Poverty

=== Absolute poverty ===
[[File:Poverty headcount ratio at 1.90 a day.png|alt=|thumb|300px|[[List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty|Poverty headcount ratio]] at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population). Based on [[World Bank]] data ranging from 1998 to 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population) {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY?view=map|access-date=23 July 2020|website=data.worldbank.org|archive-date=19 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119063653/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY?view=map|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{Main|Extreme poverty}}
{{See also|Purchasing power|Asset poverty}}

Absolute poverty, often synonymous with 'extreme poverty' or 'abject poverty', refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. This set standard usually refers to "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services."<ref name=UN1995>UN declaration at World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/mission/up2.htm |title=Poverty |publisher=World Bank |access-date=23 April 2010 |archive-date=30 August 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040830075349/http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/mission/up2.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=SachsEndofPoverty2005>{{cite book |last=Sachs |first=Jeffrey D. |title = The End of Poverty |publisher=Penguin Press |year= 2005 |page =[https://archive.org/details/endofpovertyecon00sach/page/416 416] |isbn=978-1-59420-045-8 |title-link=The End of Poverty }}</ref> Having an income below the [[poverty line]], which is defined as an income needed to purchase basic needs, is also referred to as ''primary poverty''.

The "dollar a day" poverty line was first introduced in 1990 as a measure to meet such standards of living. For nations that do not use the US dollar as currency, "dollar a day" does not translate to living a day on the equivalent amount of local currency as determined by the [[exchange rate]].<ref name=dollar>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7122356.stm|title=When a dollar a day means 25 cents|publisher=bbcnews.com|access-date=28 May 2011|first=Mukul|last=Devichand|date=2 December 2007|archive-date=13 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813032040/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7122356.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Rather, it is determined by the [[purchasing power parity]] rate, which would look at how much local currency is needed to buy the same things that a dollar could buy in the United States.<ref name=dollar/> Usually, this would translate to having less local currency than if the exchange rate were used.<ref name=dollar/>

From 1993 through 2005, the [[World Bank]] defined absolute poverty as $1.08 a day on such a [[purchasing power parity]] basis, after adjusting for inflation to the 1993 US dollar<ref>{{cite web |title=Dollar a Day Revisited |publisher=The World Bank |year=2008 |first1=Martin |last1=Ravallion |first2=Shaohua |last2=Chen |first3=Prem |last3=Sangraula |name-list-style=amp |url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2008/09/02/000158349_20080902095754/Rendered/PDF/wps4620.pdf |access-date=8 August 2012 |archive-date=5 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805165034/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2008/09/02/000158349_20080902095754/Rendered/PDF/wps4620.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, it was updated as $1.25 a day (equivalent to $1.00 a day in 1996 US prices)<ref name=dollarrevisited2008>{{cite report|first1=Martin|last1=Ravallion|first2=Shaohua|last2=Chen|first3=Prem|last3=Sangraula|date=May 2008|title=Dollar a Day Revisited|publisher=The World Bank|url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/09/02/000158349_20080902095754/Rendered/PDF/wps4620.pdf|location=Washington, DC|access-date=10 June 2013|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222220/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/09/02/000158349_20080902095754/Rendered/PDF/wps4620.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=RavaillionWB26Jun2009>{{cite journal|first1=Martin|last1=Ravallion|first2=Shaohua|last2=Chen|first3=Prem|last3=Sangraula|journal=The World Bank Economic Review|volume=23|pages=163–184|doi=10.1093/wber/lhp007|title=Dollar a day|access-date=11 June 2013|url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/4499/wber_23_2_163.pdf?sequence=1|format=PDF|issue=2|year=2009|s2cid=26832525|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029183657/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/4499/wber_23_2_163.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2015, it was updated as living on less than US$1.90 per day,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/10/04/world-bank-forecasts-global-poverty-to-fall-below-10-for-first-time-major-hurdles-remain-in-goal-to-end-poverty-by-2030 |title="The Bank uses an updated international poverty line of US $1.90 a day, which incorporates new information on differences in the cost of living across countries (the PPP exchange rates)." |access-date=29 October 2015 |archive-date=3 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103202525/http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/10/04/world-bank-forecasts-global-poverty-to-fall-below-10-for-first-time-major-hurdles-remain-in-goal-to-end-poverty-by-2030 |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''moderate poverty'' as less than $2 or $5 a day.<ref>{{cite web|author=WDI|title=Societal poverty a global measure of relative poverty|url=http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/stories/societal-poverty-a-global-measure-of-relative-poverty.html|access-date=2 February 2021|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303151843/https://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/stories/societal-poverty-a-global-measure-of-relative-poverty.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, 'ultra-poverty' is defined by a 2007 report issued by International Food Policy Research Institute as living on less than 54 cents per day.<ref>International Food Policy Research Institute, [http://www.ifpri.org/publication/worlds-most-deprived The World's Most Deprived. Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323220931/http://www.ifpri.org/publication/worlds-most-deprived |date=23 March 2010 }}, Washington: IFPRI Oct 2007</ref> The poverty line threshold of $1.90 per day, as set by the World Bank, is controversial. Each nation has its own threshold for absolute poverty line; in the United States, for example, the absolute poverty line was US$15.15 per day in 2010 (US$22,000 per year for a family of four),<ref>{{cite web|title=Poverty Definitions|publisher=US Census Bureau|year=2011|url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/methods/definitions.html|access-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206003015/http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/methods/definitions.html|archive-date=6 February 2016}}</ref> while in India it was US$1.0 per day<ref name="wb2010a" /> and in China the absolute poverty line was US$0.55 per day, each on PPP basis in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=New Progress in Development-oriented Poverty Reduction Program for Rural China (1,274 yuan per year <nowiki>=</nowiki> US$ 0.55 per day)|publisher=The Government of China|year=2011|url=http://www.gov.cn/english/official/2011-11/16/content_1994729_3.htm|access-date=8 August 2012|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714022605/http://www.gov.cn/english/official/2011-11/16/content_1994729_3.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> These different poverty lines make data comparison between each nation's official reports qualitatively difficult. Some scholars argue that the World Bank method sets the bar too high,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Subramanian |first=S. |date=March 2009 |title=Poverty Measurement in the Presence of a 'Group-Affiliation' Externality |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14649880802675168 |journal=Journal of Human Development and Capabilities |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=63–76 |doi=10.1080/14649880802675168 |s2cid=154177441 |issn=1945-2829}}</ref> others argue it is too low.

[[File:Children of migrant cotton field workers from Sweetwater, Oklahoma, 8b15324.jpg|thumb|left|Children of the [[Great Depression|Depression]]-era migrant workers, Arizona, United States, 1937]]

There is disagreement among experts as to what would be considered a realistic poverty rate with one considering it "an inaccurately measured and arbitrary cut off".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/global-news/statements/2016/mar/23/gayle-smith/did-we-really-reduce-extreme-poverty-half-30-years/|title=Did we really reduce extreme poverty by half in 30 years?|website=@politifact|language=en|access-date=25 April 2019|archive-date=26 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526130914/https://www.politifact.com/global-news/statements/2016/mar/23/gayle-smith/did-we-really-reduce-extreme-poverty-half-30-years/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some contend that a higher poverty line is needed, such as a minimum of $7.40 or even $10 to $15 a day. They argue that these levels are a minimum for basic needs and to achieve normal [[life expectancy]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Hickel |first=Jason |date=29 January 2019 |title=Bill Gates says poverty is decreasing. He couldn't be more wrong |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/bill-gates-davos-global-poverty-infographic-neoliberal |work=The Guardian |access-date=23 February 2023 |archive-date=29 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129191021/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/bill-gates-davos-global-poverty-infographic-neoliberal |url-status=live }}</ref>

One estimate places the true scale of poverty much higher than the World Bank, with an estimated 4.3 billion people (59% of the world's population) living with less than $5 a day and unable to meet basic needs adequately.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/03/16/four-reasons-question-official-poverty-eradication-story-2015 | title=Four Reasons to Question the Official 'Poverty Eradication' Story of 2015 | access-date=11 August 2016 | archive-date=13 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913215402/http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/03/16/four-reasons-question-official-poverty-eradication-story-2015 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Philip Alston]], a [[United Nations special rapporteur|UN special rapporteur]] on extreme poverty and human rights, stated the World Bank's international poverty line of $1.90 a day is fundamentally flawed, and has allowed for "self congratulatory" triumphalism in the fight against extreme global poverty, which he asserts is "completely off track" and that nearly half of the global population, or 3.4 billion, lives on less than $5.50 a day, and this number has barely moved since 1990.<ref>{{cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=7 July 2020 |title='We squandered a decade': world losing fight against poverty, says UN academic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/07/we-squandered-a-decade-world-losing-fight-against-poverty-says-un-academic |work=The Guardian |access-date=11 July 2020 |archive-date=10 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710213428/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/07/we-squandered-a-decade-world-losing-fight-against-poverty-says-un-academic |url-status=live }}</ref> Still others suggest that poverty line misleads because many live on far less than that line.<ref name="wb2010a">{{cite web|title=World Bank's $1.25/day poverty measure – countering the latest criticisms|publisher=The World Bank|year=2010|url=http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:22510787~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382,00.html|access-date=4 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210022841/http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:22510787~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382,00.html|archive-date=10 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Poverty Measures|publisher=The World Bank|year=2009|url=http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/93518/Hung_0603/Hu_0603/Module4MeasuringPovertyMeasures.pdf|access-date=8 August 2012|archive-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710075625/http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/93518/Hung_0603/Hu_0603/Module4MeasuringPovertyMeasures.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement|first=Amartya|last=Sen|journal=Econometrica|volume= 44|date= March 1976|pages= 219–231|jstor=1912718|issue= 2|doi=10.2307/1912718}}</ref>

Other measures of absolute poverty without using a certain dollar amount include the standard defined as receiving less than 80% of minimum caloric intake whilst spending more than 80% of income on food, sometimes called ultra-poverty.<ref>Lipton, Michael (1986), 'Seasonality and ultra-poverty', Sussex, IDS Bulletin 17.3</ref>