What is Poverty?

Definition of Poverty

The word poverty comes from the old (Norman) French word poverté (Modern French: pauvreté), from Latin paupertās from pauper (poor), which refers to lacking quality or amount. It is usually defined as the inability to attain a minimum standard of living.

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There are several definitions of poverty depending on the context of the situation it is placed in. It usually references a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a certain standard of living.

1. United Nations: Fundamentally, poverty denies choices and opportunities, violating human dignity. It means a lack of vital capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land to grow one's food or a job to earn one's living, and not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments without access to clean water or sanitation.
2. World Bank: Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the necessary goods and services for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one's life.
3. European Union (EU): The European Union's definitionpovertyerty differs from definitions in other parts of the world. Consequently, policy measures introduced to combat Poverty in EU countries also differ from measures in other nations. Poverty is measured by income distribution in each member country using relative income poverty lines. The Eurostat compiled relative-income poverty rates in the EU, coordinating, gathering, and disseminating member country statistics using the European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) surveys.

"Poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty does not have a job; it is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Most oftpovertyerty is a situation people want to escape.povertyerty is a call to action for the poor and the wealthy alike. It is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities." (World Bank Organization).

In addition to a lack of money is about not participating in recreational activities, sending children on a day trip with their schoolmates or to a birthday party, and not paying for medications for an illness. These are all costs of being poor. Those who can barely pay for food and shelter simply can't consider these other expenses. When people are excluded from society, when they are not well educated and have a higher incidence of illness, society has negative consequences. We all pay the price povertyerty. The increased cost on the health system, the justice system, and other systems that support those living in poverty impact our economy.

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Features of Poverty

A)  Poverty is defined as a relative concept:  According to C. N. Shankar Rao, "Poverty is essentially a relative concept, a condition measurable only in terms of a given society's living standards and resources at a particular time."

B)  Poverty is defined as the lack of resources; according to L.A. Mooney and others: "Poverty has traditionally been defined as the lack of resources necessary for material well-being- most important, food and water, but also housing, land and health care."

C) It is defined as relative deprivation. According to BBS (2000) in Report on Poverty, Monitoring Survey-199Povertyerty refers to various forms of economic, social and psychological deprivation among the people who lack good ownership, control or access to resources for achieving a minimum level of living.

D) It is the inadequacy to maintain the standard of society: According to Sociologist Gillin & Gillin, "Poverty may be regarded as that condition in which a person either because of inadequate income or unwise expenditures, does not maintain a scale of living high enough to provide for his physical and mental efficiency."

E) It is defined as a lack of fundamental capabilities: According to Atik Rahman and Trina Haque: "Poverty consists in the lack of certain basic capabilities of the human beings-  a) the capabilities to live a healthy active life free of avoidable morbidity and premature mortality, and b) the capability to live with dignity with adequate clothing and shelter etc."

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Types of Poverty

Based on Nature and Intensity: 

1. Absolute/ subsistence poverty
2. Relative Poverty
3. Hardcore poverty
4. Ultra poverty
5. Chronic Poverty

According to the CBN (Cost of Basic Needs) method:

1. Upper poverty line- who cannot earn such amount of income needed to intake 2122 kilocalories per day.
2. Lower Poverty line/ Extreme poverty- who cannot make…….1805 kilocalories per day.

According to UNDP (HDI Report-1996):

1. Poor in terms of income
2. Poor in terms of capacity

According to L.A. Mooney and Others:

1. Absolute Poverty: Lack of resources that leads to hunger and physical deprivation.
2. Relative Poverty: A deficiency in material and economic resources compared with some other populations.

What is Poverty Line?

Such a scale or standard determines who is poor or non-poor. It is determined by two concepts:

1. Different determinants of living
2. Minimum acceptance range of those determinants

Determinants of the Poverty line

1. Calorie intake
2. Per capita income and Gross National Income (GNI)
3. Cost of the basic needs (CBN) method
4. Human development index
5. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)- World Bank/ ADB
6. Other social indicators

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Causes/Factors of Poverty

C. N. Shanker Rao mentioned five leading causespovertyerty:

1. Individual incapacity and deficiencies: lack of initiative, dullness, laziness, inactivity, incapacities and some inborn deficiencies.
2. Economic causespovertyerty: inadequate economic development, increasing unemployment, unmanageable inflationary pressures, capital deficiency, too much dependence on agriculture.
3. Demographic factors: total population size, the growing rate of people, various diseases.
4. Social causes: traditionalism, casteism, communalism, religious, linguistic prejudices, illiteracy and ignorance, the dominance of caste and joint families.
5. Other causes: a long period of foreign rule, climate factors, wars and threats of war, flawed political system.

Causes of Poverty in Bangladesh

1. Low economic growth
2. Difference between national savings and investments
3. Inequitable distribution of income
4. Unemployment and underemployment
5. High rate of population growth
6. Low level of human resource development
7. Dependent economy
8. Lack of good governance
9. Impact of natural disaster
10. Limited access to public services
11. Gender discrimination
12. Unexpected mortality

According to the household income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016. The poverty rate declined to 24.3 percent in 2016, 40.0 percent in 2005. According to the latest estimate poverty rate stood at 20.5 percent in 2009. The government has set up a target for redpovertyerty of 18.6 percent at the end of the 7th Five Year Plan (2016-2020). Though Bangladesh is ahead of many developing countries in poverty alleviation, approximately one-fifth portion of the country's total population lives below the poverty line. The preferred scale of socio-economic development may not be possible by keeping a large portion of the population below the poverty line.

For this reason, poverty reduction is a significant concern in the policy and development issues of the country. As a result of poverty reduction, progress is found in World Human Development Index. According to 'Human Development Index-2018' Bangladesh's position was 135 among 189 countries. In 2016, Bangladesh was 139 on the list.

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Trends of Poverty in Bangladesh

The latest HIES was conducted in 2016. According to this survey, Within half an era, the incidence of income poverty (measured by CBN considering the upper poverty line) declined almost 7.2 percentage points (from 31.5% in 2010 to 24.3% in 2016). During this period, the compound poverty reduced per year by 4.23 percent. On the contrary, income poverty rate declined from 40.0 percent to 31.5 percent from 2005 to 2010. At that time, compopovertyerty was annually reduced by 4.67 percent. The poverty reduction rate is higher (4.68%) in rural areas than in urban areas (1.97%).

Poverty (Upper poverty line)

Years	National	Rural	Urban
2000	48.9	52.3	35.2
2005	40.0	43.8	28.4
2010	31.5	35.2	21.3
2016	24.3	26.4	18.9
2017	23.1	-	-
2018	21.8	-	-
2019	20.5	Source:	(HIES, 2018-19)

Extreme Poverty (Lower poverty line)

Years	National	Rural	Urban
2000	34.3	37.9	19.9
2005	25.1	28.6	14.6
2010	17.6	21.1	7.7
2016	12.9	14.9	7.6
2017	12.1	-	-
2018	11.3	-	-
2019	10.5	Source:	(HIES, 2018-19)

Picture of Poverty Situation in BD

According to 'SDGs: Bangladesh Progress Report-2018', the country's poverty rate is 21.8 percent. According to the 7^th Five Year Plan, it has been projected to redpovertyerty at 18.6 percent by 2020 based on the upper poverty rate and 8.9 percent based on the lower poverty rate.

Targets for Poverty Reduction in BD

o  According to Vision 2021: To reduce the poverty rate from 24.8 % in 2015 to 13.5% in 2021.

o  To achieve SDG-1, Extreme Poverty will be reduced by 3% within 2030.

o  According to the 7th Five Year Plan: To redpovertyerty to 18.6%  and the extrpovertyerty to 8.9% at the end of the 7th Five Year Plan.

Ref. Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2019 & Bangladesh Economic Review 2021