POVERTY

Poverty refers to any situation in which an individual or group possesses less than some standard
of living which has been defined as acceptable. This standard may be determined on the basis of
the material condition of other persons or groups in society, or it may be based on a measure of
the gap between what is possessed and some objective indicator of basic human need. In Jamaica
assessment of the extent of poverty is based on an absolute rather than relative measure of
poverty. This means that a person is considered poor if he/she cannot meet his/her basic
requirements rather than whether or not he/she has as much as someone else.
Source: 'Jamaica's Policy Towards Poverty Eradication', Planning Institute of Jamaica (October
1995)

CAUSES OF POVERTY
- In many parts of the world poverty is caused by a scarcity of food and goods
- Many persons in the society do not have the financial resources to purchases goods.
- The stratification system (institutionalised inequality). Our society is divided into social
classes and statuses in which some people receive a great deal of respect and prestige and
others receive very little.
- Many upper and middle-class people receive subsidies from the government far in excess
of anything paid out to the poor in welfare payments, and the vicious cycle of poverty
continues.
- It is believed that certain social categories appear to have a greater risk being poorer than
others are. Those that seem more vulnerable to poverty in Caribbean societies are the old,
the sick and disabled; large families and single parent; the unemployed and the insecurely
employed low-wage earner.
- In the Caribbean the prolonged unemployment of the main breadwinners of families is
thrusting more and more of these families into poverty and with the economic problems
pervading our islands many will remain poor for many years to come. With early
retirement on the increase, the increase in life expectancy, the elderly are becoming
susceptible to poverty. The addition of more mouths to feed in a family leaves large
families vulnerable to poverty.
 - Single parent families, whether caused by desertion, death, divorce or choice seems to
form a major part of those in poverty. Studies have shown that many of our poor are those
families without a male breadwinner.
- Sickness and disablement of one parent, in an era where medical care can be financially
demanding, this can have very serious implications for families near the poverty
margin/line.
- There are also other circumstances through which a person may become poor such as
famine, disease, outbreaks of war, too many people living in the urban areas, fewer jobs,
hurricanes and other natural causes. Outbreak of crime in the country or even taxation
burdens are other concerns.
- People argue that individuals can bring poverty on themselves because they lack initiative
and are lazy. Many persons have adopted/created a culture of dependency and the number
of the people in our population who expect the state and taxpayers to support them may
have increased over the years.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. That many persons living in poverty do want to work, but are unable to get jobs because
of physical disabilities, discrimination in hiring practices, or a lack of adequate training
or education?
2. That the movement of people from rural to urban areas in search of economic settlements
is strongly responsible for urban poverty?
3. That urban poverty is manifested in overcrowding, in low-income housing settlements,
and the mushrooming of dilapidated squatter communities?
4. That there are more poor persons in Kingston and St. Andrew, than there are in other
parishes in Jamaica?
Source: 2, 3, 4 Planning Institute of Jamaica.
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR SOLUTIONS TO POVERTY
* Efficient, equitable and flexible human development strategies and employment creation.
* A sound welfare system, with a greater coverage for the needy.
* Establish an efficient, de-mand-driven and complimentary mechanism to deliver basic services
and added infrastructure to the poor.
* Family planning is integral to the goal of poverty eradication. The reduction in population
growth is of fundamental importance to any attempt at poverty eradication. This is so as the
measure of poverty most frequently used is the level of income or expenditure capable of
sustaining a minimum standard of living.