Discuss about the Impact of Absolute Poverty to the Vulnerable Globally.
Poverty is scarcity or lack of money or material possession (Townsend, 2014).According to Macionis & Plummer. (2012), Poverty is a common problem in the developing countries and mostly affects the vulnerable individuals in the society. Absolute poverty refers to the lack of the necessary resources required to meet the basic needs like shelter, food, and clothing. Freiberg, Homel & Lamb (2013) argues that the impacts of poverty on the vulnerable individuals include: malnutrition and hunger, lack of education, health problems, criminal activities and drug abuse, unemployment, psychological problems, violence, inequalities, and poor living conditions. The major causes of poverty have been poor agricultural practices that result in low production of food, corruption, the gap between the rich and poor, growing population and political instability (Macionis & Plummer, 2012). The essay will analyze and describe the major impacts of poverty in among the vulnerable individuals.
Malnutrition refers to improper nutrition which is as a result of lack of enough food to eat or lack of the right food or balanced diet (Jose, 2016). According to Jose (2016), absolute poverty has been the main cause of malnutrition in among the vulnerable groups including women, refugees, children and the elderly. The vulnerable groups require support with food in order to eradicate malnutrition. The poverty causes the women, elderly, children and the refugees not to have access to enough and right food. The dependency nature of the vulnerable group to other people to provide them with food is the major cause of malnutrition to the vulnerable groups.
The healthiest foods are usually expensive and the absolute poverty deters the vulnerable group in purchasing the nutritious foods (Jose, 2016). The budget for the most vulnerable group is small and therefore they afford only the less nutritious food leading to malnutrition. The malnutrition of the mother results in women giving birth to low birth weight and deformed children. According to Macionis & Plummer (2012), hunger is a common impact of poverty in among the vulnerable group. The poor lacks the farms and resources required for farming and this causes hunger. Lack of money to purchase food is also a major cause of hunger in among the vulnerable individuals.
A health problem is also a major impact on poverty in among the vulnerable globally. The health ranges from access to medicine, life expectancy to diseases. According to Macionis & Plummer (2012), Illness is a major problem in among the vulnerable group because of lack of the resources that are necessary for maintaining a healthy environment. The health problems are also linked to malnutrition as malnutrition generates health problems. Lack of vitamins may cause visual problems, beriberi, rickets and decrease in immunity (Chung et al 2015). The decreased immunity as a result of malnutrition makes the body vulnerable to infection causing illnesses. Chung et al (2015) claim that absolute poverty results to deterioration in sanitation conditions as the vulnerable group lack access to clean water to drink and clean toilets. The unsanitary condition poses a threat in contracting most of the diseases like cholera and typhoid.
The people living in absolute poverty are unable to access health services and medicine to cure diseases. The access to health services requires money which most of the vulnerable group cannot afford hence affected by illnesses that can be treated by accessing the health services. Life expectancy also reduces to poverty. Child mortality rate increases as a result of poverty due to illnesses that cause deaths (Chung et al 2015) .The women due to poverty engage in prostitution which increases the HIV levels in among the women. According to (Chung et al 2015), women and the children are more likely to be infected with schistosomiasis as they usually conduct their household chores in contaminated water which is a mode of transmission of schistosomiasis.
The absolute poverty affects the education of the vulnerable group. According to Buck & Deutsch (2014), many people drop out of school at an early age as a result of poverty as the parents may not afford to pay the school fees and buy the necessary clothing. Most of the people undergo through life illiteracy due to lack of education. The lack of food affects education as most of the students are unable to concentrate in class due to hunger. Drop out from school due to lack of food is also a common problem experienced by children who emanate from families with absolute poverty. Education is a means of empowering people so that they broaden their minds and access employment opportunities which make them rich. The families with absolute poverty end up not educating their children and as a result, poverty continues recycling itself from one generation to the other (Buck & Deutsch, 2014). According to Buck & Deutsch (2014), men are preferred for education compared to women when a family may not be able to provide education to a boy and a girl child at the same time. Poverty causes a rise in the numbers of uneducated and illiterate elderly people in the society.
Criminal activities increase due to poverty because of the high level of unemployment (Wilson, 2013). The low income causes young adults, refugees and women to engage in criminal activities including joining terrorist. The criminal activities have an impact on women as sexual abuse is more common during criminal activities. Wilson (2013) asserts that drug abuse as a result of poverty is a common problem that affects the vulnerable group in the society. The children engage in drug abuse early due to life frustrations. Drug abuse continues up to the elderly age and hence poverty continues to recycle from one generation to the other. The drug abuse is the major cause of violence against women as men who use drugs are always violent in their homes (Wilson, 2013). The drug abuse as a result of poverty also causes break up of families leading to a single mother. Most of the men who engage in criminal activities as a result of poverty are killed or jailed leading to single mothers and children who lacks the basics provision from their single mothers.
Unemployment is a major impact of absolute poverty levels in among the vulnerable groups. The lack of employment is mostly linked to lack of education during childhood. Unemployment and lack of funds to satisfy the basic needs cause psychological problems to the women, elderly and the refugees. Poverty is associated with poor health, lack of education and lack of basic needs which are distressing and therefore results to the development of behavioral, emotional and psychiatric problems (Lipina & Posner, 2012). Depression and mental stress are most of the psychological problems that affect the vulnerable groups experiencing absolute poverty.
Mental stresses also affect the children experiencing poverty and this may lead to a child developing antisocial behaviors due to depression. An income inequality is also an effect of poverty. According to Lipina & Posner (2012), the huge gap in income levels between the poor and the rich can trigger psychological problems. There are also inequalities in employment between the poor and the rich. The poor mostly secure jobs which are depersonalizing, unrewarding and stressful which make them develop psychological problems (Amin et al, 2014). The rich due to being education get high paying and rewarding jobs which prevent them from developing mental distress. Depression in among children results to school dropout and child increase in the number of street children.
Poor living conditions is a major problem experienced by the vulnerable group due to poverty. The vulnerable group has to fight extra hard in order to access shelter, clothes, and food. According to Gulyani & Talukdar (2010), the poor people live in slums, streets and refugee camps where the houses are not favorable for human inhabitation. Child labor is also a consequence of poverty.
Conclusion
The women, children, refugees and the elderly are among the vulnerable individuals in the society that are greatly affected by poverty. Poverty results to health problems, increased illiteracy levels, poor living conditions, increased criminal and violence activities, and unemployment and drug abuse. The government should make initiatives geared towards eradicating poverty in order to avoid the negative effects associated with poverty.
References
Amin, L., Shah, B. R., Bierman, A. S., Lipscombe, L. L., Wu, C. F., Feig, D. S., & Booth, G. L. (2014). Gender differences in the impact of poverty on health: disparities in risk of diabetesâ€Ârelated amputation. Diabetic Medicine,31(11), 1410-1417.
Buck, R. & Deutsch, J. (2014). Effects of poverty on education. International Journal Of Human Sciences, 11(2), 1139. https://dx.doi.org/10.14687/ijhs.v11i2.3043
Chung, E. K., Siegel, B. S., Garg, A., Conroy, K., Gross, R. S., Long, D. A., … & Yin, H. S. (2016). Screening for social determinants of health among children and families living in poverty: a guide for clinicians. Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 46(5), 135-153.
Freiberg, K., Homel, R., & Lamb, C. (2013). The pervasive impact of poverty on children: Tackling family adversity and promoting child development through the pathways to prevention project. Pathways and Crime Prevention, 226.
Gulyani, S. & Talukdar, D. (2010). Inside Informality: The Links Between Poverty, Microenterprises, and Living Conditions in Nairobi’s Slums. World Development, 38(12), 1710-1726. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.06.013
Jose, S. (2016). Economic Growth, Poverty and Malnutrition in India. Ekonomik Yaklasim,27(98), 29. https://dx.doi.org/10.5455/ey.35902
Lipina, S. J., & Posner, M. I. (2012). The impact of poverty on the development of brain networks. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 6, 238.
Macionis & Plummer.(2012).Sociology: A global introduction, 5th edition, Pearson Education, Essex, UK
Townsend, P. (2014). International analysis poverty. Routledge.
Wilson, J. (2013). Thinking about crime. Basic Books.
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