Showing papers on "Poverty published in 1980"

Poverty, inequality, and development

Abstract: Economists have traditionally concentrated on aggregate economic growth to measure a country's development, but previously they have also considered income distribution performance. In this book Gary Fields reverses conventional approaches by using income distribution as the primary indicator. He examines what is known about the distribution of income and poverty, inequality, and development. He explores the main causes of poverty and inequality and the extent to which they have been reduced by individual countries in the course of their economic growth. Recognizing that conclusions vary with the type of income distribution measure used, Fields proposes that changes in absolute poverty be adopted as the primary index of a developing nation's progress and suggests that the growth rate of the GNP and character of that growth be regarded as the principal determinants of the levels of poverty and inequality. This framework calls for new models new data. and new microanalytic techniques in order to understand the results of development efforts. Fields employs evidence from case studies of six developing nations to suggest some explanations for differing patterns of development and calls for development planning founded on a firm commitment to helping the poor.

The Social Creation of Poverty and Dependency in Old Age

Abstract: This article examines in detail some recent data on the living standards of elderly people. It is argued that poverty is related to low resources and restricted access to resources and therefore the article includes summarized information about a wide range of benefits and services. Questions are raised concerning the various social policies and processes which have contributed to the creation of poverty and dependency in old age. The growing importance of retirement is singled out for attention as one significant factor contributing to the depressed social status of the elderly, and as part of the general tendency in British society to devalue the worth of elderly people. It is this social relationship between age and the labour market which deserves attention from policy-makers, who have tended to concentrate on the consequences rather than the causes of dependency.

Patterns of Money Management within Marriage

Abstract: Much social and economic policy is based upon units such as the tax unit or the household, and much of it makes certain assumptions about flows of resources within these units. This article focuses on the control and allocation of financial resources within households, drawing on work done in the past and on original material taken from a study of the problems of a group of women whose marriages had broken down because of violence. Concentrating on the household type which is composed of a married couple and their dependent children, the article outlines three broad types of allocation system – the whole wage system, the allowance system and the pooling system. It is suggested that there are links between the system of allocation within the family, the stage in the life cycle which the family has reached, the income level of the household, and the occupational, regional and ethnic culture within which the household is located. The article concludes by suggesting that a better knowledge of intra-household money flows would be relevant to discussion concerned with the distribution of poverty, the allocation of welfare benefits, and the contribution made by married women's earnings to family living standards, and that it would also contribute to a better understanding of marital tension and marital breakdown.

Education and Income Distribution in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature

Abstract: Excerpt] This paper is a survey of the available literature on education and income distribution in developing countries. Education may affect the distribution of income in a variety of ways: by raising the level of income; by changing, for better or worse, the dispersion of income; by opening up new opportunities for the children of the poor and thereby serving as a vehicle for social mobility and/or, by limiting participation to the children of the well-to-do, transmitting intergenerational inequality; by offering greater access to favored segments of the population (boys, city-dwellers, certain racial groups); by rewarding differently the education received by these groups; through public financing, by taxing some more heavily to subsidize the education of others; and by interacting with fertility, mortality, health, and other aspects of development.

Inside the Third World: The anatomy of poverty

Abstract: Paul Harrison has provided a comprehensive guide to the roots of mass poverty, to the social strains and political instability that turn one Third World country after another into dangerous flashpoints - an ever-growing threat to the world's peace and prosperity. From climate and colonialism, through land hunger, exploding cities and unemployment, to over population, malnutrition, disease and illiteracy, the wealth of facts and analysis is brought home in first hand, often harrowing accounts of the realities of life for poor people and poor communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The economics of individual and population aging: Economic status of the elderly

Abstract: The economic well-being of the elderly has been the focus of considerable public debate during the past two decades in most developed countries. The standard of living attainable by the aged differs from country to country and is determined in part by the national per capita income, government transfers to the elderly, and the propensity and ability of older persons to continue to work. The international commitment to the income support of the elderly through social security systems is noted in Chapter 8, whereas the following discussion outlines the absolute and relative economic position of older Americans through an examination of currently available data and research assessing the economic status of the aged. This analysis should be considered as illustrative of worldwide changes in the sources and patterns of income of the elderly. Although the American experience is not fully comparable to that of other nations, this examination does indicate the effects of a maturing national pension system and the decline in labor-force participation of the elderly. Of course, many problems such as inflation transcend institutional frameworks and international boundaries. Income of the aged The number of individuals 65 and over with incomes below the Social Security Administration's poverty level declined from 5.5 million in 1959 to 3.3 million in 1976, a reduction in the proportion of the nation's elderly below this poverty index from 35.2 to 15.0 percent. The decline in the poverty rate of the aged families was even more pronounced, falling from 27 to 8 percent during this period (U.S. Bureau of the Census Series P-60, No. 106, p. 21; also No. 107, p. 20).

Poverty and living standards in Asia.

Abstract: The current concern over chronic poverty and over high and even rising income inequality in many countries of the developing world points up the need for deeper understanding of not simply the numbers of the poor but also the nature of poverty. Research into those socioeconomic and demographic characteristics that differentiate income and expenditure groups is needed to guide appropriate planning strategies. Using available income and expenditure surveys of households at the national level a project was undertaken to evaluate data on economic distribution in Asia. Analysis of findings from 8 surveys in 5 countries indicates poverty is associated with larger than average household size a higher dependency ratio; lower educational attainment less access to employment and higher unemployment. The demographic findings in particular suggest that transfer programs in the short run and voluntary fertility control in the long run may contribute to an improvement in the living standards of the poor. (Authors)

Poverty and growth in Kenya

Abstract: Trends in poverty and income distribution in Kenya between 1963 and 1974 are investigated. Three major processes determine the incidence of poverty in Kenya: land concentration, smallholder innovation, and increased competition for scarce resources on marginal dry lands. Appropriate policies must either halt land concentration and the competition for marginal land or promote smallholder innovation. Land concentration policies could focus on direct intervention in the land market, adjustment of interest rates, or taxation to change urban income distribution. Reduction of competition for land should involve the raising of pastoralists' income through reduction of overgrazing activities. Smallholder innovation could be promoted through improving poorer smallholders' access to urban-based formal sector jobs or supplementing on-farm income. Thus, there are a number of policy options to arrest the harmful and enhance the beneficial processes that have determined the success or failure of Kenya's efforts to redress poverty. 101 references.

Changing patterns of migrant labour and rural differentation in Lesotho

Abstract: This paper considers the changing nature of rural differentiation in Lesotho as recruitment of labour migrants becomes increasingly selective and limited and as a new system of land tenure is implemented. The operation and effect of the present labour “stabilization” policies of the South African mines is discussed as are the provisions of the Lesotho Land Act 1979. Rural differentiation in Lesotho of the mid 1970s is then analyzed in terms of the relationship between access to migrants’ remittances and arable allotments on the one hand and the domestic developmental cycle on the other. This suggests some of the implications of wider socio‐economic changes at the local level. Differentiation will become increasingly permanent and a growing number of rural households will no longer be able to depend on remitted earnings. In all likelihood many of them will also be unable to gain access to arable allotments. This will result in the exacerbation of already existing poverty which, until recently, has been cus...

Rural Women: Unequal Partners in Development

Abstract: Outlines the basic reasons for women's growing inequality and dependence especially in rural areas, and the concomitant food shortages and poverty in many developing countries. This book should be of interest to all those concerned with women's development.

Poverty and economic growth: has trickle down peterd out?

Abstract: The importance of the "trickle-down" effect of economic growth is a key issue in policy debate regarding tax reform, government expenditures, and efficiency-equity tradeoffs. For this reason, a recent study by Thornton, Agnello, and Link (1978) examining the relationship between poverty and economic growth from 1947 to 1974 deserves careful review. The authors (hereafter TAL) show that the trickle-down effect of economic growth on poverty, defined using a fixed threshold, is significantly less in the post 1963 period than in the 1947-1963 period. They conclude that trickle down has "petered out" and predict it will vanish in the future (pp. 386, 394). Moreover, they argue that there has been no statistically significant trickle-down effect in the post 1963 period for any demographic group when a definition of poverty using an increasing threshold is used. TAL draw what they regard as an obvious policy implication: "Since primary reliance on future economic growth to reduce poverty will be largely unsuccessful, expanded programs directed specifically at poor families will be required if poverty is to be eliminated" (p. 394). The purpose of this note is to show that TAL's results are sensitive to the particular specification of their model and that their specification may be inappropriate. In particular, the finding that trickle down has petered out result directly from their use of a questionable dependent variable. Reestimation of the model (with their data) using an alternative dependent variable indicates that there exists no significant evidence that the relationship between poverty and economic growth has changed in the post 1963 period. In addition to challenging the validity of TAL's empirical results, this note questions the interpretation and policy implications drawn from their analysis.

Rural Poverty Unperceived: Problems and Remedies

Abstract: The thesis of this paper is that there are major obstacles to perceiving the nature and the extent of rural poverty in developing countries. These obstacles originate not only in the nature of rural poverty itself, but also in the condition of those, not themselves of the rural poor, who do or, more significantly, do not perceive that poverty. The argument has implications for all rural development programs and projects, and for the training of staff. The conclusion is that reversals of current positions and practices are required if the obstacles are to be surmounted, if the nature and the extent of rural poverty are to be truly appreciated, and if future actions are to be tailored to the actual needs of the rural poor.

Levels of poverty : policy and change

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of poverty, changes in poverty over time, and some of the causes of these changes It opens with a discussion of various concepts of poverty, paying particular attention to recent controversy over nutitional norms and to the debate on whether poverty should be measured by such results as life expectancy or by such inputs as income The comparative success of a wide range of countries in reducing poverty is then assessed, and a detailed examination is made of selected countries; South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Yugoslavia Particular attention is given to the causes of success and to the difficulties of drawing lessons from success stories The paper then focuses on extreme causes of poverty, such as the famines in Bangladesh and Ethiopia in the first part of the 1970s It concludes with a hypothetical dialogue on policy between the author and a developing-country finance minister

Unemployment and Poverty

Abstract: This article looks at the relationship between unemployment and poverty for the period 1967-75. Looking at individuals in households, we find that the number of persons living in poverty would have been reduced by about 10 percent if all unemployment of household heads had been eliminated. Focusing on male household heads, we find that among prime-age men, the working poor were almost twice as likely as other workers to become unemployed and, when unemployed, the poor lost twice as large a fraction of their expected ten-year work time and labor income.