• Poverty is a condition where people's basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met. • Poverty is generally of two types:• Absolute poverty

and Relative poverty

P.B. Dharmasena0777 - 613234, 0717 - 613234

dharmasenapb@ymail.com , dharmasenapb@gmail.com https://independent.academia.edu/PunchiBandageDharmasena

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Punchi_Bandage_Dharmasena/contributions

Poverty: Definition and Types

Rural DevelopmentLesson 2: Rural Poverty

• Absolute poverty occurs when people cannot obtain adequate resources (measured in terms of calories or nutrition) to support a minimum level of physical health. (same everywhere, and can be eradicated as demonstrated by some countries)• Relative poverty occurs when people do not have the minimum level of living standards as determined by a government. (varies from country to country, sometimes within the same country)

3

Absolute Poverty

1. The absence of enough resources (such as money) to secure basic life necessities.

2. A condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including adequate food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education, information, & access to services.

3. Synonym for extreme poverty.

Absolute Poverty

The actual needs of the poor and not by comparing the expenditure of those who are not poor

5

Relative Poverty Definition

Inequality between groups. Proportion of household earning in

incomes < 1/2 the mean/median income.

Measured; income disparity ratio of income groups ethnic, urban & rural.

In this system, if everyone's real income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, then the rate of relative poverty will also stay the same. Example; households with an accumulated

income < 50% of the median income are living in poverty.

Relative Poverty

Global Prevalence of Poverty

• The World Bank estimates that 702.1 million people  (9.6%) are living in extreme poverty in 2015, down from 1.75 billion (37.1%) in 1990.

• Of these 702.1 million people, about 347.1 million people (35.2%) live in Sub-Saharan Africa and 231.3 million (13.5%) live in South Asia .

• UNICEF estimates half the world's children (or 1.1 billion) live in poverty.

• Another estimate places the true scale of poverty much higher than the World Bank, with an estimated 4.3 billion people (59 %) living with less than $5 a day and unable to meet basic needs adequately. 

8

Comparing Kinds of Poverty• Relative vs. Absolute• Objective vs. Subjective• Urban vs. Rural• Internal (personal) vs.

External (systemic) Causes• Short-term vs. Long-term • Clustered (wide-spread)

vs. Isolated• Human Poverty

Absolute vs. Relative PovertyRelative

• Comparative• Perceived deficits• Primarily emotional

consequences

Absolute• Absolute• Actual deficits• Primarily physical

consequences

9

Objective vs. Subjective Poverty• Asking people to report

whether their income is sufficient; what level of income would be adequate to make ends meet or to identify themselves as poor.

• The percentage of people whose income is below a poverty line.

• The critical threshold of income, consumption or more generally access to goods and services below which individuals can not fulfill basic needs.

Human Poverty

11

Deprivation of essential capabilities such as a long and healthy life, knowledge, economic resources and community participation.

The Feminisation of Poverty• In most countries poverty has a

female face: about 70 percent of the 1.2 billion people living in poverty are female.

• In many countries, the number of women in poverty has risen significantly over that of men over the last two decades.

• Women are twice as likely as men to be illiterate and significantly more likely to suffer from poverty related health conditions such as iron deficiency anaemia and protein-energy malnutrition.

The Elderly: A Traditionally Vulnerable Population

• Maintaining a viable income in the later years of life is an issue with which many struggle.

• In many developing countries, retirement is a luxury that few can afford.

• Approximately 40 percent of individuals over 64 years in Africa and 25 percent in Asia are still in the workforce, employed mostly in agriculture.

Poverty Headcount Ratio atthe DS Level, Sri Lanka - 2005

The Head count ratio (HCR) is the proportion of a population that exists, or lives, below the 'poverty line'.

The poverty threshold, poverty limit or poverty line is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular area.

Poverty line in Districts of Sri Lanka – July 2016

District

National

Colombo

Gampaha

Kaluthara

Kandy

Matale

Nuwara Eliya

Galle

Mathara

Hambantota

Jaffna

Mannar

Vavuniya

Mullaithivu

Kilinochchi

Batticaloa

Amprara

Trincomalee

Kurunegala

Puttalam

Anuradhapura

Polonnaruwa

Badulla

Monaragala

Rathnapura

Keggalle

2016 Jul

Rs.

4132

4295

4290

4183

4125

4150

4168

3994

3969

3806

4074

4268

4223

4087

4189

4183

4100

4132

3992

4128

3909

4075

3961

3755

4015

4172

Minimum Expenditure per person per month to fulfill the basic needs

Estimated Distribution of the Poor, Sri Lanka - 2005

Estimates of Poverty Headcount Ratio by District, Sri LankaProvince District 1990/91 1995/96 2002

(%) (%) (%)______________________________________________________________________Western Colombo 16 12 6

Gampaha 15 14 11Kalutara 32 29 20

Central Kandy 36 37 25Matale 29 42 30Nuwara Eliya 20 32 23

Southern Galle 30 32 26Matara 29 35 27Hambantota 32 31 32

North Western Kurunegala 27 26 25Puttalam 22 31 31

North Central Anuradhapura 24 27 20Polonnaruwa 24 20 24

Uva Badulla 31 41 37Monaragala 34 56 37

Sabaragamuwa Ratnapura 31 46 34Kegalle 31 36 32

Accessibility Index, Sri Lanka

The accessibility index is calculatedfor every point as the sum of the population of surrounding cities and towns, inversely weighted by the travel time on the road network to each town.

Poverty Accessibility

20

Child Poverty – Sri Lanka

• Child Population( below 19 yrs.): approx. 7.2 mn (36.3%)

• Child Population 0-5 years: approx. 1.7 mn.• Children attending pre-schools: around 80%• Completion % of primary schools: over 95%

(both boys and girls)• Secondary enrolment % is 82.6 %• Disabled children 0 -19 yrs – 55,500 (2001)• Infant mortality rate 11.7 per 1000 live-births• Under 5 mortality rate 13 per 1000 live-births

21

Child Poverty – Sri Lanka

• Under-nutrition of children varies from 19- 29% for wasting, stunting and underweight

• Immunization rate 96.5• Maternal mortality rate – 18 per 100,000 live-births• Internally displaced children living with parents

with friends & family (43,689 families) and in temporary shelter (7,800 families) (UNHCR 2008)

Children in voluntary homes (22,000 children) Child domestic labour– Approx. 25,500 children

between 5-14 years engaged in economic activity (ad hoc studies)

Street Children about 10,000

POVERTY AND HEALTH

Poverty and ill-health: the vicious circle

Characteristics of the poorInadequate service utilization, unhealthy sanitary, dietary practice, etc.

Caused by;Lack of income&knowledge,Poverty in community-social norms, weak institutions and infrastructure, bad environment;Poor health provision-inaccessible, lack of key inputs, irrellevant services, low quality;Excluded from health finance system-limited insurance,co-payments

Poor health outcomes

Ill healthMalnutritionHigh fertility

Diminished income

Loss of wagesCosts of health careGreater vulnerability to catastrophic illness

• Most of the illnesses associated with poverty are infectious diseases, such as diarrhoeal illness, malaria, and tuberculosis.

• All of them are associated with the lack of income, clean water and sanitation, food, and access to medical services and education with characterise poor countries and communities.

• The diseases are linked to undernutrition and children are most susceptible to them .

• The environmental, social, and dietary changes produced by industrialisation and urbanisation are leading to higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and respiratory illness among both the urban poor and not so poor.

• Poor countries and poor people suffer from multiple deprivations that translate into high levels of ill health and disability.

• Poverty is an absolute barrier to good health. It impacts health by influencing all other factors adversely.

• The poor are more vulnerable to disease owing to, their lack of access to promotive, preventive and curative health care, nutritious food and financial resources.

• In addition, poor people are also more vulnerable to environmental threats to health, such as polluted air and water, which undermine the quality of their lives.

• Preventable and treatable diseases therefore take an enormous toll on the poorest people.

• Primarily in developing countries, people die from eight vaccine-preventable diseases.

• An estimated 1.7 million people in developing countries die annually from diseases linked to unsafe water and sanitation and poor hygiene.

• The vicious cycle of ill health has a greater impact where poor people are generally not covered by adequate health insurance the covered that protects their access to health services.