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Poverty Essay

Poverty in India Essay

500+ words poverty in india essay.

Poverty is defined as a condition in which a person or family lacks the financial resources to afford a basic, minimum standard of living. Poor people don’t have adequate income; they can’t afford housing, health facilities and education which are essential for basic survival. So, poverty can be understood simply as a lack of money, or more broadly, barriers to everyday human life. With the help of this poverty essay, students will understand the meaning of poverty, the major causes of poverty and the efforts taken to eliminate poverty in India. So, students must go through this poverty in India essay in depth to get ideas on how to write effective essays and score high marks in exams.

What Causes Poverty?

There are various factors that are responsible for poverty. The major causes are unemployment, illiteracy, increasing population, and lack of proper education and training. As people are not able to find work for themselves, they are not able to earn their livelihood. Due to this, they lack access to basic education, health care, drinking water and sanitation. They are unable to feed their families and children. The other causes of poverty include war, natural disasters, political instability, etc. For example, World War II impacted many countries and they had to suffer from poverty for a long time. It took a lot of effort for such countries to recover their normal state. Similarly, natural disasters affect some areas so badly that poverty and hunger arise.

How is Poverty Measured in India?

The minimum expenditure (or income) required to purchase a basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs is called the Poverty Line. Poverty can be measured in terms of the number of people living below this line. It is measured by the State Governments and information is provided by Below Poverty Line (BPL) censuses. Different countries use different measures for measuring poverty but the basic concept remains the same. The definition of the poverty line remains the same, i.e, consumption required for maintaining the minimum standard of living in a country.

Efforts to Eliminate Poverty

Earning income is the first step towards poverty eradication. Poverty can be eliminated by empowering people, and by giving them a good education that will prepare them to have a better career and future. With the help of education, people can get good jobs which allow them to earn a good living. In this way, they will be able to provide their children with a better life. People should be given easy access to transportation, information, communication, technologies, and other public facilities and services to help remove poverty.

The government has also taken several steps to eradicate poverty in India. It has launched various programmes and schemes such as the Five Years Programme, Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana etc. These programmes help to generate wage employment for the poor, unskilled people living in rural areas. The government also has social security programmes to help a few specific groups such as poor women, elder people, and widows. Apart from these government initiatives, citizens of India have to take an active part in eliminating poverty because it can’t be achieved by just a few people. It needs the support of everyone.

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Frequently asked Questions on Poverty in India Essay

How can poverty in india be abolished completely.

Abolishing poverty in India completely can be challenging. Steps should be taken to ensure equality in education so that everyone gets equal opportunities to find better livelihoods. Proper sanitation and water facility 3. Economic security and development

When was the first plan implemented for Poverty abolition?

The fifth five-year plan was first implemented in the year 1974-79 and since then the government has taken several steps and made many reservations to take this plan forward.

What is the relation between Poverty abolition and economic development?

Poverty abolition and economic development go hand in hand with each other and they are interlinked to each other. Eradication of poverty automatically improves the overall economic situation of a country.

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Poverty in India Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty in india.

Poverty refers to a situation in which a person remain underprivileged from the basic necessities of life. In addition, the person does not have an inadequate supply of food, shelter, and clothes. In India, most of the people who are suffering from poverty cannot afford to pay for a single meal a day. Also, they sleep on the roadside; wear dirty old clothes. In addition, they do not get proper healthy and nutritious food, neither medicine nor any other necessary thing.

Causes of Poverty

The rate of poverty in India is increasing because of the increase in the urban population. The rural people are migrating to cities to find better employment. Most of these people find an underpaid job or an activity that pays only for their food. Most importantly, around crores of urban people are below the poverty line and many of the people are on the borderline of poverty.

Besides, a huge number of people live in low-lying areas or slums. These people are mostly illiterate and in spite of efforts their condition remains the same and there is no satisfactory result.

Furthermore, there are many reasons that we can say are the major cause of poverty in India. These causes include corruption, growing population, poor agriculture , the wide gap of rich and poor, old customs, illiteracy, unemployment and few more. A large section of people are engaged in an agricultural activity but the activity pays very less in comparison to the work done by employees.

Also, more population needs more food, houses and money and in the lack of these facilities the poverty grows very quickly. In addition, being extra poor and extra rich also widens the gap between the rich and poor.

Moreover, the rich are growing richer and the poor are getting poorer creating an economic gap that is difficult to fill up.

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Effects of Poverty

It affects people living in a lot of ways. Also, it has various effects that include illiteracy, reduced nutrition and diet, poor housing, child labor, unemployment , poor hygiene and lifestyle, and feminization of poverty, etc. Besides, this poor people cannot afford a healthy and balanced diet, nice clothes, proper education , a stable and clean house, etc. because all these facilities require money and they don’t even have money to feed two meals a day then how can they afford to pay for these facilities.

The Solutions for Ending Poverty

For solving the problem of poverty it is necessary for us to act quickly and correctly. Some of the ways of solving these problems are to provide proper facilities to farmers . So, that they can make agriculture profitable and do not migrate to cities in search of employment.

Also, illiterate people should be given the required training so that they can live a better life. To check the rising population, family planning should be followed. Besides, measures should be taken to end corruption, so that we can deal with the gap between rich and poor.

In conclusion, poverty is not the problem of a person but of the whole nation. Also, it should be deal with on an urgent basis by the implementation of effective measures. In addition, eradication of poverty has become necessary for the sustainable and inclusive growth of people, society, country, and economy .

FAQs about Poverty in India Essay

Q.1 List some ways to end poverty in India. A.1 Some ways to end poverty in India are:

Develop a national poverty reduction plan
Equal access to healthcare and education
Sanitation facility
Food, water, shelter, and clothing facility
Enhance economic growth with targeted action

Q.2 Which is the poorest state in India? A.2 Chhattisgarh is the poorest state of the country.

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Essay on Poverty: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

Updated on
Oct 14, 2023

Poverty is a deep-rooted problem that continues to affect a large portion of the world’s population today. It touches on several aspects of human life including but not limited to political, economic, and social elements. Even though there are several methods to escape poverty, still issues arise due to a lack of adequate unity among the country’s citizens. Here are some essays on poverty which will give you insights about this topic.

This Blog Includes:

Essay on poverty in 100 words, essay on poverty in 200 words, reasons behind poverty, world poverty conditions, role of ngos to eradicate poverty, what can be done by us.

Poverty is defined as a state of scarcity, and the lack of material possessions to such an extreme extent that people have difficulties in fulfilling their basic needs. Robert McNamara, a former World Bank President, states that extreme poverty is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant mortality rate, squalid conditions of living, and low life expectancy.

In order to eradicate poverty in a country, strict measures need to be taken on all levels. The political system needs to address this issue with utmost sincerity and strategic implementation in such a way that it improves the lives of people, especially the ones living below the poverty line.

Essay on Poverty in 300 words

Poverty is a multifaceted concept that includes several aspects such as social aspects, political elements, economic aspects, etc. It is basically associated with undermining a variety of essential human attributes such as health, education, etc. Despite the growth and development of the economies of countries, poverty still exists in almost every one of them.

There are several contributing reasons behind poverty in a nation. Some of them are mentioned below:-

Lack of literacy among citizens
Lack of Capital in the country
Large families and a rapidly growing population
Limited employment opportunities

There are even urban areas where the slum population is increasing. These are deprived of many basic amenities such as sanitation, drainage systems, and low-cost water supply, etc.

According to UNICEF , around 22000 children lose their lives each day due to poverty. There are approximately 1.9 billion children in developing countries in the world and India is also among them. Out of these, approximately 640 million don’t have a proper shelter, 270 million are living without medical facilities, and approximately 400 million don’t have access to safe water. This worldwide situation is growing at a fast pace.

The approaches by NGOs basically include helping the poor by providing various public services such as medical services etc.

They also play a major role in mobilizing the services recommended by the government. They have various approaches and strategies that directly help the poor in various ways.

We help in eradicating poverty by increasing employment opportunities.

Ensuring financial services and providing the same is another such measure that can be taken.

Recognizing social entrepreneurs as people of influence, conveying to them the seriousness of this situation, and then eventually making people aware of the same is another thing that can be done.

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Writing an essay on poverty in 200 words requires you to describe various aspects of this topic such as what causes poverty, how it affects individuals and society as a whole, etc. The condition of poverty is a distressing one that causes pain, despair, and grief in the lives of the ones it affects.

An essay on poverty may be started as follows:- Poverty is a deep-rooted problem that continues to affect a large portion of the world’s population today. It touches on several aspects of human life including but not limited to political, economic, and social elements. Even though there are several methods to escape poverty, still issues arise due to a lack of adequate unity among the country’s citizens.

Poverty in 100 words: Poverty is defined as a state of scarcity, and the lack of material possessions to such an extreme extent that people have difficulties in fulfilling their basic needs. Robert McNamara, a former World Bank President, states that extreme poverty is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant mortality rate, squalid conditions of living, and low life expectancy. In order to eradicate poverty in a country, strict measures need to be taken on all levels. The political system needs to address this issue with utmost sincerity and strategic implementation in such a way that it improves the lives of people, especially the ones living below the poverty line.

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

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Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Notes CBSE Economics Chapter 3 (Free PDF Download)
Revision Notes

Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Notes Economics Chapter 3 - PDF Download

Living in a country like India where poverty is found in every nook and cranny, we all know that it can be quite a difficult problem to solve as a country. Thus, it is one of the most important topics in economics, especially since economics in higher studies mainly focuses on poverty. This is in the form of theories of poverty, how to battle poverty and several other nuances of the subject. This is why the economics class 9 chapter 3 Poverty As A Challenge is an important subject of study, and the notes of economics class 9 chapter 3 are extremely helpful.

Access Class 9 Economics Chapter 3 - Poverty As A Challenge

In India every 4th person is poor. Roughly, around 70 million people in the country live under poverty, according to the estimates of year 2011-12. India-also has the largest population of poor in the world. In our day-to- day lives, we generally come across people who suffer from poverty. They can be people who landless labourers of villages, or who generally live in overcrowded juggis in the city, and daily wage earners at construction sites or even child labourers at dhabas.

Various Aspects Related to Poverty

There could be two causes of poverty. One is the rural poverty and other is urban poverty. Poverty is also associated with landlessness, illiteracy, unemployment, poor health or even malnutrition, child labour, helplessness and also the family size.

Poverty means lack of any kind of shelter & suffering from hunger. Poor people are not being able to send their children to school or afford treatment when they are sick. Poor people also lack the basic means of life

like clean water and basic sanitation facilities. They also lack a regular job with kind of proper wages. Poor people are then mistreated everywhere.

Poverty Line

To measure poverty, a common method is generally used which is based on income & consumption levels. If a person is unable to satisfy his/her basic needs then he or she is considered as poor. Poverty line also varies with time and place. For each country, poverty line is considered different.

Basic amenities like food requirements, clothing, footwear, fuel, education, light & the medical requirements are determined for measuring poverty. Food items like cereals, pulses, vegetables, oil and sugar together provide calories to body. Calorie requirement varies with age, sex and type of work that a person does. In India, the average calorie requirement is 2400 calories / day in rural areas and 2100 calories / day in urban areas. People living in rural areas are also associated with more heavy physical work hence that calorie requirement is higher in people living in rural areas in comparison to urban areas. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) is responsible for doing surveys to determine the standard of the poverty line in the country.

Vulnerable Groups in India

The proportion of people who are below the poverty line is not equal for all the social groups & the economic categories in the country. Some groups are more vulnerable than other. These are Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribe households. Also, among the economic groups, agricultural labourers & the urban casual labours are more vulnerable. In India, out of 100 poor people, 43 of them are of Scheduled Tribes. 34% of casual urban workers are also below the poverty line. 23% percent of the Scheduled Castes community are also poor.

Recent studies have shown that except Scheduled Tribe households the other groups of Scheduled Castes, rural agricultural labourers and the urban casual labourers have seen a decline in poverty since 1990. In poor families, some people also suffer more than others. In some cases, women, female infants and elderly people are denied equal access to resources available to the family.

Interstate Disparities in Poverty Levels

Not every state in the country has the same proportion of poor people. The success rate of poverty reduction since the early seventies generally varies from state to state.

The all-India headcount ratio is 21.9% in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar & Orissa. This was also lower than the all-India poverty levels in the year 2011-12. Till date Bihar and Orissa are the two of the poorest states having poverty ratios of 33.7 and 32.6. However, there has been a good decline of poverty in states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat & the West Bengal. States of Haryana and Punjab have also succeeded in poverty reduction with the help of high agricultural growth. Kerala has focused on human resource development.

In West Bengal, the land reform measures had been undertaken which helped in poverty reduction. Andhra Pradesh & Tamil Nadu had distributed food grains amongst the public which reduced the poverty levels.

Causes of Poverty

There are various reasons for the prevalence of widespread poverty in India. Some of these are:

Economic exploitation under the British colonial rule can be seen as one of the reasons. The policies of the British government ruined traditional cottage, handicrafts & textile industries. The low growth rate was also persistent till the 1980s. There were low job opportunities and incomes accompanied by high population growth. The growth rate per capita income was also extremely low.

With the dawn of the Green Revolution in the country, new job opportunities were created also present in the agricultural sector. The problem with this was that it was limited to some parts of the country. There were industries in the public & private sectors which provided some jobs but were unable to provide jobs to all the seekers. People who were unable to find proper jobs started working as construction workers, vendors, domestic servants, rickshaw pullers, etc. These people then could not afford proper housing and hence started living in slums.

Another reason for this high poverty rates in the country has been huge income inequalities. This was because of the unequal distribution of land & resources. In India, there is also a lack of proper land resources and this has also been a major cause of poverty.

Proper implementation of government policies will improve the conditions of poverty-stricken people.

Farmers in the country also require money to buy agricultural inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, seeds etc. They used to borrow money which they were then unable to repay because of poverty. When they are unable to repay the loan, they become victims of the indebtedness which is both a cause and effect of poverty.

Money is then spent in the country by both the poor and the non-poor to fulfil social and religious obligations and ceremonies. This spent money could be used for something else in a meaningful manner.

Anti-Poverty Measures

Presently, the anti-poverty scheme has two parts to it. First is the promotion of economic growth and second is targeted anti-poverty programmes. Since 1980 India's economic growth has been one of the fastest in the world. Economic growth and poverty reduction are associated with each other. There were some schemes formulated aimed at reducing poverty. These are-

The MGNREGA or rural employment act of 2005. This act provided 100 days of wage employment to every household in rural areas to ensure their livelihood security. It proposed that one-third of job vacancies would be reserved for women. It aimed to manage situations of deforestation, drought and soil erosion.

Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana of 2000 was started to assist states for services like primary health and education, rural shelter, rural drinking water and rural electrification.

In 1999, the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana was also started which aimed to assist low-income families in coming above the poverty line by organising them into self- reliant groups by the help of bank credit and government subsidy.

Rural Employment Generation Programme - Launched in 1995 in order to create self-employment opportunities in the small towns, and rural areas.

In 1993, Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana was launched. This initiative aimed to create as well as provide employment opportunities in rural areas and small towns.

Upcoming Challenges

The poverty rate in India has been declining but it remains a challenge. It is expected that poverty reduction would make better progress in the upcoming years. Economic growth, free elementary education, declining population and empowered women will help in reducing poverty levels in the country.

Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Economics Chapter 3 Notes

What is poverty.

Poverty refers to the condition where people are unable to make ends meet for the purchase of basic amenities in life. This includes food, shelter, water, sanitation, etc. and on a larger scale, beyond the basics, poverty also includes the unaffordability of other institutional requirements such as education, sanitation, healthcare, and others. These are undeniably the most important parts of life to be able to say that one lives well, however, when these factors are not affordable to a person, that person is said to be poor, or living in poverty.

The Importance of Notes in Class 9

It is very widely talked about that the rigour of academics begins in class 9, right before the board year of class 10. This is why class 9 is the time to begin our studies in full thrust without worrying about much else because we all need the preparation before we step into 10th. In order to begin studying properly, we need good notes to which we can refer and that will act as our guide to doing well in our exams. Looking at the class 9 economics chapter 3 notes that Vedantu has provided for you below will be one of your best bets to score great marks in exams for economics in class 9. These notes will allow you a headstart in your academics that most students thrive with, making the usage of these notes on economics class 9 chapter 3 incredibly advantageous for you as a student.

Poverty as a Challenge Chapter Summary

Poverty As A Challenge summarises what a student needs to know about poverty and is important because it acts as a base for studying economics further in the academic career. The chapter begins with an introduction describing the plight of a poor person, and further goes on to explain poverty through both rural as well as urban lenses. The class 9 economics chapter 3 also looks at the indicators of poverty as provided by social scientists, the poverty line and what determines it, and the difference between the urban and rural poverty lines. Using statistics, a lot of other poverty-related concepts have been explained, such as the disparities between different states and different countries, the causes of poverty as well as several anti-poverty measures that can be taken. We end the Poverty As A Challenge summary of the chapter with the last section, which relates to looking at the progress that has come and is yet to come with the poverty scenario in India.

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Benefits of the Notes

There are several benefits of the Poverty As A Challenge notes that Vedantu has compiled for all students of class 9. Let’s take a look at what these benefits are; they are as listed below:

The notes of Poverty As A Challenge are written in a systematic manner that will, thus, allow students to learn the subject matter in a systematic manner.

All the exercises in the back of a chapter have also been solved in the Poverty As A Challenge class 9 notes, which is convenient for students if they feel confused regarding how to go about these questions.

Since the Poverty As A Challenge notes have been written by experienced and knowledgeable teachers, the notes will be accurate and they are written in such a way that is perfect to prepare for exams.

These notes are downloadable and printable so they are as handy as it gets for students.

Conclusion

The study of "Poverty as a Challenge," a vital topic covered in Class 9 CBSE Economics Chapter 3, emphasizes the significance of understanding and addressing poverty in our society. This revision notes by Vedantu provide a succinct summary of the key points. Poverty is a multi-dimensional problem, encompassing not only income inadequacy but also a lack of access to basic necessities, education, and healthcare. It's a challenge that affects millions, and it's essential to combat it through inclusive economic growth, social welfare programs, and equitable resource distribution. By studying this chapter, students gain insights into the complexities of poverty and the measures needed to alleviate it, contributing to a more just and prosperous society.

FAQs on Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Notes CBSE Economics Chapter 3 (Free PDF Download)

1. What is the importance of the class 9 exam for economics?

Ans: The class 9 exam for economics comes under the social studies exam for class 9. These exams are a precursor to your class 10 board exams and our performance here will be looked at for all our lives. This is why beginning our preparations for our class 9 exams beforehand is important, as it prepares us for the rigour of studies in class 10. The class 9 exam for economics is also important because studying for them well will help you realise whether you want to take up humanities later on after class 10. It is never too early to begin preparing, be it for important exams, or for the course that one would like to take up in life.

2. Why should I use Vedantu notes of economics class 9 chapter 3 on poverty?

Ans: Vedantu notes for all subjects are incredibly beneficial for all students, and Vedantu notes of economics class 9 chapter 3 on poverty are the same. These are downloadable notes which you can also print out and use, making them very handy and useful. They have also been systematically written by knowledgeable and highly experienced teachers who know the perfect way to study for exams to get flourishing marks. Additionally, many concepts that a student may be confused about can be easily understood using the help of these comprehensive notes. Thus, Vedantu notes of Poverty As A Challenge are very helpful to all students.

3. What are the challenges that India is facing in Poverty as per Chapter 3 of Economics of Class 9?

Ans: There are so many people in India that are living in poverty and the main reason is due to Urbanization. Some of the challenges that people living in poverty in India are facing are:

Many people have Inadequate healthcare in their areas making them prone to certain diseases.

Lack of education persists in many areas of the poverty section.

There are many people who face the problem of Unemployment.

Unemployment leads to starvation which leads to an increase in the mortality rate.

4. What do you mean by Social Exclusion as per Chapter 3 of Economics of Class 9?

Ans: Living amongst poor people in poor surroundings away from the rich and upper class is known as Social Exclusion. Social Exclusion is a cause and result of poverty. It basically means being excluded from enjoying any type of social equality. This, in turn, leads individuals to be excluded from certain privileges and certain decisions. Sometimes social exclusion can lead to people being deprived of certain opportunities that other parts of the society may enjoy.

5. Where can I get revision notes for Chapter 3 of Economics of Class 9?

Ans: Vedantu provides you with revision notes for Chapter 3 of Economics of Class 9. These notes consist of all important concepts and topics that will help you ace your exam. Revision notes are important as they will help you to brush up on all the concepts that you have learned from the syllabus. Revision notes will even help you to solve practice question papers easily. Apart from this, they will even help you to understand the concepts and topics that you may have missed out on while studying. These notes are free of cost and also available on the Vedantu Mobile app.

6. What is Poverty as per Chapter 3 of Economics of Class 9?

Ans: A condition in which people are deprived of their basic rights is known as poverty. People in poverty find it difficult to meet the purchase of basic amenities in life. These include the lack of shelter, food, clothing, water, proper sanitation, and many more. Poverty also refers to being deprived of elements beyond the basics of life. These are basic factors that must be available to every single person, when this is not met then a person is said to be in poverty.

7. How is the Poverty line estimated in India as per Chapter 3 of Economics of Class 9?

Ans: A poverty line refers to an imaginary line drawn between people who can enjoy the basic rights of life versus people who cannot. A common method that is used to estimate a poverty line is by measuring income. If a person has an income below the minimum level of income needed to fulfil necessities then he is considered to be poor. In India, the food requirements, clothing, fuel, footwear, light, medical facilities, and education requirements are taken into consideration to estimate the poverty line.

STUDY MATERIALS FOR CLASS 9

I. Introduction

Ii. the expenditure surveys, iii. nsso versus nas expenditure estimates, iv. the official poverty lines, v. controversies regarding poverty lines 3, vi. poverty at the national level, vii. poverty in the states: rural and urban, viii. poverty in the states by social group, ix. poverty in the states by religious group, x. inequality, xi. concluding remarks, a comprehensive analysis of poverty in india.

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Arvind Panagariya , Megha Mukim; A Comprehensive Analysis of Poverty in India. Asian Development Review 2014; 31 (1): 1–52. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/ADEV_a_00021

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This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of poverty in India. It shows that regardless of which of the two official poverty lines we use, we see a steady decline in poverty in all states and for all social and religious groups. Accelerated growth between fiscal years 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 also led to an accelerated decline in poverty rates. Moreover, the decline in poverty rates during these years has been sharper for the socially disadvantaged groups relative to upper caste groups so that we now observe a narrowing of the gap in the poverty rates between the two sets of social groups. The paper also provides a discussion of the recent controversies in India regarding the choice of poverty lines.

This paper provides comprehensive up-to-date estimates of poverty by social and religious groups in the rural and urban areas of the largest 17 states in India. The specific measure of poverty reported in the paper is the poverty rate or headcount ratio (HCR), which is the proportion of the population with expenditure or income below a pre-specified level referred to as the poverty line. In the context of most developing countries, the poverty line usually relates to a pre-specified basket of goods presumed to be necessary for above-subsistence existence.

In so far as prices vary across states and between rural and urban regions within the same state, the poverty line also varies in nominal rupees across states and between urban and rural regions within the same state. 1 Similarly, since prices rise over time due to inflation, the poverty line in nominal rupees in a given location is also adjusted upwards over time.

The original official poverty estimates in India, provided by the Planning Commission, were based on the Lakdawala poverty lines, so named after Professor D. T. Lakdawala who headed a 1993 expert group that recommended these lines. Recommendations of a 2009 expert committee headed by Professor Suresh Tendulkar led to an upward adjustment in the rural poverty line relative to its Lakdawala counterpart. Therefore, while the official estimates for earlier years were based on the lines and methodology recommended by the expert group headed by Lakdawala, those for more recent years were based on the line and methodology recommended by the Tendulkar Committee. Official estimates based on both methodologies exist for only two years, 1993–1994 and 2004–2005. These estimates are provided for the overall population, for rural and urban regions of each state, and for the country as a whole. The Planning Commission does not provide estimates by social or religious groups.

In this paper, we provide estimates using Lakdawala and Tendulkar lines for different social and religious groups in rural and urban areas in all major states and at the national level. Our estimates based on Lakdawala lines are computed for all years beginning in 1983 for which large or “thick” expenditure surveys have been conducted. Estimates based on the Tendulkar line and methodology are provided for the three latest large expenditure surveys, 1993–1994, 2004–2005, and 2009–2010.

Our objective in writing the paper is twofold. First, much confusion has arisen in the policy debates in India around certain issues regarding poverty in the country—for instance, whether or not growth has helped the poor (if yes, how much and over which time period) and whether growth is leaving certain social or religious groups behind. We hope that by providing poverty estimates for various time periods, social groups, religious groups, states, and urban and rural areas, this paper will help ensure that future policy debates are based on fact. Second, researchers interested in explaining how various policy measures impact poverty might find it useful to have the poverty lines and the associated poverty estimates for various social and religious groups and across India's largest states in rural and urban areas readily available in one place.

The literature on poverty in India is vast and many of the contributions or references to the contributions can be found in Srinivasan and Bardhan ( 1974 , 1988 ), Fields ( 1980 ), Tendulkar ( 1998 ), Deaton and Drèze ( 2002 ), Bhalla ( 2002 ), and Deaton and Kozel ( 2005 ). Panagariya ( 2008 ) provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject until the mid-2000s including the debates on whether or not poverty had declined in the post-reform era and whether or not reforms had been behind the acceleration in growth rates and the decline in poverty. Finally, several of the contributions in Bhagwati and Panagariya ( 2012a , 2012b ) analyze various aspects of poverty in India using the expenditures surveys up to 2004–2005. In particular, Cain, Hasan, and Mitra ( 2012 ) study the impact of openness on poverty; Mukim and Panagariya ( 2012 ) document the decline in poverty across social groups; Dehejia and Panagariya ( 2012 ) provide evidence on the growth in entrepreneurship in services sectors among the socially disadvantaged groups; and Hnatkovska and Lahiri ( 2012 ) provide evidence on and reasons for narrowing wage inequality between the socially disadvantaged groups and the upper castes.

To our knowledge, this is the first paper to systematically and comprehensively exploit the expenditure survey conducted in 2009–2010. This is important because growth was 2–3 percentage points higher between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 surveys than between any other prior surveys. As such, we are able to study the differential impact accelerated growth has had on poverty alleviation both directly, through improved employment and wage prospects for the poor, and indirectly, through the large-scale redistribution program known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which enhanced revenues made possible. In addition, ours is also the first paper to comprehensively analyze poverty across religious groups. In studying the progress in combating poverty across social groups, the paper complements our previous work, Mukim and Panagariya ( 2012 ).

The paper is organized as follows. In Section II , we discuss the history and design of the expenditure surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which form the backbone of all poverty analysis in India. In Section III , we discuss the rising discrepancy between average expenditures as reported by the NSSO surveys and by the National Accounts Statistics (NAS) of the Central Statistical Office (CSO). In Section IV , we describe in detail the evolution of official poverty lines in India, while in Section V we discuss some recent controversies regarding the level of the official poverty line. In Sections VI to Section IX , we present the poverty estimates. In Section X , we discuss inequality over time in rural and urban areas of the 17 states. In Section XI , we offer our conclusions.

The main source of data for estimating poverty in India is the expenditure survey conducted by the NSSO. India is perhaps the only developing country that began conducting such surveys on a regular basis as early as 1950–1951. The surveys have been conducted at least once a year since 1950–1951. However, the sample had been too small to permit reliable estimates of poverty at the level of the state until 1973–1974. A decision was made in the early 1970s to replace the smaller annual surveys by large-size expenditure (and employment–unemployment) surveys to be conducted every 5 years.

This decision led to the birth of “thick” quinquennial (5-yearly) surveys. Accordingly, the following 8 rounds of large-size surveys have been conducted: 27 (1973–1974), 32 (1978), 38 (1983), 43 (1987–1988), 50 (1993–1994), 55 (1999–2000), 61 (2004–2005), and 66 (2009–2010). Starting from the 42nd round in 1986–1987, a smaller expenditure survey was reintroduced. This was conducted annually except during the years in which the quinquennial survey was to take place. Therefore, with the exception of the 65th and 67th rounds in 2008–2009 and 2010–2011, respectively, an expenditure survey exists for each year beginning 1986–1987.

While the NSSO collects the data and produces reports providing information on monthly per-capita expenditures, it is the Planning Commission that computes the poverty lines and provides official estimates of poverty. The official estimates are strictly limited to quinquennial surveys. While they cover rural, urban, and total populations in different states and at the national level, estimates are not provided for specific social or religious groups. These can be calculated selectively for specific groups or specific years by researchers. With rare exceptions, discussions and debates on poverty have been framed around the quinquennial surveys even though the other survey samples are large enough to allow reliable estimates at the national level.

For each household interviewed, the survey collects data on the quantity of and expenditure on a large number of items purchased. For items such as education and health services, where quantity cannot be meaningfully defined, only expenditure data are collected. The list of items is elaborate. For example, the 66th round collected data on 142 items under the food category; 15 items under energy; 28 items under clothing, bedding, and footwear; 19 items under educational and medical expenses; 51 items under durable goods; and 89 in the other items category.

It turns out that household responses vary systematically according to the length of the reference period to which the expenditures are related. For example, a household could be asked about its expenditures on durable goods during the preceding 30 days or the preceding year. When the information provided in the first case is converted into annual expenditures, it is found to be systematically lower than when the survey directly asks households to report their annual spending. Therefore, estimates of poverty vary depending on the reference period chosen in the questionnaire.

Most quinquennial surveys have collected information on certain categories of relatively infrequently purchased items including clothing and consumer durables on the basis of both 30-day and 365-day reference periods. For other categories, including all food and fuel and consumer services, they have used a 30-day reference period. The data allow us to estimate two alternative measures of monthly per-capita expenditures that refer to the following: (i) a uniform reference period (URP) where all expenditure data used to estimate monthly per-capita expenditure are based on the 30-day reference period, and (ii) a mixed reference period (MRP) where expenditure data used to estimate the monthly per-capita expenditure are based on the 365-day reference period in the case of clothing and consumer durables and the 30-day reference period in the case of other items.

With rare exceptions, monthly per-capita expenditure associated with the MRP turns out to be higher than that associated with the URP. The Planning Commission's original estimate of poverty that employed the Lakdawala poverty lines had relied on the URP monthly per-capita expenditures. At some time prior to the Tendulkar Committee report, however, the Planning Commission decided to shift to the MRP estimates. Therefore, while recommending revisions that led to an upward adjustment in the rural poverty line, the Tendulkar Committee also shifted to the MRP monthly per-capita expenditures in its poverty calculations. Therefore, the revised poverty estimates available for 1993–1994, 2004–2005, and 2009–2010 are based on the Tendulkar lines and the MRP estimates of monthly per-capita expenditures.

We note an important feature of the NSSO expenditure surveys at the outset. The average monthly per-capita expenditure based on the surveys falls well short of the average private consumption expenditure separately available from the NAS of the CSO. Moreover, the proportionate shortfall has been progressively rising over successive surveys. These two observations hold regardless of whether we use the URP or MRP estimate of monthly per-capita expenditure available from the NSSO. Figure 1 graphically depicts this phenomenon in the case of URP monthly per-capita expenditure, which is more readily available for all quinquennial surveys since 1983.

NSSO Household Total URP Expenditure Estimate as % of NAS Total Private Consumption Expenditure

Precisely what explains the gap between the NSSO and NAS expenditures has important implications for poverty estimates. For example, if the gap in any given year is uniformly distributed across all expenditure classes as Bhalla ( 2002 ) assumes in his work, true expenditure in 2009–2010 is uniformly more than twice of what the survey finds. This would imply that many individuals currently classified as falling below the poverty line are actually above it. Moreover, a recognition that the proportionate gap between NSSO and NAS private expenditures has been rising over time implies that the poverty ratio is being overestimated by progressively larger margins over time. At the other extreme, if the gap between NSSO and NAS expenditures is explained entirely by underreporting of the expenditures by households classified as non-poor, poverty levels will not be biased upwards.

There are good reasons to believe, however, that the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. The survey underrepresents wealthy consumers. For instance, it is unlikely that any of the billionaires, or most of the millionaires, are covered by the survey. Likewise, the total absence of error among households below the poverty line is highly unlikely. For example, recall that the expenditures on durables are systematically underreported for the 30-day reference period relative to that for 365-day reference period. Thus, in all probability, households classified as poor account for part of the gap so that there is some overestimation of the poverty ratio at any given poverty line. 2

The 1993 expert group headed by Lakdawala defined all-India rural and urban poverty lines in terms of per-capita total consumption expenditure at 1973–1974 market prices. The underlying consumption baskets were anchored to the per-capita calorie norms of 2,400 and 2,100 in rural and urban areas, respectively. The rural and urban poverty line baskets were based on different underlying baskets, which meant that the two poverty lines represented different levels of real expenditures.

State-level rural poverty lines were derived from the national rural poverty line by adjusting the latter for price differences between national and state-level consumer price indices for agricultural laborers. Likewise, state-level urban poverty lines were derived from the national urban poverty line by adjusting the latter for price differences between the national and state-level consumer price indices for industrial laborers. National and state-level rural poverty lines were adjusted over time by applying the national and state-level price indices for agricultural workers, respectively. Urban poverty lines were adjusted similarly over time.

Lakdawala lines served as the official poverty lines until 2004–2005. The Planning Commission applied them to URP-based expenditures in the quinquennial surveys to calculate official poverty ratios. Criticisms of these estimates on various grounds led the Planning Commission to appoint an expert group under the chairmanship of Suresh Tendulkar in December 2005 with the directive to recommend appropriate changes in methodology for computing poverty estimates. The group submitted its report in 2009.

In its report, the Tendulkar committee noted three deficiencies of the Lakdawala poverty lines (Government of India 2009 ). First, the poverty line baskets remained tied to consumption patterns observed in 1973–1974. But more than 3 decades later, these baskets had shifted, even for the poor. Second, the consumer price index for agricultural workers understated the true price increase. This meant that over time the upward adjustment in the rural poverty lines was less than necessary so that the estimated poverty ratios understated rural poverty. Finally, the assumption underlying Lakdawala lines that health and education would be largely provided by the government did not hold any longer. Private expenditures on these services had risen considerably, even for the poor. This change was not adequately reflected in the Lakdawala poverty lines.

To remedy these deficiencies, the Tendulkar committee began by noting that the NSSO had already decided to shift from URP-based expenditures to MRP-based expenditures to measure poverty. With this in view, the committee's first step was to situate the revised poverty lines in terms of MRP expenditures in some generally acceptable aspect of the existing practice. To this end, it observed that since the nationwide urban poverty ratio of 25.7%, calculated from URP-based expenditures in the 2004–2005 survey, was broadly accepted as a good approximation of prevailing urban poverty, the revised urban poverty line could be anchored to yield this same estimate using MRP-based per-capita consumption expenditure from the 2004–2005 survey. This decision led to MRP-based per-capita expenditure of the individual at the 25.7 percentile in the national distribution of per-capita MRP expenditures becoming the national urban poverty line.

The Tendulkar committee further argued that the consumption basket associated with the national urban poverty line also be accepted as the rural poverty line consumption basket. This implied the translation of the new urban poverty line using the appropriate price index to obtain the nationwide rural poverty line. Under this approach, rural and urban poverty lines became fully aligned. Applying MRP-based expenditures, the new rural poverty line yielded a rural poverty ratio of 41.8% in 2004–2005 compared with 28.3% under the old methodology.

It is important to note that even though the method of pegging the national urban poverty line in the manner done by the Tendulkar committee left the national urban poverty in 2004–2005 originally measured at the Lakdawala urban poverty line unchanged, it did impact state-level urban poverty estimates. The methodology required that the state-level rural and urban poverty lines be derived from the national urban poverty line by applying the appropriate price indices derived from the price information within the sample surveys. In some cases, the state-level shift was sufficiently large to significantly alter the estimate of urban poverty. For example, Lakdawala urban poverty line in Gujarat in 2004–2005 was Rs541.16 per-capita per month. The corresponding Tendulkar line turned out to be Rs659.18. This change led the urban poverty estimate in 2004–2005 to jump from 13.3% based on the Lakdawala line to 20.1% based on the Tendulkar line.

An important final point concerns the treatment of health and education spending by the Tendulkar Committee in recommending the revised poverty lines. On this issue, it is best to directly quote the Tendulkar Committee report (Government of India 2009 , p. 2):

Even while moving away from the calorie norms, the proposed poverty lines have been validated by checking the adequacy of actual private expenditure per capita near the poverty lines on food, education, and health by comparing them with normative expenditures consistent with nutritional, educational, and health outcomes. Actual private expenditures reported by households near the new poverty lines on these items were found to be adequate at the all-India level in both the rural and the urban areas and for most of the states. It may be noted that while the new poverty lines have been arrived at after assessing the adequacy of private household expenditure on education and health, the earlier calorie-anchored poverty lines did not explicitly account for these. The proposed poverty lines are in that sense broader in scope.

We address here the two rounds of controversies over the poverty line that broke out in the media in September 2011 and March 2012. The first round of controversy began with the Planning Commission filing an affidavit with the Supreme Court stating that the poverty line at the time had been on average Rs32 and Rs26 per person per day in urban and rural India, respectively. Being based on the Tendulkar methodology, these lines were actually higher than the Lakdawala lines on which the official poverty estimates had been based until 2004–2005. However, the media and civil society groups pounced on the Planning Commission for diluting the poverty lines so as to inflate poverty reduction numbers and to deprive many potential beneficiaries of entitlements. For its part, the Planning Commission did a poor job of explaining to the public precisely what it had done and why.

The controversy resurfaced in March 2012 when the Planning Commission released the poverty estimates based on the 2009–2010 expenditure survey. The Planning Commission reported that these estimates were based on average poverty lines of Rs28.26 and Rs22.2 per person per day in urban and rural areas, respectively. Comparing these lines to those previously reported to the Supreme Court, the media once again accused the Planning Commission of lowering the poverty lines. 4 The truth of the matter was that whereas the poverty lines reported to the Supreme Court were meant to reflect the price level prevailing in mid-2011, those underlying poverty estimates for 2009–2010 were based on the mid-point of 2009–2010. The latter poverty lines were lower because the price level at the mid-point of 2009–2010 was lower than that in mid-2011. In real terms, the two sets of poverty lines were identical.

While there was no basis to the accusations that the Planning Commission had lowered the poverty lines, the issue of whether the poverty lines remain excessively low despite having been raised does require further examination. In addressing this issue, it is important to be clear about the objectives behind the poverty line.

Potentially, there are two main objectives behind poverty lines: to track the progress made in combating poverty and to identify the poor towards whom redistribution programs can be directed. The level of the poverty line must be evaluated separately against each objective. In principle, we may want separate poverty lines for the two objectives.

With regard to the first objective, the poverty line should be set at a level that allows us to track the progress made in helping the truly destitute or those living in abject poverty, often referred to as extreme poverty. Much of the media debate during the two episodes focused on what could or could not be bought with the poverty-line expenditure. 5 There was no mention of the basket of goods that was used by the Tendulkar Committee to define the poverty line.

In Annex E of its report (Government of India 2009 ), the Tendulkar Committee gave a detailed itemized list of the expenditures of those “around poverty line class for urban areas in all India.” Unfortunately, it did not report the corresponding quantities purchased of various commodities. In this paper, we now compute these quantities from unit-level data where feasible and report them in Table 1 for a household consisting of five members. 6 Our implicit per-person expenditures on individual items are within Rs3 of their corresponding expenditures reported in Annex E of the report of the Tendulkar Committee.

Source: Authors’ calculations using unit-level data (supplied by Rahul).

We report quantities wherever the relevant data are available. In the survey, the quantities are not always reported in weights. For example, lemons and oranges are reported in numbers and not in kilograms. In these cases, we have converted the quantities into kilograms using the appropriate conversion factors. The main point to note is that while the quantities associated with the poverty line basket may not permit a comfortable existence, including a balanced diet, they allow above-subsistence existence. The consumption of cereals and pulses at 50.9 kilograms (kg) and 3.5 kg compared with 48 kg and 5.5 kg, respectively, for the mean consumption of the top 30% of the population. Likewise, the consumption of edible oils and vegetables at 2.7 kg and 23.9 kg for the poor compared with 4.5 kg and 35.5 kg, respectively, for the top 30% of the population. 7 This comparison shows that, at least in terms of the provision of two square meals a day, the poverty line consumption basket is compatible with above-subsistence level consumption.

We reiterate our point as follows. In 2009–2010, the urban poverty line in Delhi was Rs1,040.3 per person per month (Rs34.2 per day). For a family of five, this amount would translate to Rs5,201.5 per month. Assuming that each family member consumes 10 kg per month of cereal and 1 kg per month of pulses and the prices of the two grains are Rs15 and Rs80 per kilogram, respectively, the total expenditure on grain would be Rs1,150. 8 This would leave Rs4,051.5 for milk, edible oils, fuel, clothing, rent, education, health, and other expenditures. While this amount may not allow a fully balanced diet, comfortable living, and access to good education and health, it is consistent with an above-subsistence level of existence. Additionally, if we take into account access to public education and health, and subsidized grain and fuel from the public distribution system, the poverty line is scarcely out of line with the one that would allow exit from extreme poverty.

But what about the role of the poverty line in identifying the poor for purposes of redistribution? Ideally, this exercise should be carried out at the local level in light of resources available for redistribution, since the poor must ultimately be identified locally. Nevertheless, if the national poverty line is used to identify the poor, could we still defend the Tendulkar line as adequate? We argue in the affirmative.

Going by the urban and rural population weights of 0.298 and 0.702 implicit in the population projections for 1 January 2010, the average countrywide per-capita MRP expenditure during 2009–2010 amounts to Rs40.2 per person per day. Therefore, going by the expenditure survey data, equal distribution across the entire country would allow barely Rs40.2 per person per day in expenditures. Raising the poverty line significantly above the current level must confront this limit with regard to the scope for redistribution.

It could be argued that this discussion is based on data in the expenditure survey, which underestimates true expenditures. The scope for redistribution might be significantly greater if we go by expenditures as measured in the NAS. The response to this criticism is that the surveys underestimate not just the average national expenditure but also the expenditures of those identified as poor. Depending on the extent of this underestimation, the need for redistribution itself would be overestimated.

Even so, it is useful to test the limits of redistribution by considering the average expenditure according to the NAS. The total private final consumption expenditure at current prices in 2009–2010 was Rs37,959.01 billion. Applying the population figure of 1.174 billion as of 1 January 2010 in the NSSO 2009–2010 expenditure survey, this total annual expenditure translates to daily spending of Rs88.58 per person. This figure includes certain items such as imputed rent on owner-occupied housing and expenditures other than those by households such as the spending of civil society groups, which would not be available for redistribution. Thus, per-capita expenditures achievable through equal distribution, even when we consider the expenditures as per the NAS, is likely to be modest.

To appreciate further the folly of setting too high a poverty line for the purpose of identifying the poor, recall that the national average poverty line was Rs22.2 per person per day in rural areas and Rs28.26 in urban areas in 2009–2010. Going by the expenditure estimates for different spending classes in Government of India ( 2011a ), raising these lines to just Rs33.3 and Rs45.4, respectively, would place 70% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population in poverty in 2009–2010. If we went a little further and set the rural poverty line at Rs39 per day and the urban poverty line at Rs81 per day in 2009–2010, we would place 80% of the population in each region below the poverty line. Will the fate of the destitute not be compromised if the meager tax revenues available for redistribution were thinly spread on this much larger population?

Before we turn to reporting the poverty estimates, we should clarify that while we have defended the current poverty line in India for both purposes—tracking abject poverty and redistribution—in general, we believe a case exists for two separate poverty lines to satisfy the two objectives. The poverty line to track abject poverty must be drawn independently of the availability of revenues for redistribution purposes and should be uniform nationally. The poverty line for redistribution purposes would in general differ from this line and, indeed, vary in different jurisdictions of the same nation depending on the availability of revenues. This should be evident from the fact that redistribution remains an issue even in countries that have entirely eradicated abject poverty. 9

Official poverty estimates are available at the national and state levels for the entire population, but not by social or religious groups, for all years during which the NSSO conducted quinquennial surveys. These years include 1973–1974, 1977–1978, 1983, 1987–1988, 1993–1994, 2004–2005, and 2009–2010, but not 1999–2000, as that year's survey became noncomparable to other quinquennial surveys due to a change in sample design. The Planning Commission has published poverty ratios for the first six of these surveys based on the Lakdawala lines and for the last three based on the Tendulkar lines. These ratios were estimated for rural and urban areas at the national and state levels.

In this paper, we provide comparable poverty rates for all of the last five quinquennial surveys including 2009–2010 derived from Lakdawala lines. For this purpose, we update the 2004–2005 Lakdawala lines to 2009–2010 using the price indices implicit in the official Tendulkar lines for 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 at the national and state levels. We provide estimates categorized by social as well as religious groups for all quinquennial surveys beginning in 1983 based on the Lakdawala lines and for the years relating to the last three such surveys based on the Tendulkar lines at the national and state levels.

While we focus mainly on the evolution of poverty since 1983 in this paper, it is useful to begin with a brief look at the poverty profile in the early years. This is done in Figure 2 using the estimates in Datt ( 1998 ) for years 1951–1952 to 1973–1974. The key message of the graph is that the poverty ratio hovered between 50% and 60% with a mildly rising trend.

The Poverty Ratio in India, 1951–1952 to 1973–1974 (%)

This is not surprising, as India had been extremely poor at independence. Unlike economies such as Taipei, China; the Republic of Korea; Singapore; and Hong Kong, China, the country then grew very slowly. Growth in per-capita income during these years had been a mere 1.5% per year. Such low growth coupled with a very low starting per-capita income meant at best limited scope for achieving poverty reduction even through redistribution. As argued above, even today, after more than 2 decades of almost 5% growth in per-capita income, the scope for redistribution remains limited. 10

We are now in a position to provide the poverty rates for the major social groups based on the quinquennial expenditure surveys beginning 1983. The social groups identified in the surveys are scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), other backward castes (OBC), and the rest, which we refer to as forward castes (FC). In addition, we define the nonscheduled castes as consisting of the OBC, and FC. The NSSO began identifying the OBC beginning 1999–2000. Since we are excluding this particular survey due to its lack of comparability with other surveys, the OBC as a separate group begins appearing in our estimates from 2004–2005 only.

In Table 2 , we provide the poverty rates based on the Lakdawala lines in rural and urban areas and at the national level. Four features of this table are worthy of note. First, poverty rates have continuously declined for every single social group in both the rural and urban areas. Contrary to common claims, growth has been steadily helping the poor from every broad social group escape poverty rather than leaving the socially disadvantaged behind.

FC = forward castes, NS = non-scheduled, OBC = other backward castes, SC = scheduled castes, ST = scheduled tribes.

Source: Authors’ calculations.

Second, the rates in rural India have consistently been the highest for the ST followed by the SC, OBC, and FC in that order. This pattern also holds in urban areas but with some exceptions. In particular, in some years, poverty rates of scheduled tribes are lower than that of scheduled castes, but this is not of great significance since more than 90% of the scheduled tribe population live in rural areas.

Third, with growth accelerating to above 8% beginning 2003–2004, poverty reduction between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 has also accelerated. The percentage point reduction during this period has been larger than during any other 5-year period. Most importantly, the acceleration has been the greatest for the ST and SC in that order so that at last, the gap in poverty rates between the scheduled and nonscheduled groups has declined significantly.

Finally, while the rural poverty rates were slightly higher than the urban poverty rates for all groups in 1983, the order switched for one or more groups in several of the subsequent years. Indeed, in 2009–2010, the urban rates turned out to be uniformly higher for every single group. This largely reflects progressive misalignment of the rural and urban poverty lines with the former becoming lower than the latter. It was this misalignment that led the Tendulkar Committee to revise the rural poverty line and realign it to the higher, urban line.

Table 3 reports the poverty estimates based on the Tendulkar lines. Recall that the Tendulkar line holds the urban poverty ratio at 25.7% in 2004–2005 when measuring poverty at MRP expenditures. Our urban poverty ratio in Table 3 reproduces this estimate within 0.1 of a percentage point.

The steady decline in poverty rates for the various social groups in rural as well as urban areas, which we noted based on the Lakdawala lines in Table 2 , remains valid at the Tendulkar lines. Moreover, rural poverty ratios turn out to be higher than their urban counterparts for each group in each year. As in Table 2 , the decline had been sharpest during the high-growth period between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010.

Finally and most importantly, the largest percentage-point decline between these years in rural and urban areas combined had been for the ST followed by the SC, OBC, and FC in that order. Given that scheduled tribes also had the highest poverty rates followed by scheduled castes and other backward castes in 2004–2005, the pattern implies that the socially disadvantaged groups have achieved significant catching up with the better-off groups. This is a major break with past trends.

Next, we report the national poverty rates by religious groups. In Table 4 , we show the poverty rates based on Lakdawala lines of rural and urban India and of the country taken as a whole. Three observations follow. First, at the aggregate level (rural plus urban), poverty rates show a steady decline for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Sikhs. Poverty among the Buddhists also consistently declined except for 1983 and 1987–1988. With one exception (Muslims in rural India between 1987–1988 and 1993–1994), the pattern of declining poverty rates between any two successive surveys also extends to the rural and urban poverty rates in the case of the two largest religious communities, Hindus and Muslims.

Second, going by the poverty rates in 2009–2010 in rural and urban areas combined, Jains have the lowest poverty rates followed by Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists. Prosperity among Jains and Sikhs is well known, but not the lower level of poverty among Christians relative to Hindus. Also interesting is the relatively small gap of just 5.8 percentage points between poverty rates among Hindus and Muslims.

Finally, the impact of accelerated growth on poverty between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 that we observed across social groups can also be seen across religious groups. Once again, we see a sharper decline in the poverty rate for the largest minority, the Muslims, relative to Hindus who form the majority of the population.

This broad pattern holds when we consider poverty rates by religious groups based on the Tendulkar line, as seen in Table 5 . Jains have the lowest poverty rates followed by Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists. With one exception (Sikhs in rural India between 1993–1994 and 2004–2005), poverty had declined steadily for all religious groups in rural as well as urban India. The only difference is that the decline in poverty among Muslims in rural and urban areas combined between the periods 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 had not been as sharp as that estimated from the Lakdawala lines. As a result, we do not see a narrowing of the difference in poverty between Hindus and Muslims. We do see a narrowing of the difference in urban poverty but this gain is neutralized by the opposite movement in the rural areas due to a very sharp decline in poverty among Hindus, perhaps due to the rapid decline in poverty among scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Before we turn to poverty estimates by state, we should note that in this paper, we largely confine ourselves to reporting the extent of poverty measured based on the two poverty lines. Other than occasional references to the determinants of poverty such as growth and caste composition, we make no systematic effort to identify them. Evidently, many factors influence the decline in poverty. For instance, the acceleration in growth between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 also led to increased revenue that made it possible for the government to introduce the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme under which one adult member of each rural household is guaranteed 100 days per year of employment at a pre-specified wage. The employment guarantee scheme may well have been a factor in the recent acceleration in poverty reduction.

In a similar vein, rural–urban migration may also impact the speed of decline of poverty. Once again, rapid growth, which inevitably concentrates disproportionately in urban areas, may lead to some acceleration in rural-to-urban migration. If, in addition, the rural poor migrate in proportionately larger numbers in search of jobs, poverty ratios could fall in both rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, the ratio could fall because proportionately more numerous poor than in the existing rural population migrate. In the urban areas, the decline may result from these individuals being gainfully employed at wages exceeding the urban poverty line. Migration may also reinforce the reduction in rural poverty by generating extra rural income through remittances. Evidence suggests that this effect may have been particularly important in the state of Kerala.

We now turn to the progress made in poverty alleviation in different states. Though our focus in this paper is on poverty by social and religious groups, we first consider poverty at the aggregate level in rural and urban areas. India has 28 states and 7 union territories. To keep the analysis manageable, we limit ourselves to the 17 largest states. 11 Together, these states account for 95% of the total population. We exclude all seven union territories including Delhi; the smallest six of the seven northeastern states (retaining only Assam); and the states of Sikkim, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal. Going by the expenditure survey of 2009–2010, each of the included states has a population exceeding 20 million while each of the excluded states has a population less than 10 million. Among the union territories, only Delhi has a population exceeding 10 million.

A. Rural and Urban Populations

We begin by presenting the total population in each of the 17 largest states and the distribution between rural and urban areas as revealed by the NSSO expenditure survey of 2009–2010 (Table 6 ). 12 The population totals in the expenditure survey are lower than the corresponding population projections by the registrar general and census commissioner of India (2006) as well as those implied by Census 2011. 13 Our choice is dictated by the principle that poverty estimates should be evaluated with reference to the population underlying the survey design instead of those suggested by external sources. For example, the urban poverty estimate in Kerala in 2009–2010 must be related to the urban population in the state covered by the expenditure survey in 2009–2010 instead of projections based on the censuses in 2001 and 2011. 14

As shown in Table 6 , 27% of the national population lived in urban areas, while the remaining 73% resided in rural areas in 2009–2010. This composition understates the true share of the urban population, revealed to be 31.2% in the 2011 census. The table shows 10 states having populations of more than 50 million (60 million according to the 2011 census). We will refer to these 10 states as the “large” states. They account for a little more than three-fourths of the total population of India. At the other extreme, eleven “small” states (excluded from our analysis and therefore not shown in Table 6 ) have populations of less than ten million (13 million according to the Census 2011) each. The remaining seven states, which we call “medium-size” states, have populations ranging from 36 million in Orissa to 22 million in Chhattisgarh (42 million in Orissa to 25.4 million in Chhattisgarh, according to the 2011 census).

Among the large states, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka, in that order, are the most urbanized with a rate of urbanization of 35% or higher. Bihar is the least urbanized among the large states, with an urbanization rate of just 10%. Among the medium-size states, only Punjab has an urban population of 35%. The rest have urbanization rates of 30% or less. Assam and Orissa, with an urban population of just 10% and 14%, respectively, are the least urbanized medium-size states.

B. Rural and Urban Poverty

We now turn to the estimates of rural and urban poverty in the 17 largest states. To conserve space, we confine ourselves to presenting the estimates based on the Tendulkar line. We report the estimates based on the Lakdawala lines in the Appendix. Recall that the estimates derived from the Tendulkar line are available for 3 years: 1993–1994, 2004–2005, and 2009–2010. Disregarding 1973–1974 and 1977–1978, which are outside the scope of our paper, estimates based on the Lakdawala lines are available for an additional 2 years: 1983 and 1987–1988.

Table 7 reports the poverty estimates with the states arranged in descending order of their populations. Several observations follow. First, taken as a whole, poverty fell in each of the 17 states between 1993–1994 and 2009–2010. When we disaggregate rural and urban areas within each state, we still find a decline in poverty in all states in each region over this period. Indeed, if we take the 10 largest states, which account for three-fourths of India's population, every state except Madhya Pradesh experienced a consistent decline in both rural and urban poverty. The reduction in poverty with rising incomes is a steady and nationwide phenomenon and not driven by the gains made in a few specific states or certain rural or urban areas of a given state.

Second, acceleration in poverty reduction in percentage points per year during the highest growth period (2004–2005 to 2009–2010) over that in 1993–1994 to 2004–2005 can be observed in 13 out of the total 17 states. The exceptions are Uttar Pradesh and Bihar among the large states and Assam and Haryana among medium-size states. Of these, Uttar Pradesh and Assam had experienced at best modest acceleration in gross state domestic product (GSDP) during the second period while Haryana had already achieved a relatively low level of poverty by 2004–2005. The most surprising had been the negligible decline in poverty in Bihar between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010, as GSDP in this state had grown at double-digit rates during this period.

Finally, among the large states, Tamil Nadu had the lowest poverty ratio followed by Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh—all of them from the south—made the largest percentage-point improvements in poverty reduction among the large states between 1993–1994 and 2009–2010. Among the medium-size states, Kerala and Haryana had the lowest poverty rates while Orissa and Jharkhand made the largest percentage-point gains during 1993–1994 to 2009–2010.

It is useful to relate poverty levels to per-capita spending. In Table 8 , we present per-capita expenditures in current rupees in the 17 states in the 3 years for which we have poverty ratios, with the states ranked in descending order of population. Ideally, we should have the MRP expenditures for all 3 years, but since they are available for only the last 2 years, we report the URP expenditures for 1993–1994. Several observations follow from a comparison of Tables 7 and 8 .

MRP = mixed reference period, URP = uniform reference period.

First, high per-capita expenditures are associated with low poverty ratios. Consider, for example, rural poverty in 2009–2010. Kerala, Punjab, and Haryana, in that order, have the highest rural per-capita expenditures. They also have the lowest poverty ratios, in the same order. At the other extreme, Chhattisgarh and Bihar have the lowest rural per-capita expenditures and also the highest rural poverty ratios. More broadly, the top nine states by rural per-capita expenditure are also the top nine states in terms of low poverty ratios. A similar pattern can also be found for urban per-capita expenditures and urban poverty. Once again, Kerala ranks at the top and Bihar at the bottom in terms of each indicator. Figure 3 offers a graphical representation of the relationship in rural and urban India in 2009–2010 using state level data.

Poverty and Per-capita MRP Expenditure in Rural and Urban Areas in Indian States, 2009–2010

One state that stands out in terms of low poverty ratios despite a relatively modest ranking in terms of per-capita expenditure is Tamil Nadu. It ranked eighth in terms of rural per-capita expenditure but fourth in terms of rural poverty in 2009–2010. In terms of urban poverty, it did even better, ranking a close second despite its ninth rank in urban per-capita expenditure. Gujarat also did very well in terms of urban poverty, ranking third in spite of the seventh rank in urban per-capita expenditure.

Finally, there is widespread belief that Kerala achieved the lowest rate of poverty despite its low per-capita income through more effective redistribution. Table 8 entirely repudiates this thesis. In 1993–1994, Kerala already had the lowest rural and urban poverty ratios and enjoyed the second highest rural per-capita expenditure and third highest urban per-capita expenditure among the 17 states. Moreover, in terms of percentage-point reduction in poverty, all other southern states dominate Kerala. For example, between 1993–1994 and 2004–2005, Tamil Nadu achieved a 27.4 percentage-point reduction in poverty compared to just 19.3 for Kerala. We may also add that Kerala experienced very high inequality of expenditures. In 2009–2010, the Gini coefficient associated with spending in the state was by far the highest among all states in rural as well as urban areas.

In this section we decompose population and poverty by social group. As previously mentioned, the expenditure surveys traditionally identified the social group of the households using a three-way classification: scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and nonscheduled castes. However, beginning with the 1999–2000 survey, the last category had been further subdivided into other backward castes and the rest, the latter sometimes referred to as forward castes, a label that we use in this paper.

We begin by describing the shares of the four social groups in the total population of the 17 states.

A. Population Distribution by Social Group within the States

Table 9 reports the shares of various social groups in the 17 largest states according to the expenditure survey of 2009–2010. We continue to rank the states according to population from the largest to the smallest.

Source: Authors’ calculations from the NSSO expenditure survey conducted in 2009–2010.

Nationally, the Scheduled Tribes constitute 9% of the total population of India according to the expenditure survey of 2009–2010. In past surveys and the Census 2001, this proportion was 8%. The scheduled castes form 20% of the total population according to the NSSO expenditure surveys, though the Census 2001 placed this proportion at 16%. The OBC are not identified as a separate group in the censuses so that their proportion can be obtained from the NSSO surveys only. The figure has varied from 36% to 42% across the three quinquennial expenditure surveys since the OBC began to be recorded as a separate group.

The scheduled tribes are more unevenly divided across states than the remaining social groups. In so far as these groups had been very poor at independence and happened to be outside the mainstream of the economy, ceteris paribus, states with high proportions of ST population may be at a disadvantage in combating poverty. From this perspective, the four southern states enjoy a clear advantage: Kerala and Tamil Nadu have virtually no tribal populations while Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have proportionately smaller tribal populations (5% and 9% of the total, respectively) than some of the northern states which had high concentrations.

Among the large states, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan have proportionately the largest concentrations of ST populations. The ST constitute 20%, 17%, and 14% of their respective populations. Some of the medium-size states, of course, have proportionately even larger concentrations. These include Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Orissa with the ST forming 30%, 29%, and 22% of their populations, respectively.

Since the traditional exclusion of the SC has meant they began with a very high incidence of abject poverty and low levels of literacy, states with high proportions of these groups also face an uphill task in combating poverty. Even so, since the SC populations are not physically isolated from the mainstream of the economy, there is greater potential for the benefits of growth reaching them than the ST. This is illustrated, for example, by the emergence of some rupee millionaires among the SC but not the ST during the recent high-growth phase (Dehejia and Panagariya 2012 ).

Once again, at 9%, Kerala has proportionately the smallest SC population among the 17 states listed in Table 9 . Among the largest 10 states, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have the highest concentrations. Among the medium-size states, Punjab, Haryana, and Orissa in that order have proportionately the largest SC populations.

The SC and ST populations together account for as much as 40% and 35%, respectively, of the total state population in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. At the other extreme, in Kerala, these groups together account for only 10% of the population. These differences mean that, ceteris paribus, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan face a significantly more difficult battle in terms of combating poverty than Kerala.

The ST populations also differ from the SC in that they are far more heavily concentrated in rural areas than in urban areas. Table 10 illustrates this point. In 2009–2010, 89% of the ST population was classified as rural. The corresponding figure was 80% for the SC, 75% for the OBC, and 60% for FC.

An implication of the small ST population in the urban areas in all states and in both rural and urban areas in a large number of states is that the random selection of households results in a relatively small number of ST households being sampled. The problem is especially severe in many of the smallest states where the total sample size is small in the first place. A small sample translates into a large error in the associated estimate of the poverty ratio. We will present the poverty estimates in all states and regions as long as a positive group is sampled. Nevertheless, we caution the reader on the possibility of errors in Table 11 that may be associated with the number of ST households in the 2009–2010 survey.

B. Poverty by Social Group

We now turn to poverty estimates by social groups. We present statewide poverty ratios based on the Tendulkar line for the ST, SC, and nonscheduled castes in Table 12 . We present the ratios for the OBC and FC in Table 13 . As before, we arrange the states from the largest to the smallest according to population. Separate rural and urban poverty estimates derived from the Tendulkar lines and Lakdawala lines are relegated to the Appendix.

NS = non-scheduled, SC = scheduled castes, ST = scheduled tribes.

FC = forward castes, OBC = other backward castes.

With one exception, Chhattisgarh, the poverty ratio declines for each group in each state between 1993–1994 and 2009–1010. There is little doubt that rising incomes have helped all social groups nearly everywhere. In the vast majority of the states, we also observe acceleration in the decline in poverty between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 compared to between 1993–94 and 2004–2005. Reassuringly, the decline in ST poverty among scheduled tribes and scheduled castes and SC poverty has sped up recently with the gap in poverty rates between these groups and the nonscheduled castes narrowing.

The negative relationship between poverty ratios and per-capita expenditures that we depicted in Figure 3 can also be observed for the social groups taken separately. Using rural poverty estimates by social group in the Appendix, we show this relationship between SC poverty and per capita rural expenditures in the left panel of Figure 4 and that between the ST poverty and per capita rural expenditures in the right panel. Figure 4 closely resembles Figure 3 . The fit in the right panel is poorer than that in the left panel as well as those in Figure 3 . This is partially because the ST are often outside the mainstream of the economy and therefore less responsive to rising per-capita incomes. This factor is presumably exacerbated by the fact that the number of observations in the case of the ST has been reduced to 11 due to the number of ST households in the sample dropping to below 100 in six of the 17 states.

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Poverty Rates and Per-capita MRP Expenditures in Rural Areas, 2009–2010

For years 2004–2005 and 2009–2010, we disaggregate the nonscheduled castes into the OBC and FC. The resulting poverty estimates are provided in Table 13 . Taking the estimates in Tables 12 and 13 , one can see that on average poverty rates are at their highest for the ST followed by SC, OBC, and FC in that order. At the level of individual states, ranking of the poverty rates of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes is not clear-cut, but with rare exceptions, poverty rates of these two groups exceed systematically those of other backward castes, which in turn exceed rates of forward castes.

An interesting feature of the poverty rates of forward castes is their low level in all but a handful of the states. For example, in 2009–2010, the statistic computed to just 3.9% in Punjab, 5.9% in Kerala, 6.5% in Haryana, 6.9% in Tamil Nadu, and 10.5% even in Rajasthan. In 14 out of the largest 17 states, it fell below 25%. The states with low FC poverty rates generally also have low OBC poverty rates making the proportion of the SC and ST population the key determinant of the statewide rate.

This point is best illustrated by a comparison of poverty rates of Punjab and Kerala. Poverty rates for the nonscheduled caste population in 2009–2010 was 7.3% in Punjab and 10.4% in Kerala, while those for scheduled castes stood at 29.2% and 27.4%, respectively, in the two states. But since scheduled castes constitute 39% of the population in Punjab but only 9% in Kerala, statewide poverty rate turned out to be 15.8% in the former and 12% in the latter.

The caste composition also helps explain the differences in poverty rates between Maharashtra and Gujarat on the one hand and Kerala on the other. In 2009–2010, statewide poverty rates were 24.8% and 23.2%, respectively, in the former and 12% in the latter (Table 10 ). In part, the differences follow from the significantly higher per-capita expenditures in Kerala, as seen from Table 11 . 15 But Maharashtra and Gujarat also face a steeper uphill task in combating poverty on account of significantly higher proportions of the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste populations. These groups account for 17% and 11%, respectively, of the total population in Gujarat, and 10% and 15% in Maharashtra. In comparison, only 1% of the population comprises scheduled tribes in Kerala, while just 9% comprise scheduled castes (Table 9 ).

Finally, we turn to poverty estimates by religious group in the states. India is home to many different religious communities including Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and Zoroastrians. Additionally, tribes follow their own religious practices. Though tribal religions often have some affinity with Hinduism, many are independent in their own right.

Table 14 provides the composition of population by religious group as well as the rural–urban split of each religious group based on the expenditure survey of 2009–2010. Hindus comprise 82% of the population, Muslims 12.8%, Christians 2.3%, Sikhs 1.7%, Jains 0.3%, and Zoroastrians 0.016%. The remaining comprises just 0.3%.

Together, Hindus and Muslims account for almost 95% of India's total population. With 34% of the population in urban areas compared with 26% in the case of Hindus, Muslims are more urbanized than Hindus. Among the other communities, Jains and Zoroastrians are largely an urban phenomenon. Moreover, while Muslims can be found in virtually all parts of India, other smaller minority communities tend to be geographically concentrated. Sikhs cluster principally in Punjab, Christians in Kerala and adjoining southern states, Zoroastrians in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and Jains in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Given their small shares in the total population and their geographical concentration, random sampling of households in the expenditure surveys yields less than 100 observations for minority religious communities other than Muslims in the vast majority of the states. Indeed, as Table 15 indicates, only 13 out of the 17 largest states had a sufficiently large number of households even for Muslims to allow poverty to be reliably estimated. Orissa, Haryana, Punjab, and Chhattisgarh each had fewer than 100 Muslim households in the survey. Thus, we attempt poverty estimates by religious groups in the states separately for Hindus and Muslims only. We do provide estimates for the catch-all “other” category but caution that, in many cases, these estimates are based on less than 100 observations and therefore subject to large statistical errors.

As before, we present the estimates for statewide poverty of the religious groups using the Tendulkar line, placing the more detailed estimates for rural and urban areas and estimates based on the Lakdawala lines in the Appendix. Table 15 reports the estimates for Hindus, Muslims, and other minority religion groups for the years 1993–1994, 2004–2005, and 2009–2010.

Religious groups replicate the broad pattern seen in the context of poverty by social group. Poverty has fallen in every single state between 1993–1994 and 2009–2010 for Hindus as well as for Muslims, though the change is not always monotonic. While the level of poverty in 2009–2010 is higher for Muslims than Hindus in the majority of the states, the reverse is true in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. An anomaly is the marginal increase in the poverty rate between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 in Bihar for Hindus and in Gujarat for Muslims. The observation is particularly surprising since we simultaneously observe a significant decline in poverty during the same period for Muslims in Bihar and for Hindus in Gujarat. Interestingly, as documented in the Appendix, poverty rates for both Hindus and Muslims decline in both states based on the Lakdawala lines between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010.

Although the focus of this paper is on poverty, we find it useful to briefly report the evolution of inequality at the state and national levels in rural and urban areas. At the outset, it is important to note that the issue of inequality is complex partly because it can be measured in numerous ways. 16 The potential list of measures is almost endless, and there is no guarantee that these different measures will move in the same direction. Therefore, it is quite easy to show simultaneously that inequality has risen as well as fallen depending on the choice of measure.

In this paper, we use one measure of overall inequality based on the same expenditure survey data we used to report poverty measures in the previous sections: specifically, the Gini coefficient of household expenditures in rural and urban areas in the 17 states and in India as a whole using URP expenditures in 1983, 1993–1994, 1999–2000, 2004–2005, and 2009–2010. Table 17 and Table 18 report the Gini coefficient in rural and urban areas, respectively. As before, we arrange the states in descending order of population size.

Source: Planning Commission website (accessed 4 February 2013).

An immediate observation from Tables 17 and 18 is that, with rare exceptions, rural inequality tends to be lower than urban inequality. At the national level in 2009–2010, the Gini coefficient was 0.291 in rural areas and 0.382 in urban areas. These values reflect a difference of 9 percentage points. This is not surprising. The vast majority of the villagers are small farmers or wage laborers. As a result, variation in their incomes and therefore expenditures are not large. In contrast, cities serve as home to much of the industry and formal sector services as well as to a large informal sector which attracts migrant workers. This results in greater variation in incomes and expenditures.

The tables show no clear trend in the Gini in rural areas but do show a tendency for it to rise in urban areas. At the national level, rural Gini fell between 1983 and 1999–2000, rose between 1999–2000 and 2004–2005, and fell again between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010, with a small net decline over the entire period. In contrast, the urban Gini has climbed steadily.

This is hardly surprising since rapid growth, which can produce increased inequality, is concentrated in urban areas. In the Indian case, a dualism of sorts exists within urban areas. Output growth has been concentrated in the formal sector, while employment has been disproportionately concentrated in the informal sector. Unlike the Republic of Korea and Taipei, China in the 1960s and 1970s and the People's Republic of China more recently, employment in the formal sector has not grown in India due to the poor performance of labor-intensive sectors. Growth in India has been concentrated in skilled labor and capital-intensive sectors.

The data do not support the hypothesis that high levels of poverty reflect high levels of inequality. At least in the Indian case, the two outcomes are at best unrelated and at worst negatively associated. For example, at the national level, rural inequality has remained more or less unchanged and urban inequality has risen, while both rural and urban poverty have steadily and significantly declined over time.

Looking at a cross section of the data, Kerala offers the most dramatic example. In 2009–2010, it had the lowest levels of rural and urban poverty and by far the highest rural and urban Gini coefficients. At the other extreme, Bihar had the second lowest rural Gini coefficient but the highest rural poverty ratio during the same period.

At a more aggregate level, the left panel in Figure 5 plots the rural Gini against the rural poverty ratio, while the right panel plots the urban Gini against the urban poverty ratio. The exponential trend line has a negative slope in each case, though the fit is poor. In other words, there is no evidence of a positive relationship between poverty and inequality, but there is some evidence of a negative relationship.

Gini Coefficients and Poverty Ratios in Rural and Urban Areas in Indian States, 2009–2010

In this paper, we have provided a comprehensive analysis of poverty in India along six different dimensions: across time, across states, between rural and urban areas, across social and religious groups, and based on two different poverty lines (Lakdawala and Tendulkar). To keep the exposition manageable, we have concentrated on estimates based on the Tendulkar line except when we discuss poverty at the national level. In the latter case, we report estimates in rural and urban India derived from both the Lakdawala and Tendulkar lines. Our detailed estimates by social and religious groups, by rural and urban areas, and by state based on both the Lakdawala and Tendulkar lines are provided in the Appendix.

The following are some of the key conclusions of the paper. First, poverty has declined between 1993–1994 and 2009–2010 along every dimension. Indeed, poverty has fallen for every social and religious group in every state and in rural and urban areas, separately as well as jointly. Estimates based on the Lakdawala line show that the decline can be observed steadily since 1983 for all social and religious groups in all 17 large states.

Second, acceleration in growth rates between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 has been accompanied by acceleration in poverty reduction. Poverty rates have fallen rapidly for all major social and religious groups at the national level. This phenomenon also holds true for most states across various social and religious groups.

Third, for the first time, poverty reduction between 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 has been larger for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes than the upper caste groups. Thus, the gap in poverty rates between the socially disadvantaged and upper caste groups has narrowed over time. This pattern provides clear evidence to refute the claim that reforms and growth have failed to help the socially disadvantaged or that they are leaving these groups behind. A continuation of this trend, bolstered by further reforms and higher growth rates, would help eliminate the difference in poverty rates between the historically disadvantaged and the privileged.

Fourth, interstate comparisons reveal that the states with large scheduled castes and scheduled tribe populations face a steeper climb in combating poverty. The point is most forcefully brought out by a comparison of Punjab and Kerala. When we compare poverty rates in 2009–2010 by social group, the two states have very similar poverty rates. But because the poverty rates for the scheduled castes are higher than those for the nonscheduled castes in both states and the scheduled castes account for a much larger proportion of the population, the aggregate poverty rate in Punjab turns out to be significantly higher.

Finally, we find that in the case of India, there is no robust relationship between inequality and poverty. Indeed, to the extent that such a relationship exists, this would suggest that more unequal states enjoy lower levels of poverty. Kerala offers the most dramatic example. It has had one of the highest Gini coefficients for rural as well as urban areas and also one of the lowest poverty ratios for both regions. In 2009–2010, its Gini coefficients were by far the highest among the large states in both rural and urban areas, while its poverty ratios were the smallest.

Given space limitations, we have deliberately limited ourselves to providing one specific indicator of poverty—the headcount ratio—in different states and for different social and religious groups based on the two official poverty lines. There are at least two broad complementary directions in which the work in this paper can be extended.

First, it may be desirable for certain purposes to estimate alternative indicators of poverty such as the poverty gap or its close cousin, the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke index. Such an index allows one to gauge the resources needed to bring all those below the poverty line to a level above it. In a similar vein, we have focused on progress in combating poverty among social and religious groups that are more vulnerable. Alternatively, we could focus on a different dimension of vulnerability such as male-headed versus female-headed households and evaluate the progress in combating poverty among female-headed households.

The second direction in which the work of this paper could be extended is towards explaining the determinants of poverty. Within this broad category, we have left many questions unanswered. For instance, it would be useful to separate the contributions of growth and redistribution policies in explaining the decline in poverty. Likewise, we may want to know what role, if any, rural-to-urban migration may have played—directly as well as through remittances. Similarly, we might ask what role the division of population among various social and religious groups plays in determining the progress in combating poverty. Finally, we might also wish to study the role that education plays in bringing down poverty. The recent work by Hnatkovska and Lahiri ( 2012 ) shows that education has indeed been pivotal in bridging the wage gap between scheduled castes and scheduled tribes on the one hand and nonscheduled castes on the other. This suggests an important role for education in eradicating poverty.

a Calculated by adjusting the 2004–2005 lines using the index implicit in the official Tendulkar lines for 2004–2005 and 2009–2010.

Source: Planning Commission, Government of India, Data Tables.

SC = scheduled castes, ST = scheduled tribes, URP = uniform reference period.

a Delhi is 95% urban. The SC and ST estimates in this case are based on too few households and therefore subject to substantial sampling errors.

FC = forward castes, NC = nonscheduled castes, OBC = other backward castes.

a Only 5% of Delhi by population is rural. SC and ST estimates in this case are based on too few households and therefore subject to substantial sampling errors.

FC = forward castes, NS = nonscheduled castes, OBC = other backward castes, URP = uniform reference period.

MRP = mixed reference period, SC = scheduled castes, ST = scheduled tribes.

Source: Authors’ calculations

FC = forward castes, MRP = mixed reference period, NS = nonscheduled castes, OBC = other backward castes.

URP = uniform reference period.

MRP = mixed reference period.

The views expressed in the paper are those of the authors and not of the World Bank. We thank an anonymous referee, P. V. Srinivasan, and participants of the first 2013 Asian Development Review conference held on 25–26 March 2013 at the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila, Philippines.

Prices could vary not just between urban and rural regions within a state but also across subregions within rural and subregions within urban regions of a state. Therefore, in principle, we could envision many different poverty lines within rural and within urban regions in each state. To keep the analysis manageable, we do not make such finer distinctions in the paper.

We do not go into the sources of underestimation of expenditures in NSSO surveys. These are analyzed in detail in Government of India ( 2008 ). According to the report (Government of India 2008 , p. 56), “The NSS estimates suffer from difference in coverage, underreporting, recall lapse in case of nonfood items or for the items which are less frequently consumed and increase in nonresponse particularly from affluent section of population. It is suspected that the household expenditure on durables is not fully captured in the NSS estimates, as the expensive durables are purchased more by the relatively affluent households, which do not respond accurately to the NSS surveys.” Two items, imputed rentals of owner-occupied dwellings and financial intermediation services indirectly measured, which are included in the NAS estimate, are incorporated into the NSSO expenditure surveys. But these account for only 7–9 percentage points of the discrepancy.

This section is partially based on Panagariya ( 2011 ).

See, for example, the report by the NDTV entitled “Planning Commission further lowers poverty line to Rs28 per day.” Available: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/planning-commission-further-lowers-poverty-line-to-rs-28-per-day-187729

For instance, one commentator argued in a heated television debate that since bananas in Jor Bagh (an upmarket part of Delhi) cost Rs60 a dozen, an individual could barely afford two bananas per meal per day at poverty line expenditure of Rs32 per person per day.

We thank Rahul Ahluwalia for supplying us with Table 1 . The expenditures in the table represent the average of the urban decile class including the urban poverty line. Since the urban poverty line is at 25.7% of the population, the table takes the average over those between the 20th and 30th percentile of the urban population.

The consumption figures for the top 30% of the population are from Ganesh-Kumar et al. ( 2012 ).

These amounts of cereal and pulses equal or exceed their mean consumption levels according to the 2004–2005 NSSO expenditure survey.

Recently, Panagariya ( 2013 ) has suggested that if political pressures necessitate shifting up the poverty line, the government should opt for two poverty lines in India—the Tendulkar line, which allows it to track those in extreme poverty, and a higher one that is politically more acceptable in view of the rising aspirations of the people.

The issue is discussed at length in Bhagwati and Panagariya ( 2013 ).

Although Delhi has its own elected legislature and chief minister, it remains a union territory. For example, central home ministry has the effective control of the Delhi police through the lieutenant governor who is the de jure head of the Delhi government and appointed by the Government of India.

Our absolute totals for rural and urban areas of the states and India in Table 6 match those in Tables 1A-R and 1A-U, respectively, in Government of India ( 2011b ).

The Planning Commission derives the absolute number of poor from poverty ratios using census-based population projections. Therefore, the population figure underlying the absolute number of poor estimated by the Planning Commission are higher than those in Table 6 , which are based on the expenditure survey of 2009–2010.

This distinction is a substantive one in the case of states in which the censuses reveal the degree of urbanization to be very different from that underlying the design of the expenditure surveys. For example, the expenditure survey of 2009–2010 places the urban population in Kerala at 26% of the total in 2009–2010, but the census in 2011 finds the rate of urbanization in the state to be 47.7%.

This is true in spite of significantly higher per-capita GSDP in Maharashtra presumably due to large remittances flowing into Kerala. According to the Government of India ( 2011a ), one in every three households in both rural and urban Kerala reports at least one member of the household living abroad.

For instance, inequality could be measured as the ratio of the top 10% to bottom 10% of the population, the ratio of rural to urban per-capita incomes, the ratio of skilled to unskilled wages (or formal and informal sector wages), and through the Gini coefficient (nationally or across states).

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7 Essays About Poverty: Example Essays and Prompts

Essays about poverty give valuable insight into the economic situation that we share globally. Read our guide with poverty essay examples and prompts for your paper.

In the US, the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people living below the poverty line. With a global pandemic, cost of living crisis, and climate change on the rise, we’ve seen poverty increase due to various factors. As many of us face adversity daily, we can look to essays about poverty from some of the world’s greatest speakers for inspiration and guidance.

There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer. There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

Writing a poverty essay can be challenging due to the many factors contributing to poverty and the knock-on effects of living below the poverty line . For example, homelessness among low-income individuals stems from many different causes.

It’s important to note that poverty exists beyond the US, with many developing countries living in extreme poverty without access to essentials like clean water and housing. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Essays About Poverty: Top Examples

1. pensioner poverty: fear of rise over decades as uk under-40s wealth falls, 2. the surprising poverty levels across the u.s., 3. why poverty persists in america, 4. post-pandemic poverty is rising in america’s suburbs.

5. The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty
6. The State of America’s Children
7. COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

10 Poverty Essay Topics

1. the causes of poverty, 2. the negative effects of poverty, 3. how countries can reduce poverty rates, 4. the basic necessities and poverty, 5. how disabilities can lead to poverty, 6. how the cycle of poverty unfolds , 7. universal basic income and its relationship to poverty, 8. interview someone who has experience living in poverty, 9. the impact of the criminal justice system on poverty, 10. the different ways to create affordable housing.

There is growing concern about increasing pensioner poverty in the UK in the coming decades. Due to financial challenges like the cost of living crisis, rent increases, and the COVID-19 pandemic, under 40s have seen their finances shrink.

Osborne discusses the housing wealth gap in this article, where many under the 40s currently pay less in a pension due to rent prices. While this means they will have less pension available, they will also retire without owning a home, resulting in less personal wealth than previous generations. Osborne delves into the causes and gaps in wealth between generations in this in-depth essay.

“Those under-40s have already been identified as facing the biggest hit from rising mortgage rates , and last week a study by the financial advice firm Hargreaves Lansdown found that almost a third of 18- to 34-year-olds had stopped or cut back on their pension contributions in order to save money.” Hilary Osborne, The Guardian

In this 2023 essay, Jeremy Ney looks at the poverty levels across the US, stating that poverty has had the largest one-year increase in history. According to the most recent census, child poverty has more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

Ney states that the expiration of government support and inflation has created new financial challenges for US families. With the increased cost of living and essential items like food and housing sharply increasing, more and more families have fallen below the poverty line. Throughout this essay, Ney displays statistics and data showing the wealth changes across states, ethnic groups, and households.

“Poverty in America reflects the inequality that plagues U.S. households. While certain regions have endured this pain much more than others, this new rising trend may spell ongoing challenges for even more communities.” Jeremy Ney, TIME

Essays About Poverty: How countries can reduce poverty rates?

In this New York Times article, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist explores why poverty exists in North America.

The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most. Matthew Desmond, The New York Times

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its annual data on poverty, revealing contrasting trends for 2022. While one set of findings indicated that the overall number of Americans living in poverty remained stable compared to the previous two years, another survey highlighted a concerning increase in child poverty. The rate of child poverty in the U.S. doubled from 2021 to 2022, a spike attributed mainly to the cessation of the expanded child tax credit following the pandemic. These varied outcomes underscore the Census Bureau’s multifaceted methods to measure poverty.

“The nation’s suburbs accounted for the majority of increases in the poor population following the onset of the pandemic” Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube, Brookings

5. The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty

Nearly 11 million children are living in poverty in America. This essay explores ow the crisis reached this point—and what steps must be taken to solve it.

“In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country.” Areeba Haider, Center for American Progress

6. The State of America’s Children

This essay articles how, despite advancements, children continue to be the most impoverished demographic in the U.S., with particular subgroups — such as children of color, those under five, offspring of single mothers, and children residing in the South — facing the most severe poverty levels.

“Growing up in poverty has wide-ranging, sometimes lifelong, effects on children, putting them at a much higher risk of experiencing behavioral, social, emotional, and health challenges. Childhood poverty also plays an instrumental role in impairing a child’s ability and capacity to learn, build skills, and succeed academically.” Children’s Defense Fund

7. COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

This essay explores how the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic 2020 led to a surge in U.S. poverty rates, with unemployment figures reaching unprecedented heights. The writer provides data confirming that individuals at the lowest economic strata bore the brunt of these challenges, indicating that the recession might have exacerbated income disparities, further widening the chasm between the affluent and the underprivileged.

“Poverty in the U.S. increased in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy and unemployment soared. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder were hit hardest, new figures confirm, suggesting that the recession may have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.” Elena Delavega, World Econmic Forum

If you’re tasked with writing an essay about poverty, consider using the below topics. They offer pointers for outlining and planning an essay about this challenging topic.

One of the most specific poverty essay topics to address involves the causes of poverty. You can craft an essay to examine the most common causes of extreme poverty. Here are a few topics you might want to include:

Racial discrimination, particularly among African Americans, has been a common cause of poverty throughout American history. Discrimination and racism can make it hard for people to get the education they need, making it nearly impossible to get a job.
A lack of access to adequate health care can also lead to poverty. When people do not have access to healthcare, they are more likely to get sick. This could make it hard for them to go to work while also leading to major medical bills.
Inadequate food and water can lead to poverty as well. If people’s basic needs aren’t met, they focus on finding food and water instead of getting an education they can use to find a better job.

These are just a few of the most common causes of poverty you might want to highlight in your essay. These topics could help people see why some people are more likely to become impoverished than others. You might also be interested in these essays about poverty .

Poverty affects everyone, and the impacts of an impoverished lifestyle are very real. Furthermore, the disparities when comparing adult poverty to child poverty are also significant. This opens the doors to multiple possible essay topics. Here are a few points to include:

When children live in poverty, their development is stunted. For example, they might not be able to get to school on time due to a lack of transportation, making it hard for them to keep up with their peers. Child poverty also leads to malnutrition, which can stunt their development.
Poverty can impact familial relationships as well. For example, members of the same family could fight for limited resources, making it hard for family members to bond. In addition, malnutrition can stunt the growth of children.
As a side effect of poverty, people have difficulty finding a safe place to live. This creates a challenging environment for everyone involved, and it is even harder for children to grow and develop.
When poverty leads to homelessness, it is hard for someone to get a job. They don’t have an address to use for physical communication, which leads to employment concerns.

These are just a few of the many side effects of poverty. Of course, these impacts are felt by people across the board, but it is not unusual for children to feel the effects of poverty that much more. You might also be interested in these essays about unemployment .

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty

The issue of poverty is a major human rights concern, and many countries explore poverty reduction strategies to improve people’s quality of life. You might want to examine different strategies that different countries are taking while also suggesting how some countries can do more. A few ways to write this essay include:

Explore the poverty level in America, comparing it to the poverty level of a European country. Then, explore why different countries take different strategies.
Compare the minimum wage in one state, such as New York, to the minimum wage in another state, such as Alabama. Why is it higher in one state? What does raising the minimum wage do to the cost of living?
Highlight a few advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations actively lobbying their governments to do more for low-income families. Then, talk about why some efforts are more successful than others.

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty. Poverty within each country is such a broad topic that you could write a different essay on how poverty could be decreased within the country. For more, check out our list of simple essays topics for intermediate writers .

You could also write an essay on the necessities people need to survive. You could take a look at information published by the United Nations , which focuses on getting people out of the cycle of poverty across the globe. The social problem of poverty can be addressed by giving people the necessities they need to survive, particularly in rural areas. Here are some of the areas you might want to include:

Affordable housing
Fresh, healthy food and clean water
Access to an affordable education
Access to affordable healthcare

Giving everyone these necessities could significantly improve their well-being and get people out of absolute poverty. You might even want to talk about whether these necessities vary depending on where someone is living.

There are a lot of medical and social issues that contribute to poverty, and you could write about how disabilities contribute to poverty. This is one of the most important essay topics because people could be disabled through no fault of their own. Some of the issues you might want to address in this essay include:

Talk about the road someone faces if they become disabled while serving overseas. What is it like for people to apply for benefits through the Veterans’ Administration?
Discuss what happens if someone becomes disabled while at work. What is it like for someone to pursue disability benefits if they are hurt doing a blue-collar job instead of a desk job?
Research and discuss the experiences of disabled people and how their disability impacts their financial situation.

People who are disabled need to have money to survive for many reasons, such as the inability to work, limitations at home, and medical expenses. A lack of money, in this situation, can lead to a dangerous cycle that can make it hard for someone to be financially stable and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Many people talk about the cycle of poverty, yet many aren’t entirely sure what this means or what it entails. A few key points you should address in this essay include:

When someone is born into poverty, income inequality can make it hard to get an education.
A lack of education makes it hard for someone to get into a good school, which gives them the foundation they need to compete for a good job.
A lack of money can make it hard for someone to afford college, even if they get into a good school.
Without attending a good college, it can be hard for someone to get a good job. This makes it hard for someone to support themselves or their families.
Without a good paycheck, it is nearly impossible for someone to keep their children out of poverty, limiting upward mobility into the middle class.

The problem of poverty is a positive feedback loop. It can be nearly impossible for those who live this every day to escape. Therefore, you might want to explore a few initiatives that could break the cycle of world poverty and explore other measures that could break this feedback loop.

Many business people and politicians have floated the idea of a universal basic income to give people the basic resources they need to survive. While this hasn’t gotten a lot of serious traction, you could write an essay to shed light on this idea. A few points to hit on include:

What does a universal basic income mean, and how is it distributed?
Some people are concerned about the impact this would have on taxes. How would this be paid for?
What is the minimum amount of money someone would need to stay out of poverty? Is it different in different areas?
What are a few of the biggest reasons major world governments haven’t passed this?

This is one of the best essay examples because it gives you a lot of room to be creative. However, there hasn’t been a concrete structure for implementing this plan, so you might want to afford one.

Another interesting topic you might want to explore is interviewing someone living in poverty or who has been impoverished. While you can talk about statistics all day, they won’t be as powerful as interviewing someone who has lived that life. A few questions you might want to ask during your interview include:

What was it like growing up?
How has living in poverty made it hard for you to get a job?
What do you feel people misunderstand about those who live in poverty?
When you need to find a meal, do you have a place you go to? Or is it somewhere different every day?
What do you think is the main contributor to people living in poverty?

Remember that you can also craft different questions depending on your responses. You might want to let the interviewee read the essay when you are done to ensure all the information is accurate and correct.

The criminal justice system and poverty tend to go hand in hand. People with criminal records are more likely to be impoverished for several reasons. You might want to write an essay that hits on some of these points:

Discuss the discriminatory practices of the criminal justice system both as they relate to socioeconomic status and as they relate to race.
Explore just how hard it is for someone to get a job if they have a criminal record. Discuss how this might contribute to a life of poverty.
Dive into how this creates a positive feedback loop. For example, when someone cannot get a job due to a criminal record, they might have to steal to survive, which worsens the issue.
Review what the criminal justice system might be like for someone with resources when compared to someone who cannot afford to hire expert witnesses or pay for a good attorney.

You might want to include a few examples of disparate sentences for people in different socioeconomic situations to back up your points.

The different ways to create affordable housing

Affordable housing can make a major difference when someone is trying to escape poverty

Many poverty-related problems could be reduced if people had access to affordable housing. While the cost of housing has increased dramatically in the United States , some initiatives exist to create affordable housing. Here are a few points to include:

Talk about public programs that offer affordable housing to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Discuss private programs, such as Habitat for Humanity , doing similar things.
Review the positive impacts that stable housing has on both adults and children.
Dive into other measures local and federal governments could take to provide more affordable housing for people.

There are a lot of political and social angles to address with this essay, so you might want to consider spreading this out across multiple papers. Affordable housing can make a major difference when trying to escape poverty. If you want to learn more, check out our essay writing tips !

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Essay on “Eradication of Poverty” English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 for College and Competitive Exams.

Eradication of poverty.

To be poor is the worst fate that can befall a person. Poverty is the greatest scourge of mankind. A poor man is hated and demeaned by one and all, while a poor nation is ignored by the world community. Poverty is a curse. Unfortunately, India has been under its spell for many centuries. Despite the best efforts by the Government many people still live below the poverty line. They lead a miserable life. They have no proper housing, schooling, health, and nutritional facilities. They eke out their daily bread by doing menial jobs like carrying loads on their heads, working as casual labors, pushing carts, and working as domestic servants. Such pathetic is their condition that they have to send their small children to do work in hazardous atmospheres. There are many poverty eradication programs in this country. The success of them will however depend upon the commitment of officials and the grass-root workers. The prime stumbling block in the success of these programs is the negative attitude of the general public and the corruption of the officials. Removal of these hurdles will go a long way in making the eradication of poverty a reality.

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390 Poverty Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

📑 Aspects to Cover in a Poverty Essay

Students who learn economics, politics, and social sciences are often required to write a poverty essay as part of their course. While everyone understands the importance of this topic, it can be hard to decide what to write about. Read this post to find out the aspects that you should cover in your essay on poverty.

🏆 Best Poverty Topics & Free Essay Examples

👍 powerful topics on poverty and inequality, 🎓 simple & easy topics related to poverty, 📌 interesting poverty essay examples, ⭐ strong poverty-related topics, 🥇 unique poverty topics for argumentative essay, ❓ research questions about poverty.

Topics related to poverty and inequality might seem too broad. There are so many facts, factors, and aspects you should take into consideration. However, we all know that narrowing down a topic is one of the crucial steps when working on an outline and thesis statement. You should be specific enough to select the right arguments for your argumentative essay or dissertation. Below, you will find some aspects to include in your poverty essay.

Poverty Statistics

First of all, it would be beneficial to include some background information on the issue. Statistics on poverty in your country or state can help you to paint a picture of the problem. Look for official reports on poverty and socioeconomic welfare, which can be found on government websites. While you are writing this section, consider the following:

What is the overall level of poverty in your country or state?
Has the prevalence of poverty changed over time? If yes, how and why?
Are there any groups or communities where poverty is more prevalent than in the general population? What are they?

Causes of Poverty

If you look at poverty essay titles, the causes of poverty are a popular theme among students. While some people may think that poverty occurs because people are lazy and don’t want to work hard, the problem is much more important than that. Research books and scholarly journal articles on the subject with these questions in mind:

Why do some groups of people experience poverty more often than others?
What are the historical causes of poverty in your country?
How is poverty related to other social issues, such as discrimination, immigration, and crime?
How do businesses promote or reduce poverty in the community?

Consequences of Poverty

Many poverty essay examples also consider the consequences of poverty for individuals and communities. This theme is particularly important if you study social sciences or politics. Here are some questions that may give you ideas for this section:

How is the psychological well-being of individuals affected by poverty?
How is poverty connected to crime and substance abuse?
How does poverty affect individuals’ access to high-quality medical care and education?
What is the relationship between poverty and world hunger?

Government Policies

Governments of most countries have policies in place to reduce poverty and help those in need. In your essay, you may address the policies used in your state or country or compare several different governments in terms of their approaches to poverty. Here is what you should think about:

What are some examples of legislation aimed at reducing poverty?
Do laws on minimum wage help to prevent and decrease poverty? Why or why not?
How do governments help people who are poor to achieve higher levels of social welfare?
Should governments provide financial assistance to those in need? Why or why not?

Solutions to Poverty

Solutions to poverty are among the most popular poverty essay topics, and you will surely find many sample papers and articles on this subject. This is because poverty is a global issue that must be solved to facilitate social development. Considering these questions in your poverty essay conclusion or main body will help you in getting an A:

What programs or policies proved to be effective in reducing poverty locally?
Is there a global solution to poverty that would be equally effective in all countries?
How can society facilitate the reduction of poverty?
What solutions would you recommend to decrease and prevent poverty?

Covering a few of these aspects in your essay will help you demonstrate the in-depth understanding and analysis required to earn a high mark. Before you start writing, have a look around our website for more essay titles, tips, and interesting topics!

Poverty Research Proposal To justify this, the recent and most current statistics from the Census Bureau shows that the level and rate of poverty in USA is increasing, with minority ethnic groups being the most disadvantaged.
Poverty: A Sociological Imagination Perspective I was raised in a nuclear family, where my mum was a housewife, and my father worked in a local hog farm as the overall manager.
“The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer The article “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by author Peter Singer attempts to provide a workable solution to the world poverty problem.
Poverty and the Environment The human population affects the environment negatively due to poverty resulting to environmental degradation and a cycle of poverty. Poverty and the environment are interlinked as poverty leads to degradation of the environment.
Poverty Areas and Effects on Juvenile Delinquency The desire to live a better life contributes to the youths engaging in crimes, thus the increase in cases of juvenile delinquencies amid low-income families. The studies indicate that the fear of poverty is the […]
Poverty in the World In this paper, we will be looking at the situation of poverty in the world, its causes and the efforts of the international organizations to manage the same.
The Philippines’ Unemployment, Inequality, Poverty However, despite the strong emphasis of the government on income equality and poverty reduction along with the growth of GDP, both poverty and economic and social inequality remain persistent in the Philippines.
Is Poverty a Choice or a Generational Curse? The assumption that poverty is a choice persists in public attitudes and allows policy-makers to absolve themselves of any responsibility for ensuring the well-being of the lower socioeconomic stratum of society.
The End of Poverty Philippe Diaz’s documentary, The End of Poverty, is a piece that attempts to dissect the causes of the huge economic inequalities that exist between countries in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
Analysis of Theodore Dalrymple’s “What Is Poverty?” With ethical arguments from Burnor, it can be argued that Dalrymple’s statements are shallow and based on his values and not the experience of those he is judging.
Children Living in Poverty and Education The presence of real subjects like children is a benefit for the future of the nation and a free education option for poor families to learn something new and even use it if their children […]
Max Weber’s Thoughts on Poverty Weber has contributed to the exploration of the origins of poverty and the impact of religions on the attitude to it.
Poverty in Africa These pictures have been published online to show the world the gravity of the poverty situation in the African continent. The pictures represent the suffering of majority of the African people as a result of […]
Cause and Effect of Poverty For example, the disparities in income and wealth are considered as a sign of poverty since the state is related to issues of scarcity and allocation of resources and influence.
Poverty in Bambara’s The Lesson and Danticat’s A Wall of Fire Rising It is important to note the fact that culture-based poverty due to discrimination of the past or political ineffectiveness of the nation can have a profound ramification in the lives of its victims.
Community Work: Helping People in Poverty The first project would be water project since you find that in most villages water is a problem, hence $100 would go to establishing this project and it’s out of these water then the women […]
The Problem of Poverty in Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” To see the situation from the perspective of its social significance, it is necessary to refer to Mills’ concept of sociological imagination and to the division of problems and issues into personal and social ones.
What Causes Poverty in the World One of the major factors that have contributed to poverty in given areas of the world is overpopulation. Environmental degradation in many parts of the world has led to the increase of poverty in the […]
The Singer Solution to World Poverty: Arguments Against The article compares the lives of people in the developed world represented by America and that of developing world represented by Brazil; It is about a school teacher who sells a young boy for adoption […]
Relationship Between Crime Rates and Poverty This shows that the strength of the relationship between the crime index and people living below the line of poverty is.427.
Social Issues of Families in Poverty With the tightened budget, parents of the families living in poverty struggle to make ends meet, and in the course of their struggles, they experience many stresses and depressions.
Poverty in Urban Areas The main reason for escalation of the problem of poverty is urban areas is because the intricate problems of urban poverty are considered too small to attract big policies.
Poverty, Government and Unequal Distribution of Wealth in Philippines The author of the book Poverty And The Critical Security Agenda, Eadie, added: Quantitative analyses of poverty have become more sophisticated over the years to be sure, yet remain problematic and in certain ways rooted […]
Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development The research focuses on the causes of poverty and the benefits of poverty alleviation in achieving sustainable development. One of the causes of poverty is discrimination and social inequality.
Poverty Effects on Child Development and Schooling To help children from low-income families cope with poverty, interventions touching in the child’s development and educational outcomes are essential. Those programs campaign against the effects of poverty among children by providing basic nutritional, academic, […]
Consumerism: Affecting Families Living in Poverty in the United States Hence, leading to the arising of consumerism protection acts and policies designed to protect consumers from dishonest sellers and producers, which indicates the high degree of consumer’s ignorance, and hence failure to make decisions of […]
The Problem of Poverty in Chad Thus, the study of the causes of poverty in the Republic of Chad will help to form a complete understanding of the problem under study and find the most effective ways to solve it.
Poverty in the Bronx: Negative Effects of Poverty South Bronx is strictly the southwestern part of the borough of Bronx and Bronx is the only borough in New York city in the mainland.
Reflective Analysis of Poverty It can be further classified into absolute poverty where the affected do not have the capability to make ends meet, and relative poverty which refer to the circumstances under which the afflicted do not have […]
Dependency Theory and “The End of Poverty?” It is also reflected in the film “The End of Poverty?” narrating the circumstances of poor countries and their precondition. It started at the end of the fifteenth century and marked the beginning of the […]
The Myth of the Culture of Poverty Unfortunately, rather all of the stereotypes regarding poor people are widespread in many societies and this has served to further increase the problem of generational poverty. Poor people are regarded to be in the state […]
Marginalization and Poverty of Rural Women The women are left to take care of the economic welfare of the households. I will also attempt to propose a raft of recommendations to alleviate poverty and reduce marginalization of women in the rural […]
Poverty and Homelessness as a Global Social Problem What makes the task of defining poverty particularly difficult is the discrepancy in the distribution of social capital and, therefore, the resulting differences in the understanding of what constitutes poverty, particularly, where the line should […]
“The Hidden Reason for Poverty…” by Haugen It is also noteworthy that some groups of people are specifically vulnerable and join the arrays of those living in poverty.
Poverty: $2.00 a Day in America When conversations about the poor occur in the city of Washington, they usually discuss the struggles of the working poor, forgetting about the issues that the non-working poor face day by day.
Poverty as Capability Deprivation In this paper, the importance of social justice manifests through the understanding of social deprivation, as opposed to the understanding of income levels in the achievement of social justice.
Poverty in Rural and Urban Areas My main focus is on articles explaining the sources of poverty in rural and urban areas and the key difference between the two.
Poverty Through a Sociological Lens Poverty-stricken areas, such as slums, rural villages, and places hit by disasters, lack the required economic activities to improve the employment and wealth status of the people.
The Problems of Poverty and Hunger Subsequently, the cause in this case serves as a path to a solution – more social programs are needed, and wealthy citizens should be encouraged to become beneficiaries for the hungry.
“Life on a Shoestring – American Kids Living in Poverty” by Claycomb Life on a Shoestring – American Kids Living in Poverty highlights the widening disparity between the poor and the wealthy in America and how the economic systems are set up to benefit the rich and […]
Poverty in “A Modest Proposal” by Swift The high number of children born to poor families presents significant problems for a country.”A Modest Proposal” is a satirical essay by Jonathan Swift that proposes a solution to the challenge facing the kingdom.
Poverty in Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London” The fact that the structure of society is discussed is especially interesting, and it is suggested that opinions of people that live in poverty are not acknowledged most of the time.
“Facing Poverty With a Rich Girl’s Habits” by Suki Kim Finally, revealing the problems of adapting to a new social status, the story turns remarkably complex, which also lends it a certain charm.
Concept of Poverty The main difference between this definition and other definitions of poverty highlighted in this paper is the broad understanding of the concept.
Poverty in Brazil The primary aim of the exploration was to relate and construe the experimental findings arising from the application of the FGT poverty standards reformulation to Brazilian domestic examination data.
Global Conflict and Poverty Crisis The contemporary issue of global conflict and poverty crisis requires the attention of international communities and governments. The study of international conflicts and poverty crisis is important for individuals, communities, and nations across the world.
Poverty and Inequality in Jacksonian America One of the reactions of the leaders and most especially the presidents under this period was to impose a policy of non-intervention by the federal government.
Poverty as a Great Social Problem and Its Causes The human capital model assumes that the inadequate incomes of the working poor are the result of characteristics of the labor market rather than the inadequacy of the poor.
Tourism Contribution to Poverty Reduction Managers usually make targeting errors such as poor delivery of tourism benefits to the poor and accruing tourism benefit to the rich in the society.
Poverty Reduction in Africa, Central America and Asia In spite of the growing attention into the subject, poverty threatens majority of the communities and societies in the developing countries, particularly in Africa.
Poverty and Development Into the 21st Century The choices of citizens in the west influence the consumer, as well as political behaviors of the consumers and voters in the developing regions.
Poverty and Its Effects on Childhood Education The foremost strength of Guo’s study is that in it, author succeeded with substantiating the full soundness of an idea that children’s exposure to poverty cannot possibly be thought of as only the factor that […]
Aspects of Global Poverty There are arguments that have been put forth in regard to the causes of poverty in various nations with some people saying that the governments in various nations are there to be blamed for their […]
Poverty and Its Impact on Global Health: Research Methodologies Little progress has been shown to exist if one is to compare the late nineties and into the twenty first century but a lot still needs to be done to avert this catastrophe.
How Poverty Contributes to Poor Heath The results show that poverty is the main cause of poor health. The study was purposed to assess the effect of poverty in determining the health status of households.
Global Poverty Project: A Beacon of Hope in the Fight Against Extreme Poverty The organization works with partners worldwide to increase awareness and understanding of global poverty and inspire people to take action to end it.
The Causes of an Increase in Poverty in Atlanta, Georgia The key causes of the high poverty rise in the city include housing policies and instabilities, the lack of transit services and public transportation infrastructure in suburban areas, and childhood poverty.
Thistle Farms: Help for Women Who Are Affected by Poverty As I said in the beginning, millions of women need help and assistance from the community to overcome poverty and heal emotional wounds caused by abuse. You can purchase a variety of its home and […]
Median Household Incomes and Poverty Levels The patterns of poverty in the Denver urban area show that rates are higher in the inner suburb and the core city and lower in the outer suburb.
Poverty: The American Challenge One of the main problems in the world is the problem of poverty, which means the inability to provide the simplest and most affordable living conditions for most people in a given country.
The Poverty Issue From a Sociological Perspective The core of the perspective is the idea that poverty is a system in which multiple elements are intertwined and create outcomes linked to financial deficits.
Saving the Planet by Solving Poverty The data is there to make the necessary links, which are needed when it comes to the economic variations and inadequate environmental impacts of climate change can be distinguished on a worldwide scale.
Anti-Poverty Programs From the Federal Government The programs provide financial assistance to low-income individuals and families to cover basic needs like housing and food. The anti-poverty programs that have been most effective in reducing poverty rates in the United States are […]
Rural Development, Economic Inequality and Poverty The percentage of the rural population is lower for developed countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Thus, the objective of the proposal is to determine how the inhabitants of the country in […]
Global Poverty: Ways of Combating For example, one of such initiatives is social assistance and social protection programs, which ensure the safety and creation of various labor programs that will help increase the number of the working population.
Poverty: Aspects of Needs Assessment The target neighborhood and population for the following analysis are women of reproductive age, defined as 15 to 49 years, in Elmhurst and Corona, Queens. 2, and the percentage of births to women aged over […]
What Is Poverty in the United States? Estimates of the amount of income required to meet necessities serve as the foundation for both the official and supplemental poverty measurements.
The Caribbean Culture: Energy Security and Poverty Issues Globally, Latin American and the Caribbean also has the most expensive energy products and services because of fuel deprivation in the Caribbean and the Pacific regions.
Poverty: The Main Causes and Factors Because of the constant process of societal development, the concept of poverty changes rapidly, adapting to the new standards of modern human life.
How to Overcome Poverty and Discrimination As such, to give a chance to the “defeated” children and save their lives, as Alexie puts it, society itself must change the rules so that everyone can have access to this ticket to success. […]
Poverty and Homelessness in American Society It is connected with social segregation, stigmatization, and the inability of the person to improve their conditions of life. The problem of affordable housing and poverty among older adults is another problem that leads to […]
Private Sector’s Role in Poverty Alleviation in Asia The ambition of Asia to become the fastest-growing economic region worldwide has led to a rapid rise of enterprises in the private sector.
Connection of Poverty and Education The economy of the United States has been improving due to the efforts that have been made to ensure that poverty will not prevent individuals and families from having access to decent education.
The Opportunity for All Program: Poverty Reduction The limiting factors of the program may be the actions of the population itself, which will not participate in the employment program because of the realized benefits.
Early Childhood Financial Support and Poverty The mentioned problem is a direct example of such a correlation: the general poverty level and the well-being of adults are connected with the early children’s material support.
Global Poverty: The Ethical Dilemma Unfortunately, a significant obstacle to such global reforms is that many economic systems are based on the concept of inequality and exploitation.
Discussion: Poverty and Healthcare One of the research questions necessary to evaluate this issue is “How do ethical theories apply to the issue?” Another critical research question worth exploring is “Which cultural values and norms influence the problem?” These […]
Explosive Growth of Poverty in America The three richest Americans now own 250 billion USD, approximately the same amount of combined wealth as the bottom 50 percent of the country. Wealth inequality is a disturbing issue that needs to be at […]
Global Poverty: Famine, Affluence, and Morality In the article Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Michael Slote contends that rich people have a moral obligation to contribute more to charities.
The Poverty and Education Quality Relationship Although the number of people living under the poverty threshold has decreased in the last 30 years, more than 800,000,000 people still have to live with insufficient money and a lack of food, water, and […]
Decreasing Poverty With College Enrollment Program In order to achieve that, it is necessary, first and foremost, to increase the high school students’ awareness of the financial aid programs, possibilities of dual enrollment, and the overall reality of higher education.
Reducing Poverty in the North Miami Beach Community The proposed intervention program will focus on the students in the last semester of the 9th and 10th grades and the first semester of the 11th and 12th grades attending the client schools.
Food Banks Board Members and Cycle of Poverty What this suggests is that a large portion of the leadership within these collectives aim to provide assistance and food but not to challenge the current system that fosters the related issues of poverty, unemployment, […]
Poverty as a Social Problem in Burundi The rationale for studying poverty as a social problem in Burundi is that it will help to combat poverty through the advocacy plan at the end of this paper.
Poverty: Subsidizing Programs Subsidizing programs are considered welfare and net initiatives that the government takes to aid low-income families and individuals affected by poverty.
Is Globalization Reducing Poverty and Inequality? & How to Judge Globalism The article Is Globalization Reducing Poverty and Inequality by Robert Hunter Wade explores the phenomenon of globalization and its influence on the poverty and inequality ratios all over the world.
“Poverty, Toxic Stress, and Education…” Study by Kelly & Li Kelly and Li are concerned with the lack of research about poverty and toxic stress affecting the neurodevelopment of preterm children.
Poverty Simulation Reflection and Its Influence on Life Something that stood out to me during the process is probably the tremendous emotional and psychological impact of poverty on a person’s wellbeing.
Life Below the Poverty Line in the US The major problem with poverty in the US is that the number of people living below the poverty threshold is gradually increasing despite the economic growth of the country. SNAP is not considered to be […]
The Relationship Between Single-Parent Households and Poverty The given literature review will primarily focus on the theoretical and empirical aspects of the relationship between single-parent households and poverty, as well as the implications of the latter on mental health issues, such as […]
Aspects of Social Work and Poverty In terms of work principle, both the poor working and the welfare poor have it to varying degrees, but it does not help them much because the only employment available is low paying and leads […]
Poverty and Its Effect on Adult Health Poverty in the UK is currently above the world average, as more than 18% of the population lives in poverty. In 2020, 7% of the UK population lived in extreme poverty and 11% lived in […]
Child Poverty in the United States The causes of child poverty in the United States cannot be separated from the grounds of adult poverty. Thus, it is essential to take care of the well-being of children living in poverty.
Poverty in New York City, and Its Reasons The poverty rate for seniors in New York is twice the poverty rate in the United States. New York City’s blacks and Hispanics have a much higher poverty rate than whites and Asians in the […]
Juvenile Violent Crime and Children Below Poverty The effect of this trend is that the number of children below poverty will continue to be subjected to the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
Poverty and Homelessness as Social Problem The qualifications will include a recommendation from the community to ensure that the person is open to help and willing to be involved in the neighborhood of Non-Return.
Discussion of the Problem of the Poverty To help prevent homelessness for the woman in question and her children, I think it would be essential to provide mental support for her not to turn to alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism.
Poverty Effects and How They Are Handled Quality jobs will provide income to the younger people and women in the community. The focus on developing and facilitating small and medium-sized enterprises is a great strategy but more needs to be done in […]
Feminization of Poverty and Governments’ Role in Solving the Problem However, women form the greatest percentage of the poor, and the problem continues to spread. Furthermore, the public supports available are inaccessible and inadequate to cater for women’s needs.
Free-Trade Policies and Poverty Level in Bangladesh The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which the end of the quota system and introduction of a free-trade system for the garment industry in Bangladesh has impacted on poverty in […]
Poverty and Risks Associated With Poverty Adolescents that are at risk of being malnourished can be consulted about the existing programs that provide free food and meals to families in poverty.
Poverty and Inequality Reduction Strategies Thus, comprehending the causes of poverty and inequalities, understanding the role of globalization, and learning various theoretical arguments can lead to the establishment of appropriate policy recommendations.
Analysis of a Social Problem: Poverty Furthermore, the World Bank predicts that both the number of people and the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty will increase in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
International Aid – Poverty Inc This film, the research on the impact of aid on the states receiving it, and the economic outcomes of such actions suggest that aid is a part of the problem and not a solution to […]
Poverty Effects on American Children and Adolescents The extent to which poor financial status influences the wellbeing of the young children and adolescents is alarming and needs immediate response from the community.
Progress and Poverty Book by Henry George George wrote the book following his recognition that poverty is the central puzzle of the 20th century. Thus, George’s allegation is inconsistent with nature because the number of living organisms can increase to the extent […]
Vicious Circle of Poverty in Brazil The vicious circle of poverty is “a circular constellation of forces that tend to act and react on each other in such a way that the country in poverty maintains its poor state”.
Global Education as the Key Tool for Addressing the Third World Poverty Issue Global education leads to improvements in the state economy and finances. Global education helps resolve the unemployment problem.
Poverty, Partner Abuse, and Women’s Mental Health In general, the study aimed at investigating the interaction between poverty and the severity of abuse in women. The research question being studied in this article is how income intersects with partner violence and impacts […]
America’s Shame: How Can Education Eradicate Poverty The primary focus of the article was global poverty, the flaws in the educational system, as well as the U.S.government’s role in resolving the problem.
Global Poverty and Ways to Overcome It These are some of the strategies, the subsequent application of which would significantly reduce the level of poverty around the world.
Social Work at Acacia Network: Poverty and Inequality Around the 1980s, the number of older adults was significantly increasing in society; the local government of New York established a home for the aged and was named Acacia Network. The supporting staff may bond […]
Poverty and Sex Trafficking: Qualitative Systematic Review The proposed research question is to learn how the phenomenon of poverty is connected to sex trafficking. To investigate the relationship between the phenomenon of poverty and sex trafficking.
Political Economy: Relationship Between Poverty, Inequality, and Nationalism The prevalence of nationalism leads to changes in the education system, as the government tries to justify the superiority of the country by altering the curriculum.
End of Extreme Poverty Importantly, the ability to remain the owners of a substantial amount of accumulated wealth is the primary motivation for such individuals.
Poverty and Inequality in the US Despite the progress of civilization and the establishment of democratic values, in the modern United States, such problems as poverty and inequality persist, which is a significant social gap.
The Problem of Poverty in the United States The problem of increasing poverty is one of the major political issues in the United States, which became especially agile after the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the difficult economic situation all over […]
Poverty and Unemployment Due to Increased Taxation The government on its side defended the move while trying to justify the new measures’ benefits, a move that would still not benefit the country.
Poverty as a Global Social Problem For example, the research shows that Kibera is the largest slum in the country, and this is where many people move to settle after losing hope of getting employed in towns.
Researching the Problem of Poverty However, the rich people and the rich countries reduce poverty to some extent by providing jobs and markets to the poor, but the help is too little compared to the benefits they get thus accelerating […]
Poverty, Social Class, and Intersectionality I prefer the structural approach to the issue as I believe the created structures are responsible for the existence of diverse types of oppression.
Wealth and Poverty: The Christian Teaching on Wealth and Poverty To illustrate the gap between the world’s richest and the world’s poorest, a recent UN publication reported that the wealth of the three richest persons in the world is greater than the combined wealth of […]
Guns Do Not Kill, Poverty Does It is widely accepted that stricter gun control policies are instrumental in alleviating the problem, as they are supposed to reduce the rate of firearm-related deaths, limiting gun access to individuals at-risk of participating in […]
Poverty’s Effects on Delinquency The economic status of people determines their social class and the manner in which they get their basic needs. Seeing these things and the kind of life rich people lead motivates the poor to commit […]
The Criminalization of Poverty in Canada In this regard, with a special focus on Canada, the objective of this essay is to investigate how public policy has transformed alongside the public perception of social welfare reform.
The Issue of Vicious Circle of Poverty in Brazil The persistence of poverty, regardless of the many shocks that every state receives in the normal course of its survival, raises the feeling that underdevelopment is a condition of equilibrium and that there are pressures […]
Community Health Needs: Poverty Generally, the higher the level of poverty, the worse the diet, and hence the higher the chances of developing diabetes. Consequently, a considerable disparity in the prevalence of diabetes occurs between communities with high levels […]
“Poverty, Race, and the Contexts of Achievement” by Maryah Stella Fram et al. The article “Poverty, race, and the contexts of achievement: examining the educational experience of children in the U.S. Multilevel models were then applied in the analyses of how children varied in their reading scores depending […]
Couple Aims to Fight Poverty, One Village at a Time People are not afraid to risk their own financial savings, their investments, and even life’s safety to help the chosen community and improve the conditions this community has to live under.
Microeconomic Perspective on Poverty Evolution in Pakistan The periodic spike in poverty levels, notwithstanding economic growth, implies incongruous policy functionality in relation to drivers of poverty and the subsequent failure to improve the indicators.
The Impact of Poverty on Children Under the Age of 11 The strengths of the Marxist views on poverty are in the structural approach to the problem. Overall, the Marxist theory offers a radical solution to the problem of child poverty.
Poverty Policy Recommendations Different leaders have considered several policies and initiatives in the past to tackle the problem of poverty and empower more people to lead better lives.
Poverty Reduction and Natural Assets Therefore, the most efficient way to increase the efficiency of agriculture and reduce its environmental impacts is ensuring the overall economic growth in the relevant region.
Corporate Social Responsibility & Poverty Alleviation Researchers state that “preventing and managing the negative impacts of the core business on the poor” are essential indicators of the social responsibility of the company.
Children in Poverty in Kampong Ayer, Brunei Part of the reason is likely malnutrition that results from the eating or consumption patterns of the families and also dependency on the children to help out with the family or house chores.
Health, Poverty, and Social Equity: The Global Response to the Ebola Outbreak Canada and Australia, as well as several countries in the Middle East and Africa, were the most active proponents of this ban, halting the movements for both people and goods from states affected by the […]
Health, Poverty, and Social Equity: Indigenous Peoples of Canada Another problem that much of northern Canada’s Indigenous Peoples face is the availability of healthcare services and people’s inability to access medical help.
The Problem of Childhood Poverty Unequal income distribution, adult poverty, government policies that exclude children and premature pregnancy are some of the items from the long list of childhood poverty causes. Before discussing the causes and effects of childhood poverty, […]
Individualistic Concepts and Structural Views on Poverty in American Society The concepts presented in the book Poverty and power help to better understand the content of the article and the reasons for such a different attitude of people to the same problem.
Poor Kids: The Impact of Poverty on Youth Nevertheless, the environment of constant limitations shapes the minds of children, their dreams and the paths they pursue in life, and, most importantly, what they make of themselves.
Poverty and Diseases A usual line of reasoning would be that low income is the main cause of health-related problems among vulnerable individuals. Such results that the relationship between mental health and poverty is, in fact, straightforward.
Poverty: Causes and Effects on the Population and Country Thesis: There are a great number of factors and issues that lead a certain part of the population to live in poverty and the input that such great numbers of people could provide, would be […]
The Internet and Poverty in Society The information that can be found on the web is a very useful resource but at the same time it is important to consider several things with the treatment and examination of the presented information.
Poverty in Africa: Impact of the Economy Growth Rate Thus, a conclusion can be made that economic growth in Africa will result in the social stability of the local population.
Poverty and Disrespect in “Coming of Age in Mississippi” by Anne Moody Life was not fair to a little Anne the chapters about her childhood are alike to a chain of unfortunate events that happened to her and her relatives.
Vietnam’s Economic Growth and Poverty & Inequality A significant part of the population was active in employment, and this means that the numerous income-generating activities improved the economy of this country.
Poverty and Disasters in the United States Focusing on the precaution measures and the drilling techniques that will help survive in case of a natural disaster is one of the most common tools for securing the population.
Intro to Sociology: Poverty It is challenging to pinpoint the actual and not mythological reasons for the presence of poverty in America. The former can be summed up as a “culture of poverty”, which suggests that the poor see […]
The Notion of “Poverty” Is a Key Word of a Modern Society As far as the countries of the Third World are deprived of these possibilities, their development is hampered and the problem of poverty has become a chronic disease of the society.
The Problem of Poverty in Africa The major aim of the study is to identify the causes of poverty and propose best strategies that can help Africans come out of poverty.
Poverty Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Countries: The Role of NGOs The position of research and statistics in undertaking social-counting work is not queried. It is after the research method is used in other tribulations of the charity that gaps emerge between management and research.
“The End of Poverty” by Phillipe Diaz In the film End of Poverty, the filmmaker tries to unravel the mystery behind poverty in the world. The film is arranged in such a way that the author has persuasively argued his case that […]
The Effects of Poverty Within Criminal Justice The approach used in this study is deductive since the reasoning in the study proceeds from the general principle regarding the fact that poverty has a role to play in the administering of fairness in […]
The Poverty Rates in the USA Poverty in the U. Officially the rate of poverty was at14.3%.
Poverty in America: A Paradox Many people especially the young people living in other countries and more so in developed countries wish to immigrate to America instead of working hard to achieve the dream of better opportunities.
Values and Ethics: Poverty in Canada The case study1 has indicated for instance, that the number of people living in poverty in 2003 is at 4. A group of individuals would therefore be granted the mandate to lead the others in […]
War and Poverty Connection in Developing Countries The scholars claim that conflict and war in most nations have been found to exacerbate the rate of poverty in the affected nations.
Poverty in United States. Facts and Causes Schwartz carried out a research which showed that in the United States, about 13-17|% of the individuals live below the federal poverty line at any one single time and poverty is one of the main […]
Cultures and Prejudice: Poverty Factors For instance, if the two cultures had in the past interacted in a negative way, the poor culture directs all the blame to the well up culture.
Poverty and Criminal Behavoiur Relation The level of accuracy that the data collected holds cannot be 100%; there is a level of error that affects the reliability of the data collected.
Urban Relationship Between Poverty and Crime
The End of Poverty Possibility
Poverty, Suburban Public School Violence and Solution
Social and Economic Policy Program: Globalization, Growth, and Poverty
Is Poverty From Developing Countries Imagined?
How Gender and Race Structure Poverty and Inequality Connected?
Poverty by Anarchism and Marxism Approaches
Colonial Economy of America: Poverty, Slavery and Rich Plantations
Environmental Deterioration and Poverty in Kenya
Management Issues: The Poverty Business
Pockets of Poverty Mar the Great Promise of Canada
Poverty. “How the Other Half Lives” by Jacob Riis
The Underclass Poverty and Associated Social Problems
Child Poverty in Toronto, Ontario
Children’s Brain Function Affected by Poverty
Poverty Issue in America Review
Microeconomics. Poverty in America
Poverty and Inequality in Modern World
Poverty and Its Effects on Females
Poverty and Its Effects on Women
Poverty of America: Economic Assumptions
Poverty as a General Problem
Feminization of Poverty – A Grave Social Concern
Global Poverty Dimensions and Alleviating Approaches
Poverty Level in any Country
Theories of Fertility. Economics Aspect and Poverty.
The Cultural Construction of Poverty
Poverty in the US: Causes and Measures
Poverty Rates Issue in Alberta Analysis
“Old Age Poverty” Study by Kwan & Walsh
Phenomena of Poverty Review
Development Economics: Poverty Traps in Africa
Healthcare Development. Poverty in the 1800s
Social Problem of Poverty in the United States
Poverty and Hip-Hop: Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”
Globalization Issues and Impact on Poverty and Free Trade
Anthropology: Culture of Poverty
Poverty, Stratification and Gender Discrimination
Teen Pregnancy Can Lead to Suicide and Poverty
Poverty Around the World
Poverty in Los Angeles
“Rethinking the Sociological Measurement of Poverty” by Brady
Poverty in the US: Essentials of Sociology
Econometrics: Poverty, Unemployment, Household Income
Religious Quotes on Poverty and Their Interpretations
Poverty and Inequality in “Rich and Poor” by Peter Singer
The Relation Between Poverty and Justice
Canada and the Imposition of Poverty
Poverty and Politics in “The Bottom Billion” by Collier
The Impact of Poverty in African American Communities
“Poverty and Joy: The Franciscan Tradition” by Short
International Financial Institutions’ Poverty Reduction Strategy
Social Study: Mamelodi Residents Living in Poverty
Video Volunteers’ Interventions Against Poverty
Poverty in American Single-Parent Families
Single-Mother Poverty and Policies in the United States
Poverty and Its Aspects in Historical Documents
Economic Development: Prosperity and Poverty
Poverty and Its Relative Definitions
Poverty in America: An Ethical Dilemma
Child Poverty and Academic Achievement Association
Poverty and Global Food Crisis: Food and Agriculture Model
Poverty as a Factor of Terrorist Recruitment
Poverty Solution as a Political Issue in Australia
Poverty: An Echo of Capitalism
Poverty, Inequality and Social Policy Understanding
Breastfeeding Impact on Canadian Poverty Gaps
Urban and Suburban Poverty in the United States
Inequality and Poverty Relationship
Poverty and Child Health in the US and the UK
Poverty Impact on Life Perception
Energy Poverty Elimination in Developing Countries
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty
Vietnamese Poverty and Productivity Increase
Global Health Governance and Poverty
Poverty Rates Among Whites and Blacks Americans
Culture of Poverty in the “Park Avenue” Documentary
Poverty in the US
Poor Economics and Global Poverty
Poverty as a Cause of the Sudanese Civil War
“Halving Global Poverty” by Besley and Burges
Do Poverty Traps Exist? Assessing the Evidence
Poverty Reasons in Ancient Times and Nowadays
American War on Poverty Throughout US History
Poverty and Challenges in Finding Solutions
Children and Poverty in “Born into Brothels” Documentary
Poverty and Social Welfare in the United States
Poverty in “A Theology of Liberation” by Gutierrez
Poverty Reduction Among American Single Mothers
The Relationship Between Poverty and Education
Divorce Outcomes: Poverty and Instability
African Poverty at the Millennium: Causes and Challenges
Poverty Effect on Children
Poverty and Education: School Funding Reinforces Inequality
Global Poverty and the Endeavors of Addressing It
Global Poverty Reduction: Economic Policy Recommendation
Poverty in the Novel “Snow” by Orhan Pamuk
The Rise of Poverty in the US
Profit From Organizing Tours to Poverty Areas
Detroit Poverty and “Focus Hope” Organization
Poverty Controversy in the USA
Poverty as the Deprivation of Capabilities
Suburbanisation of Poverty in the USA
The Solution to World Poverty by Peter Singer
The Poverty Across the US Culture
How Racial Segregation Contributes to Minority’s Poverty?
Catholic Dealing With Poverty and Homelessness
Human Capital and Poverty in Scottsdale
Global Poverty Studies and Their Importance
The World Bank and the Poverty of Reform
Challenges of Social Integration: Poverty
Globalization and the Issue of Poverty: Making the World a Better Place
The Economic Effect of Issuing Food Stamps to Those in Poverty
Business and Pollution Inequality in Poor States
What Should You Do? Poverty Issue
Causes of Poverty Traps in an Economy, Its Results and Ways of Avoiding Them
Millennium Development Goals – Energy and Poverty Solutions
Sociological Indicators of Energy Poverty
Energy and Poverty Solutions – Non-Traditional Cookstoves
Energy and Poverty Solutions – World Bank
How do Migration and Urbanization Bring About Urban Poverty in Developing Countries?
Poverty and Domestic Violence
The Rise of Extremist Groups, Disparity and Poverty
Measuring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Australia
Does Poverty Lead to Terrorism?
“Urban and Rural Estimates of Poverty: Recent Advances in Spatial Microsimulation in Australia” by Tanton, R, Harding, A, and McNamara, J
Importance of Foreign Aid in Poverty Reducing
Wordsworth’s Vision of Childhood in His Poems “We Are Seven” and “Alice Fell or Poverty”
Hispanic Childhood Poverty in the United States
How Poverty Affects Children Development?
Why Is Poverty Important in Contemporary Security Studies?
Millennium Development Goals in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Haiti, and Chad
Development Is No Longer the Solution to Poverty
Issues Underlying Global Poverty and Provision of Aid
Films Comparison: “The Fields” by Roland Joffe and “Hotel Rwanda” by Terry George
Poverty Prevalence in the United States
Terrorism, Poverty and Financial Instability
Global Poverty and Education
Critical Analyses of the Climate of Fear Report From Southern Poverty Law Center
How World Vision International Contributes to Poverty Reduction
Global Poverty, Social Poverty and Education
Global Poverty, Social Policy, and Education
The Connection Between Poverty and Mental Health Problems
Does Parental Involvement and Poverty Affect Children’s Education and Their Overall Performance?
African Poverty: To Aid, or Not to Aid
Poverty Fighting in Saudi Arabia and in USA
Technological Development in Trade and Its Impacts on Poverty
Social Dynamics: The Southern Poverty Law Centre
Property, Urban Poverty and Spatial Marginalization
Rural Poverty in Indonesia
Is Poverty of Poor Countries in Anyway Due to Wealth of the Rich?
Poverty and Gender Violence in Congo
Correlation Between Poverty and Obesity
Fight Poverty, Fight Illiteracy in Mississippi Initiative
Civil War and Poverty: “The Bottom Billion” by Paul Collier
Analytical Research: Poverty in Thailand: Peculiarities and Perspectives
Poverty Indicators in Developing Countries
Poverty, Homelessness and Discrimination in Australia: The Case of the Aboriginal
Social Business Scope in Alleviating Poverty
Africa’s Poverty: The Influence of Western States
Susceptibility of Women and Aboriginal People to Poverty in Canada
Social Issues; Crime and Poverty in Camden
MDG Poverty Goals May Be Achieved, but Child Mortality Is Not Improving
We Can Stop Poverty in Ghana Today
Poverty in India and China
Third World Countries and the Barriers Stopping Them to Escape Poverty
Microcredit: A Tool for Poverty Alleviation
Impacts of Global Poverty Resistance
Reducing Poverty: Unilever and Oxfam
Poverty in the United States
The Mothers Who Are Not Single: Striving to Avoid Poverty in Single-Parent Families
Effect of Poverty on Children Cognitive and Learning Ability
Sweatshops and Third World Poverty
War on Poverty: Poverty Problem in US
Environmental Degradation and Poverty
Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right and the UN Declaration of Human Rights
War on Poverty in US
The Causes of Poverty Concentration in the Modern World
Poverty in Saudi Arabia
Poverty as a Peculiarity of the Economical Development
Capitalism and Poverty
The Problems of Poverty in the Modern World
Poverty Among Women and Aboriginals
On (Not) Getting by in America: Economic Order and Poverty in the U.S.
The Singer Solution to World Poverty
Poverty in America Rural and Urban Difference (Education)
What Is the Relationship Between Race, Poverty and Prison?
Poverty in Russia During the Late Nineteenth Century
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty: Advantages of Microcredit
Social Welfare Policy That Facilitates Reduction of Poverty and Inequality in the US
Immigrant Status and Poverty: How Are They Linked?
Effects of Poverty on Immigrant Children
The Problem of Immigrants Poverty in the US
Why Poverty Rates are Higher Among Single Black Mothers
Poverty Concerns in Today’s Society
Literature Study on the Modern Poverty Concerns
Poverty and Wealth in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara
Peter Singer on Resolving the World Poverty
Concepts of Prenatal Drug Exposure vs. Poverty on Infants
UN Summit in New York: Ending Global Poverty
Why Has Poverty Increased in Zimbabwe?
Should Private Donations Help Eliminate Child Poverty?
Why Was Poverty Re-Discovered in Britain in the Late 1950s and Early 1960?
Why Does Child Labour Persist With Declining Poverty?
Why Are Child Poverty Rates Higher in Britain Than in Germany?
What Are the Principles and Practices for Measuring Child Poverty in Rich Countries?
Why Did Poverty Drop for the Elderly?
What Is the Relationship Between Income Distribution and Poverty Reduction in the UK?
What Are the Pros and Cons of Poverty in Latin America?
Should Poverty Researchers Worry About Inequality?
What Helps Households With Children in Leaving Poverty?
What Is the Connection Between Poverty and Crime?
Why Have Some Indian States Done Better Than Others at Reducing Rural Poverty?
What Is the Relationship Between Lack of Education and Poverty?
Why Are Child Poverty Rates So Persistently High in Spain?
Trade Liberalisation and Poverty: What Are the Links?
What Are Academic Programs Available for Youth in Poverty?
What Are the Main Factors Contributing to the Rise in Poverty in Canada?
Single-Mother Poverty: How Much Do Educational Differences in Single Motherhood Matter?
What Are the Causes and Effects of Poverty in the United?
Why Are Some Countries Poor?
What Is the Link Between Globalization and Poverty?
What Are the Factors That Influence Poverty Sociology?
What Causes Poverty Within the United States Economy?
What Is the Relationship Between Poverty and Obesity?
Why Were Poverty Rates So High in the 1980s?
With Exhaustible Resources, Can a Developing Country Escape From the Poverty Trap?
Why Does Poverty Persist in Rural Ethiopia?
Who Became Poor, Who Escaped Poverty, and Why?
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A Conclusion For Poverty

Poverty has become a great issue in our world. Though many organizations have been created to find solutions for this matter nobody could not save our world completely from poverty. The most common fact which we can realize when we consider on information about poverty is that poverty is mostly occurring in developing countries.

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What are the reasons caused for poverty mostly? According to the Borgen Project, reasons for poverty are History, War and Political instability, National Debts, Discrimination and social inequality and vulnerability to natural disasters. Poverty is the significant lack of money or poorness. Precise definitions of poverty are controversial; according to one definition, poverty is having so little money that one cannot pay for basic necessities, such as food and shelter. Sociologists study the effects of poverty as well as who lives in poverty and why. Many surveys have been done in order to calculate the accurate number of people who are suffering from the poverty. According to the Global Finance Magazine poorest countries in the world are Central African Republic, Congo, Dem.Rep, Malawi, Liberia, Burundi, Niger, Mozambique and Eritrea. There are many organizations such as CARE, Oxfam, ONE, The hunger Project working to stop poverty. Some of these are non-profit, strategic organizations committed to the sustainable end of poverty and world hunger.

The World Bank data has published data on absolute poverty for 1981 onward, but researchers have tried to reconstruct information of the living standards of the more distant past. The most cited paper was written by Bourguignon and Morrison in which the two authors reconstructed measures of poverty as far back as 1820. We can realize that the number of poor people in the present has decreased little than the numbers in early ‘90.

What are the effects of poverty for our world? Do you know that over 21,000 children die every day around the world due to illnesses, conflicts in the world and other different reasons? Most of these are caused by poverty.

As a young student, I would like to suggest some factors which would be helpful in our journey to reduce poverty. Basically we have to take necessary steps to reduce the population in our world. Natural resources don’t increase according to the population which is increasing at a high speed. When we consider the families in poor countries, they have at least six or seven kids. But those kids do not have a proper health or the parents cannot provide proper education for them. And also those parents cannot provide good foods filled with suitable nutrients to their kids due to lack of wealth. Because of that their healthiness decreases by a considerable amount. The development of their brains becomes insufficient and due to that their ability to get a proper education decreases.

So taking necessary steps to develop health and education sectors in these countries is a good way to reduce poverty. So firstly we have to develop services for pregnant women of those countries and provide them good foods filled with proper nutrients to keep the babies in good health. And then the kids will be in good health and their brains will be in a better condition to get a proper education. Developing the education sectors of those countries with the help of charity services and the governments of developed countries is also a good step to develop education systems in those countries. When we take a look at the situation of education in a number of African countries affected by poverty we see: language barriers; a lack of proper facilities; and military conflicts.

Increasing the number of organizations which are working to reduce poverty by educating people of developed countries to be organized and to take actions related to this matter is also another suggestion of mine. Encouraging people who have volunteered to provide facilities such as pure water, foods filled with nutrients, living places to poor people and who’re conducting charity services to develop the lives of them, by offering special rewards and admiring them in various ways would be a good way to increase the number of voluntary workers. So I believe my opinions and suggestions would be a good help to conclude poverty.

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Essay on Poverty in India

Students are often asked to write an essay on Poverty in India in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Poverty in India

Introduction.

Poverty is a significant issue in India, affecting millions of lives. Despite India’s economic growth, poverty remains prevalent, especially in rural areas.

Many factors contribute to poverty in India. Lack of quality education, unemployment, overpopulation, and inadequate public health are some of these factors.

Poverty affects individuals and communities. It leads to malnutrition, illiteracy, and low life expectancy. Children are the most affected as they lack access to basic needs.

Addressing poverty requires concerted efforts. Improving education, creating job opportunities, and enhancing public health services could help alleviate poverty.

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250 Words Essay on Poverty in India

India, despite its substantial economic growth, is home to a significant portion of the global poor. Poverty in India is a multifaceted issue, shaped by socio-economic, political, and cultural factors.

Underlying Causes

The root causes of poverty in India are manifold. The country’s historical caste system has perpetuated socio-economic disparity, while gender bias has further limited opportunities for women. Additionally, rapid population growth has strained resources, leading to inadequate access to basic amenities such as education, healthcare, and employment.

The impacts of poverty are profound. It perpetuates a cycle of illiteracy and low-skilled labor, trapping generations in a poverty loop. Furthermore, it exacerbates health issues and malnutrition, particularly among children, undermining India’s future human capital.

Government Initiatives

The Indian government has implemented multiple poverty alleviation programs, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. However, their effectiveness is limited by issues such as corruption, lack of awareness, and inadequate implementation.

Addressing poverty in India requires a holistic approach that addresses its root causes. This includes promoting inclusive growth, gender equality, and sustainable development. Equally important is the need for transparent and efficient implementation of poverty alleviation programs. Only then can India truly leverage its demographic dividend and achieve its development goals.

500 Words Essay on Poverty in India

Poverty, a socio-economic issue, is a multi-dimensional problem that affects a large portion of the Indian population. Despite the country’s significant economic growth, poverty remains a persistent challenge, with millions of people living below the poverty line.

The Magnitude of Poverty in India

India, home to more than a billion people, is the world’s largest democracy. However, it also houses a significant portion of the world’s poor. According to the World Bank, in 2019, 21.9% of the Indian population lived below the national poverty line. The issue is more pronounced in rural areas where agriculture, the primary source of income, is often affected by unpredictable weather patterns and poor infrastructure.

The Causes of Poverty

Poverty in India can be attributed to a myriad of interconnected factors. First, the country’s rapid population growth has put immense pressure on its resources, exacerbating poverty. Second, the lack of access to quality education and healthcare, particularly in rural areas, has perpetuated a cycle of poverty. Third, social inequality and discrimination based on caste, religion, and gender have further entrenched poverty. Lastly, corruption and inefficient public distribution systems have hindered poverty alleviation efforts.

Impact of Poverty

The impacts of poverty are far-reaching and multi-faceted. It affects physical health due to malnutrition and inadequate healthcare. It restricts access to quality education, thus limiting opportunities for upward mobility. Poverty also exacerbates social tensions and can lead to a rise in crime rates. Moreover, it hinders the country’s overall economic progress, as a significant portion of the population remains unable to contribute effectively to the economy.

Poverty Alleviation Measures

India has implemented numerous poverty alleviation programs over the years. Initiatives like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) provide guaranteed employment to rural households. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana aims to increase financial inclusion. However, the effective implementation of these programs remains a challenge due to corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies.

Poverty in India is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive and multi-pronged approach to address. While significant strides have been made, much work remains to be done. Efforts must be made to improve access to quality education and healthcare, promote social equality, and ensure the effective implementation of poverty alleviation programs. Only then can India hope to break the cycle of poverty and ensure a prosperous future for all its citizens.

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Child Labour – India’s Hidden Shame

From Current Affairs Notes for UPSC » Editorials & In-depths » This topic

One of the most unfortunate consequences of the pandemic and its wide range of restrictions has been the higher vulnerability of children to different forms of abuse and deprivation. Moreover, the second wave of COVID-19 has left several children without both or one of their parents. This situation exposed them to hopelessness, financial hardships and increased risk of child labour, exploitation, and trafficking.

This topic of “Child Labour – India’s Hidden Shame” is important from the perspective of the UPSC IAS Examination , which falls under General Studies Portion.

Who is a child?

Child and Adolescent Labour (prohibition and regulation) Act 1986 defines the child as a person who has not completed the age of 14 years.

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What is Child Labour?

Child Labour as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a work that takes away children their childhood, their potential and their dignity which is harmful to their physical as well as mental development.
ILO also explains child labour in its most extreme forms involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities — often at a very early age.
But Children or adolescents who involve in works that do not impact their health and personal development or affect their schooling is not child labour. For instance, helping their parents at home, helping family or earning pocket money outside school hours and on holidays.

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How children are exploited for Labour in India?

Instead of being in school or at play or other constructive activities, they are put to work on a range of activities that span repetitive low-skill work that doesn’t aid development for future employment opportunities, they are forced to be exposed to conditions devastating to health and safety in the agriculture, industry and service sectors.

The work involves long hours on a bewildering range of tasks such as transferring pollen in cotton plants, picking the crop with their bare hands, indentured on tea or tobacco plantations and brick making factories and construction sites; being sent down dangerous mines for extracting gold and diamonds, or confined to cramped workshops for cutting and polishing gemstones; working at slaughterhouses and tanneries with minimal protection or under life-threatening conditions at fireworks factories.

Children are very commonly employed in the murky underbelly of the fashion industry in yarn and spinning mills, and garment factory sweatshops, put to work from handling silkworms in scalding water to doing painstaking embellishment work. They are on the streets picking rags – carrying an entire recycling industry on their shoulders, or in homes doing domestic work either as employees of others or in the case of girls in their own homes where they are treated as free labour and not considered as deserving of education as their brothers.

The worst of all is the human trafficking situations of modern-day slavery that children are thrown into, facing horrific abuse and lifelong trauma as bonded labourers or sold into sexual exploitation . Alongside the physical implications of this work, can we even begin to imagine the mental health consequences for these children and adolescents forced into labour?

What is the statistics of child labour in India?

According to the 2011 census,

there were more than 10.2 million children in the age group of 5-14 working as child labourers.
Child labour has increased rapidly in urban areas and declined in rural areas.
The overall decrease in child labour is only 2.2% per year from 2001-2011.
India’s biggest child labour employers are – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

What is the nature of child labour in India?

Change in work location: There has been high involvement of children in home-based works and in the informal sector.

Rural-Urban areas:

In urban areas, a huge number of children are involved in manual domestic work, rag picking, restaurants, motor repair shops, etc.
Agriculture including cotton growing,
Matchbox industries,
Brass, and lock-making factories,
Embroidery,
Rag-picking,
Beedi-rolling,
Carpet-making industry,
Mining and stone quarrying,
Brick kilns,
Tea gardens etc.

Gender specific: The division of labour is gender-specific with girls being engaged in more domestic and home-based work, and boys working as wage labourers.

Bonded Child labour: refers to the employment of a person against a loan, debt or social obligation by the family of the child or family as a whole. Bonded child labourers are mostly found in the agriculture sector or helping their families in brick kilns, and stone quarries. There are around 10 million bonded child labourers in India.

Migrant Children: Children who are migrating to other locations with family are often forced to drop-out schools and unavoidably put to work at work-sites.

What are the causes of Child Labour in India?

Poverty and Indebtedness:

Poverty is the greatest cause of child labour. For impoverished households, income from a child’s work is generally important for his or her own survival or for that of the household.
Children are also bonded to labour because of the family indebtedness.
Rural poverty and urban migration often expose children to being trafficked for work.

Adult unemployment and under-employment : high prevalence of adult unemployment and under-employment often force children to work to support the family.

Illiteracy and Ignorance of parents: Illiteracy of the child’s parents further worsens the crisis. Illiteracy and Lack of awareness of the harmful consequences of child labour make them violate the law and put their children under the risk of inhuman exploitation.

Lack of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills training:

The current educational infrastructure is highly unsuitable to children of economically deprived families.
Furthermore, the deteriorating quality of education has resulted in increasing dropout rates and forced children to engage in work.
Compulsory education (RTE) does not cover the 15-18 age group (adolescents). However, being illiterate or school dropouts, these children are vulnerable and most exploited for the informal, unskilled and casual workforce.

Demand for child labour :

Rising demand for child labour particularly in urban areas is an important cause for the prevalence and increase in child labour.
Children are employed as they are cheap and flexible with respect to the demands of the employer and not aware of their rights.

Cultural factors:

An expectation that children should contribute to the socio-economic survival of the family and community, as well as the existence of large families, contribute to the prevalence of child labour.
Children mostly take up family’s traditional work from an early age. For instance, a Goldsmith’s son takes to gold-smithery, or a carpenter’s child takes up carpentry from an early age.

Social factors: There is a strong correlation between India’s differentiated social structure and child labour. The majority of child labourers in India belong to the so called lower castes (SCs), the tribal and Muslim religious minority.

What are the impacts of child labour?

Affect childhood: Child labour takes away a child of his/her childhood. It not only denies his/her right to education but also right to leisure.
Affect adult life: Child labour prevents children from gaining the skills and education they require to have opportunities for decent work when they become an adult.
Major health and physical risks: as they work long hours and are needed to do tasks for which they are physically and mentally unprepared. Working in hazardous situations adversely impacts a child’s physical and mental health and affects intellectual, emotional and psychological development.
Poverty: Child labour is both a cause and consequence of poverty. Household poverty makes children enter the labour market to earn money = they miss out on an opportunity to get an education = further continuing household poverty across generations in a vicious cycle.

Affect country as a whole: Existence of a large number of child labourers has long term effect on the economy and it is a serious obstacle to the socio-economic welfare of the country.

What are the International Safeguards against Child Labour?

International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions:

The two Core Conventions directly related to child labour are that of ILO Convention 138 (Minimum age convention) and 182 (Worst forms of Child Labour Convention).
India has ratified both the Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions.

Declaration of Rights of Child, 1959:

Universal declaration of human rights 1948 – mentions (under article 25) that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance.
The above principles along with other principles of a universal declaration concerning child were incorporated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

It sets out different rights of children- civil, political, economic, cultural, social and health. Article 32 states that the government should protect children from work that is dangerous or might harm their health or their education.

What are the measures taken by India?

Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986

Based on the recommendations of the Gurupadaswammy Committee (1979), the Act was passed in 1986. It has the following objectives:

to prohibit the engagement of children in some employment.
and to regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other employment.

Salient features:

The Act prohibits children from working in any occupation listed in Part A of the Schedule; for example: Catering at railway establishments, construction work on the railway or anywhere near the tracks, plastics factories, automobile garages, etc.
The act also prohibits children from working in places where certain processes are being undertaken, as listed in Part B of the Schedule; for example beedi making, tanning, soap manufacture, brick kilns, and roof tiles units, etc.
Part III of the act outlines the conditions in which children may work in occupations/processes not listed in the schedule.
Any person who employs any child in contravention of the provisions of section 3 of the Act is liable for punishment with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 3 months but which may extend to one year or fine.

Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016

The Amendment Act completely prohibits the employment of children below 14 years.
The amendment also prohibits the employment of adolescents in the age group of 14 to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes and regulates their working conditions where they are not prohibited.
The amendment also provides stricter punishment for employers for violation of the Act and making the offence of employing any child or adolescent in contravention of the Act by an employer as cognizable.

Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2017

The rules provide a broad and specific framework for prevention, prohibition, rescue, and rehabilitation of child and adolescent workers.
It also clarifies on issues related to helping in family and family enterprises and definition of family with respect to the child.
It states that the child shall not perform any tasks during school hours and between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.
It also provides for safeguards of artists which have been permitted to work under the Act, in terms of hours of work and working conditions.
It states that no child shall be allowed to work for more than 5 times a day, and for not more than 3 hours without rest.

National Policy on Child Labour (1987)

It contains the action plan for tackling the problem of Child Labour.
It focuses more on the rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes, rather than on prevention.
The policy consists of three main attributes:
Legal Action plan –Emphasis will be laid on strict and effective enforcement of legal provisions relating to a child under various Labour laws.
Focusing on general development programmes- Utilisation of various on-going development programmes of other Ministries/Departments for the benefit of Child Labour wherever possible.
Project-based plan of Action – Launching of projects for the welfare of working child in areas of high concentration of child labour.

National Child Labour Project Scheme

For rehabilitation of child labour, the Government had initiated the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme.
The NCLP Scheme seeks:
To eliminate all forms of child labour through identification and withdrawal children from child labour and preparing them for mainstream education along with vocational training
To contribute to the withdrawal of all adolescent workers from Hazardous Occupations / Processes and their skilling and integration in suitable occupations.
Creation of a Child Labour Monitoring, Tracking and Reporting System.

Pencil: The government has launched a dedicated platform viz. pencil.gov.in to ensure effective enforcement of child labour laws and end child labour.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 and Amendment of the Act in 2006

It includes the working child in the category of children in need of care and protection, without any limitation of age or type of occupation.
Section 23 (cruelty to Juvenile) and Section 26 (exploitation of juvenile employee) specifically deal with child labour under children in need of care and protection.

The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009): The Act made it mandatory for the state to ensure that all children aged six to 14 years are in school and receive free education.

Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, ChildFund, CARE India, Talaash Association, Child Rights and You, Global march against child labour, RIDE India, Child line, Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation etc. have been working to eradicate child labour in India.

What are the Challenges in reducing child labour in India?

Issues with Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016:

The list of hazardous industries has been drastically decreased, this may allow the employers in industries like chemical mixing units, cotton farms, battery recycling units, and brick kilns, etc. to employ adolescent labour, which they may even get at a much cheaper price.
Further, the amendment allows a child to be employed in “family or family enterprises”.This raises a question over a large number of child labour in agrarian rural India where poor families are trapped in intergenerational debt-bondage.

Definitional issue: One of the biggest challenges in eradicating child labour is the confusion around the definition of a child, in terms of age, in various laws dealing with child labour.

Lack of identification: Age identification of children is a difficult task in India due to the lack of identification documents. Child labourers often lack school registration certificates and birth certificates, creating an easy loophole in the law to exploit. Most often the children of migrant workers working as labourers and those employed in domestic work go unreported.

Weak enforcement of law and poor governance: Weak enforcement of the law, lack of adequate deterrence and corruption is a major hurdle in eradicating child labour.

What is the way forward?

Child labour is a vicious circle of poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and low wages. There should be a concerted effort towards social protection programmes and cash transfers to improve the economic situation of families and to reduce the “need” to send children to work.
There is an urgent need to revamp educational infrastructure- to ensure access to educational institutions, improvement in quality and relevance of education
There is a need to bring uniformity in existing Indian laws dealing with child labour. The laws must expand the definition of a child by prohibiting the employment of and ensuring free and compulsory education (RTE, Act, 2009) for children below 18 years
There is a need to launch a national campaign to invoke public interest and large-scale awareness on the exploitation of children and the menace of child labour.
The government should take adequate measures to raise awareness among families and communities. Parental literacy can play an important role in ensuring the rights of children are upheld.
Elimination of child labour demands commitment from the society e.g. family, state, civil society and those who employ children in any enterprises.

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Poverty in India Essay

What Causes Poverty?

How is Poverty Measured in India?

Efforts to Eliminate Poverty

Frequently asked Questions on Poverty in India Essay

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Essay on Poverty: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

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Essay on Poverty in 300 words

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Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Notes Economics Chapter 3 - PDF Download

Access Class 9 Economics Chapter 3 - Poverty As A Challenge

Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Economics Chapter 3 Notes

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Poverty as a Challenge Chapter Summary

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FAQs on Poverty as a Challenge Class 9 Notes CBSE Economics Chapter 3 (Free PDF Download)

STUDY MATERIALS FOR CLASS 9

I. Introduction

A. Rural and Urban Populations

B. Rural and Urban Poverty

A. Population Distribution by Social Group within the States

B. Poverty by Social Group

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Essay on “Eradication of Poverty” English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 for College and Competitive Exams.

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