Emily Hansen

ECON 2010
ePortfolio
Global Poverty
What does it mean to be poor? The answer to this question is heavily
influenced depending upon which culture and nation a person finds him or herself
in. To the average American, with relatively high expectations for minimum living
conditions, poor tends to look fairly wealthy to the rest of the world, especially
those suffering in extreme circumstances of physical deprivation in many of the
worlds lesser-developed countries.
In America the minimum standard of living is set at around $20,000 a year
for a family of four and comes with the minimum expectations of a roof overhead as
well as consistent food, water, clothing and basic medical assistance at a minimum.
In contrast, there are nearly three billion people worldwide surviving on less than
$2 a day, with a full third of those individuals subsisting on as little as half of that
amount. The repercussions of having such scarce funds and resources are
communities of people going without even the barest of physical necessities. These
poverty stricken masses find themselves in an ever-present state of hunger living
amid unsanitary and even health-threatening conditions that further stunt the social
and economic growth needed to overturn the situation.
Fatality rates among these populations are heartbreakingly high and the
circumstances are unlikely to change without extensive support from those in better
situations. Back in the year 2000 the United Nations set a Millennium Goal to cut in

half the number of people who were living on less that $1 a day back in 1990, but
the project has only been marginally successful and even that success was due to
China experiencing substantial economic growth from its own endeavors.
One of the largest obstacles to realizing this goal has been a lack of
widespread information regarding the plight of the poverty stricken peoples
worldwide, along with a varied perspective on how and where to implement fundraising and any consequent distribution programs.
I honestly have a hard time really comprehending the magnitude of this
problem. Having grown up in the United States I find myself unable to even relate to
such extreme circumstances as I read about in the Global Poverty article, though my
heart breaks just imagining the severe representation the statistical data portrays.
When you consider the amount of money the average American wastes in a
day it seems like it would be so easy to improve the lives of so many people,
especially since all it would require is a mere $1 a day to double their resources.
However, the reality feels much harder to attain once you start trying to tie the
funds to an appropriate method of distribution. I know back a few years ago there
was a big campaign for supporting a child in a third world country which sounded
like a wonderful way to raise money but in the long-run it wasnt as successful as
needed.
The opportunity cost of a dollar a day seems fairly low when you consider
the life changes it can enact. The ongoing collection and dispersal or the allocated
funds can prove much harder. I admire the efforts of volunteers who go over to
these countries and help improve the circumstances by educating the people and

working towards self-sufficiency of individual communities. I think these efforts in

the long run will pay off more than any ongoing financial support system, though
donations would help push the developments along faster if raised and utilized in an
efficient manner.
Ultimately I believe it will be education and inspiration that will fuel the
creation of better living accommodations but that will require a substantial amount
of manpower and corroboration among people who not only have the resources but
the time and energy to bring any such plans to fruition. All good things start with a
single idea though, and a single person willing to push it on its way. My husband and
I are planning to volunteer in exactly this capacity when our children are all old
enough to take care of themselves for extended periods of time. Reading this article
just brought it home to me again how much I have to be thankful for and how much I
can give without any major inconveniences to my family or myself.