THE CAUSES OF POVERTY

Everyone wishes to maintain a certain standard of living and enjoy a certain quality of life in society. At the very least, they wish to be able to afford their basic requirements and pay the bills. In order to do so, they seek gainful employment which they often find but sometimes do not. The lack of regular or an adequate income results in poverty which impacts the individual in question and his immediate social circle and family. There are various reasons for poverty of this kind some of which are linked to the political and economic landscape and some to the individual himself.

The current situation of a country can have a direct impact on the financial situation of an individual. Political uncertainty and/or civil war for example can destroy livelihoods and the customary way of life of citizens leaving them destitute and in need of aid and handouts from charitable organizations. An obvious example is modern day Syria where the civil war has destroyed communities, homes, livelihoods and a whole way of life. Another is Rakhine state which, due to the actions of Myanmar authorities, is being erased and from which the locals have been fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. Macroeconomic problems in the country can also have a devastating effect on individuals. High inflatio , like in the case of modern day Venezuela or Zimbabwe, can make the salary or wages earned by people completely worthless very quickly. The rapid drop in the value of currency in both these countries has created mass poverty on an enormous scale. In cases such as these, there is very little individuals can do except, perhaps, up sticks and migrate.

Demographics can also be linked to poverty. In most developed countries, there is a smaller dependent population with respect to the working population who are generating an income and contributing to the economy. The dependent population, the children and the elderly, can thus be cared for by the resulting welfare state. Services like education, healthcare, home help and even government housing can be provided for free reducing overall poverty. Not so in developing and especially underdeveloped countries. In places such as these, there is a large young population; in other words, there is a huge dependent population competing for basic services and jobs. That they cannot all be helped in countries such as these which are also wrestling with economic problems and perhaps political uncertainty also goes without saying. The inevitable result is poverty and this is the fate of many youth in third world countries for example. In short, if one is unfortunate enough to be born in countries such as these, one is likely to have to struggle with poverty.

An individual may be faced with poverty for reasons unconnected to those listed above as well. In this age of rapidly developing technology and automation, certain hitherto viable professions are disappearing to be replaced by new ones. Labour intensive work and monotonous routine work is now being done by robots and computers leaving the people who used to do this kind of work without the ability to make a living. There is no call, in other words, for unskilled workers any longer. The sorts of people who are in demand are those with skills that are applicable to the 21^st century. Those who do not possess these skills, those who find it difficult or impossible to retrain and those who are perhaps too old to learn new skills may, therefore, be faced with poverty as there is no longer any call for what they have to offer. The key here is not to be left behind.

In conclusion, poverty may be a consequence of the times and circumstances one is living in or of a lack of training and education. The latter can be dealt with through individual effort and determination. The former is harder for the individual to deal with in the short term. The demographics of the country can only be bettered by means of government policy. The same goes for political stability and economic reform. Both need to be tackled on a nationwide basis with the correct government policies. Poverty can, therefore, become a life sentence in some cases, something global charities need to keep in mind.