Explore BrainMass

Explore BrainMass

    Poverty

    Poverty refers to the poorest of society. A common definition (although not perfect) is the "dollar-a-day" poverty line. This is used by the UN and is defined as all people who live on less than approximately one USD a day as being in poverty. But, poverty can be measured in terms of absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty measures the amount of people living below a certain income such as the poverty line or the number of households who are not able to afford basic goods and services. Relative poverty measures how much a household’s financial resources are below the average income threshold. Relative poverty is more tightly related to income inequality. For example, even those considered as in poverty or homeless or exceedingly poor in the USA would be considered quite well off in some other third world country. 

    As economics deals with the allocation of wealth and resources, poverty is a pressing issue in economics. When members of the population are not in the labour force, they are unable to receive higher wages that are distributed from economic growth. Although many countries have experienced economic growth over the past years, income and wealth is still unevenly distributed. This can be seen as an example of a “poverty trap”, which is “any self-reinforcing mechanism which causes poverty to persist”¹. The trap will persist if no steps are taken to end the cycle.

    Unemployment is a key variable in poverty, as well as the increase in number of workless households. Households with no members of a family employed are dependent on state welfare to survive. Increases in direct and indirect taxes also contribute to the relative poverty rate because households without employed family members will not afford goods and services.

     

    References:

    1. Costas Azariadis and John Stachurski, "Poverty Traps," Handbook of Economic Growth, 2005, 326.

    © BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com March 19, 2024, 3:52 am ad1c9bdddf

    BrainMass Solutions Available for Instant Download

    Demand for a product always downward sloping?

    In economics, the demand for a product is considered downward sloping. This implies that quantity demanded increases when price decreases. Is this always true? Name some products for which the quantity demanded remains unchanged regardless of the price. Also, mention some products for which quantity demanded increases when the p

    Summarize benchmarking.

    An important concept in management is best practices or benchmarking, where an organization systematically compares work processes with those of its competitors or others in an industry. Select one best practice from an organization or industry that you are familiar with, and then whether that best practice can be implemented in

    output (income) per year will have to be produced in the world

    How much more output (income) per year will have to be produced in the world (a) Just to provide the 2.7 billion "severely" poor population with $1 more output per day? $ _______ (b) To raise the incomes of the world's "severely poor" population (income less than $2 per day) to the official threshold of U.S. poverty (roughly

    Poverty, Poverty Line, Poverty Rate and combat poverty

    Go to the following Web site, www.census.gov, and select Poverty. Then use the information on this site to answer the following questions: 1) What is the official poverty line? 2) Is the number of people higher or lower than it was last year? Ten years ago? Why? 3) How many states had an increase in the poverty rate co

    Minimum Wage and It's Affect on Poverty

    The minimum wage is used by governments as a poverty fighting measure. The use of such means of creating equity among the masses does not always result in the desired outcome. The use of the minimum wage is explored and alternatives provided.

    Taxes

    What's wrong with the following statement? People should be taxed in proportion to the economic benefits they individually receive from spending the tax revenue; therefore, estate taxes should be eliminated, and welfare programs for poverty should be financed by taxing the poor.

    Taxing in Proportion to the Economic Benefits

    What's wrong with the following statement? People should be taxed in proportion to the economic benefits they individually receive from spending the tax revenue; therefore, estate taxes should be eliminated, and welfare programs for poverty should be financed by taxing the poor.

    Japanese Anime

    SUCCESS OF JAPANESE ANIME IN COUNTRIES LIKE USA INDICATIVE OF A GLOBAL YOUTH CULTURE. See attached file for full problem description.

    Public Assistance Plans

    Key Question: The following table contains three hypothetical public assistance plans. Plan I Earned Income Transfer Payment Total Income $0 $4000 $4000 2000 3000 5000 4000 2000

    Econometric Country Project

    I am having trouble with an extra credit project and it is important I do well. I am trying to create a project to predict if, after comparing the "Axis of Evil" (North Korea, Iran and Iraq) with the United States, to see what the differences are (year 2000 data). Then compare the United States with Israel and the UK--its closes