People that experience poverty are either born into an environment where poverty is eminent or are overcome by poverty as a result of an unfortunate occurrence e.g. lose their job, become homeless, can’t pay off debts etc. When considered carefully, it can be seen that all the effects of poverty are negative. Thus, poverty needs to be stopped.

As a student and part of community, I can work together with others or as individuals, we can help end poverty. As an individual, I can donate money, food and clothing to the poor. I can also join groups or organizations who are trying to put an end to poverty and shop at charity shops whose sales go towards trying to provide the poor.  

Poverty has wide-ranging and often devastating effects. Many of its effects, such as poor nutrition and physical health problems, result directly from having too little income or too few resources. As a result of poor nutrition and health problems, infant mortality rates among the poor are higher than average, and life expectancies are lower than average. Other effects of poverty may include infectious disease, mental illness, and drug dependence. Some effects of poverty are not as easily understood. For example, studies link poverty to crime, but by no means are all poor people also criminals. In many cases, the primary effects of poverty lead to other problems. Extended hunger and lack of employment, for instance, may lead to depression, which may sometimes contribute to criminal behavior.

 Areas in the world where poverty is common include India, South-East Asia, Africa and South America (third world countries.) However, most countries in the world experience poverty to some degree, including Australia. Many people that experience poverty live on the outskirts of cities. Different groups that experience poverty include the homeless, fringe dwellers, aboriginals, the unemployed, single parents, street children and those who are born into a life of poverty.

Causes of Poverty

A. Individual Poverty is explained by individual circumstances and/or characteristics of poor people. Some examples are:

• amount of education, skill, experience, intelligence.
• health, handicaps, age.
• work orientation, time horizon, culture of poverty.
• discrimination, together with race, sex, etc.

Poverty has many causes, some of them very basic. Some experts suggest, for instance, that the world has too many people, too few jobs, and not enough food. But such basic causes are quite intractable and not easily eradicated. In most cases, the causes and effects of poverty interact, so that what makes people poor also creates conditions that keep them poor.

Primary factors that may lead to poverty include overpopulation, the unequal distribution of resources in the world economy, inability to meet high standards of living and costs of living, inadequate education and employment opportunities, environmental degradation, certain economic and demographic trends, and welfare incentives.

Nowadays, there is still this concerning problem occurs, poverty. Poverty has spread through the world, causing lots of them live their life miserably.