Define Poverty

Define Poverty. Justify multidimensional Nature of poverty.
Also explain its

various Social, Economic & Political aspects (Causes and effects).
Poverty- It is a situation in which an individual due to non availability of financial resources lacks
in full filling his basic needs which are shelter, clothing and food but the definition is incomplete
it considers many other factors too which causes an individual to fall in poverty. Some of the
other factors which are now being considered in defining the poverty are lack of access to
healthcare, education, drinking water, sanitation and etc.
Poverty is mainly defined of two types-
1. Absolute poverty- It is a kind of poverty when basic income of a household is below a

certain level and it unable him to full fill his basic needs like- food, shelter and clothing.
2. Relative poverty- This kind of poverty represents the comparison between two section of
the society i.e. one section of the society is poor in comparison to the other section of
the society, it mainly shows the inequality in income distribution among the people in a
country.
As poverty is not just limited to the basic needs it has other dimensions too, because of the so
many other aspect poverty is multidimensional in nature. Some of the dimensions are
mentioned as under-
1. Social exclusion
2. Access to healthcare system
3. Unemployment
4. Sanitation
5. Access to clean drinking water
6. Illiteracy
7. Unequal distribution of income
8. Education
9. Helplessness
10. Child labour
11. Population
12. Size of families
13. Malnutrition
14. Climate risk etc.
These above mentioned dimensions comes under various heads like social, economical
and political which are different aspects of poverty–
i) Social - This is a kind of poverty in which people are deprived from inclusion in society or
community on the basis of many factors some of the are mentioned as under-
1. Culture and traditions- when people are cornerised or are left behind based on their
cultures and traditions they follow. As there are many cultures co exist together in a country
this type of usually arises.
2. Social discrimination- People on the basis of cast, creed, religion and color are discriminated
and deprived of their basic needs.
3. Exclusion in decision making- It is important that there should be a sense of belongingness

and their opinions are valued and are included in decision making.
These factors affect the mental health of an individual and sometimes led him to the street
of crimes, which creates violence and not good for a society.
ii) Economical - It defines as a situation when people falls in poverty due to various
economical factor in an economy, which are other than the basic needs-
1. Unemployment- If major chunk of the people in a country remains unemployed they will not
be able to full fill their basic needs.
2. Population – if the population in a country is more than the resources available it will lead to
unequal distribution of the resources.
3. Demographic trend- This factor plays a major role in growth of an economy if most of the
population is below the working level age or are +60 i.e old age their contribution in income
generation will be zero or minimal.
4. Access to health care- accessibility to public healthcare should be available in a country so

that people from low strata of the society will not fall in poverty by spending their major chunk on
that.
Lack of these factors can increase the mortality rate, malnutrition, hunger, landlessness, poor
health, child labour and so many other things.
iii) Political- This kind of poverty mainly arises because of the instability in politics or government
in a country
1. High borrowing- If the government of a country is borrowing more than its debt to GDP ratio it
will led to high fiscal deficit and will led the country saddled under the debt.
2. War- If the government of a country is having war it will divert its fund from social or public
welfare to defense.
3.Corruption- Corruption in a country by the political leaders eats the large amount of the social
welfare fund which deprives the people of the basic needs accessibility.
If these factors are prevailing in a country it will create distrust among the people for their
government, and can create violence, loss of public assets and inflation.

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Define Poverty. Justify multidimensional Nature of poverty.

Also explain its

Poverty is mainly defined of two types-

1. Absolute poverty- It is a kind of poverty when basic income of a household is below a

3. Exclusion in decision making- It is important that there should be a sense of belongingness

4. Access to health care- accessibility to public healthcare should be available in a country so

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