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Guyanese – if we are honest – know and acknowledge that poverty is a major problem in our country. That being the case, we need to understand the issue in order to deal with it. With that in mind, this series of articles, will attempt to fulfill that need. This series will examine what is poverty; what is the poverty situation in Guyana; and, what may be done to fix the problem. This series will focus on the economic and social aspects of the issue, and, importantly, on the psychological component as well.
What is poverty?
While most Guyanese may say that poverty is not having sufficient money, experts say that this is a wrong interpretation. Instead, experts tell us that poverty is much bigger than the lack of money.
The World Bank Organisation describes poverty in this way:
“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.
“Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action — for the poor and the wealthy alike — a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.”
In other words, poverty is not being able to afford to send children on a school trip, or provide them when decent shoes. Poverty is not being able to pay for their textbooks. It is not having money for proper healthcare and medicines. Poverty is having to risk your life to steal electricity. It is much more than not having money, although, lack of money is certainly a big part of the matter. You see, when you don’t have sufficient money to pay for food and shelter, you definitely cannot think about having a birthday party for your child, or purchasing much needed spectacles. That is the wide and deep nature of poverty.
What are the types of poverty?
Experts say that there are two categories: absolute poverty and relative poverty.
Absolute poverty is a measurement made on how much money a person can afford to spend per day.
According to the United Nations (UN), a person is living in poverty if he or she can afford to spend less than the equivalent of US$5.50 per day. And, any person who can spend less than the equivalent of US$1.90 per day is living in absolute or abject poverty.
The other category, relative poverty refers to being poor in comparison to others in your community or society.
For example, if someone is living under a tarpaulin on the seawall, but right nearby, there are people living in mansions, then, that person is said to be relatively poor.
It must be noted that a person may be both absolutely and relatively poor at the same time.
The UN reports that the majority of people who live in poverty are in developing countries.
The UN, in its most recent report on Guyana, says that 38.8 percent of citizens live below the poverty line.
What are the causes of poverty?
Experts say that the causes of the problem are wide ranging, vary from place, and are intertwined with each other.
Poverty may be the result of the inequitable and unfair distribution of wealth even though there is enough for everybody.
Guyanese will be able to relate to this reality. Citizens know that while many abjectly impoverished people go to sleep hungry on cold pavements in Georgetown, the elite few are drinking expensive champagne in their Pradoville mansions.
This effect is the economic aspect of unequal distribution of wealth.
This economic effect may be due to political and social causes. Are certain people given more opportunities than other people because of politics or race or where they come from?
Why do some Guyanese have nothing to eat while others can afford to spend $80,000 on one piece of imported beef?
What are the results of poverty?
It is well known that the results of poverty is the cause of more poverty. In other words; poverty is a cycle that perpetuates itself.
For example, if a poor, working couple has a toddler who spends the day at a daycare centre, and the child gets very sick, what happens? One parent may have to stop working to stay with the child at home or in hospital. This translates to less income for the poor family. At the same time, the sick child may require expensive medicine. And so the cycle of poverty goes on.
The problem of poverty will be further explored in part 2 of this series of articles.
