April 2012

Meeting Basic Needs Vs. Solutions For Ending Poverty

The poverty line is defined as the minimum level of income deemed adequate to fulfill one’s basic needs. In 2008, the World Bank determined the international poverty line to be $1.25 a day.

When I was in the second grade, I learned what qualified as “basic needs”. My teacher wrote on the board: “water, food, and shelter”. Since then, my scope has broadened to include health care, sanitation, and education. People who are unable to have their basic needs met in two or more categories are considered to be in absolute poverty.

One of the major initiatives to ending absolute poverty is to focus on basic needs.

We cannot ignore basic needs, but in order for people to be able to sustain a life above the poverty line, they require a society that has systems in place to help them. Systems such as schools, hospitals, financial (credit) services, and transportation. Systemic poverty exists when there is no mechanism in place for an individual to escape the poverty he or she was born into, despite his or her initiative or ability. This means that in order for people to “learn how to fish” we have to work with societies and economies as a whole.

Work for All researches charities and projects around the world so that we can make sure your funds are used optimally to help impoverished societies build and maintain systems for better opportunities for their people. – Melissa Leonard

 

Incentives will Motivate Positive Change

 

Once, while driving to work, I came across a grim scene. A family in a pickup truck had just been in a collision. The two adults, driver dad and passenger mom, were virtually unscathed because they were wearing their seat belts. Unfortunately, the two babies that were in Mom’s arms prior to the crash had made starburst patterns on the windshield and did not fare as well.

Where I live, you have to wear your seat belt. My new truck employs a feature that will not let you turn
on the radio until your seat belt is engaged. Is this because of the eminent dangers of driving? Not necessarily. Many drivers buckle up because it is against the law to drive without a seat belt and you will get a $115 fine if stopped by the local law enforcement.

My grandfather had polio. He spent most of his youth confined to a hospital bed. Where I live, all children are vaccinated against diseases that are preventable by immunization. Is this because these diseases are still prevalent in our country? No. Many
children receive their vaccinations because they are required to have them up to date in order to attend school.

In Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, where I worked for five years, most children stopped attending school after grade five. Where I live now, all children must go to school until they are sixteen years old. Is this because we know that getting ten years of schooling is vital to the future of our society? Not necessarily. It is the law. Parents would be met with stiff legal penalties if they did not enroll their children in school for a minimum of 10 years.

What do these examples have to do with the alleviation of poverty? They illustrate how our developed society not only encourages, but enforces, appropriate behavior. We need to provide significant incentives to convince those trapped in poverty to better themselves. – Jeremy Leonard