Salt Lake Community College!

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Progress against poverty!

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Cultural standards, statistics and improvement. !

Kathryn Buda!
Econ 2010!
KT Magnussun!
May 3, 2015!

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More and more people are now dreaming of a world free of poverty. With

countries like Nigeria and Mali having 70 percent of their population living in extreme
poverty, it will not only take many more years to achieve this, but new ideas also. !
The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose
horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things
that never were and ask, why not?, said President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago. !
According to the World Banks statistics, the number of households in developing
countries below the extreme-poverty line has declined sharply, from 52 percent in 1980,
to 43 percent in 1990, 34 percent in 1999, and 21 percent in 2010. The rates are
declining seemingly fast, but there is still an excessively high amount of people living in
poverty. As people are viewing this goal as more attainable than in the past, the rates of
poverty have been declining more in recent years than ever before. !
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Although the goal of achieving a poverty-free world seems far-fetched and out of

reach, it is possible if managed in small chunks. For example the mortality rate of
children under the age of 5 in Africa declined from 177 deaths per 1,000 births in 1990,
to 155 per 1,000 births in 2000, to 98 per 1,000 in 2012. This rate is still too high, but is
steadily declining. !
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An overwhelming statistic shows that the wealthiest 80 people in the world own

as much wealth as the poorest half of the entire planet. There is a high amount of
people living at or under the poverty level in America, but in comparison the the 1 dollar
a day poverty level the rest of the world faces, U.S. poverty seems trivial. Economics

consider a countries poverty level by their cultural and social standards. Many
Americans labeled impoverished have health care plans, cell phones, and clean !
clothes to wear. While, in third world countries, a person considered to be living in
poverty would not have clean water to drink, a meal to eat each day, or any clothes to
wear at all. Statistics show that at least one out of ten children in low-income nations will
die before reaching age five. In America, it would be extremely rare for a child to die of
natural causes from simply being born into a poor family. Many people have safeties
set in place like; homeless shelters, government intervention, family and community
resources. !
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In 1990, 1.9 billion people lived in poverty globally and in 2011, 1.0 billion people

lived in poverty globally. In less than two decades, the number of people living in
poverty has almost halved in the worlds poorest nations. What accounts for this
change? Many economics are saying that rising incomes in India and China are playing
a major role. Combined, these two countries brought 232 million people out of extreme
poverty from 2008 to 2011, according to the World Bank analysis. Although India can be
applauded for helping bring so many people out of poverty, they also account for 30
percent of all people who are still living in poverty.!
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The World Bank has predicted that in less than 15 years, the income of the

worlds poorest people will rise above the extreme poverty threshold. This is just a start,
but an immense advancement. The only way to curb the income distribution and
eliminate poverty globally is to slowly chip away at it and keep process and progress in
mind with optimism. !

Kennedy also declared 50 years ago, By defining our goal more clearly by

making it seem more manageable and less remote we can help all people to see it,
to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.