What does it
mean to be poor? How is poverty measured?
What does it mean to describe a nation as “developing”? A lack of
material wealth does not necessarily mean that one is deprived. A strong
economy in a developed nation doesn’t mean much when a significant percentage
(even a majority) of the population is struggling to survive.
The
International Comparison Programme (ICP) of the World Bank has just released a
report on the new number of poor societies in worldwide. the entitled as
"The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in
the fight against poverty", the report states: the number of poor has
increased dramatically in the recent years
The new
estimates, according to the World Bank, offer a more accurate information of
cost of living in the developing countries and set a new poverty line of US$
1.25 a day. This new poverty line is the average national poverty line of the
poorest 10-20 countries. The report further noted that Africa is the worst
of all in the fight against poverty worldwide.
As for the
other regions of the world, the report utilizes the median poverty line - US$ 2
a day in 2005 prices. By this standard, the report argues that the poverty rate
has fallen since 1981 in Latin America, Middle East and North Africa. However,
the report acknowledges that such progress has been insufficient to create a
dramatic decrease in the total number of the poor.
The campaign to
raise the minimum wage will have little positive impact on the lives of poor
people. Conversely, it is a political measure that plays to a misunderstanding
of the impact of higher minimum wages. The future of the economy depends on a
correct understanding of the causes of prosperity. For too long, attempts to
relieve poverty have been misguided. To lift people out of poverty, we need a
system that maximizes opportunities for economic well being of low skilled
workers.
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