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Poverty

Worked by Jubran Khalid

Poverty Types, Historical & Current View Poverty Rural and Urban View
Measurement and Causes of Poverty

References Conclusion and ADB Projection Remedial suggestions for Poverty

What is Poverty
Those looking for definitions of poverty are likely to find many, and even find specific poverty tests which are administered to determine statistics like world poverty or the number of children that are in an impoverished state. The term itself is somewhat slippery to define, and may have different meanings depending upon country of origin.

It can usually be thought of as the state of lacking resources that would provide people with basic necessities, or that force people to go without certain needed things like three meals a day or shelter. Yet it ought to be understood that people can still have some of these things, like a roof over their heads, and yet not enough of other things, like food, money to seek medical treatment, or to purchase adequate clothing.

According to ADB

In ADB's view, poverty is a deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human is entitled. Everyone should have access to basic education and primary health services.

According to UNO

Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. Poverty is, thus, better measured in terms of basic education, health care, nutrition, water and sanitation, as well as income, employment, and wages.

Types
Absolute Poverty:When people live without proper housing, clothing and medical care is known as absolute poverty. Relative Poverty:Kandell (1998) described relative poverty as a condition that exists when people are able to afford basic necessities as food, clothing and shelter but cannot maintain the average standard of living for members of their society. In other words we can say Income inequality poverty.

Consistent Poverty:We know that Relative Poverty in made up of two key elements: Income Poverty and deprivation. So the combination of these two elements is consistent poverty. So poverty is different in everywhere. It changes or varies country to country or time to time.

Historical View of Poverty in Pakistan


According to the study, In 1960 19 million people lived below the poverty line 1980 34 million 1990-1995 42 million The calorie based approach defined the poverty line as the minimum expenditure required to achieve a daily intake 2250 calories per day per person. This indicates that poverty has declined at all levels between 1986 and 1994 from 27% to 21%. Under different regimes Pakistan experienced increased in poverty and decline in growth.

Current View
Poverty in Pakistan is a growing concern. Although the middle-class has grown in Pakistan to 35 million, nearly one-quarter of the population is classified poor as of October 2006. As of 2008 labor survey, 17.2% of the total population lives below the poverty line, which is the lowest figure in the history of Pakistan.

As of 2009, Pakistan's Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.572, still stands lower than that of neighboring India's at 0.612. poverty in Pakistan rose from 22 26% in the fiscal year 1991 to 32 35% in the fiscal year 1999. They have subsequently fallen to 25 26% according to the reports of the World Bank and the UN Development Program reports. Furthermore, the poverty rate declined to 17.2% in 2007-08 according to the World Bank.

Pakistan Poverty Head count Ratio. 2006 2005 2002 1999

% 22.3% 22.9% 34.5% 30.6%

Rural and Urban View

Measurement of Poverty
Now the question arise in our mind that how can we measure the poverty in Pakistan and on which basis we conclude that there is poverty or not. For this purpose we use a Methodology which is further divided into five sub-headings. 1. Data Source 2. Indicator Of Well being 3. Unit of Analysis 4. Selection and calculation of Poverty line 5. Poverty Indexes

Causes of Poverty in Pakistan


Pakistan is a poor country. Its economy is facing fluctuations now a day. At the time of independence Pakistan has very low resources and capital, so the processes of progress were very slow. Unfortunately the politicians of Pakistan were all not well aware of modern global system and the progress processes and the needs of country. It is difficult to explain all the causes of poverty in Pakistan, but the major causes are given below.

Social Determinants
Government Policies:Government is not well aware of present conditions of country. The policies of government are base on the suggestions of officials which do not have awareness about the problems of a common man. After implementation the policies do not get effective result. After the failure of one policy, government does not consider its failure and announces another policy without studying the aftermaths of last one. Heavy taxes and unemployment crushes the people and they are forced to live below poverty line. The suitable medical facilities are not provided to people and they are forced to get treatment for private clinics which are too costly.

Corruption:-

Division of Agricultural Land Materialism Lack of Education

Law and Order Fluctuated Foreign investment

Moral Culture Natural Disasters

ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS
Investment:Recently if we look at this field we come to know that in 2000 the fixed investment ratio in Pakistan was 23.0% of manufacturing and after this a continued decline has been observed as 22% in 2005 and 16.2% in 2010. It is really a worrying thing for Pakistan.

Inflation:The Present situation of inflation is that it has been intensified due to number of adverse developments. Inflation grew from 8.3% in 2009 to 13.3% of CPI in April 2010. Food inflation has remained elevated up to 14.5% and core inflation has reversed its path of moderate decline and stood at 10.6%. Overall inflation stood at 11.5% and average inflation is 22.3%.

Employment:Pakistan is the world sixth largest populous country and the 10th largest country with respect to labor force. According to the latest Labor Force Survey 53.72 million labor forces is recorded. From which 50.79 million are employed while 2.93 persons are unemployed resulting in an unemployment rate of 5.5%. The estimated labor grew by 3.7%.

What should be to overcome this Poverty? PUBLIC SECTOR In this sector, we will study the following reforms. Governance Reforms 1) Access to Justice 2) Civil Service Reforms

Public Works Programs


1. Microfinance:In Pakistan, microfinance has been provided by NGOs.
1) Aga Khan Rural Program 2) Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) 3) Khushali Bank 4) Small Business Finance Corporation 5) Edhi Welfare Trust and the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust 6) The Family Planning Association of Pakistan 7) Hamdard Foundation 8) Society for Advancement of Health and Education 9) Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) 10) the Baluchistan Rural Support Programme etc.

Social Action Program:A comprehensive program for improving social indicators was initiated by the government in 1992 in the form of the SAP. SAP focused on four major areas:

elementary education primary health care Drinking water supply & rural sanitation and population welfare

Conclusion

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The review of the above literature shows that poverty is still in Pakistan. Which is really a worrying situation for Pakistan for future progress. We still need to overcome it as soon as possible. According to ADB, In the near-term, ADB looks forward to working on programs that improve governance, enhance economic growth and reduce poverty.

References
Economic Survey of Pak Economic Survey of Labor Force ADB Reports Some white papers

These can be provided if we are asked at any time which is convenient to you.

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