POVERTY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Introduction
Poverty may be defined as not having enough money to meet the most basic human requirements of food, clothing and shelter. However, in reality, poverty is much more than a simple lack of money. The World Bank Organization describes poverty as:
Poverty is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities
(What is Poverty?, 2009). Research shows that 80% of the human population survives on less than $10 a day and every second child in the world comes from a poor household. The most alarming is the fact that 22,000 children die each day due to poverty (Shah, 2013). The causes of poverty are many and vary from place to place, whether in different countries or different regions within the same country. The results and effects of poverty too vary according to the situation. For these reasons, poverty is an issue difficult to explain and discuss. In broad terms, poverty may be divided into two types:
Absolute Poverty or extreme poverty, is when people lack the most basic necessities of life, such as clean water, clothing, proper housing and are struggling to just to stay alive.
Relative Poverty is when some people live a life and have an income that is much below the general standards of the region or country they belong to and struggle to live a normal life and to participate in ordinary economic, social and cultural activities
(Poverty: What is it?, 2015)
Effects of poverty and issues:
Problems faced by people living in poverty include lack of basic necessities and a proper job, lack of hope and respect, isolation, exploitation, discrimination and fear of the future. They also find it difficult to understand how the bureaucracy works and lack information on available...