WHAT IS POVERTY? poor in Canada is different from living in poverty in Russia or Zimbabwe.

 
The differences between rich and poor within the borders of a country can
Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including also be great.
food, clothing, and shelter.  However, poverty is more, much more than
just not having enough money. Despite the many definitions, one thing is certain; poverty is a complex
societal issue. No matter how poverty is defined, it can be agreed that it is
The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way: an issue that requires everyone’s attention.  It is important that all
“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick members of our society work together to provide opportunities for all our
and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to members to reach their full potential. It helps all of us to help one another.
school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, Source:
fear for the future, and living one day at a time. https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/esic/overview/cont
Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across ent/what_is_poverty.html#:~:text=Poverty%20is%20about%20not
%20having,Poverty%20is%20lack%20of%20shelter.
time, and has been described in many ways.  Most often, poverty is
a situation people want to escape. So, poverty is a call to action --
Causes of Poverty
for the poor and the wealthy alike -- a call to change the world so
that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela –
to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the
what happens in their communities.” causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of
In addition to a lack of money, poverty is about not being able to poverty but the most important is population. The rising population is putting
participate in recreational activities; not being able to send children on a a burden on the resources & budgets of countries. Governments are finding it
day trip with their schoolmates or to a birthday party; not being able to difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.
pay for medications for an illness.  These are all costs of being poor. Those
who can barely pay for food and shelter simply can’t consider these other
The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of
expenses.  When people are excluded within a society, when they are not
employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- a
well educated, and when they have a higher incidence of illness, society
lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to
has negative consequences.  We all pay the price for poverty.  The
earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack
increased cost of the health system, the justice system, and other systems
of education compels a person to less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. A
that provide support to those living in poverty has an impact on our
lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country
economy.
resulting in a lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like floods
While much progress has been made in measuring and analyzing poverty, and earthquakes also contribute to poverty.
the World Bank Organization is doing more work to identify indicators for
the other dimensions of poverty.  This work includes identifying social
indicators to track education, health, access to services, vulnerability, and In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of
social exclusion.  civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources &
money are being spent on war instead of public welfare. Countries like India,
There is no one cause of poverty, and the results of it are different in every
case. Poverty varies considerably depending on the situation. Feeling
Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclones, etc. and the inability to provide for one’s basic needs. Whatever definition one
These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise. uses, authorities and laypersons alike commonly assume that the effects of
poverty are harmful to both individuals and society.

Effects of Poverty
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/poverty
Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take
proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to
work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor CONCLUSION
families never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to Poverty significantly affects the resources available to students. Due to this
support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also lack of resources, many students struggle to reach the same academic
involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains achievement levels as students not living in poverty (Table 2 and Figure 2).
uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There is The factors affecting student achievement include income, source of
no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in the slums & he falls ill often income, and the mother’s education level. Although many poor students
& his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all score below average on assessment measures, instructional techniques
social evils are related to poverty. and strategies implemented at the classroom, school, district, and
government levels can help close the achievement gap by providing
students with necessary assistance in order to achieve high performance in
Source: https://www.toppr.com/guides/essays/poverty-essay/ academics.

poverty, the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount Source: https://academicjournals.org/article/article1379765941_Lacour
of money or material possessions. Poverty is said to exist when people lack %20and%20Tissington.pdf
the means to satisfy their basic needs. In this context, the identification of
poor people first requires a determination of what constitutes basic needs.
These may be defined as narrowly as “those necessary for survival” or as Poverty-Aware Teacher Education
broadly as “those reflecting the prevailing standard of living in the
community.” The first criterion would cover only those people near the Education is considered a path to escaping poverty. However, poverty and
borderline of starvation or death from exposure; the second would extend lack of success in school are closely linked. Understanding structural
to people whose nutrition, housing, and clothing, though adequate to factors within society that cause poverty and their influence on learning
preserve life, do not measure up to those of the population as a whole. The and educational outcomes requires reshaping teacher education programs.
problem of definition is further compounded by the There is a need for programs that adopt the social justice perspective and
noneconomic connotations that the word poverty has acquired. Poverty
challenge prevalent deficit perceptions of people in poverty, through
has been associated, for example, with poor health, low levels critical reflection. This article presents a qualitative study that analyzed the
of education or skills, an inability or an unwillingness to work, high rates of responses of teachers in Israel who were exposed to the life stories of
disruptive or disorderly behavior, and improvidence. While these people in poverty as a means of arousing poverty awareness. Our
attributes have often been found to exist with poverty, their inclusion in a experience shows that reflexive reading of life stories can challenge
definition of poverty would tend to obscure the relation between them stereotypes, deepen teachers' understanding of socio-economic
disadvantage, and help sensitive them to school pedagogies and practices Poverty affects children on several levels, including physical, social-
that exacerbate inequality. This change in teachers' understandings and emotional, and cognitive. According to the NIH, the stresses of poverty
attitudes has the potential to develop a partnership-based relationship lead to impaired learning ability in children from impoverished
with families living in poverty and improve students’ educational backgrounds.” Children’s ability to concentrate is affected by poor
achievement. nutrition and poor health.

Source: https://eric.ed.gov/?q=poverty&id=EJ1354548 What effects of poverty?

 It is also the assurance of having equal human rights. Poverty is a Poverty is associated with substandard housing, hunger,
worse situation that forces people to starve without proper homelessness, inadequate childcare, unsafe neighborhoods, and
shelter, clothing, ethical rights, and educational. Rate is rapidly under-resourced schools.
rising with each passing day
How does poverty affect students?
Poverty directly affects academic achievement due to the lack of
Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to resources available for student success. Low achievement is closely
take proper food & nutrition & his capacity to work further reduces his correlated with a lack of resources, and numerous studies have
income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get documented the correlation between low socioeconomic status and
proper schooling & proper nutrition. low achievement.
The effects of poverty on academic achievement How does poverty affect school life?
Poverty directly affects academic achievement due to the lack of Poverty and school
resources available for student success. Low achievement is closely
correlated with a lack of resources, and numerous studies have Living in poor households can make children feel unequal to others.
documented the correlation between low socioeconomic status and This can then make them less hopeful about getting the job they want.
low achievement. They feel like they have to work twice as hard. Children who get free
school meals are less likely to get A* - C grades at GCSE than wealthier
How poverty affects students in the Philippines? peers.
Poor people stop going to school because they have to work, which What challenges do students in poverty face?
leaves them without the literacy and numeracy skills needed to
improve their situation. With little income few incomes and few Children living in poverty often come to school without having had
options, their children are most likely to leave school, perpetuating a enough sleep and without having had breakfast. They often
cycle of poverty that spans generations. experience family violence, abuse, secondhand smoke, neglect, and
inadequate clothing.
How does poverty affect early education?
Why does poverty cause a lack of education?
Most families living in conditions of extreme poverty cannot afford to
send one or all of their children to school. Moreover, in many
countries, even primary education must be paid and secondary
education is free and compulsory only in developed countries and in
some less developed countries.