Poverty and it's Types | Agriculture Optional Notes for UPSC PDF Download

What is Poverty? 

Poverty is a complex economic condition characterized by a deficiency of essential resources vital for human survival, such as money and material goods. Consequently, poverty encompasses a multidimensional concept with social, economic, and political ramifications.

Poverty Line

A straightforward approach to defining the poverty line is by establishing the monetary value (per capita expenditure) required to meet the minimum calorie intake for each individual. In rural areas, this was assessed at 2,400 calories per person, while in metropolitan regions, it stood at 2,100 calories. In the 2011-2012 period, the poverty line was set at 816 rupees per person per month for rural areas and around 1,000 rupees for urban areas. The government uses Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) as a gauge of households' financial status to identify those in need.

What are the types of Poverty?

 There exist various methods for categorizing poverty based on social, economic, and political factors:

• Absolute Poverty: Absolute poverty, also referred to as abject poverty, signifies a severe lack of fundamental necessities like food, clean water, healthcare, shelter, education, and information. Those experiencing absolute poverty struggle for survival, often leading to preventable diseases such as malaria, cholera, and waterborne illnesses, with a higher impact in developing nations.

• Poverty in Relative Terms: From a social perspective, this type of poverty is assessed in relation to the economic standards of the surrounding population. It is used to gauge income inequality, where a family might be considered impoverished if it cannot afford leisure activities or gifts for their children on special occasions.

• Situational Poverty: Situational poverty arises due to adverse events, such as natural disasters, job loss, or severe health issues. In such cases, individuals can often overcome poverty with modest assistance, as it is a consequence of unfortunate circumstances.

• Poverty Across Generations: This form of poverty is transmitted from one generation to the next within families and individuals, creating a cycle that is challenging to break due to limited access to resources and opportunities for improvement.

• Poverty in Rural Areas: Rural poverty is prevalent in regions with a population of fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. It is characterized by limited employment opportunities, restricted access to services, inadequate support for people with disabilities, and limited access to quality education. Many residents rely on farming and low-skilled labor for their livelihoods.

• Poverty in Cities: Urban poverty affects metropolitan areas with a population exceeding 50,000. Urban poor face challenges such as inadequate access to healthcare and education, housing affordability, crowded and unhealthy living conditions, and the absence of or limited social safety nets.

What Factors Affect Poverty Line

• Lack of differentiation: The current poverty line treats all impoverished individuals uniformly, failing to distinguish between those in dire need and those in less extreme circumstances, making it challenging to target assistance effectively.

• Proxy for income: This method relies on food expenditure and a few specific items as a stand-in for income, as used by economists to set the poverty line.

• Broader needs: Apart from income and resources, several other elements related to poverty, such as access to essential education, healthcare, clean water, and sanitation, should be considered when defining the poverty line.

• Ignoring social factors: The existing system does not take into account social factors that contribute to and perpetuate poverty, including factors like lack of education, chronic illness, limited access to resources, discrimination, and the absence of standard and political opportunities.

• Search for alternatives: Researchers have been exploring alternative methods to address the various limitations associated with the official assessment of poverty. For instance, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has developed a comprehensive measure known as the Sen Index.