preview

Poverty is not having the money to meet a human’s basic needs. It’s the lack of shelter and

Decent Essays

Poverty is not having the money to meet a human’s basic needs. It’s the lack of shelter and education. It’s having poor health because you don’t have the money or transportation to access a doctor. It’s parents not being able to send their kids to birthday parties, or on school field trips (WhatisPoverty.com). There are two horrible types of poverty. The first type is absolute poverty. This type is extremely life threatening. It is when a person does not have the necessities to survive like food, water, shelter, and sometimes even clothing. Undeveloped countries in Africa, and Asia have a high percentage of this kind of poverty. These people often get less than $1.25 a day. The second type is relative poverty. This is when a single person …show more content…

During the Great Depression in the 1930’s and the Great Recession of 2008, companies that had been successful suddenly went out of business, which resulted in their employees living in poverty. Poverty can be a problem from the poorest countries in the world to the wealthiest, and can have both natural and man-made causes. (Lusted 36, 37) Poverty has dated back for thousands of years. In ancient times large numbers of people were born into poverty and had little opportunity to get out. The poor in early civilizations were treated just a step above a slave. It was forbidden for the poor to socialize with the wealthy, or marry into a wealthy family. The people in poverty did not have many rights in early days. They could not participate in politics, because you had to be a landowner to vote. With little hope of escaping poverty, the poor have historically come up with creative and desperate attempts to better their way of life. They turned to committing crimes. They also were willing to try dangerous jobs that wealthier people wouldn’t do - such as mining for gold, silver or coal, or traveling to unsettled areas to create farms or trading posts in the wilderness. Even those that had jobs could still be living in poverty, because they were unable to earn enough to cover their needs. As a way to earn more money they organized groups to protest their living conditions and to force

Get Access