Poverty in Pakistan: An overview Contents are: Poverty and its types Poverty line Characteristics Causes Effects Poverty in Pakistan Causes of Poverty in Pakistan Poverty Reduction Poverty Reduction Through Islam

1. Poverty and Pakistan:An Overview
SOC-714: Social Problems of Pakistan
Prepared By:Aftab Ahmed

2. Poverty…
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3. Topics to be covered…
 Poverty and its types
 Poverty line
 Characteristics
 Causes
 Effects
 Poverty in Pakistan
 Causes of Poverty in Pakistan
 Poverty Reduction
 Poverty ReductionThrough Islam
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4. What Is Poverty?...
 Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount
of material possessions or money.
 The state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in
amount.
 The state of one who lacks a usual or socially
acceptable amount of money or material possessions
(britannica).
 Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to
satisfy their basic needs.
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5. What Is Poverty?...
 A situation in which a person or household lacks the
resources necessary to be able to consume a certain
minimum basket of goods. The basket consists either of
food, clothing, housing and other essentials (moderate
poverty) or of food alone (extreme poverty). The most
common method used to define poverty in income
based.
 ―A person is considered poor if his or her income level
falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic
needs. This minimum level is usually called the poverty
line‖.
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6. Poverty?...
 Poverty is a multidimensional economic phenomenon that
has both political and social consequences.
 It exists throughout generations and societies irrespective of
cultural affiliations and geographical boundaries.
 Number of people living below poverty line is increasing day
by day at an alarming rate.
 Poverty and economic deprivation are the causes of anarchy
and instability in many countries of the world.
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7. Poverty?...
Although the nature of poverty may vary from
◦ community to community,
◦ culture to culture and
◦ time to time,
poverty persists in both rural and urban areas alike; and
also in both developed and developing economies.
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8. Types of Poverty…
Absolute
Relative
Voluntary
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9. Absolute Poverty…
Absolute poverty refers to ;
the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly
includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health
care and education i.e.
Absolute Poverty is the absence of enough resources
(such as money) to secure basic life necessities.
 It depends not only on income but also on access to
services.
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10. Absolute Poverty… Conti
United Nations further defines absolute poverty
as the absence of any two of the following seven
basic needs:
◦ Food
◦ Safe drinking water
◦ Sanitation facilities
◦ Health
◦ Shelter
◦ Education
◦ Access to services
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11. Relative Poverty…
Relative poverty views;
 poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context,
hence relative poverty is a measure of income inequality.
 Over 40 million people in the United States lived in relative
poverty as of 2012.
 The term relative poverty can also be used in a different
sense to mean "moderate poverty" –- for example, a
standard of living or level of income that is high enough to
satisfy basic needs but still significantly lower than that of the
majority of the population under consideration.
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12. Relative Poverty… Conti
 Relative poverty is considered the easiest way to
measure the level of poverty in an individual country
 Relative poverty is measured as the percentage of
population with income less than some fixed
proportion of median income.
 Measures of relative poverty are almost the same as
measuring income inequality.
 If a society gets a more equal income distribution,
relative poverty will fall.
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13. Voluntary Poverty…
Voluntary poverty is a technical term used in Catholic
Worker tradition.
It means using and owning as little as possible.
The sense of the word ‗poverty‘ is that of having little or
no wealth or possessions.
by Nicholas Drake
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14. Voluntary Poverty…
 Among some individuals, poverty is considered a
necessary condition, which must be embraced to reach
certain spiritual, moral, or intellectual states.
 Poverty is often understood to be an essential element
of renunciation in religions such as Buddhism.
 Nomads in Pakistan is also an example.
 Voluntary poverty — it could save your life, but it‘s a
hard sell - by erik curren
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15. What is Poverty Line?…
 Poverty line is the minimum level of income believed
adequate.
Poverty line is significantly higher in developed countries than in
developing countries.
 The common international poverty line has in the past
been roughly $1 a day. In 2008, the World Bank came
out with a revised figure of $1.25.
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16. Characteristics of Poverty…
1. Health
2. Hunger
3. Education
4. Housing and Utilities
5. Violence
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17. Health…
 Those living in poverty suffer disproportionately from
hunger or even starvation/ malnourishment.
 Those who live in poverty have also been shown to
have a far greater likelihood of having a disability within
their lifetime as well as Infectious diseases.
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18. Hunger…
 Rises in the costs of living making poor people less able to
afford items.
 Poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on
food than richer people.As a result, those near the poverty
threshold can be particularly vulnerable to increases in food
prices.
 Threats to the supply of food may also be caused by drought
and the water crisis.
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19. Education…
 A high risk of educational underachievement for
children who are from low-income housing
circumstances.
 Children who live at or below the poverty level will
have far less success educationally than children who
live above the poverty line.
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20. Housing and Utilities…
 Poverty increases the risk of homelessness.
 Slum-dwellers, make up a third of the world's urban
population.
 According to a report by the United Nations there are over
100 million street children worldwide.
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21. Housing and Utilities…
Poverty is not only developing countries…
 It is estimated that there has been a rise of 169% since
2010 (and of 15% from 2016 to 2017): the figure for
autumn 2017 has been put at 4751 sleeping rough on
any one night in England, but this is in all probability a
severe underestimate.
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22. Violence…
 Several women become victims of trafficking, the most
common form of which is prostitution, as a means of survival
and economic desperation.
 Decline of living conditions can often compel children to
abandon school in order to contribute to the family income,
putting them at risk of being exploited.
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23. Causes of Poverty…
 Decline in overall national growth
 Political instability
 Natural disasters
 Corruption
 Socio-economic disparities and prejudices
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24. Causes…
 Lack of access to education
 Lack of infrastructure
 Lack of relevant laws & administrative
procedures
 Lack of access to investment & credit, complete
market information
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25. Effects…
 Without the security of formal jobs, each day the poor
work from dawn to dusk.
 All or most of the money earned go to basic survival.
 There is little or no money left to improve quality of
life.
 Living in poverty almost always means that the harsh
reality of today will repeat itself tomorrow.
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26. Effects…
 Poverty breeds poverty. If one cannot afford proper
nutrition or health care for one‘s family, children grow
up at greater risk of acquiring a life threatening or
disabling disease.
 If one cannot afford to educate one‘s children, it will be
a repeat of their parents‘ life.
 If one cannot afford to buy one‘s own land or home or
livestock, there are few opportunities to build assets
that will last over time.
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27. Situation in Pakistan…
 EveryTHIRD Pakistani is caught in the ‗Poor‘ bracket.
 Some 58.7 million out of a total population of 200
million subsist below the poverty line.
 This includes more than half the population in the
forever remote Baluchistan , 33 percent in Sindh, 32
percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 19 percent in
Punjab.
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28. Percentage by Population…
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Multidimensional poverty in Pakistan (2015),
Data Source: UNDP [123]

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Source: Need for a new paradigm". dawn.com.
27 April 2010.

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32. International Organizations and Poverty in
Pakistan…
Report Of UNDP:
 According to a UNDP report, 65.5% population of Pakistan earns
less than 2$ per day.
SPDC (Social Policy Development Centre) Report
 According to the SPDC, 88% of Baluchistan’s population, 51% of
NWFP, 21%of Sindh and 25% of Punjab’s population is prey to
poverty and deprivation.
World Bank Report
 2011 statistics of theWorld Bank: Almost 40% of 107 developing
countries are highly exposed to the poverty. Pakistan is ranked
among the 43 countries who are most exposed to poverty.
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33. Conti…
Asian Development Bank Report
 According to the ADB report, poverty is spreading in Pakistan due
to the rising population, Pakistan‘s internal situation,
agriculture backwardness, unequal income distribution, and
increase in utility charges and rise in unproductive activities.
Pakistan‘s Planning Commission Report
 Pakistan‘s Planning Commission (2011), poverty rate has jumped
from 23.9 to 37.5 percent in the last three years. The
commission has estimated that in 2007 there were 35.5 million
people living below the poverty line but in 2010 their number
increased to over 64 million.
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