Relationship Between Poverty And Development

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In this era of globalisation, large numbers of the world’s population still live in poverty. Since the alleviation of poverty stands out as the most important aim of development work, it is important to understand the relationship between poverty and development so we can have answers to questions like; what is poverty? How should poverty be measured? Who is considered poor and what measures can development take to reduce world poverty.

Thoughts on the definition of have evolved overtime ranging from command over market purchased goods, to other dimensions which have encompassed living standards such as longevity, literacy, healthiness to concerns with risks, vulnerability, powerlessness and lack of voice. In spite of these variations, there is a correlation and their interactions have all contributed to shape thinking on the definition of poverty.

Pioneering efforts to define the true measure of poverty emerged from the work of Rowntree (1910), who first coined the term ’Poverty Line’ through his survey work into the social and economic conditions of wage earning classes in the city of York. He arrived at a socially accepted amount of money which to him was ‘necessary for minimum maintenance of physical efficiency appropriate to the city of York. Basic minimum was food, clothing, shelter fuel and other sundries. Anything below that entered into the poverty line. He categorised poverty into primary and secondary. Primary poor were those who did not have enough money to
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