Do You Know How Many People Are Poor in Today’s World? Neither Does the U.N.
Oxford economists recently discovered that the United Nations has been miscalculating worldwide poverty numbers by an astounding 400 million people.
Shahnawaz Sid (CC BY 2.0)
Oxford economists recently discovered that the United Nations has been miscalculating worldwide poverty numbers by an astounding 400 million people.
The Atlantic:
The Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) released a report, the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2014 (MPI), [last week] looking at the state of poverty in the world today. It is being touted as the most accurate reflection of the world’s poor, a sort of census of the global impoverished population.
Didn’t that exist already? For more than a decade, the United Nations Development Programme has measured world poverty using its Human Poverty Index (HPI). The HPI defined poverty as those making less than $1.25 a day.
But it lacked in two key areas. First, it counted countries as one whole mass, unable to differentiate degrees of poverty within a country and locate the worst pockets. And second, it placed all of its scrutiny on income, without considering other indicators such as health and education….
So what did we find out about poverty now that we can measure it better? Sadly, the world is more impoverished than we previously thought. The HPI has put this figure at 1.2 billion people. But under the MPI’s measurements, it’s 1.6 billion people. More than half of the impoverished population in developing countries lives in South Asia, and another 29 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Seventy-one percent of MPI’s poor live in what is considered middle income countries—countries where development and modernization in the face of globalization is in full swing, but some are left behind. Niger is home to the highest concentration of multidimensionally poor, with nearly 90 percent of its population lacking in MPI’s socioeconomic indicators. Most of the poor live in rural areas.
—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata
Wait, before you go…If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
Economic Justice
Two years after the first payments went out, what have we learned from the prematurely abandoned Child Tax Credit expansion?
Economic Justice
The policy brief recommends a "pause in debt payments" to "allow developing economies weighed down by debt to mitigate some social effects of these shocks, using resources earmarked for debt servicing."
Economic Justice
An additional 750,000 older adults are newly at risk thanks to the return of pre-pandemic work-reporting requirements.
Economic Justice
High earners need to come around to the idea that they would benefit from progressive taxes and other policies to create an economy that works for everyone.
Ear to the Ground
A new study by the Poor People’s Campaign highlights the persistence of what MLK called the “Triplets of Evil.”
TD Original
Effective Altruism’s metrics-driven model of philanthropy is elitist, condescending and — most damning of all — extremely ineffective.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.