Individual cause

Individual poverty is related to cases where isolated individuals in a community suffer from some kind of
poverty. In such isolated cases, the impact of the poverty is mostly limited to the life of the individual
concerned, and the community also finds it easier to become involved by rendering assistance.

Pinpointing the causes of poverty is crucial, since these causes provide a point of departure when
seeking possible solutions for poverty. Because poverty is a complex and multidimensional
phenomenon, its causes cannot be reduced to a single one or a few causes. It is also important to
understand and interpret the causes of poverty within specific socio-cultural and economic-political
contexts. Organisations, research bodies and scientists studying the causes of poverty are generally
found in the economic, social and medical science sectors (Lötter, 2000:119, World Bank, 2002 and
Wilson & Ramphele, 1989:14).

Based on the research done by May (1998), the World Bank (1998, 2002), the United Nations (Human
Development Report, 1999), Wilson and Ramphele (1989), Adcock (1997), Sachs et al. (2001) and Lötter
(2000), a number of causes of poverty can be identified. These are: conomic systems, political systems,
geographic distribution, gender issues, forms of rendering assistance, extraordinary circumstances

https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/26468/01chapters1-2.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

Structural cause

The structural approach points to systemic reasons for poverty: such things as racial and gender
discrimination embedded in our markets and institutions; the profit motive and consequent low wages
making it difficult for some families to escape poverty; and the failure to invest sufficiently in education,
health care, and social insurance. According to this view, all of these factors reduce opportunity and
increase economic insecurity. The failure to correct and accommodate the natural differences between
people results in an uneven playing field and promotes the creation of poverty

Theory of poverty

It is important to return to our definition of poverty to focus attention on the relevant target group. We
should exclude, therefore, many of those who are transitionally poor such as students enrolled at
colleges and universities and people who understate their actual income. Generally, we would not
include as poor those people who have sufficient overall resources to cover basic needs but whose
reported income is below the poverty line. The goal, after all, is to explain a condition of serious
deprivation. People who misrepresent and understate (deliberately or not) their income in a way that
formally places them below a poverty threshold are simply not in the same predicament.

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/causes-of-poverty.pdf

https://www.scribd.com/document/339088034/Survey-Questionnaire (daghan ta makita about causes

sa poverty)