Q.1. What is Poverty?

In simple terms poverty is defined as, a state of being extremely poor. Poverty is not having the basic needs, food, water, shelter, etc. Often times people living in poverty fit in one of two categories, absolute poverty and relative poverty. Tejvan Pettinger from economics help defined them as, 

• Absolute poverty – "is a condition where household income is below a necessary level to maintain basic living standards (food, shelter, housing). This condition makes it possible to compare between different countries and also over time." -Tejvan Pettinger 
• Relative poverty – "A condition where household income is a certain percentage below median incomes. For example, the threshold for relative poverty could be set at 50% of median incomes (or 60%)."- Tejvan Pettinger.

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Along with those two categories there's also the poverty line, primary and secondary poverty. 

• Poverty line- Is a rough measurement of poverty across countries.
• Primary poverty- Is the position where an income is so extremely low that they can't meet the basic needs. Even if every last penny is spent strategically. 
• Secondary poverty- Is when the money isn't spent wisely but instead for luxurious. leaving little to no income to buy the necessities, the basic needs. 

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To help picture here's the poverty guide line in America in 2018 and some statistics of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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​There is also the poverty cycle and that is a everlasting

continuation of poverty. When a person falls under a certain line

of resourcefulness (the poverty line), a chain events will start

to occur. Many different people may describe the poverty

cycle differently but this is a basic example and a common

theme in most. 

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​Like many huge topics, there’s plenty of definitions to go with them. This is no exception for poverty and because there’s so many different forms or poverty, there’s many different definitions. The world bank organization describes poverty in: “poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to go see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action- for the poor the poor and the wealthy alike- a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.”

As you can see poverty is a very broad and detailed topic, with different levels and categories of poverty. Someone living in poverty in America may seem like someone living in lavish to someone living in poverty in Sub- Saharan Africa. This is because of different economical and community standards. For instance, a family of 4 in Canada with an annual income of 40,000 is a low income house hold. So a family of 4 with an annual income of 20,000 could be classified as living in poverty/ extreme poverty because they can’t afford to live in the community they're living in. If they had that 20,000 and lived in a city in Sierra Leone, then they would have an extremely good source of income compared to most Sierra Leoniens.