Essay Sample on Poverty in the World

Human rights can be realized if only every person has access to the objects of the rights. Currently, the world is far from the full realization of human rights to make it an ideal place for human to live, across all social strata. When the current global record is pieced together, we realize that there is a massive underperformance in human rights and the majority are connected in one way or another to poverty. The link is direct when it comes to fundamental and economic human rights. These rights include the right for quality life and a healthy lifestyle of oneself and the family, including clothes, medical care, and housing plan. On the flip side, the connection between human rights and poverty is indirect relative to civil and the political rights linked to democratic governance and government policies. According to Max Weber, there is a need to focus on the economic factors in the developing and the developed nations to achieve sustainable equality in society (Shildrick & Rucell, 2015). In developing nations, people are often desperate, illiterate and anxious of their day-to-day struggles to survive, particularly due to limited means to resist the political rulers, who rule oppressively to cater for their selfish needs. Despite the prevailing circumstances around poverty, governments should do more to prevent it because, in third world countries, people are living in extreme poverty, in developed countries some people can't afford health insurance. People often end up on the street because of poverty that leaves them with no choices than to be homeless, and more likely to become criminals.

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Billions of people in developed and developing nations live in poverty, and about 10 percent of the global population live below the World Bank poverty threshold of about $1.90 every day. At the same time, almost half of the world's total population survive with a threshold income of $2.5 each day (Jolliffe & Prydz, 2016). The poor population lives with little support, watching economic growth and infrastructural development pass them. This means that the global economy spurns them. This calls for the need for the government to put in place measures that will help reduce poverty levels for the people and improve the quality of life. Many developing nations have a weak economic performance which has been catalyzed by political instability, weak policies, ethnic diversity, and external interference. Countries such as the Central African Republic a third world country with a high rate of poverty due to the prevailing political instability. This has made it difficult for governmental and non-governmental agencies to fund and coordinate poverty-related programs. Weak state organizations have not been effective in delivering goods and services effectively to the affected population. Poverty eradication ought to be among the top priorities for government agencies. There is a need for the government to improve on governance and trade to realize a reduction or total end to poverty.

Improving on the existing government structures can ensure there is sound decision making in line with the economic development prospects. With a robust governance structure, the specific needs of the citizens are highlighted, and this helps promote the holistic well-being of society. Similarly, most discussions have been framed around corruption (Munck, 2005). Rather than approaching the issue of corruption as a hinder for economic progress, there is a need to work with communities to counter corruption and channel resources towards infrastructural and economic growth and development. All leaders should be held accountable to enhance accountability. It is fundamental to note that corruption is not an issue only in developing nations. In developed nations, governments need to hold business entities and leaders accountable for unethical deals that undermine the progress made in poverty eradication such as evasion of tax or the use of vulture funds to recover unlawful debts. Governments both in developed and developing nations should coordinate with other agencies such as Transparency International to help curb corruption which will have a ripple effect on poverty levels.

Extreme poverty can be mitigated when the locals trade their way to the top; the better future. Governments should join global markets to provide trade opportunities for their citizens and ultimately improve their well-being and quality of life. South Korea for instance, has moved from poor nations to an aid donor to the developing nations through government initiatives that helped create industries and formulation of global brands (Bhalla & Lapeyre, 2016). This was achieved by the government's collaborative ideas to create trade avenues with other nations. At the moment, however, the trade potential is limited by the rules and policies that work against developing nations. International organizations mandated with poverty eradication such as United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will need to reform this policy to ensure holistic growth and development (Jolliffe & Prydz, 2015).

In developing nations, almost one in seven children live in extremely low income, and this share has increased in the last years. According to Hostinar, Ross, Chen & Miller (2018), this affects a person's health at adulthood. The intensity of poverty has significantly increased since the global financial crisis. The main issue in the developed nations is an inclusive healthcare plan. There is a significant proportion of the population that cannot afford quality healthcare hence the need to provide affordable health care plan. The provision of quality healthcare programs such as Medicaid provides economic security and the ultimate poverty eradication process. Affordable healthcare plan reduces health inclusive poverty measure. At the same time, Medicaid has played a critical role in improving child poverty compared to the non-health initiatives in the developing nations.

Evidence shows that anti-poverty programs, particularly those related to social security work well with poverty eradication in both the developed and developing nations. These programs focus entirely on the children, elderly and those with disabilities in the society. At the same time, the programs are limited to those with low or average income and seek to improve the quality of their lives. Examples of the programs include housing assistance, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Supplemental Security Income. There are others who participate in Medicaid or SNAP which are part of the anti-poverty programs (Jolliffe & Prydz, 2015). Through the programs, the government can be able to provide a supplementary budget to the vulnerable, the ill and the disabled and help provide a holistic solution towards poverty mitigation and the realization of quality healthcare.

People living around poverty-stricken areas act the same way; they violate loitering laws, steal to sustain their needs and this in the long run influences crime rate. Crime is inevitable, but urban crime often tends to be influenced by high poverty rates. This is because poverty tends to reduce opportunities and inability to meet the basic needs in society. At the same time, the limited opportunities give rise to a society with limited resources leading to self-fulling prophecies about their future. The youth creates gangs and gang affiliations as the cycle continues to regenerate itself again and again. To this extent, poverty leads to criminal activities which, are meant to acquire the needs without legitimate opportunity to avoid crime (Bhalla & Lapeyre, 2016). This calls for the need for the stakeholders to sensitize society on the need to avoid poverty by engaging in productive activities. There is also a link between poverty and debt since hence the need to reduce debt levels. An analysis of how the poor borrow shows a significantly high rate which, affects the poverty eradication initiatives and programs.

In conclusion, the existence of poverty across the globe is morally wrong and if poverty increases, its cost to the global economy, political and security interest may increase exponentially. Poverty eradication is not just an issue on values or ethics but rather an important national security concern. There is a need for governments to introduce anti-poverty initiatives that will ensure a reduction in poverty eradication. Provision of affordable healthcare services is another way that poverty can be reduced. This is because health is one of the determinants of poverty and a healthy society is validated as wealthy. When society is healthy, there are high chances that they will work towards economic growth and development. The solutions for people living in poverty include restructuring of social values to sensitize on the need to work towards economic growth of their nations, reduction of debt levels, and introducing programs that promote wealth creation in both developed and developing nations. These programs focus entirely on the children, elderly and those with disabilities in the society.

References

Bhalla, A. S., & Lapeyre, F. (2016). Poverty and exclusion in a global world. Springer.

Hostinar, C., Ross, K., Chen, E., & Miller, G. (2018). Poverty in Childhood Increases Risk of Poor Health in Adulthood - UC Davis Center for Poverty Research. Retrieved from https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/policy-brief/poverty-childhood-increases-risk-poor-health-adulthood

Jolliffe, D., & Prydz, E. B. (2015). Global poverty goals and prices: how purchasing power parity matters. The World Bank.

Jolliffe, D., & Prydz, E. B. (2016). Estimating international poverty lines from comparable national thresholds. The World Bank.

Munck, R. (2005). Globalization and social exclusion: A transformationalist perspective. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.

Ravallion, M. (2017). Poverty comparisons. Routledge. (Ravallion, 2017)

Shildrick, T., & Rucell, J. (2015). Sociological perspectives on poverty. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.