Never accept any statistic about global poverty at face value and always remember that each household behind the figures has its own human story to tell. Whatever the difference of opinions on the extent and trend of global poverty, one thing is certain: our prevailing economic system of wealth creation is largely blind to the unnecessary suffering of a significant proportion of the world’s population. It also delivers shocks which impact disproportionately on the poor – recession, volatile food and commodity prices, and climate change
Living with Poverty
Attempts to define or measure poverty cannot do justice to the reality of its experience. Far from crushing the human spirit, the extreme poverty of the developing world instead draws out many of its finest qualities. Family loyalties survive the desperate search for livelihoods, displaying stoicism in the face of exclusion, dignity amongst deprivation.
Evidence of this defiance lies in the controversial images of poverty used by development agencies to raise awareness of their work. We are torn between horror at the inhuman environment and awe at the beauty of the protagonists, especially children. The label of “poverty porn” sometimes pinned to this otherwise altruistic material provides early warning that poverty is a sensitive subject to be approached with caution.
Extreme poverty strikes when household resources prove insufficient to secure the essentials of dignified living. Periods in which a family has enough food and can enjoy reasonable health will be tempered by the insecurity of life in under-developed economies. That fragility will be defined by a lack of education, the absence of work opportunities, the diminution of household back-up resources and exclusion from valuable social and decision-making networks.
