What is poverty?

Think for a second - what does it mean to be poor? Does it mean you can’t afford to buy the same clothes or phone as your friends? Or that you can’t do sports that you like? Or you can’t get help if you’re sick? Or does being poor mean that you don’t know when your next meal is, or where you are going to spend the night?

Or maybe does it mean… all of these things? We all have some idea of what poverty is, but our ideas might be very different. Is there a way to define poverty? Many people and organisations around the world define poverty in terms of money. Individual and national income are relatively easy to measure.

They also give a good overview of how much money people have, and what they can afford. It makes sense - in most cases it is money that allows you to eat nutritious food, get clean drinking water, have safe shelter, basic hygiene and healthcare. But the costs of these can differ from place to place. Different countries and regions have estimated the minimum amount of money needed to pay for these basic needs. This amount is often referred to as the poverty line or poverty threshold.

The poverty line defines a so called extreme or absolute poverty. All people living on an income below the poverty threshold are considered poor, regardless of where they live. Internationally, the poverty line has been calculated as an average of different national poverty lines. In 2015, the poverty line was set at $1.90 per person per day. But what can you get for less than 2 dollars?

Well, not much. In Canada, it can buy a litre of milk, in Sweden - a loaf of bread. In Kenya - 12 eggs. In Germany, it’s enough for a bar of chocolate. There is also another approach to poverty, which looks at the standard of living of the majority and compares it with the financial situation of individuals.

For example, if everyone in the neighbourhood has a nice detached house and a car, and someone else there only lives in a small flat and can’t even afford public transport - this person is considered poor. Even if their income is much higher than the poverty threshold! This is relative poverty - it looks at a person’s income in relation to the rest of the society they live in. But is money really the only thing that defines poverty? What about poor living conditions, poor health, lack of education, inequality, or insecurity about the future?

Or having limited options to escape from all that? Some experts point out these factors to suggest that poverty is too complex to be defined by a single factor like income. They argue that there are many other aspects or dimensions that define poverty. Examples of these dimensions are lack of food and lack of clean fresh water, no access to healthcare or education, child mortality, and even unemployment. This approach looks at multidimensional poverty.

To be able to measure and analyse this type of poverty, experts have developed an index to calculate different dimensions. This index is called the Multidimensional Poverty Index and focuses on indicators of health, education, and living standards. There isn’t one ideal definition of poverty - people perceive it differently. The most important thing is that we have some understanding of what poverty is, so that we can identify those who need help, find the causes and provide solutions to eliminate it.