Issue of Poverty in the World

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The Irish Government's National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007 defines poverty as: "People are living in poverty if their income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is regarded as acceptable by society generally. As a result of inadequate income and other resources people may be excluded and marginalized from participating in activities which are considered the norm for other people in society." Based on this definition, we learn that people are living in poverty if they do not have enough money to do the things which are considered basic for human’s life. Some of them could be not having enough money to buy food for family, or not being able to afford to heat their home in winter… However, poverty is more than not having enough money for material things. It can also mean that people don't have money for social activities, and this may lead people feeling cut off from the society since they can not afford for the participation (www.neoperspectives.com/poverty)

Poverty has many causes, and some primary factors are: overpopulation, unequal distribution of resources in the world economy, inability to meet high standards of living and costs of living, inadequate education and employment opportunities, environmental degradation, certain economic, demographic trends, and welfare incentives (www.traveldocs.com/economy). According to National Action Plan for Social Inclusion, other factors contributing to poverty include: work, age, health, education and location. Specifically, if one being unemployed or in a low-paid job, he/she is more likely become to be poor. The older people and children whose parents are poor are on a greater risk of pov...

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...rican and people in developed countries or even rich people in developing countries would send their hard-earned money to the government officials in poor countries, and ensure that the money reaches the poor. Given the magnitude of the poverty problem, the international development community has set out the millennium goal addressing the problem of poverty in its various manifestations. Unfortunately, the achievement of such goals seems to be very ambiguous. To reduce poverty, I think the organizations should adopt more policies and institutions supporting economic freedom. A well recognized economic freedom is the key to promote economic growth. In other words, to solve the problem of poverty, we should leave people free to accumulate unlimited amounts of wealth, freely engage in any business enterprise, and enter into any peaceful exchange with anyone in the world.

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