Poverty

poverty, (noun): the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor

(Fig. 10 Poverty in Pakistan)

Poverty in Pakistan is an extremely huge roadblock to the development of the country but is yet a complicated problem to solve.

The global poverty line is SGD$1.60/day.

However, the global poverty line fails to consider other dimensions of poverty, hence other measures have been implemented to encompass other possible dimensions.

The official poverty line in Pakistan is estimated to be about 2350 calories/adult per day. Therefore, the indicator for poverty is the proportion of popuation below the calories based on food plus the non-food poverty line.


(Fig. 11 Child reaching out for food)

A study conducted in 2012 (which considered multiple dimensions of poverty) showed that one third of the households in Pakistan fell below the poverty line and that 21% are severely poor.

Additionally, although people living in rural areas account for two-thirds of the population, they account for 80% of the people living in poverty. Among the families living in the rural areas, agriculture is an important aspect of their lives and source of income. However, poor soil condition and scarcity of water do not help to reduce poverty in that particular area.

Their low income might already be a big enough burden, but inflation in recent years have pushed these people further into poverty and are unable to afford daily necessities and do not receive proper sanitation; causing them to fall below the poverty line as they are unable to meet the poverty line of 2350 calories/adult per day.

Although it was mentioned that Pakistan does not have favourable soil condition to produce good crop yield, due to increasing demand for crops in India and China, the Pakistan government sells crops overseas for profit, rather than using it to feed the people.

Also, prices of petroleum have increased over the years. This causes farmers who require machinery to harvest to be unable to harvest efficiently as their machinery requires petroleum, which is now probably too expensive to purchase and would probably lead to a loss if he were to purchase it.

This pushes farmers, who are already deep in debt, further into poverty because they are unable to harvest as many crops as before, and therefore can't sell sufficient amounts of their produce to earn some money.

*****Just to take note: Most farmers are using rented land from landlords who hoard the land for themselves. Thus, a percentage amount of money they make from selling their produce would be given to the landlord as rent. But since they don't really make much, they are in debt.

Due to the fact that rural families rely heavily on agriculture as their source of income, they are affecte a lot more audibly than those in the urban areas.

Government involvement in poverty

• Outside the cities, government investment has been negligible, and social and economic structures remained tribal and backward.

• Outside the cities, government investment has been negligible, and social and economic structures remained tribal and backward.

• This problem has been linked to the fact that the government is corrupt and does not offer help to improve the situation.

• This problem has been linked to the fact that the government is corrupt and does not offer help to improve the situation.

• Although Pakistan is resource-rich, these resources have been squandered or misused by people who have authority, contributing to the economic stagnation wth regards to agriculture.

• Although Pakistan is resource-rich, these resources have been squandered or misused by people who have authority, contributing to the economic stagnation wth regards to agriculture.

• There is unequal distribution to the different aspects of social development (education, welfare). Not much is pumped into these 2 sectors, leading to low literacy rates and poor health.

• There is unequal distribution to the different aspects of social development (education, welfare). Not much is pumped into these 2 sectors, leading to low literacy rates and poor health.

• Female literacy in Pakistan is 29% compared to male literacy at 55%.

• Female literacy in Pakistan is 29% compared to male literacy at 55%.

• Gives people job opportunities, especially a chance at better-paying jobs (doctors, lawyers etc) that allow them to improve the standard of living for their citizens

Gender discrimination in poverty

Due to unequal distribution to the different aspects of social development, education and welfare receive insufficient funds. As a result of insufficient funds, not much can be done to improve the situation.

However, in addition to the lack of funds, gender discrimination also plays a role with regards to poverty.

The gender discriminatory practices in Pakistani society shapes the distribution of poverty in the country. It has been traditionally perceived that a woman's place is at home and not in the workplace, making the man the breadwinner.

Additionally, society invests far less in women than man. Women in Pakistan suffer from poverty of opportunities throughout their lives.

As mentioned above, female literacy in Pakistan is 29% compared to male literacy at 55%.

This shows that a higher percentage of males are educated as compared to females. At such an early stage, females are already disadvantaged as they do not receive the same education.

This can be attributed to the fact that society is generally not embracing, and that they do not actively encourage girls to attend school.

Due to lack of education, females lose out when applying for a job as they do not have the same qualification as their male counterparts. Even if both a male and female have the same qualifications, the male would still be able to secure a better paying job than the female; due to the stereotype that females should remain at home and not be out working.

Hence, below are some preventive measures that could be implemented such that situation can be improved:

• Prevention:
• Minimum wage to be implemented all across Pakistan   
• Guarantee of shelter, healthcare, education, food and drinking water as basic human rights that must be provided free to all.
• Redistribution of idle lands to landless farmers → an end to private monopoly ownership over natural resources
• Provide education to both genders across the whole country
• Education:
• Increases skill and productivity of poor households
• Increases income level
• Increases overall standard of living