global Investigation”, two young men rescued from slavery say that the few individuals that come back with something to show for their work inspire others to seek work as well. They believed that they had chance to find a real job and bring money home. Children are also tempted into slavery with promises of education or a better life. Without the desperation created by poverty, people wouldn’t be forced to entrust their lives and future to strangers.
Bondage is another form of slavery that is common in the world. Bondage occurs when the individual is in debt. In South Asia, after borrowing money, all work done by the person is held by the lender as collateral. It does not go towards paying off his/her debt and the individual will remain in bondage until they can find a way to pay the money they owe. This is almost impossible to do when the lender owns all the productive work of the individual.
Poverty benefits the moneylenders and the slave owners. It gives them access to a disposable, free labor force. They reap the benefits and only face the cost of keeping their workers just healthy enough to be productive. The work done by these slaves can then be sold to the global market. Without such extreme poverty, this large work force would not exist.
Poverty enables exploitation as well. In the film Letters from the Other Side, Mexican women explain how they will spend many hours working to create items that sell for abysmal prices. When asked why they accept such small amounts of money, the women explained that it is better to receive a little money than nothing. All around the world, workers are being paid little to make items that are distributed across the globe. Because of the low cost, the consumer is the one who ultimately benefits. The items are cheap to make, so they will be sold cheap. It is unfortunate that the current world state uses poverty to increase globalization and trade.

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Sources:
1. Bales, Kevin. Understanding Global Slavery. 1st. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 2005. 1-4. Print.
2. Letters from the Other Side. Front Porch Films: 2006, Film.