Poverty
Questions to Consider
• What is poverty?
– What does it look like to be poor?
– Why is there poverty?
– Where is there poverty?
• What does a person need to have an
adequate standard of living?
Why does it matter?
• By understanding what poverty is, we acknowledge its
existence.
• This is the first step to combating the hardships it creates.
• It brings awareness to the effects of scarcity and how it affects
people.
• Awareness inspires activism.
According to the United Nations
“Poverty: a human condition characterized by the
sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources,
capabilities, choices, security and power
necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate
standard of living and other civil, cultural,
economic, political and social rights.”
What does this mean?
• lack of resources
– Lack of materials necessary to survive
• lack of capabilities and choices
– Lack of education and skills necessary to choose
your future
• lack of security
– Consistent exposure to violence and ongoing
conflict
What does this mean?
• lack of adequate standard of living
– Safe and clean housing, healthcare and transportation
are inaccessible (Standard of Living also encompasses
resources, choices and security)
• lack of rights (civil, cultural, economic, political
and social)
– They are denied to you because of a weak or
oppressive government
– They are inaccessible to you because you are poor
(lack an adequate Standard of Living)
Why define poverty?
• The United Nations believes that poverty is as
much a denial of natural rights as it is an
economic struggle.
• Recognizing denial of rights is essential to
restoring them.
• Only by knowing exactly what poverty is can we
know how to eradicate it.
How is the official UN
definition used?
• Used to identify, assess and
act effectively on global
situations.
• Used as a standard or
reference point across
nations.
• Commonly measured as an
income of $1 to $2 a day.
Who uses this definition?
The following organizations use
this definition to help decide how to
best reduce poverty:
International Organizations:
•UN: UNICEF, WHO, WFP
•World Bank
•IMF
Philanthropic Organizations/NGOs:
•Millennium Campaign
•ONE
•Oxfam
Who uses this definition?
Governments use this
definition to assess
social and economic
conditions to evaluate
and carry out national
economic policies and
other programs to help
the poor both within
their own countries and
abroad.
The United States
United States Definition of Poverty
• Poverty in the US is officially defined by the US
government.
• The Census Bureau uses a set of money income
thresholds to determine who is in poverty.
– This is money earned before taxes and does not include any non
cash benefits such as food stamps.
• Thresholds are money income “minimums” based on
specific details of a family.
• The "absolute poverty line" is the threshold below which
families or individuals are considered to be lacking the
resources to meet the basic needs for healthy living;
having insufficient income to provide the food, shelter
and clothing needed to preserve health. (HHS definition)
How does it all add up?
2008 Poverty Thresholds, Selected
Family Types
Single
Individual
Single
Parent
Two
Adults
Under 65
years
$ 11,201
65 years &
older
$ 10,326
One child
$ 14,840
Two
children
$ 17,346
No children
$ 14,417
One child
$ 17,330
Two
children
$ 21,834
Three
children
$ 25,694
• Minimum Wage - The
federal minimum wage
was increased 70 cents in
July 2008, the second of
three steps to raise it
from $5.15 an hour to
$7.25 an hour by 2009.
• If someone works 40
hours per week for 50
weeks a year earning
minimum wage are they
above or below the
thresholds?
How does it all add up?
• Health Insurance - About
47 million people (16%)
were without health
insurance coverage in 2006.
This included about 9 million
children.
• Federal Programs - In May
2008, food stamp
participation of about
28,400,000 persons was up
over the prior May by more
than 2 million people.
• Need for Federal Funds In 2007, 37.3 million people
(12.5%) in the United States
were in poverty.
Why does the US have an official
definition of poverty?
• Minimum Wage - The definition of poverty is taken into
consideration when the federal government sets the
minimum wage.
• Health Insurance - State and local governments may use
the federal poverty definition to determine whether people
qualify for state-funded health insurance programs.
• Federal Programs - The definition of poverty is used to
determine eligibility for more than 25 government
assistance programs such as the Food Stamp Program,
National School Lunch Program.
• Allocation of Federal Funds - The definition of poverty is
also looked at and is used to determine how to distribute
Federal dollars in order to benefit the most people.
Poverty in Mountain View
According to the 2000 Census:
•6.8% of the population and 3.6% of families in Mountain View had
incomes below the poverty line in 1999.
•5.3% of native-born residents live below the poverty line.
•7.0% of foreign-born residents live below the poverty line.
•7.2% of those under the age of 18 were living below the
poverty line.
•6% of Mountain View residents are below the poverty line
vs. 12% for the whole state.
Teach-In Essential Questions
1. What is poverty?
2. Is poverty inevitable?
3. Is poverty best addressed through public
or private efforts?
• Thresholds developed in 1963-1964 by Mollie
Orshansky of the Social Security Administration
(Original Purpose: To conduct studies about
the Department of Agriculture’s food economy
analyses)
• A few ways to understand poverty:
-consumption based poverty: (minimum
income)
-poverty as a failure of capabilities: i.e. one fails
to provide x, y, z for themselves.