{I}.Poverty
Indicators of Poverty
Meaning of Poverty
Define poverty
Poverty means a situation where a
person cannot attain the minimum level of well-being. The concept of well-being
can be applied to different dimensions like consumption, income, education and
other basic needs.
- Poverty is characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information.
- Poverty is also characterized by lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods,hunger and malnutrition, ill health, limited or lack of access to education and other basic services. Poverty also includes homelessness and inadequate housing, social discrimination and exclusion.
- It is also characterized by lack of participation in decision making and civil, social and cultural life.
The main poverty line used in the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European
Union is based on “economic distance”, a level of income set at 60% of the
median household income. This states as follows:
1.
In1985, a poverty line set as US $
14.40 a day per person. This was suggested for industrialized countries like
the USA.
2.
By 1987 a poverty line set at US $ 2
a day per person. This was suggested for Middle East and North le East and
North African countries.
3.
In 1990 a poverty line set as US $ 4
a day per person. This was suggested for Latin America and the
4.
In 1990 a poverty line set as US $ 4
a day per person. This was suggested for Eastern Europe and Commonwealth
independent countries.
5.
In 2008, a poverty line set at US $
1.25 a day per person. This was suggested for sub Saharan African countries.
The International Poverty Line gives
us a convenient way of understanding the state of poverty. However, it is a very blunt instrument for measuring a
complex phenomenon. This is because:
1.
It does not take into account the
cost does not take into account the cost of living differentials within
countries. US $ 1 will buy different amounts of goods in urban and rural areas.
For instance, food may cost more in urban areas.
2.
It does show who lives in permanent
and who lives in temporary poverty.
3.
It does not consider the
distribution of income within the household. Distribution of income is
sometimes affected by gender.
- It only values goods which are delivered on the market. In many poor countries people grow and rear food and animals respectively for their own consumption.
Different Levels and Types of Poverty
Point out different levels and types of poverty
Levels of poverty
The assessment of levels of poverty
and trend is complicated by lack of consistent information and absence of
officially recognized poverty lines. This problem has forced some studies to
use their own lines. Thus, the lower lines donate basic food needs based on
specific assumptions about eating habits, nutritional requirements and cost,
while the upper lines cover in addition to such food requirements, and other
essential needs such as clothing, housing, water and health. A poverty line of
US $ 1 per day in real terms has been used by the World Bank to facilitate
comparison with other countries.
The situation and level of poverty
varies among community members and can be groupedinto three categories
depending on the degree of dependency and possession of valuableassets.
1.
The first group consists of those
who have no money or possessions and have lost hope. They do not have
enough food and in most cases they depend on charity for survival. They are
unable to sustain themselves. Most of these people are either too old or young
and handicapped to work.Within this group also is a small fraction of the less
poor who consists of few families, mainly single parents, widows and women
married to irresponsible alcoholic husbands. They have inadequate standard of
living and are often the most vulnerable in society. For those families,
meeting the most basic needs is a daily struggle. These people are the source
of cheap labour in communities.
2.
The second group consists of people
who can meet their basic needs but do not have sufficient income to have
any surplus income. This group comprises of many workers who are being paid low
or insufficient salaries, the salary which enables a person to meet only his or
her basic needs.
3.
The third group consists of the
rich. At a village level, a rich person has all the material necessities of
life like adequate food to feed the children properly and live in good houses
made of bricks and roofed with corrugated iron sheets. They are able to assist
others or hire their labour. They have a reliable source of income either from
livestock or agriculture. They produce in surplus; they possess valuable assets
such as radios, television, bicycles, and motorcycles, and have money to
purchase basic essentials like clothes.
The World Bank has set the
International Poverty Line at an expenditure level of $ 1 for every person a
day. This figure represents the minimal amount on which a person is considered
to be living in absolute poverty, if his or her income falls below this line.
By this measure, at the present time about 1.2 billion people are living below
this line calculated using purchasing power abilities which take into account
difference in prices of goods in different countries, and allows us to compare
poverty levels internationally. However, if someone is below the poverty line
it is probably the person is living in a community without access to clean
water, but this is not always the case and some countries have managed to
reduce elements of human poverty than income poverty.
A developing country is a nation
where the average income is much lower than in industrial nations, where the
economy relies on a few export crops, and where farming is conducted by
primitive methods.
Types of poverty
1.
Absolute
and relative poverty. Absolute (extreme) poverty refers
to set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. The World
Bank defines extreme (absolute) poverty as living on less than US $1.25 per
day, and moderate poverty as less than US $ 2 a day. It estimates that in 2001,
1.1 billion people had consumption levels below US $ 1 a day and 2.7 billion
lived on less than US $ 2 a day.
- Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context, hence relative poverty is a measure of income inequality. Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income. Relative poverty measures income inequality rather than material deprivation or hardships. The measurements are usually based on a person‟s yearly income and frequently take no account of total wealth.
Indicators of Poverty
Identify indicators of poverty
The indicators of poverty include
high rates of morbidity and mortality, prevalence of malnutrition , illiteracy,
high infant and maternal mortality rates, low life expectancy, poor- quality
housing, inadequate clothing, low per capital income and expenditure, and poor
infrastructure. Others include high fertility rate, lack of access to basic
services such as safewater, food insecurity and poor technology. These features
can be used to identify poor and non-poor individuals, households or
communities. An individual, household or community found to be characterized by
some or all of these features can be identified as being poor.
Most elements of indicators of
poverty are mainly based economic considerations. Consequently, many of these
indicators are quantify these indicators are quantifiable. Recently, the
definition of poverty has been further broadened. New definitions incorporate
problems of self-esteem, vulnerability to internal and external risks,
exclusion from the development process and lack of social capital. The new
definition of poverty captures the qualitative aspect of socio economic
wellbeing. A combination of the quantitative and qualitative definitions of
poverty are utilized to identify who the poor are the extent of their poverty,
where they live and what they do for a living. These definitions also influence
the design of pro- poor policies for economic growth, public expenditure,
safety net programmes and tools for assessing the impact of programmes and
projects on poverty reduction.
Generally poverty is a result of
many and often mutually reinforcing factors including lack of productive
resources to generate material wealth, illiteracy, prevalence of diseases,
natural calamities such as floods and drought, and man-made calamities such as
wars.
At the international level, an
unequal economic and political partnership, as reflected in unfavourable terms
of trade and other transactions for developing countries, is also a major cause
of poverty in these countries. Some causes of poverty are not direct, for
example traditions and norms which hinder effective resource utilization and
participation in income –generating activities.
Poverty is
one of the global problems that have hindered socio-economic and political
development of many societies.
Different Indicators of Poverty to
the Tanzanian Situation
Relate different indicators of
poverty to the Tanzanian situation
The Tanzanian economy is heavily
dependent on agriculture, which accounts for about 50 percent of the gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Agriculture provides 85 percent of exports, and is by
the largest employer. Lack of technical know – how, agricultural inputs,
capital, unpredictable climate and unreliable markets contribute to low levels
of output.
Lack of clean and safe water in a
community is one of the major indicators of poverty. Tanzanian statistics show
that by 1993 this service was provided to 75 percent of urban dwellers compared
to only 46.4 percent of those living in the rural areas. As discussed
earlier,more than 70 percent of Tanzanians reside in rural areas; therefore the
majority of the population has no access to clean and safe water. Women and
childbirth are the most affected citizens. Traditionally, women have the role
of fetching water for the family; they have to walk many kilometers looking for
water currently, community members rely on swamps and other dirty water
sources, which are mostly used by cattle and wild animals.
It is estimated that up to 1977, 73
percent of Tanzanians had basic literacy skills. However, this has been
declining year after year. For example, in 1993 it had declined to 63 percent,
while only 68 percent of all children of school going age were enrolled in
primary schools.
The main reason for the decline is
the introduction of the cost-sharing system in the 1990s whereby every family
is required to pay school fees and other school-related costs, which was
covered by the government previously. As a result of poverty in the country,
many rural families found it difficult to meet the costs, which partly
contributed to increased number of illiterate cases and school dropouts in the
country.
The per capita income of Tanzania is
estimated at about $ 250 per year. Through experience the $ 250 would not last
for more than three months in a normal Tanzanian family which in most cases
includes children and members of the extended family.
The situation of family income,
particularly in rural communities, is probably worse today because most
families are heavily dependent on agriculture which is affected by
unpredictable rainfall, lack of capital, agricultural inputs and unreliable
market. This has caused a higher rate of poverty among rural communities, and
distorted the traditional Tanzania support system.
There is a common belief that that
traditionally the extended family in Tanzania provides social and economic
support for its members in times of need. This has shown a high degree of
self-reliance in the past in coping with other social disasters including
famine, drought and economic hardships. Under this system the majority of
family members spend their resources in supporting and caring for a person in
need. However, as result of poverty, members of the extended family find it
difficult to meet the traditional obligations for all members of their extended
family and even their children.
Inadequate health services are
another sign of poverty in the country. Most of the illness are associated with
poverty. In Tanzanian, poor health services have been responsible forinfectious
diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, and tuberculosis. For example, according to
Health Statistical Abstract (1977) there was one hospital bed per one thousand
people.
A high mortality rate is another
sign of poverty. According to the Health Statistical Abstract (1977), the
average life expectancy at birth in Tanzania is 50 years compared to life
expectancy of 77 years in developed countries. The infant mortality rate is
96per 1 000 live births compared to 7 in developed countries.
Women –to women marriages are
another classic example of a poverty situation in rural communities. This
behavior is common in the northern part of the country, Tarime and Serengeti
districts in particular. Through this, rich women choose young women from poor
families and pay the bride price in terms of cash or materials, such as land,
cows or crops to their parents. The rich women later identify any man of their
choice to be boyfriend of the chosen women so that they can reproduce. The
offspring belongs to the husband that is rich woman. The poor families
including their married daughters get involved in this system because of the
economic hardship they experience. This puts poor women at risk of being
infected with HIV and AIDS.Activity
Activity 1
Critically examine the types and
levels of poverty in Tanzania.
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