Theories of Poverty
There are
many theories relating to the cause of poverty and these poverty theories
distinguish between geographic, system, individual, and patterned causes.
Individual poverty theory relates to the poor economic circumstances.
Geographic and system theories of poverty attribute economical and political
plans, as well as the infrastructure policies. Combining both individual and
system conditions, we get the patterned or cyclical causes of poverty.
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Theories Relating to the Cause of Poverty
In the past,
we have discussed about How
to deal with poverty or how to stay away from poverty; http://www.anythingrelated.com/2013/09/how-to-deal-with-poverty.html.
That particular blog post was about individualistic approaches on how to get
rid of poverty. The struggles
faced by a low income family, inflation, employment, economic
recession, and topics like "poverty an
insight" are also discussed before. So, I thought now I should discuss
different theories of poverty.
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Individualistic Theories
Decisions and Choices: One of these theories of poverty
claims that poor economic situations are the result of a person's own decisions
and choices. For instance, it is "us" who prefer to grab a low paying
job by not studying or not looking for advanced academic education. Who supports
this theory? Well, political conservatives completely support this theory as
they put all the responsibility on the poor people to work hard for the
betterment of their poor economic situations. Yes, it is a well known fact that
success,
wealth, as well as the financial stability can be achieved by determination,
self-motivation, and dedication.
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Socioeconomic Subsultures: Another theory concentrates on the
socioeconomic subcultures that grow in a number of population sections.
According to this theory, poor and lower middle class people develop as well as
maintain certain beliefs, values, and attitudes that causes poverty or restrict
them from overcoming poverty. If you ask me; I personally don't think that we
should blame poor for being weak and poor. However, my personal views cannot be
counted because, here, we are talking about different theories of poverty.
Basically, this particular theory of poverty states that an individual's or a group's
own belief and attitude keep them in poverty as they don't look for other
practical solutions.
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System Theories
Inequalities and Discrimination: When it comes to system theories,
political progressivism comes to mind. As per this system theory, poverty can
occur due to the discrimination of the system among a particular segment. There
are many examples of this. For instance, if a nation's system doesn't allow
females to work, then it is making hard for women to cope, to work, to earn, as
well as to overcome poverty. The most common example of this is "single mom", who is not allowed to
work in many higher positions. A few human resource departments of certain
organizations thinks that married women and single Mothers can't be efficient because they
already have family responsibilities. Although, in my views, those women are
more responsible because they learned the art of multitasking; they already
learned how to handle family and work together. Nevertheless, this segment
(gender) usually faces discrimination from the social, economic, and political
systems. They rarely obtain higher paying jobs. In such circumstances, facing
child care expenses doubles the pain. Thus, inequalities
in systems are also generating poverty. May be women
empowerment and gender
equality can address poverty,
What do you think?
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Bad Infrastructure: According to the other system theory,
poverty occurs due to bad infrastructure in a country or nation, or may be in a
specific territory. For instance, if the quality of education is inadequate or
poor in a particular area, then how could people obtain higher paying jobs? Is
there any higher paying job available for poorly educated person? I don't think
so! How can one secure his or her career in poor education conditions? This can
surely cause poverty. One more example is poor economic conditions; if the
economic condition of a nation or a specific area is poor, it means the access
to employment as well as the basic needs are limited. Therefore, bad or poor infrastructure
also causes poverty.
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| © Akhil Sharma | AnythingRelated.com | All Rights Reserved |
Cyclical theories
As mentioned
in starting that cyclical theories states the dynamics of poverty, where both
system and individual forces to reveal why some families and groups are trapped
in poverty for decades. This is also referred to as the cycle of poverty. For
instance, a teenager prefers not to obtain higher education or not to go to
college; now this will certainly limit his or her ability to get a white collar
job. The minimum wage level is also maintained low by the political and
economical system, but the cost of living is increasing swiftly. This all results
in the never ending cycle of poverty. Due to the poor economic circumstances
and the individual choices, people and families are forced to stay in or
trapped in poverty. Critical resources are not present and an individual is
also not interested in going to college, then how can you end the cycle of
poverty? I don't know about the factors and circumstances, and I am not even
blaming anyone; I know it is really hard to overcome poverty, especially when
you are living in India; poverty is a complex issue in India. In fact, the
middle class is melting down in India (PS I am from a middle class family).
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read other posts related to Poverty
I have seen many break the cycle but it is hard. When you do not have the means to better yourself it is hard to not continue the poverty cycle. Very interesting read
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I never really thought about the different reasons until now.
ReplyDeleteI never really know about the differences until now either. What an interesting post! Amber N
DeleteSuch an interesting article related to the poverty issues which has become so common all over the world these days. I think poor economic condition of a country leads to poverty as well as your resources are very limited & you cant help yourself about it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, you are right Lisa, poverty is a worldwide problem. We need to change this because it is extremely sad.
DeleteIt is so hard to break away from a situation like this - it is a shame in this day and age poverty is so rife. x
ReplyDeleteWow. This is an interesting article. I think this really puts things into perspective. Amber N
ReplyDeleteIt is important to note that we could all possibly succumb to such a difficult situation. Life has a way of showing everyone who is really in control.
ReplyDeleteAnother one of your good topics for a Socio-Economics course!
ReplyDeleteI think you covered it here, but geographics and isolation of poverty (not being surrounded by the "right" people) is a strong and unfortunate contributor I think
Interesting read! There are some folks who think that living in the city will take them out of poverty. These people should understand that no matter when you reside, if you work hard enough to achieve your dreams, then you will reach it.
ReplyDeleteI think education plays a big role. Without proper knowledge, you cannot make the correct choices.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've thought a lot about. It's really sad the amount of poverty there is around the world, something needs to be done. - Jeanine
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post with lots of insite!!!! Definitely gave me something to think about!
ReplyDeleteFrom Babita: If I was still living in India then I would blame the politicians for continuing the cycle of poverty. However, after reading your in depth article I have to at agree with most of the point you have written above.
ReplyDeletePoverty is an interesting subject to think about and it truly differs as to why someone doesn't have a job for different reasons. There really is no one reason for poverty.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I never really contemplated the levels of poverty before. It's sad that poverty is the only thing a child knows in some countries. It's not because they made poor choices, they were just born in a country with a corrupt government...etc. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely different causes of poverty, most of the time it has something to do with a person's educational background but then again, there's the economy. No matter what the cause is, it has to be addressed both by the people experiencing it and those who have the civil responsibility to help them.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post indeed. I have never really thought to much about the different theories of poverty nor did I know there were different theories. Thanks for sharing the theories.
ReplyDeleteI lean towards the cyclical theory more. It's difficult to point fingers even if it's just for the sole reason of being objective since being demotivated comes from all angles. Nevertheless, I applaud at this article, good points.
ReplyDeleteHmmm The "P" word...lets just say that one may be born into dire circumstances of lack and all kinds of things we call poverty, bUt they dont have to stay there. when we keep focusing on Poverty and all things lack related we perpetuate these things...Such a detailed post...Thats all I will say about the topic.
ReplyDeleteI obviously subscribe to the abundance mindset, that there is more than enough for all humanity if we all allowed our spirit to embrace abundance and open our minds and eyes to opportunity! No matter what situation we find ourselves in!
Julie Syl~
Great insights! Poverty can be attributed to a lot of things, but most of the time it all boils down to the country's state of economy.
ReplyDeleteExcellent read! It makes me thankful that I have not experienced these things, and motivated to do more for those who have!
ReplyDeleteThis is so real also here in the Philippines. Poverty are kinda hard to eliminate especially if people are stock on the belief if they born poor, they will die poor. One must strive hard to improve his quality of life and be discipline.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of reasons for poverty. It's a complicated issue. Education is one of the greatest tools to help combat poverty.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard when you're born into a particular system or cycle to break free of it. This was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteFor many people who have never experience poverty, they don't realize how hard it is to break free from the system. It can be a struggle, especially if you live in regions where poverty is the norm, or where you don't have access to education.
ReplyDelete