How Poverty Cycle Affects Developing Countries - Essay Example

How Poverty Cycle Affects Developing Countries and Bangladesh Study of Poverty Cycle

Introduction

Poverty cycle is a situation where low-income families are being trapped in poverty because they cannot access essential resources such as education and financial services. There are various causes of poverty in the developing countries leading to recurrent cycles of poverty. Poverty is caused by economic, social, and geographical factors. Some of the effects of poverty cycle in developing countries includes lack of access to medical services, poor health due to lack of nutritious foods which reduces their bodies’ ability to fight diseases, and high child mortality. Other effects include poor education among many people leading to high illiteracy level, which subsequently affect the country’s development. Furthermore, poverty has a negative impact on economy; it causes unemployment, which hinders the country’s development. In addition, it has some negative implications to the society such as an increase in crime level. Political instability for example, undermines development in developing countries. Development is key to eradicating poverty, therefore, underdevelopment due to political instability causes the poverty cycle. In this paper, a case study of Bangladesh has been discussed. Bangladesh has experienced a vicious poverty cycle overtime. Evidently, the country suffers from issues of inadequate housing, unemployment, exploitation of women and children, and unfairness in the distribution of wealth. Therefore, the poverty cycle affects developing countries through deterioration of status in health, education, economy and the low social status.

Ways in which the poverty cycle affects Developing countries

Poverty cycle is a situation where low-income families are being trapped in poverty because they cannot access the essential resources such as education and financial services. There are various causes of poverty such as economic, social and geographical factors that makes the cycle of poverty recurrent. Most impoverished communities are often discriminated and this makes them more stuck in in the cycle of poverty since they do not have necessary resources such as financial capital and education to get out of poverty. The effect of poverty is always felt from individuals living in poverty to those in power trying to coming with solutions. Some of the effects of poverty in developing countries is evident in sectors such as health, education, society, and economy.

Poor nations have limited access to health services. People living in poverty are prone to many diseases because they cannot get the necessary resources to sustain a healthy environment to live. The people always lack nutritious foods, which reduces their bodies’ ability to fight diseases (Peters et al., 2008). The sanitation conditions of the poor people are inadequate and low creating a high risk of contracting diseases. These diseases can be life-threatening leading to death in most cases.

Child mortality is also affected by poverty cycles in developing countries. There is a high rate of child mortality in developing countries compared to wealthy nations. In addition, children are also faced with major problem of malnutrition. Children rarely have access to healthy and nutritious foods. Most healthy foods are often expensive for most families to purchase. These people in poverty are also malnourished because they do not eat enough and balanced meals. Consequently, poor nutrition remains a major cause of health issues and deaths amongst children in developing countries. The infant mortality rate in developing countries has dropped, however, it is still high at approximately 73 deaths per 1000 live births according to 2010 statistics (W.H.O, 2010). However, infant mortality in developed countries like the U.S is low, estimated at 2 deaths per 1000 live births.

Life expectancy decreases due to recurrent poverty cycles. However, material poverty is not the only major cause of shorter lives. Poor people are affected by the discrimination they face in the society and the social exclusion by the wealthy (Lund et al., 2011). Averagely, the poor have shorter life expectancy compared to the rich. Most people in developing countries are not able to attend school leading to high illiteracy level. The low levels of literacy in the other sections of the society limit the growth and development of the country in general. Lack of the necessary facilities needed by children to attain education such as school supplies is also an effect of poverty in the developing world. For some of those children who are able to access education, most of them do not see any benefit of getting an education since they find it difficult to change their lives and that of their parents. However, it is indispensable to note that education enables an individual to attain financial security and good job opportunities to be able to get out of the poverty cycle (Engle & Black, 2008). The average life expectancy for the developing countries is about 46 years, 20 years lower than that of the developed world (Ebrahimi, 2008).

Poverty cycles in developing countries such as Bangladesh have many social effects in most developing countries. When most people become homeless and unemployed, it leads to massive social unrest and increase in crime levels (Maloney, 1998). People are forced to opt for theft as a means of survival especially when they have nothing to do. They have to meet their needs and buy the necessities and with lack of money, crime is their only solution. If poverty in the society can be changed or reduced, there would be massive changes economic growth and social development. Statistically, the crime rate in developing countries especially in Asia and Africa is approximately 70 percent with crimes such a property crimes and thefts. Comparatively, the developed countries crime rates are estimated at 50 percent. The reason is due to poverty and high rate of unemployment (Soares, 2004).

Inequalities experienced in the society are one of the causes of social tension (Dewilde, 2003). When wealth is distributed unequally and poorly among the citizens, social threat become evident leading to insecurities among people in the developing world countries. Vicious cycle of poverty has contributed to drug and substance abuse especially from children. Drug abuse is a common habit that is destroying the lives of the young people in the developing nations. It results to huge amounts of stress and health effects leading to degeneration of the country’s economy since the young generation is dying in substance abuse leading to multiple cycle of poverty. Children tend to develop antisocial behaviors and become aggressive in reaction to stress due to social discrimination and exclusion. Such cases are most prevalent in developing countries having consistent poverty cycles. Drug abuse, especially opiate has an estimate of 7 million users in East Asia and other developing countries, which is lower than in developed countries.

Poor housing and the living standards often leads to major breakouts of diseases especially due to people living in overcrowded settlements and shanties. The lack of proper hygiene and sanitation also causes water and food related illness since they cannot afford healthy and clean foods.

Besides poor housing, the economy of developing countries is greatly affected by the poverty cycles. For instance, unemployment is widely experienced since most people do not have a good education. Unemployment is an obstacle to a country’s economic growth and development (Baulch & Hoddinott, 2000). The economy of a country suffers a lot when majority of its citizens do not contribute to developing a strong economic system, the labor force is also affected. A country is mostly measured by the level of economic standards it can attain globally. The adults and the youth provide the necessary labor force to build the nation (Prasad et al., 2005). However, due to factors such as poor health conditions and the working environments, there is low input of work to develop the country. Therefore, poverty cycle leads to poor economic development of a country, which can only improve if the percentage of poverty level decreases. The rate of employment in developed countries is determined by the countries per capita income. In developing countries, the average per capita income is 4000 dollars which is lower compared 12000 dollars for the developed countries.

Case Study of Poverty Cycle in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a South Asian country, which is densely populated with a population of over 100 million. However, 30 percent of the Bangladesh population is affected by poverty and extreme malnutrition among children and infants. Additionally, women and children are the most affected because of the declined socio-economic status current in the country. The poverty cycle in Bangladesh is the primary cause of the diminished socioeconomic status. Besides, the current poverty situation in Bangladesh has been evident for generations.

The poverty cycle in Bangladesh can be examined in two perspectives, which are the urban, and the rural poverty. Foremost, the percentage of urban poverty in Bangladesh is not greater than that of the countryside. The main causes of poverty in urban areas are inadequate food and restricted access to quality healthcare. Approximately 20 million people are living in poverty in urban regions with a steady increase in slums dues to the constant growth of population. Food is not readily available in slums because of the high prices besides the lack of land for small-scale farming. Inadequate food makes survival tough because daily activities are not completed effectively. Lack of adequate diet results to decline in health status among those living in towns. Besides, the hygienic conditions of the slums are poor, and hence, diseases outbreaks are common. Furthermore, the increased malnutrition and cases of illness call for urgent medical services. However, the slum dwellers cannot afford quality medical services because it is expensive. Besides, the average earnings of the slum dwellers are not adequate to cater for medical expenses and thus, a poverty cycle is created.

On the other hand, poverty in Bangladesh’s rural area is predominant because most of its population reside in the countryside. The poverty cycle in rural areas is caused by poor education, lack of health facilities, and inadequate infrastructure. Approximately, 30 percent of Bangladeshi’s rural population lives below poverty lines (Rural Poverty Portal, n.d). Food insecurity is the primary cause of poverty, with most of the population being small-scale farmers. Therefore, the food produced is not enough for communities. Besides, the low education levels make the populations limited to small-scale subsistence farming which contributes to diet intakes with low nutritive value. Therefore, malnutrition results in significant health problems with children and women the most affected. Therefore, a poverty circle is created because the sick cannot be productive to the community. Consequently, they remain trapped in poverty for generations.

In Bangladesh, the poverty cycle is caused by disasters, economic decline, and politics. Foremost, disasters include floods and environmental degradations. Bangladesh is often hit by the monsoon floods which destroy crops as well as the infrastructure. Floods inhibit development in Bangladesh since they occur annually. The effects of floods are the destruction of homes and food crops. Floods cause poverty because the populations lack food as well as means to carry on daily activities. Therefore, the more often floods occur, poverty continues to grow as well as the health of the affected deteriorates (Brouwer et al., 2007). Thus, a poverty cycle is created with low unhygienic conditions, malnutrition and diseases outbreaks regularly causing persistent poverty cycles.

Environmental degradation, on the other hand, involves the clearing of forests, land destruction as well as soil. The degradation is mainly caused by the rapid population growth with pressure on land for settlement. The environmental degradation causes food shortage and palatable water for consumption. Again, inadequate food and safe water make it difficult for populations to be productive, and therefore the poverty cycle keeps on constraining the affected populations from becoming productive to the community as evident in Bangladesh.

Additionally, the economic decline in Bangladesh is the other cause of poverty cycle. The declined economy contributes to the poverty cycle through inadequate housing, poor infrastructure as well as the exploitation of women and children. Majority of the Bangladesh population experience low living standards with overpopulation and depreciated health and education status. Bangladesh’s economy is poor with rice as the main staple food. Additionally, women have a lower education level than men hence they are heavily dominated. Furthermore, the estimated per capita income is approximately 280 dollars. A vast majority of the Bangladesh population suffer food insecurity thus driving the state into a severe crisis. Lastly, about 40 percent of Bangladeshis find employment in the agricultural sector as a form of self-employment. All the mentioned factors cause a vicious poverty circle, which makes it difficult to break the poverty lines among the Bangladeshis.

Moreover, political instability contributes to the poverty cycle. Political instability causes corruption and uneven resource distribution (Bhuiyan, 2011). Foremost, corruption is rampant in Bangladesh, where proper governance has been undermined. The Bangladeshi leaders are not being accountable to their citizens. Corruption has caused increase in cost of business as well as economic distortion. Therefore, the leaders benefit from corruption whereas the general population remains trapped in poverty lines with the struggling economy. Secondly, the recent political instability in Bangladesh has been contributed to the vicious poverty cycle. Good governance and democracy has been undermined by political instability. Therefore, any significant development in form of infrastructure and economy has also been undermined thereby stretching the poverty cycle. . Besides, policies to help break the poverty cycle have not been implemented properly. Embezzlement and bribery has diffused the funds directed towards poverty being spend by political leaders, thereby causing the poverty cycle to continue. On the other hand, uneven resource distribution occurs because Bangladesh depends on trade with the developed countries because the country lacks enough raw resources as technical skills. Therefore, the employment sector has been affected with few job available to the high populations. Consequently, as the unemployment rates increase, poverty also increases and hence the poverty cycle remains intact.

Social status in Bangladesh also contributes to the poverty cycle. The social status involves the rapidity of population growth and its effects on the poverty situation of the Bangladeshis. The people of Bangladesh have been increasing rapidly while the resources remain constant. The current resources in Bangladesh are not enough for the population, and there is increased pressure on such resources. About the poverty cycle, increased population makes it difficult to practice agriculture because land is limited. Therefore, lack of adequate food leads to declining health and another socio-economic status. As evident, the malnourished cannot be productive and therefore remain in the poverty lines. Thus, the vicious cycle remains imminent for long.

Lastly, the implications of poverty in Bangladesh are as follows. Almost half of the Bangladeshis population lives below the recommended poverty lines. Poverty in Bangladesh is crucial because sectors such as education, health care, and population growth rate are affected. The poverty rates in rural Bangladesh are higher than in urban areas. There has been a linkage between poverty, limited resources, food insecurity and poor health. One study done on Dhaka; Bangladesh reveals that healthcare is the significant contributor to the poverty cycle. The reason is that unhealthy people are not able to work to improve their health status and thus escape the claws of poverty.

Conclusion As evident, poverty cycle traps the poor in the poverty status for generations unless there is a serious intervention imposed to break this vicious cycle. In most cases, the low-income families struggle to access medical services and good education. The two elements are the foundations for a vicious poverty cycle. As observed from the Bangladesh case study, the struggling economy is the leading cause of poverty since the economy is the cornerstone of any country. However, the poverty cycle can be broken by interventions from the government of Bangladesh with collaborations from the World Bank. Besides, the many non-governmental organizations working with the Bangladesh government may help eradicate this cycle. Lastly, breaking the poverty cycle requires close cooperation with the society.