Poverty

== Characteristics ==
[[File:Life expectancy 1950-2005.png|thumb|right|Life expectancy has been increasing and converging for most of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa has recently seen a decline, partly related to the [[AIDS epidemic]]. Graph shows the years 1950–2005.]]
The effects of poverty may also be causes as listed above, thus creating a "poverty cycle" operating across multiple levels, individual, local, national and global.[[File:VOA Heinlein - Somali refugees September 2011 - 09.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the Somali Civil War|Somali]] boy receiving treatment for malnourishment at a health facility]]

===Health===
{{Main|Diseases of poverty|Disability and poverty}}
[[File:Expectancy of life CIA2016.svg|thumb|[[Life expectancy]], 2016|alt=|300px]]
One-third of deaths around the world—some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day—are due to poverty-related causes. People living in developing nations, among them women and children, are over represented among the global poor and these effects of severe poverty.<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Development Report|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/264/hdr_2003_en_complete.pdf|website=United Nations Development Programme|access-date=15 April 2015|archive-date=15 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415073824/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/264/hdr_2003_en_complete.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Pogge|first=Thomas|title=Politics as Usual: What Lies Behind the Pro-Poor Rhetoric|year=2010|publisher=Polity Press|isbn=978-0-7456-3892-8|page=12|edition=1st |url=http://thomaspogge.com/books/ |access-date=17 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131154332/http://thomaspogge.com/books/ |archive-date=31 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/whr/1999 |title=The World Health Report, World Health Organization (See annex table 2) |website=Who.int |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=26 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126211347/http://www.who.int/whr/1999/ }}</ref> Those living in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger or even [[starvation]] and disease, as well as lower [[life expectancy]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0724/p01s01-wogi.html |title=Rising food prices curb aid to global poor |journal=Christian Science Monitor |date=24 July 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023091853/https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0724/p01s01-wogi.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cano P.E. |first=Librado|title=Transformation of an individual family community nation and the world|year=2010|publisher=Trafford|isbn=978-1-4269-4766-7|page=100}}</ref> According to the [[World Health Organization]], [[hunger]] and [[malnutrition]] are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to [[child mortality]], present in half of all cases.<ref name=economist>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10566634|title=The Starvelings|newspaper=The Economist|date=24 January 2008|access-date=28 May 2011|archive-date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231194031/http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10566634|url-status=live}}</ref>

Almost 90% of [[maternal death]]s during childbirth occur in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, compared to less than 1% in the developed world.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/220376.stm|title=The causes of maternal death|work=BBC News|date=23 November 1998|access-date=27 August 2012|archive-date=3 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103210749/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/220376.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Those who live in poverty have also been shown to have a far greater likelihood of having or incurring a [[Disability and Poverty|disability]] within their lifetime.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://go.worldbank.org/JGF4Y3E5B0 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120516090917/http://go.worldbank.org/JGF4Y3E5B0 |archive-date=16 May 2012 |title=Disability – Disability: Overview |website=Go.worldbank.org |date=28 March 2013 |access-date=26 July 2013 }}</ref> [[Infectious diseases]] such as [[malaria]] and [[tuberculosis]] can perpetuate poverty by diverting health and economic resources from investment and productivity; malaria decreases GDP growth by up to 1.3% in some [[Developing country|developing nations]] and AIDS decreases African growth by 0.3–1.5% annually.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/211/44385.html |title=Economic costs of AIDS |website=Globalpolicy.org |date=23 July 2003 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=23 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323063859/http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/211/44385.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The economic and social burden of malaria |journal=Nature |volume=415 |issue=6872 |pages=680–685 |date=3 September 2010 |doi=10.1038/415680a |pmid=11832956 |last1=Sachs |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Malaney |first2=Pia |s2cid=618837 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/press_releases/pr_20020916.htm |title=Poverty Issues Dominate WHO Regional Meeting |publisher=Wpro.who.int |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110403044412/http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/press_releases/pr_20020916.htm |archive-date=3 April 2011 }}</ref>

Studies have shown that poverty impedes cognitive function although some of these findings could not be replicated in follow-up studies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Donnell |first1=Michael |title=Empirical audit and review and an assessment of evidentiary value in research on the psychological consequences of scarcity |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=November 2, 2021 |volume=118 |issue=44 |pages=e2103313118 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2103313118 |pmid=34711679 |pmc=8612349 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11803313O |doi-access=free }}</ref> One hypothesised mechanism is that financial worries put a severe burden on one's mental resources so that they are no longer fully available for solving complicated problems. The reduced capability for problem solving can lead to suboptimal decisions and further perpetuate poverty.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mani |first1=Anandi |last2=Mullainathan |first2=Sendhil |last3=Shafir |first3=Eldar |last4=Zhao |first4=Jiaying |title=Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function |doi=10.1126/science.1238041 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=341 |issue=6149 |pages=976–980 |year=2013 |pmid=23990553 |url = http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/mani/mani_science_976.full.pdf |access-date=1 November 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131028200906/http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/mani/mani_science_976.full.pdf |archive-date=28 October 2013 |citeseerx=10.1.1.398.6303 |bibcode=2013Sci...341..976M |s2cid=1684186 }}</ref> Many other pathways from poverty to compromised cognitive capacities have been noted, from poor nutrition and environmental toxins to the effects of stress on parenting behavior, all of which lead to suboptimal psychological development.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Black |first1=Maureen M |last2=Walker |first2=Susan P |last3=Fernald |first3=Lia C |last4=Andersen |first4=Christopher T |last5=DiGirolamo |first5=Ann M |last6=Lu |first6=Chunling |last7=Grantham-McGregor |first7=Sally |title=Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course |journal=The Lancet |date=7 January 2017 |volume=389 |issue=10064 |pages=77–90 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31389-7 |pmid=27717614 |pmc=5884058 |url=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Britto |first1=Pia R |last2=Lye |first2=Stephen J |last3=Proulx |first3=Kerrie |last4=Yousafzai |first4=Aisha K |last5=Matthews |first5=Stephen G |last6=Vaivada |first6=Tyler |last7=Bhutta |first7=Zulfiqar A |title=Nurturing care: promoting early child development |journal=The Lancet |date=7 January 2017 |volume=389 |issue=10064 |pages=91–102 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31390-3 |pmid=27717615 |s2cid=39094476 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)31390-3/abstract?code=lancet-site |access-date=7 June 2018 |archive-date=24 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724225957/https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)31390-3/fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref> Neuroscientists have documented the impact of poverty on brain structure and function throughout the lifespan.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Farah |first=Martha J. |title=The neuroscience of socioeconomic status: Correlates, causes and consequences |journal=Neuron |date=27 September 2017 |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=56–71 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2017.08.034 |pmid=28957676 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. 36.8 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 954,492 deaths in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-and-new-cases-of-hiv |title = Prevalence, new cases and deaths from HIV/AIDS |website = Our World in Data |access-date = 27 April 2020 |archive-date = 20 April 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200420210657/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-and-new-cases-of-hiv |url-status = live }}</ref>

Poor people often are more prone to severe diseases due to the lack of health care, and due to living in non-optimal conditions. Among the poor, girls tend to suffer even more due to gender discrimination. Economic stability is paramount in a poor household; otherwise they go in an endless loop of negative income trying to treat diseases. Often when a person in a poor household falls ill it is up to the family members to take care of them due to limited access to health care and lack of health insurance. The household members often have to give up their income or stop seeking further education to tend to the sick member. There is a greater [[opportunity cost]] imposed on the poor to tend to someone compared to someone with better financial stability.<ref>{{cite book |author=OECD/WHO |title=Poverty and Health (DAC Guidelines and Reference Series) |year=2003 |publisher=OECD |isbn=978-92-64-10020-6 |location=Paris |oclc=55519605 |issn=1990-0988 |doi=10.1787/9789264100206-en}}</ref> Increased access to healthcare and improved health outcomes help prevent individuals from falling into poverty due to medical expenses.<ref name=Blumenthal/><ref name=Dastidar/>

==== Hunger ====
[[File:Hunger Map 2020 World Food Programme.svg|thumb|Percentage of population suffering from hunger, [[World Food Programme]], 2020|alt=|300px]]
{{Main|Hunger}}
{{See also|Malnutrition}}

It is estimated that 1.02 billion people go to bed hungry every night.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/20568/icode/|title=1.02 billion people hungry|website=fao.org|date=19 June 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=17 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117211313/http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/20568/icode/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the [[Global Hunger Index]], Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest child malnutrition rate of the world's regions over the 2001–2006 period.<ref name="ghi2008">{{cite web |url = http://www.ifpri.org/publication/challenge-hunger-2008-global-hunger-index |title = 2008 Global Hunger Index Key Findings & Facts |year = 2008 |access-date = 20 September 2010 |archive-date = 19 October 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171019143346/http://www.ifpri.org/publication/challenge-hunger-2008-global-hunger-index |url-status = live }}</ref>

Poor people spend a [[Engel's law|greater portion of their budgets]] on food than wealthy people and, as a result, they can be particularly vulnerable to increases in [[food prices]]. For example, in late 2007, increases in the price of grains<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7284196.stm |title=The cost of food: Facts and figures |work=BBC News |date=16 October 2008 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=20 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120025945/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7284196.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> led to [[2007–2008 world food price crisis|food riots]] in some countries.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jonathan |last=Watts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/04/china.business |title=Riots and hunger feared as demand for grain sends food costs soaring |work=The Guardian |location=Beijing |date=4 December 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=1 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901074034/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/04/china.business |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3500975.ece |title=Already we have riots, hoarding, panic: the sign of things to come? |work=The Times |location=London |date=7 March 2008 |access-date=21 June 2011 |first=Carl |last=Mortished |archive-date=14 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814134028/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3500975.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Julian |last=Borger |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations |title=Feed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 February 2008 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=25 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225150554/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/feb/26/food.unitednations |url-status=live }}</ref> Threats to the supply of food may also be caused by drought and the [[Water security|water crisis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/42387/story.htm |title=Vanishing Himalayan Glaciers Threaten a Billion |website=Planetark.com |date=5 June 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429073719/http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/42387/story.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Intensive farming]] often leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of [[erosion|soil fertility]] and decline of [[agricultural yields]].<ref>''Exploitation and Over-exploitation in Societies Past and Present'', Brigitta Benzing, Bernd Herrmann</ref> Approximately 40% of the world's [[agricultural land]] is seriously degraded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update61.htm |title=The Earth Is Shrinking: Advancing Deserts and Rising Seas Squeezing Civilization |publisher=Earth-policy.org |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810034949/http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update61.htm |archive-date=10 August 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ian |last=Sample |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food |title=Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=31 August 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094959/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food |url-status=live }}</ref> Goal 2 of the [[Sustainable Development Goals]] is the elimination of hunger and undernutrition by 2030.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/ |title=Goal 2: Zero Hunger |last=Martin |website=United Nations Sustainable Development |language=en-US |access-date=25 April 2019 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210035826/https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Mental health ====

[[File:Venezuelan eating from garbage.jpg|upright=1.15|thumb|right|A Venezuelan eating from garbage during the [[crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela]]]]

A psychological study has been conducted by four scientists during inaugural Convention of Psychological Science. The results find that people who thrive with financial stability or fall under low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to perform worse cognitively due to external pressure imposed upon them. The research found that stressors such as low income, inadequate health care, discrimination, and exposure to criminal activities all [[Causes of mental disorders#Poverty|contribute to mental disorders]]. This study also found that children exposed to poverty-stricken environments have slower cognitive thinking.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sleek|first=Scott|date=31 August 2015|title=How Poverty Affects the Brain and Behavior|url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/how-poverty-affects-the-brain-and-behavior|journal=APS Observer|language=en-US|volume=28|issue=7|access-date=4 December 2019|archive-date=4 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204034250/https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/how-poverty-affects-the-brain-and-behavior|url-status=live}}</ref> It is seen that children perform better under the care of their parents and that children tend to adopt speaking language at a younger age. Since being in poverty from childhood is more harmful than it is for an adult, it is seen that children in poor households tend to fall behind in certain cognitive abilities compared to other average families.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Farah|first1=Martha J.|last2=Betancourt|first2=Laura|last3=Shera|first3=David M.|last4=Savage|first4=Jessica H.|last5=Giannetta|first5=Joan M.|last6=Brodsky|first6=Nancy L.|last7=Malmud|first7=Elsa K.|last8=Hurt|first8=Hallam|date=September 2008|title=Environmental stimulation, parental nurturance and cognitive development in humans|journal=Developmental Science|language=en|volume=11|issue=5|pages=793–801|doi=10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00688.x|pmid=18810850}}</ref>

For a child to grow up emotionally healthy, the children under three need "A strong, reliable primary caregiver who provides consistent and unconditional love, guidance, and support. Safe, predictable, stable environments. Ten to 20 hours each week of harmonious, reciprocal interactions. This process, known as attunement, is most crucial during the first 6–24 months of infants' lives and helps them develop a wider range of healthy emotions, including gratitude, forgiveness, and empathy. Enrichment through personalized, increasingly complex activities".{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} In one survey, 67% of children from disadvantaged [[inner city|inner cities]] said they had witnessed a serious assault, and 33% reported witnessing a homicide.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Atkins | first1 = M.S. | last2 = McKay | first2 = M. | last3 = Talbott | first3 = E. | last4 = Arvantis | first4 = P. | year = 1996 | title = DSM-IV diagnosis of conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder: Implications and guidelines for school mental health teams | journal = School Psychology Review | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 274–283 | doi = 10.1080/02796015.1996.12085817 }} Citing: {{cite journal | last1 = Bell | first1 = C.C. | last2 = Jenkins | first2 = E.J. | year = 1991 | title = Traumatic stress and children | journal = Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved | volume = 2 | issue = 1| pages = 175–185 | doi=10.1353/hpu.2010.0089| pmid = 1685908 | s2cid = 28660040 }}</ref> 51% of fifth graders from [[New Orleans]] (median income for a household: $27,133) have been found to be victims of violence, compared to 32% in Washington, DC (mean income for a household: $40,127).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Atkins | first1 = M.S. | last2 = McKay | first2 = M. | last3 = Talbott | first3 = E. | last4 = Arvantis | first4 = P. | year = 1996 | title = DSM-IV diagnosis of conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder: Implications and guidelines for school mental health teams | journal = School Psychology Review | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 274–283 | doi = 10.1080/02796015.1996.12085817 }} Citing: {{cite journal|author1-link=Joy Osofsky | last1 = Osofsky | first1 = J.D. | last2 = Wewers | first2 = S. | last3 = Harm | first3 = D.M. | last4 = Fick | first4 = A.C. | year = 1993 | title = Chronic community violence: What is happening to our children? | journal = Psychiatry | volume = 56 | issue = 1 | pages = 36–45 | pmid = 8488211 | doi = 10.1080/00332747.1993.11024619 }}; and, Richters, J.E., & Martinez, P. (1993).</ref> Studies have shown that poverty changes the personalities of children who live in it. The [[Great Smoky Mountains Study]] was a ten-year study that was able to demonstrate this. During the study, about one-quarter of the families saw a dramatic and unexpected increase in income. The study showed that among these children, instances of behavioral and emotional disorders decreased, and conscientiousness and agreeableness increased.<ref name="MyUser_The_Washington_Post_October_8_2015c">{{cite web|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/08/the-remarkable-ways-a-little-money-can-change-a-childs-personality-for-life/|title = The remarkable thing that happens to poor kids when you give their parents a little money|newspaper = The Washington Post|access-date = 8 October 2015|archive-date = 9 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151009173154/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/08/the-remarkable-ways-a-little-money-can-change-a-childs-personality-for-life/|url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Education ===
{{See also|Social determinants of health in poverty#Education|Disability and poverty#Education}}
Research has found that there is a high risk of educational underachievement for children who are from low-income housing circumstances. This is often a process that begins in primary school. Instruction in the US educational system, as well as in most other countries, tends to be geared towards those students who come from more advantaged backgrounds. As a result, children in poverty are at a higher risk than advantaged children for retention in their grade, special deleterious placements during the school's hours and not completing their high school education.<ref name="SYF"/> Advantage breeds advantage.<ref>Raghuram G. Rajan (2012). [https://www.amazon.com/Fault-Lines-Fractures-Threaten-Paperback/dp/B00OX8KPE6 Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920172903/https://www.amazon.com/Fault-Lines-Fractures-Threaten-Paperback/dp/B00OX8KPE6 |date=20 September 2016 }} Published by: Collins Business</ref> There are many explanations for why students tend to drop out of school. One is the conditions in which they attend school. Schools in poverty-stricken areas have conditions that hinder children from learning in a safe environment. Researchers have developed a name for areas like this: an ''urban war zone'' is a poor, crime-laden district in which deteriorated, violent, even warlike conditions and underfunded, largely ineffective schools promote inferior academic performance, including irregular attendance and disruptive or non-compliant classroom behavior.<ref>Garbarino, J., Dubrow, N., Kostelny, K., & Pardo, C. (1992). ''Children in Danger: Coping with the Consequences''. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Print.</ref> Because of poverty, "Students from low-income families are 2.4 times more likely to drop out than middle-income kids, and over 10 times more likely than high-income peers to drop out."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/cause-and-effect-the-high_b_6245304.html|title=Cause and Effect: The High Cost of High School Dropouts|date=30 November 2014|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=21 April 2016|archive-date=30 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530230632/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/cause-and-effect-the-high_b_6245304.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

For children with low resources, the risk factors are similar to others such as [[juvenile delinquency]] rates, higher levels of [[teenage pregnancy]], and economic dependency upon their low-income parent or parents.<ref name="SYF">Huston, A. C. (1991). Children in Poverty: Child Development and Public Policy. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]].</ref>
Families and society who submit low levels of investment in the education and development of less fortunate children end up with less favorable results for the children who see a life of parental employment reduction and low wages. Higher rates of early childbearing with all the connected risks to family, health and well-being are major issues to address since education from preschool to high school is identifiably meaningful in a life.<ref name="SYF" />
[[File:Situation Analysis of Out-of-School Children in Nine Southeast Asian Countries.pdf|thumb|Out of school child]]
Poverty often drastically affects children's success in school. A child's "home activities, preferences, mannerisms" must align with the world and in the cases that they do not do these, students are at a disadvantage in the school and, most importantly, the classroom.<ref name="ANF">Solley, Bobbie A. (2005). When Poverty's Children Write: Celebrating Strengths, Transforming Lives. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Inc.</ref> Therefore, it is safe to state that children who live at or below the poverty level will have far less success educationally than children who live above the poverty line. Poor children have a great deal less healthcare and this ultimately results in many absences from school. Additionally, poor children are much more likely to suffer from hunger, fatigue, irritability, headaches, ear infections, flu, and colds.<ref name="ANF" /> These illnesses could potentially restrict a student's focus and concentration.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jensen|first=Eric|title=Teaching with Poverty in Mind|url=http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx|publisher=ASCD|access-date=11 November 2013|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141531/http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

In general, the interaction of [[gender]] with poverty or location tends to work to the disadvantage of [[girl]]s in poorer countries with low completion rates and social expectations that they marry early, and to the disadvantage of [[boy]]s in richer countries with high completion rates but social expectations that they enter the [[labour force]] early.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=UNESCO|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000368753|title=Global education monitoring report 2019: gender report: Building bridges for gender equality|publisher=UNESCO|year=2019|isbn=978-92-3-100329-5|access-date=5 March 2020|archive-date=6 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206085339/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000368753|url-status=live}}</ref> At the [[primary education]] level, most countries with a completion rate below 60% exhibit [[gender disparity]] at girls' expense, particularly poor and rural girls. In Mauritania, the adjusted gender parity index is 0.86 on average, but only 0.63 for the poorest 20%, while there is parity among the richest 20%. In countries with completion rates between 60% and 80%, gender disparity is generally smaller, but disparity at the expense of poor girls is especially marked in [[Cameroon]], [[Nigeria]] and [[Yemen]]. Exceptions in the opposite direction are observed in countries with pastoralist economies that rely on boys' labour, such as the [[Eswatini|Kingdom of Eswatini]], [[Lesotho]] and [[Namibia]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Shelter ===
{{See also|Slums|Street children|Orphanages|Gentrification}}
[[File:Kolkata (4131122903).jpg|thumb|Homeless family in Kolkata, India|alt=]]
[[File:Street Child, Srimangal Railway Station.jpg|thumb|left|Street child in [[Bangladesh]]. Aiding relatives financially unable to but willing to take in orphans is found to be more effective by cost and welfare than orphanages.<ref name=orphanages/>]]
The [[right to housing]] is argued to be a [[Human rights|human right]].<ref>Desmond, Matthew (2016). ''Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City''. Crown Books. {{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref><ref>Bratt, Rachel G. (Editor), Stone, Michael E.  (Editor), Hartman, Chester  (Editor). 2006. ''A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda''. Temple University Press.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref> [[High density housing|Higher density]] and [[Affordable housing|lower cost housing]] affords low-income families and first-time homebuyers with more and less expensive shelter opportunities, reducing economic inequality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cooke |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Denton |first2=Curtis |title=The suburbanization of poverty? An alternative perspective |journal=Urban Geography |date=17 February 2015 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=300–313 |doi=10.1080/02723638.2014.973224 |s2cid=145716858 |url=https://thomas-cooke.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2963/2019/12/Cooke-and-Denton-2015.pdf |access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Desmond |first1=Matthew |editor1-last=Mueller |editor1-first=Elizabeth J. |editor2-last=Tighe |editor2-first=J. Rosie |title=The affordable housing reader |date=2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=978-1-000-59482-9 |pages=389–395 |edition=Second |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=emdxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA389 |access-date=24 February 2023 |chapter=Unaffordable America: Poverty, housing, and eviction}}</ref>

The geographic concentration of poverty is argued to be a factor in entrenching poverty. William J. Wilson's "concentration and isolation" hypothesis states that the economic difficulties of the very poorest African Americans are compounded by the fact that as the better-off African Americans move out, the poorest are more and more concentrated, having only other very poor people as neighbors. This concentration causes social isolation, Wilson suggests, because the very poor are now isolated from access to the job networks, role models, institutions, and other connections that might help them escape poverty.<ref>Wilson, William J. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</ref> [[Gentrification]] means converting an aging neighborhood into a more affluent one, as by remodeling homes. Landlords then increase rent on newly renovated real estate; the poor people cannot afford to pay high rent, and may need to leave their neighborhood to find affordable housing.<ref>Moss, Jeremiah. 24 July 2018. Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul. HarperCollins Publishers.</ref> The poor also get more access to income and services, while studies suggest poor residents living in gentrifying neighbourhoods are actually less likely to move than poor residents of non-gentrifying areas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/06/21/in-praise-of-gentrification|title=In praise of gentrification|newspaper=The Economist|date=23 June 2018|access-date=24 April 2021|archive-date=24 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424015937/https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/06/21/in-praise-of-gentrification|url-status=live}}</ref>

Poverty increases the risk of [[homelessness]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-10-homeless_x.htm |title=Study: 744,000 homeless in United States |work=USA Today |date=10 January 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525150236/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-10-homeless_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Slum-dwellers, who make up a third of the world's urban population, live in a poverty no better, if not worse, than rural people, who are the traditional focus of the poverty in the [[developing world]], according to a report by the United Nations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5078654.stm |title=Report reveals global slum crisis |work=BBC News |date=16 June 2006 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=30 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030050014/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5078654.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are over 100 million [[street children]] worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=32968&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521024344/http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D32968%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |archive-date=21 May 2008 |title=Street Children |publisher=Portal.unesco.org |access-date=24 October 2010 }}</ref> Most of the children living in institutions around the world have a surviving parent or close relative, and they most commonly entered orphanages because of poverty.<ref name=orphanages>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/world/africa/06orphans.html |title=Aid gives alternatives to African orphanages |newspaper=The New York Times |date=5 December 2009 |access-date=18 February 2017 |archive-date=26 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526205418/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/world/africa/06orphans.html |url-status=live |last1=Dugger |first1=Celia W. }}</ref> It is speculated that, flush with money, for-profit orphanages are increasing and push for children to join even though demographic data show that even the poorest extended families usually take in children whose parents have died.<ref name=orphanages/> Many child advocates maintain that this can harm children's [[child development|development]] by separating them from their families and that it would be more effective and cheaper to aid close relatives who want to take in the orphans.<ref name=orphanages/>

=== Utilities ===
[[File:Toilet at a Village near Jaipur installed by Pronto Panels.JPG|upright=0.7|thumb|Affordable household toilets near [[Jaipur, Rajasthan]]]]
The poor tend to pay more for access to utilities and ensuring the availability of water, sanitation, energy, and telecommunication services such as broadband internet service<ref>{{Cite book |title=California LifeLine program assessment & evaluation |date=May 20, 2022 |publisher=[[California Public Utilities Commission]] |location=Sacramento, California}}</ref> help in reducing poverty in general.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Giné Garriga |first1=Ricard |last2=Pérez Foguet |first2=Agustí |date=2013-03-01 |title=Unravelling the Linkages Between Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Rural Poverty: The WASH Poverty Index |journal=Water Resources Management |language=en |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=1501–1515 |doi=10.1007/s11269-012-0251-6 |bibcode=2013WatRM..27.1501G |hdl=2117/18648 |s2cid=189950003 |issn=1573-1650|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Assessing the impact of transport and energy infrastructure on poverty reduction |date=2005 |publisher=Asian Development Bank |author=Cynthia C. Cook |display-authors=etal |isbn=978-971-561-580-8 |location=Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines |oclc=61391598}}</ref>

====Water and sanitation====
As of 2012, 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation services and 15% practice [[open defecation]].<ref>WHO and UNICEF [https://web.archive.org/web/20120328173008/http://www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/JMP-report-2012-en.pdf ''Progress on Drinking-water and Sanitation: 2012 Update''], WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York, p. 2</ref> Even while providing latrines is a challenge, people still do not use them even when available. Bangladesh had half the GDP per capita of India but has a lower mortality from diarrhea than India or the world average, with diarrhea deaths declining by 90% since the 1990s. By strategically providing pit latrines to the poorest, charities in Bangladesh sparked a cultural change as those better off perceived it as an issue of status to not use one. The vast majority of the latrines built were then not from charities but by villagers themselves.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/03/22/how-bangladesh-vanquished-diarrhoea|title=How Bangladesh vanquished diarrhoea|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=18 August 2018|date=22 March 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819083112/https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/03/22/how-bangladesh-vanquished-diarrhoea|url-status=live}}</ref>

Water utility subsidies tend to subsidize water consumption by those connected to the supply grid, which is typically skewed towards the richer and urban segment of the population and those outside informal housing. As a result of heavy consumption subsidies, the price of water decreases to the extent that only 30%, on average, of the supplying costs in developing countries is covered.<ref name=Kenny/><ref name=utilitysubsidy>{{cite book
| year=2005
| first1=Kristin
| last1=Komives
| first2=Vivien
| last2=Foster
| first3=Jonathan
| last3=Halpern
| first4=Quentin
| last4=Wodon
| title=Water, Electricity and the Poor: Who benefits from utility subsidies?
| url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources/Figures.pdf
| publisher=The World Bank
| location=Washington, DC
| isbn=978-0-8213-6342-3
| access-date=26 July 2012
| archive-date=16 December 2011
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216141018/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources/Figures.pdf
| url-status=live
}}</ref>
This results in a lack of incentive to maintain delivery systems, leading to losses from leaks annually that are enough for 200 million people.<ref name=Kenny/><ref>{{cite book
| year=2006
| first1=Bill
| last1=Kingdom
| first2=Roland
| last2=Liemberger
| first3=Philippe
| last3=Marin
| title=The challenge of reducing non-revenue water (NRW) in developing countries. How the private sector can help: A look at performance-based service contracting
| series=Water supply and sanitation board discussion paper series
| url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources/WSS8fin4.pdf
| publisher=The World Bank
| location=Washington, DC
| access-date=26 July 2012
| archive-date=23 May 2012
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523132225/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources/WSS8fin4.pdf
| url-status=live
}}</ref>
This also leads to a lack of incentive to invest in expanding the network, resulting in much of the poor population being unconnected to the network. Instead, the poor buy water from water vendors for, on average, about 5 to 16 times the metered price.<ref name=Kenny/><ref>{{cite book
 |year            = 2006
 |first1         = Marianne
 |last1         = Kjellen
 |first2         = Gordon
 |last2         = McGranahan
 |name-list-style = amp
 |title           = Informal Water Vendors and the Urban Poor
 |series          = Human settlements discussion paper series
 |url             = http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10529IIED.pdf
 |publisher       = [[International Institute for Environment and Development|IIED]]
 |location        = London
 |isbn            = 978-1-84369-586-8
 |access-date     = 26 July 2012
 |archive-date    = 4 September 2012
 |archive-url     = https://web.archive.org/web/20120904224113/http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10529IIED.pdf
 |url-status      = live
}}</ref> However, subsidies for laying new connections to the network rather than for consumption have shown more promise for the poor.<ref name=utilitysubsidy/>

====Energy====
{{Excerpt|energy poverty}}

=== Financial services ===
{{Seealso|Predatory lending|Loan shark}}
For low-income individuals and families, access to [[credit]] can be limited, [[Predatory lending|predatory]], or both, making it difficult to find the financial resources they need to invest in their futures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hartfree |first1=Yvette |last2=Collard |first2=Sharon |date=2015-10-01 |title=Locating credit and debt within an anti-poverty strategy for the UK |url=https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/jpsj/23/3/article-p203.xml |journal=Journal of Poverty and Social Justice |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=203–214 |doi=10.1332/175982715X14443317211950 |s2cid=167507335 |issn=1759-8273|hdl=1983/9dc0d10f-b10d-4e4a-82e9-0957a4226608 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Chaniwa |first1=Marjorie |title=Ending Poverty Through Affordable Credit to Small-Scale Cotton Farmers: The Case of the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe |date=2020 |work=Scaling up SDGs Implementation: Emerging Cases from State, Development and Private Sectors |pages=115–127 |editor-last=Nhamo |editor-first=Godwell |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-33216-7_8 |isbn=978-3-030-33216-7 |last2=Nyawenze |first2=Collen |last3=Mandumbu |first3=Ronald |last4=Mutsiveri |first4=Godfrey |last5=Gadzirayi |first5=Christopher T. |last6=Munyati |first6=Vincent T. |last7=Rugare |first7=Joyful Tatenda |series=Sustainable Development Goals Series |s2cid=214161949 |editor2-last=Odularu |editor2-first=Gbadebo O. A. |editor3-last=Mjimba |editor3-first=Vuyo}}</ref>

=== Prejudice and exploitation ===
{{see also|criminalization of poverty}}
[[File:Oxfam East Africa - SomalilandDrought022.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The urban poor buy water from water vendors for, on average, about 5 to 16 times the metered price.<ref name=Kenny>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/12/05/trickle-down-economics/|title=Trickle-Down Economics|publisher=foreignpolicy.com|date=5 December 2011|access-date=18 December 2014|archive-date=2 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502084305/http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/12/05/trickle-down-economics/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]Cultural factors, such as discrimination of various kinds, can negatively affect productivity such as [[ageism|age discrimination]], [[stereotype|stereotyping]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usccb.org/cchd/epic/www/causesofpovertya.html |title=Ending Poverty in Community (EPIC) |publisher=Usccb.org |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=9 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309014134/http://www.usccb.org/cchd/epic/www/causesofpovertya.html |url-status=live }}</ref> discrimination against people with physical disability,<ref name=disabpov>Filmer, D. (2008), "Disability, poverty, and schooling in developing countries: results from 14 household surveys", ''The World Bank Economic Review'', 22(1), pp. 141–163
* Yeo, R. (2005), [http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/Disability/RedPov_agenda.pdf Disability, poverty and the new development agenda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213072542/http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/Disability/RedPov_agenda.pdf |date=13 February 2015 }}, Disability Knowledge and Research, UK Government, pp. 1–33</ref> [[sexism|gender discrimination]], [[racism|racial discrimination]], and [[caste|caste discrimination]]. [[Child poverty|Children]] are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as adults.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Child poverty|url=https://www.unicef.org/social-policy/child-poverty|access-date=2021-10-21|website=www.unicef.org|language=en}}</ref> Women are the group suffering from the highest rate of poverty after children, in what is referred to as the [[feminization of poverty]]. In addition, the fact that women are more likely to be caregivers, regardless of income level, to either the generations before or after them, exacerbates the burdens of their poverty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1100634217286-881/ReGenderPovertyPrimerFront.pdf|title=Gender Lens on Poverty|access-date=3 December 2019|archive-date=15 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615045556/http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1100634217286-881/ReGenderPovertyPrimerFront.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Those in poverty have increased chances of incurring a disability which leads to a cycle where [[disability and poverty]] are mutually reinforcing.

[[Max Weber]] and some schools of [[modernization theory]] suggest that cultural [[Value (personal and cultural)|values]] could affect economic success.<ref>Moore, Wilbert. 1974. ''Social Change.'' Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.</ref><ref>Parsons, Talcott. 1966. ''Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives.'' Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.</ref> However, researchers{{Who|date=November 2009}} have gathered evidence that suggest that values are not as deeply ingrained and that changing economic opportunities explain most of the movement into and out of poverty, as opposed to shifts in values.<ref name="kerbo2006a">Kerbo, Harold. 2006. ''Social Stratification and Inequality: Class Conflict in Historical, Comparative, and Global Perspective'', 6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.</ref> A 2018 report on [[poverty in the United States]] by UN special rapporteur [[Philip Alston]] asserts that caricatured narratives about the rich and the poor (that "the rich are industrious, entrepreneurial, patriotic and the drivers of economic success" while "the poor are wasters, losers and scammers") are largely inaccurate, as "the poor are overwhelmingly those born into poverty, or those thrust there by circumstances largely beyond their control, such as physical or mental disabilities, divorce, family breakdown, illness, old age, unlivable wages or discrimination in the job market."<ref>{{cite news |date=4 June 2018 |title="Contempt for the poor in US drives cruel policies," says UN expert |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/06/contempt-poor-us-drives-cruel-policies-says-un-expert |publisher=OHCHR |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=17 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917141810/https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23172&LangID=E |url-status=live }}</ref> Societal perception of people experiencing economic difficulty has historically appeared as a conceptual dichotomy: the "good" poor (people who are physically impaired, disabled, the "ill and incurable," the elderly, pregnant women, children) vs. the "bad" poor (able-bodied, "valid" adults, most often male).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brodiez-Dolino|first=Axelle|date=2021-06-07|title=Perceptions of People in Poverty Throughout History|url=https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/perceptions-poorest-people-throughout-history/|access-date=2021-06-08|website=ATD Fourth World|language=en-US|type=Online written interview.|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608192811/https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/perceptions-poorest-people-throughout-history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to experts, many women become victims of trafficking, the most common form of which is [[survival sex|prostitution]], as a means of survival and economic desperation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-05-15-voa30-68815957.html?rss=human+rights+and+law |title=Experts encourage action against sex trafficking |publisher=.voanews.com |date=15 May 2009 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501101647/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-05-15-voa30-68815957.html?rss=human+rights+and+law |archive-date=1 May 2011 }}</ref> Deterioration of living conditions can often compel children to abandon school to contribute to the family income, putting them at risk of being exploited.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/thailand/091027/economic-crisis-the-sex-trade-and-children |title=Child sex boom fueled by poverty |publisher=Globalpost.com |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=1 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101005703/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/thailand/091027/economic-crisis-the-sex-trade-and-children |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, in [[Zimbabwe]], a number of girls are turning to sex in return for food to survive because of the increasing poverty.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=Mike |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8096874.stm |title=Zimbabwean girls trade sex for food |work=BBC News |date=12 June 2009 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=26 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726123910/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8096874.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> According to studies, as poverty decreases there will be fewer and fewer instances of violence.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lee|first=Steven|title=Poverty and Violence|issue=1|date=1996|page=67|issn=0037-802X|journal=Social Theory and Practice|volume=22|doi=10.5840/soctheorpract199622119}}</ref>