Abstract

In spite of the fact that there is some lucidity within the field of poverty with
respect to the concept, measurements, causes, and the way forward, those
exterior to the field are confronted with an apparently complex poverty
literature, overlapping terminology, and several published measures. Therefore,
the objective of this review was to give an overview of concepts, measurements,
causes and the way forward on poverty. A systematic literature review was
performed by searching websites, and electronic databases from January 2000 to
September 2020, and the selected articles
were then analyzed thematically. Twenty research articles, and 23 website articles
were incorporated
in the analysis. In the current paper authors try to develop a guidance to the
academicians and policy
makers who are looking to use poverty in their work. Further, It gives an
outline of the various conceptualizations of poverty, and afterward give a set of
recommendations for researchers, and practitioners with respect to the most
appropriate measures of poverty for a scope of various purposes, and policy
implications for the way forward the poverty.
Keywords: Absolute Poverty, Global Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Poverty Line,
Poverty Measures
Introduction
Nowadays, the entire world is making enormous steps in overwhelming worldwide poverty. Earlier
more than 20% of the population in the world is under the extreme poverty, and it is a huge issue for
the whole world, since a large number of individuals die every year because of this big issue. Further,
it hinders the economic growth of a nation that a segment of the people has been financially
vulnerable. It has become a social, political, and economic issue all over the world especially in the
developing and third-world nations, and has been influencing on individuals, who are living with the
minimum level of standards. But, currently less than 10% of the global population live in extreme
poverty who are surviving on $1.90 a day or less (World Vision, 2018a). Hence, living in poverty
implies a daily existence of deprivation, and struggle. Therefore, the poverty is a big issue that wants
to be required to address by everyone in the world, because it is getting worst as time goes
onFurthermore, different definitions create complications for the comprehension of issues related to
the poverty, and finding the most ideal answer. Therefore, both the practical and theoretical phases
of poverty abolition correlated actions appear to be unfeasible, and theoretically unreliable in many
circumstances. Therefore, this review gives an overview of principle concepts of poverty to make
sure people understand what poverty is, different approaches to measuring it, the major and minor
causes of poverty and the way forward it at the global level.

A universally accepted, and concise meaning of poverty is elusive to a great extent, since it influences
numerous features of the people’s circumstances, such as, physical, psychological, and moral.
Therefore, various measures could be utilized for conceptualization of the poverty. Majority of the
investigations utilize the conventional perspective of poverty due to the inadequate earnings to buy
basic goods and services. Some other experts define poverty as a function of health, education, life
expectancy, child mortality etc. According to the findings of Blackwood and Lynch (1994), the poor
can be distinguished utilizing some criteria, such as the degrees of expenditure, and consumption.
Moreover, Sen (1983) described poverty as “entitlements which are taken to be the various bundles
of goods and services over which one has command, taking into cognizance the means by which such
goods are acquired and the availability of the needed goods” (p. 157).

However, others comprehend poverty in very expansive terms, for example, being not able to
address essential requirements for a quality life; “physical; food, shelter, education, health care”,
etc., and “non - physical; identity, participation”, etc. (World Bank, 2016). Poverty may emerge due
to the variations in the distribution of income or variations in average income. If the average incomes
are above the poverty line, the poverty will be less, but the other factors, such as the distribution of
income should be equal. When comparing two nations with equal poverty line, and mean incomes,
but one country has a broader income distribution or the country with high income inequality, for
instance, generally poverty might be higher in the country having greater inequality, meanwhile,
there might be comparatively greater amount of individuals having incomes below the poverty line.
Therefore, the income distribution plays a vital role in influencing the poverty.

The literature in the context of Social Science is abundant with endeavours by social scientists, and
economists to conceptualize the poverty. Generally, conceptualization of poverty could be done in
four different ways; “these are lack of access to basic needs/goods; a result of lack of or impaired
access to productive resources; outcome of inefficient use of common resources; and result of
exclusive mechanisms” (Olowa, 2012, p. 29). Poverty that is due to the absence of the access to the
elementary goods/services is basically economic or consumption focused. It clarifies poverty in
material terms, and explicitly utilizes consumption-based classifications to clarify the degree and
profundity of poverty, and set up whether who is poor, or not poor. Hence, the poor are imagined as
the people or families in a specific society who cannot afford a listed package of basic goods and
services.

Basic goods can be defined as “nutrition, shelter/housing, water, healthcare, access to productive
resources including education, working skills and tools and political and civil rights to participate in
decisions concerning socio-economic conditions” (Streeten and Burki, 1978, p. 415). The initial four
requirements are the fundamental necessities for living. Impeded admittance to the productive
resources, for example, financial assets, agricultural land, and physical capital; directs to
unemployment, undernourishment, absolute low income, etc. Insufficient endowment of human
capital is additionally a significant reason for the poverty. Normally, impeded admittance to the
resources changes the attention on poverty, and it diminishes the capacity of person to change
accessible beneficial assets to a better quality of life (Adeyeye, 1987; Ogwumike, 2002; Sen, 1976).

The article is structured in five sections. First, authors present the brief introduction of the statistics
of the global poverty, and poverty definitions. Then, we present the methodology of the systematic
review. Third, we provide an analysis of the results, outlining the theoretical implications and
practical contributions. Under this section majorly we discuss the poverty definitions, concepts,
measurements, causes, and the way forward. All the current definitions of poverty are discussed, for
example, absolute poverty approach definition, relativist poverty approach definition, and budget
standards method. As well as current concepts of poverty, for instance, absolute and relative poverty,
objective and subjective perspectives, physiological and sociological deprivations are also explained.
Moreover, measuring the poverty is very important to know the level of poverty in different
countries, and therefore, current poverty measurements, such as, headcount index, income gap
ratio, poverty gap and squared poverty gap, Sen index, the Sen-Shorrocks-Thon index are given and
the pros and cons of them are discussed. Furthermore, different root causes of poverty, for example,
low economic growth performance, microeconomic shocks and policy failures, labour market
deficiencies, migration, unemployment and underemployment, human resource development, debt
burden, governance, crime and violence, and environmental degradation are explained. As the final
part of the discussion how the poverty is reduced is discussed under the topic of the way forward.
Fourth, we conclude the findings, and finally, discuss the limitations of the study by proposing
avenues for future research.

Methodology
This literature review had four related objectives; first to identify different concepts of poverty that
are used in the literature. The second aim was to identify previous studies that have explored the
validity and reliability of the specific poverty measures identified, and their related pros and cons.
Third, to review the major and minor causes of the poverty that are identified related to the different
countries, and finally, discuss the methods that are used to reduce the global poverty.

To accomplish the expressed review objectives, a systematic literature review was done by utilizing
an archival method to review the articles cited in the databases; Google Scholar, SCOPUS, and web
sites; Google, Yahoo, and Google Scholar with poverty as the major topic. Therefore, this review was
a desk research rather than a survey or any other mode of researching.

In this case, three significant observations were identified. First, a systematic review permits authors
to choose the most significant studies to address the research question, and it reduces the risk of
errors. Second, the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria are served to recognize, select, and
unfavorably evaluate existing empirical studies that are related to the review objectives. This
methodology is thus associated with a structured design, and thus, duplications are allowed. Third,
the rising number of research on poverty have created contradictory results about the concept,
measurements, causes, and the way forward. Therefore, it is challenging to get an overall clear view
on the topic poverty.

Results and Discussion

Forty-three articles were selected to extract the details of poverty concept, measurements, causes
and the way forward, and discussed below.

Definitions of Poverty
According to the existing literature, various kinds or classes of poverty definitions and indicators are
available. Due to the multidimensional nature of the poverty, it is defined and estimated in a huge
number of ways. Further, the unpredictability nature of the problem, the multifaceted idea of the
phenomenon and the related various concepts are the best way to give introduction to the issue of
the poverty. However, both social policies, and poverty investigations utilize a varied assortment of
poverty explanations, but all of them might be categorized under one of the given classifications;
• “Poverty is having less than an objectively defined, absolute minimum”
• “Poverty is having less than others in society, in relative terms”
• “Poverty is feeling you do not have enough to get along” (Panday, 2008, p. 183).
The first group of definitions is absolute, while second group is relative. The combination of both
absolute and relative poverty are included in the third group. Characterizing the degree of poverty
based on the various explanations under the above given classifications might bring about various
evaluations of the quantity of poor individuals in the population.

Absolute Poverty Approach Definition

This approach to characterizing poverty starts with the “minimum subsistence” concept which is
described as, “some bundles of goods and services that are regarded as essential to the physical need
of an individual or a family” (Eskelinen, 2011, p. 1). The individuals who cannot afford these goods
and services due to lack of the ample monetary assets are viewed as poor. This strategy for
investigation was most frequently utilized in the first phase of this century, but the researchers
nowadays seldom employ the absolutist approach, because it comprises theoretical and
methodological complications, for example, the quantitative assessment of the demand for
necessities, and determination of necessities.

Relativist Poverty Approach Definition

As per the relativist poverty method to describing poverty, “the mean or median value of national
income represents the economic indicator which corresponds to the dominant life style. An
individual or a family whose income is less than that value can be defined as being on the poverty
threshold, with no means to live in that life style” (Eskelinen, 2011, p. 26). For instance, an individual
or household with less than 50% of the average after-tax income could be defined as poor.

Several criticisms are associated with the relative poverty. First, it propagates poverty in the
measurable sense that some fixed percentage of the population is constantly viewed as poor, and
poverty thus persistently occurs. Second, a relative poverty approach could offer an approximation
of the magnitude of the poor, but any data on the quality of life of the poor are not given.

Budget Standards Method Definition

This definition depends on the assurance of a list of requirements. Individuals who cannot acquire
all necessities on the list could be viewed as poor. It is an absolutist methodology in structure,
however different socially decided fundamental requirements are fused to shape a bunch of financial

plans. All in all, this definition depends on the idea of a set of goods and services consisting the
components of “subsistence” and “basic minimums” for social lives.

There are criticisms against this method. First, it is difficult to produce commonly satisfied criteria
for choosing the necessities to be incorporated into the list. Second, the description of necessities is
also depended on the societal development. Therefore, subjective value-judgments must be made in
the context of each community’s financial conditions to build up the constituents. Third, it needs
colossal endeavours to build up a financial plan for the expenditure constituents, and to maintain
each list up-to-date in accordance with altering social conditions.

According to Mat Zin (2011), the case, and generic theories of poverty are highly concerned with
poverty. Based on the case theories of poverty, people who cannot uphold themselves and to
manage the cost of the fundamental necessities without the help are viewed as living in poverty, for
example, drug addicts, older people, handicapped people, and mentally ill persons. As indicated in
the generic theories of poverty, macro-economic issues are associated with the poverty, for example,
low demand, low national income, and inadequate employment opportunities.

Concepts of Poverty
Absolute and Relative Poverty
Absolute and relative terms could be used to define Poverty. Absolute poverty alludes to survival
beneath least, socially adequate living circumstances, normally settled dependent on basic products,
and nutritional necessities. Relative poverty looks at the most minimal sections of a populace with
upper fragments, typically estimated in income quintiles or deciles. Absolute and relative poverty
patterns might move in inverse ways. For instance, relative poverty might decline while absolute
poverty increments, if the gap between lower and upper strata of a population is diminished by a
decrease in well-being of the previous, while extra family units fall underneath the absolute poverty
line.

Amartya Sen brings up that “poverty could be an absolute concept in the space of abilities, however,
relative in that of characteristics or commodities” (Sen, 1994, p. 10). Moreover, both the absolute
and relative poverty are related to fluctuations in conditions, and a similar circumstance emerges,
when status or cultural values alter over time. To cite Paul Streeten, “Absolute deprivation is a
function of relative advantage” (Streeten, 1994, p. 19).

Objective and Subjective Perspectives

Objective or subjective perspectives are alternative way to approach poverty. The objective
perspective includes normative judgements as to what comprises poverty, and what is necessary to
transfer individuals out of their underprivileged state. The subjective perspective puts a best on
individuals’ inclinations, on the amount they esteem services and goods. Economists have generally
put together their effort with respect to the objective method, mainly due to the hindrances
experienced when attempting to aggregate numerous individual utilities over a population. The
poverty estimation has customarily been overwhelmed by the objective method. But, generally the
global community recently has taken a serious enthusiasm in measuring subjective poverty.

Physiological and
Sociological Deprivations
The perceived causes of poverty are important to derive several poverty concepts and they could be
separated into two forms of deprivations; physiological and sociological. With respect to previous,
the line of thinking is as per the following; people could be poor due to lack of food, clothing, shelter,
and income. Both the fundamental necessities, and income concepts of poverty originate from
physiological deprivations. Procedures to decrease poverty rising up out of these methodologies
focus on expanding the salary/utilization of poor people and their achievement of “satisfiers” of
essential needs, for example, education, and health.

The concepts of poverty rising up out of the point of view of sociological deprivations are established
in fundamental basic imbalances and natural hindrances. They depend on perceptions that in any
event, when assets are flowing into divisions overwhelmed by poor people, the last will most likely
be unable to exploit them due to basic obstructions. These imperatives hinder the access to
“external” resources, for example, infrastructure, common property, and credit, and “internal”
assets, for example, health, nutrition, and education by the poor. Along with this, poverty is “not
merely in the impoverished state in which the person actually lives, but also in the lack of real
opportunity-due to social constraints as well as personal circumstances-to lead valuable and valued
lives” (UNDP, 1997, p. 16).

Measurements of Poverty
Poverty could be estimated in various manners by governments, global organizations, policy makers
and practitioners. Generally, poverty is estimated by contrasting an individual’s or household’s
minimum amount of income expected to cover fundamental needs or income to a
set poverty threshold. Persons whose income is fallen under their threshold are regarded as poor
(The U.S. Census Bureau, 2019).

The poverty is known as “multidimensional, involving social, natural and economic components
arranged inside more extensive socio-political procedures” (Wikipedia, 2019a, p. 1). Therefore,
measuring poverty without dismissing its different measurements is essential, and Adeyeye and
Ajakaiye (1999), focused on poverty estimation is attempted to; decide a measure for estimating way
of life, choose a cut-off poverty line that isolates the poor from the non-poor, assess the
dissemination of way of life among poor people, assessment of poverty over the long haul, among
people, households, or countries, and establish a guiding policy on poverty alleviation.

The desired characteristics of measuring of the poverty are;

• “Monotonicity axiom- measure of poverty should increase when the income of the
poor family unit diminishes.
• The transfer axiom- poverty of family unit should increase when income is moved from
a poor to a less poor family unit.
• Demonstrate the distribution of living standard among poor people
• The measure ought to be additively decomposable by populace sub groups” (Morduch,
2006, p. 20).

By measuring poverty, we can realize how much poverty occurs in our society, differentiate which
groups are generally influenced by poverty and screen changes in its level and dispersion. The well

known strategy for estimating poverty is by a study in which a representative sample of individuals
are requested to participate a survey that contains questions on their income and spending (SILC
preliminary report, 2010). A person is viewed as poor if either expenditure or income falls
underneath some least level that characterizes basic necessities in each society called, the poverty
line. It is not equivalent everywhere because it is comparative with what is the standard in a specific
nation.

The fundamental poverty line utilized in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), and the European Union is a relative poverty measure dependent on
“economic distance”, a degree of income normally set at 60% of the median family income
(Wikipedia, 2019b). A poverty threshold or a worldwide poverty line is the line underneath, which it
is hard to manage the cost of essential requirements, and it is the standard poverty line for estimating
the global poverty. The poverty line is resolved in every nation by including the expense of addressing
least needs, for example, food and shelter. Though, comparatively new estimates, for example, the
Global Multidimensional Poverty Index incorporates estimations of living standards, education, and
health as poverty indications.

The poverty lines are different nations to nation, for example, the cost of living in higher income
nations’ is greater, and thus the poverty line is greater, as well. The World Bank (2018) declared novel
middle poverty lines, and the nations are grouped into “low-income”, “middle-income”, and “high-
income” countries, and developed the “median poverty line” for those categories:
• “$1.91 per person per day - in 33 low-income countries
• $3.21 per person per day - in 32 lower-middle-income countries, such as India and the
Philippines
• $5.48 per person per day - in 32 upper-middle-income countries, such as Brazil and
South Africa
• $21.70 per person per day - in 29 high-income countries” (World Bank, 2018)

Presently $1.90 set as the worldwide poverty line per day, and it is considered as the universal
standard for estimating worldwide poverty. It assists to quantify the quantity of individuals existing
in extreme poverty, and assists with contrasting levels of poverty between nations. When the proper
standard for poverty line is utilized for the estimations, the information might be deciphered via
utilizing various methods for measures, for example, the “Headcount Ratio, the Income Gap Ratio,
the Poverty Gap, the Squared Poverty Gap, the Sen Index, and The Sen-Shorrocks-Thon Index” (World
Bank, 2016). But, not all these poverty indicators have the similar ramifications because of the way
that they change regarding characteristics that they give as insight. Three noteworthy measurements,
about which an ideal poverty measure might be “Three I’s of poverty” which are “incidence”,
“intensity”, and “inequality”. Whereas, the incidence denotes the measure is capable to indicate the
quantity of individuals beneath the poverty line, the intensity infers the seriousness of poverty, and
the inequality implies whether the measure uncovers the level of inequality among poor people
(Jenkins and Lambert, 1997).

Headcount Index
The headcount index or headcount ratio is “the population proportion that exists or lives below
the poverty threshold” (Tendulkar and Jain, 1995, p. 1375). It is considered that the ordinarily
prepared measure of the poverty due to its easiness to conduct, and to be compared. In the event
that the headcount proportion is half, it implies that the half of the population is below the neediness
line. Nevertheless, it fulfills just the focus and population axioms, and it indicates just occurrence
measurement of poverty. Thus, it may be less instructive as well as deluding.

Income Gap Ratio

“The average contrast between the poverty line and the average income of poor people is called the
Income Gap Ratio” (Duclos and Araar, 2006, p. 84). If the average income of the poor equivalents to
the 80% of the poverty line, the income gap ratio of a population is equal to the 20%. Moreover, the
intensity of the poverty could be indicated by the Income gap ratio, while it lacks intuition about
inequality and incidence. Further, similar headcount ratio, it meets all requirements for the
concentration, and population axioms while it disrupts the transfer principles and monotonicity.

Poverty Gap and Squared Poverty Gap

The Poverty Gap is obtained by linking the income gap ratio and headcount ratio, and can
demonstrate the both the rate and intensity of the poverty simultaneously. It is an important
measure that fulfills monotonicity unlike income gap ratio, and headcount ratio. It does not portray
the adjustments in the inequality with poor people. To quantify inequality, other than intensity and
incidence among the poor people, the Squared Poverty Gap is used, which can display the
consequences of move of income inside the populace of the poor that is likewise sensitive to the
fluctuations in the inequality.

Sen Index
The Sen Index was introduced in 1976 by Amartya Sen as a poverty measuring index that fulfills all
axioms, together with the transfer principle, by means of expansion of Gini Index of the poor people
(Sen, 1976). Moreover, it might consist all three I’s of the poverty. Inability to be decomposed is the
major constraint which is associated with the Sen Index.

The Sen-Shorrocks-Thon Index

The Sen-Shorrocks-Thon (SST) index is one of the modified versions of the Sen index, and could be
defined as “which is the product of the headcount index, the poverty gap index (applied to the poor
only), and a term with the Gini coefficient of the poverty gap ratios for the whole population”
(Haughton and Khandker, 2009, p. 75).

Approaches to Measuring Poverty

In the process of measuring the poverty, two fundamental questions should be addressed (Bibi, 2005,
p. 5);

“How do the various concepts of poverty convert into indicators for assessing it?
How does one guarantee the exact compatibility between definition, and indicators?”

Therefore, first step is to investigate the various kinds and groups of indicators available to us. In
order to differentiate families of poverty indicators, two basic types of distinction that can be used

Quantitative
are quantitative/qualitative, and ends/means.

and Qualitative
Sometimes most of the people are unable to differentiate the difference between quantitative and
qualitative indicators, and subjective and objective approaches of poverty. In fact, both quantitative
and qualitative indicators could be used to measure the objective concept of poverty, and the similar
approaches can be applied to subjective methodologies. For instance, an objective method to
measure the poverty might reveal that perceptions of declining educational standards are the main
reason of decreasing the enrolment for schools. Similarly, a subjective method to measure the
poverty might disclose that family organization is a focal trait of the poverty. The misperception arises
due to the key approaches; the survey questionnaires to gain objective poverty indicators, which
usually place a premium on quantitative data. On the contrary, the tools which are utilized to
determine subjective approaches of poverty result in substantial quantities of qualitative data.
Quantitative data could be accumulated, while qualitative data normally cannot. In contrast,
qualitative data might offer a subtler image of reality than can quantitative data.

Ends and Means

The difference between “means” and “ends” is a theoretical gap with respect to monitor the poverty.
The means denotes to the indicators of inputs planned to accomplish a final result, whereas the ends
measure the final outcomes. For instance, the price of a basic food package is a “means” parameter,
while dietary value is the “ends” type. “The fact that certain means indicators correspond to
measurable ends should not be misconstrued to imply that the former are exclusively responsible for
latter outcomes” (Banfield, 1959, p. 362). Poverty has been conventionally estimated utilizing
“means” indicators, of which the most widely recognized in the money metric family. Availability of
different kinds of “means” indicators are the major advantage of utilizing “means” approach, while
the essentiality of utilizing a proxy, or set of proxies with changing degrees of relationship to person’s
poverty definition is the key disadvantage. Despite the fact that “ends” indicators associate more
intimately with the incident being estimated, they have a tendency to change gradually over time,
and not adequate to monitor the poverty for the short and medium terms. Therefore, when
considering the factors, such as, strengths and weaknesses of both indicator types, the purpose of
the measurement of poverty, and the data availability, the ideal practical method to measure the
poverty is the combination of both “means” and “ends” indicators. (Bronfenbrenner and Lampman,
1974).

Conceptual Issues in the Measurement of Poverty

The selection of factors may influence discoveries on the synthesis just as on the extent of the
population of poor, and therefore, the policy type may contrast accordingly. “The choice of poverty
indicator, unit of analysis, and equivalence scales, and poverty head-count versus poverty gap” are
the four significant conceptual issues which are considered in the process of measuring poverty (Liu
and Wu, 1998).

Causes of Poverty
Instead of one determinant or cause, the poverty is caused by the combination of several complex
factors, for instance, low productivity and low wages in the informal sector, inappropriate
macroeconomic policies, deficiencies in the labour market resulting in limited job growth, low or
negative economic growth, and a lag in human resource development. Furthermore, other features
such as, deterioration in living standards, and determinants of poverty or structural causes, for

example, environmental degradation, increase in crime and violence, retrenchment of workers, a fall
in the actual value of safety nets, and changes in household organization.
Low Economic Growth Performance
Economic development of a country is compulsory for the decrease the poverty. Despite the fact
that, the financial development of nations in the different areas of the world has commonly been
profoundly unstable since the 1980s, all in all, development rates were completely declined in some
nations or negative or low due to the different external issues, for example, instabilities in worldwide
interest rates on third world nations’ external debt, changes in global demand for exports, and severe
alterations in numerous nations’ terms of trade. Moreover, all these external shocks are most likely
accountable for the rise in level of poverty in different nations worldwide.

Macroeconomic Shocks and Policy Failure

The macroeconomic disequilibrium is one of the major phenomenon that is faced by the several
economies of the world, mostly due to the natural disasters, terms-of-trade shocks, and balance of
payments due to expansive aggregate demand policies, and it is important to embrace significant
policy transformations. Therefore, such economies are susceptible to the poverty. Furthermore,
both the macro-economic shocks, and policy failures are accountable for poverty massively due to
the constraints of utilizing the most prominent labour asset of the poor people. Likewise, economic
policies that antagonistically influence cost and admittance to credit by the poor, and will affect the
poor negatively.

Labour Markets Deficiencies

A virile labour market is essential to decreasing the income inequality and poverty. In many nations
worldwide the most of poor families contribute to the labour market in several ways, and therefore,
poverty is the major reason for the low labour revenues to the self-employment activities of the rural
areas, low wages, underemployment, and sometimes, prolonged unemployment. These issues are
influenced in various manners by deficits in labour market. The higher percentage of the labourers
engage as paid workers in the private informal sector, trailed by the workers in the government
sector. Due to the prevailing inadequacies in the labour market, restricted absorption capacity, and
occupation development in the formal sector are the major issues that are faced by the poor.

Migration
Migration rates play an important role to reduce the poverty particularly when most of people who
migrate are skilled workers. Conversely, persons who emigrate create vacancies in the labour
markets. Therefore, skills are drained due to the migration. Further, it diminishes the speed of
financial development, and hence, decelerates the overall job formation process.

Unemployment and Underemployment

Employment is one of the significant determinants of the poverty. Productive work is vital for an
employee to earn a sufficient income, and come out from the income poverty. Whereas, normally
the non-poor is affected by involuntary or transitional unemployment, the poor are confronted with
issues of structural unemployment due to lack of extremely low educational qualifications or skills,
medical problems, geographical isolation, and in some nations, discriminations could be taken place
due to the race or some other characteristics. Moreover, underemployment happens generally in
the informal sectors, and results in low earnings for a significant portion of the workforce, especially

in countryside. Unemployment is more due to the low financial development than to the direct
consequences of inadequacies in the labour trade, despite the fact that guidelines influencing the
formal sector are probably going to induce additional underemployment in the informal sector.

Human Resource Development

To tolerate the decrease in poverty fluctuations in the labour market can be achieved through the
continuous investment in human capital with enhancements in effectiveness. Investment in
individuals could uplift the living qualities of family units by increasing opportunities, attracting
capital investment, increasing earning power, and raising productivity. Moreover, giving extra
educational opportunities for teenagers might avoid some adolescences from getting associated with
drugs, violence, and gangs, given the proof connecting the culprits of crime after leaving the school.
Furthermore, healthiness is essential to social wellbeing, and a central goal of financial and social
development. Poor health holds back growth and economic development, shackles human capital,
impedes entrepreneurial activities, and reduces returns to learning. Therefore, illnesses are a source
of poverty, and vice versa.

Debt Burden
In some developing nations, debt burden is a significant factor that cause poverty. Those nations
servicing of the debt has influenced on the capacity of assets required for socio-economic
improvement. The industrious sector, for example, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. is similarly
constrained leading to low capacity utilization, low productivity, low purchasing power, and under
employment, thus directing the groups of individuals to abject poverty.

Governance
The pervasiveness and persistence of poverty in some nations are associated to the absence of wide
contribution in governance, and decision making. This leads among others to transparency in poor
accountability, resource allocation, weak programme implementation, and monitoring (Governance
Today, 2021). Finally, development programmes that are associated with an inefficient poverty
reduction activities are hence incapable, and wasting of resources.
Environmental Degradation
Environmental degradation is a source of accentuated poverty. Concurrently, poverty itself could be
a reason for the degradation of the natural environment. This reverse interconnection stems from
the fact that for poor individuals in some third world nations, for example, Nigeria, a various natural
habitats are complementary in manufacturing and consumption to other goods and services, while
various ecological assets supplement income most particularly in season of intense financial pressure
(Falconer and Arnold, 1989; Falconer, 1990). This could be a foundation of accumulative causations,
where environmental degradation, high fertility rates and poverty feed upon each other. Indeed, a
disintegration of the ecological resource base could make certain classes of individuals desperate
even when the economy on the average develops (Dasgupta, 1993).

Crime and Violence

A rise in crime and violence has affected badly to the quality of life to a varying magnitude in
numerous regions in the world. Though, people of all socioeconomic clusters are affected by these
social problems, the urban poor are the most vulnerable group. There are serious economic costs
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
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ISSN: 2 22 2-6990 © 2020 HRMARS
due to the crime and violence. For example, a growing percentage of government properties, which
are already limited, is essential to maintenance the rising prison population, strengthen police
enforcement, provide health care for persons injured by violence, and finance the demands place on
the judicial system. However, the harmful social effects of crime are firmly connected with poverty
(Hartinger-Saunders et al., 2012).

Way Forward
First of all, we have to identify the causing factors to end up the global poverty in a specific network,
and thereafter sorting out what requirements to change. Since, poverty seems to be unique in
different countries and is brought about by numerous factors. Hence, the process of eliminating
global poverty is varying according to the context.

Access to opportunities and developing imbalances in income should be addressed immediately.

Furthermore, rural and urban inequalities should be diminished and more consideration ought to be
paid to expand agricultural productivity while providing expanded opportunities in non-agricultural
sector too. For better economic and social opportunities, unplanned rural to urban migration is
happen frequently and it is common in majority of the developing countries. Finally, the result is
urban congestion and serious stress on urban facilities, for example, sanitation, water, affordable and
decent accommodation.

Asset mobilization methodologies, and the utilization of assets need cautious re-evaluation,
especially as outside conditions for customary types of improvement help, especially private capital
flows, and official development assistance (ODA), for example, worker remittances, and foreign direct
investments come to be uncertain progressively.

Financial assets should be organized to meet venture the gaps, and to finance the improvement of
sustainable and comprehensive infrastructure, sanitation, health, education, urban renewal, and
development of organizational capacity. Lessening poverty needs addressing a large group of
domestic and external challenges. Nationwide, endeavours have to be prepared to guarantee that
nations address low degrees of social protection, and growing degrees of inequality, governance,
combat food insecurity, close infrastructure gaps, fortify organizations and need to pay attention to
the adverse effects of climate change, ozone depletion, deforestation etc. to which nations with
specific requirements are highly vulnerable.

As estimated by the Gini index, degrees of income inequality have been expanded in numerous
nations with expanding per capita incomes, especially in significant economies of the region
(Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific (ESSAP), 2016). There is proof to propose that
other deprivations and poverty might be diminished more rapidly if inequality can likewise be
decreased, or possibly held consistent (Economic and Social Council, 2017). Encouraging the
“Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific” for one of the earliest endeavour by UNDP
to experimentally set up whether it was conceivable to pursue a methodology that would avoid rises
in inequality, concurrently decrease poverty, and boost growth.

One of the best approaches to diminish disparities and inequalities is to encourage the improvement
of activities and sectors where the vulnerable and poor people work and live. Due consideration
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ought to likewise be paid to the feasible utilization of biodiversity and natural resources, while
encouraging agricultural improvement, small and medium-sized enterprises, and informal sector
exercises whereupon the poor significantly depend for their livelihood.

In the poverty alleviation programmes, a special policy attention is needed for the vulnerable groups
such as, women, girls, the poor people and older people living in remote areas. Inappropriate
application or absence of legacy rights and unclear property rights are also contributed to their
marginalization. Skills development, asset formation, better access to public services, for example,
non-discriminatory admission to factor markets, including basic health, microcredit, and education
could increase their chances to take an interest in business sectors and upgrade their abilities to profit
by the financial development process.

In addition to that, food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition are some of the important factors that
should be addressed in poverty alleviation programs in nations with special requirements. The steady
supply of safe and nutritious food at affordable prices and at correct places and times when they
need it. A profitable agribusiness sector upheld by effective technology transfer services, transport
services, rural roads, and supply chains which are functioned appropriately are vital to guarantee the
food security to the poor people and the susceptible clusters.

Social protection in the types of universal access to free primary and secondary education, affordable
health care, minimum wages, unemployment benefits, benefits for people with disabilities, old age
pension schemes, widows’ allowances, microfinance programs, cash transfers, and support for
newborn babies and lactating mothers can form significant constituents in a nation’s poverty
decrease procedure as they keep individuals from dropping back into poverty in the consequence of
external shocks. Furthermore, those actions may take a part to promote labour productivity, labour
mobility, and making open doors for hazard acquiring and enhancing local demand by encouraging
consumption away from the protective savings. Likewise, proofs are available to propose that nations
who allocate a greater extent on social protection will generally result the lower rate of income
poverty (ESSAP, 2016).
Persistent and in numerous incidents, extreme gaps in infrastructure are held back sustainable
improvement and comprehensive growth in nations with distinct requirements with severe effects
on poor people and on endeavors to decrease their vulnerabilities, as infrastructure assists to create
a widespread range of environmental, social, and economic advantages available for the poor people,
and encourages local incorporation by improved connecting investment and trade opportunities
(Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Development Report, 2017). Infrastructure development
is required with the aim of convey services to individuals, associate markets, and exploit economic
and social opportunities.

Improvement of the roads, railways, bridges, and waterways are significant for moving individuals,
production inputs, and raw materials, finished products marketing and providing services. Energy,
such as natural gas, and electricity is fundamental to operate rural enterprises and continue
processing plants. Communication and information technologies increase the productivity and make
novel financial opportunities. Health, education, and hygienic facilities are significant to enhance
comprehensive growth and development, especially in enabling vulnerable groups and poor people.
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In every one of these areas, majority of nations with unique requirements face significant
infrastructure discrepancies, regularly complexes further by the absence of speculation and talented
human resources as well as organizational weaknesses.

The sustainability of the poverty-reduction process is completely depended on the optimistic path
that we use, because it is not required to meet the poverty-reduction target just to fall back in
successive years. On an empowering note, studies have proposed that lower initial degrees of
absolute poverty at a given mean utilization cultivate higher resulting paces of development in
average living standards in developing nations, and help to guarantee that economic development
itself is poverty reducing (Ravallion, 2012). Hence, a “virtuous cycle” could be foreseen that might
help to guarantee the sustainability of the poverty decreasing process.

In summary, since 1950, World Vision has been attempting to avoid the root causes of poverty, and
identified biggest challenges to be overcome in the process of eliminating of global poverty such as,
education, clean water, health, hunger and food security, gender equality, economic empowerment,
spiritual poverty, child protection, disability inclusion, and disaster relief (World Vision, 2018b).

Furthermore, this is the only study that review the concept of poverty for the period of 2000-2020,
and the current review has identified several concepts, measurements, causes, and suggests
potential suggestions to reduce or eliminate the poverty. Moreover, it gives a complete assessment
of existing literature as it depends on the results of numerous research carried out earlier, and related
web pages. The distinguishing of different variables in this article was carried out based on the
outcomes of various studies performed in different cultures and contexts, and the suitability of these
facts can be empirically studied in future studies, and can be used in their poverty alleviation
programmes.

There are significant managerial implications in the current review. It notifies research personals,
economists, and policy makers about the overview of principle concepts of poverty to make sure
people understand what poverty is, different approaches to measuring it, the major and minor causes
of poverty and the way forward it at the global level. Further, valuable implications for public policies
were introduced through the current review as well, and the pedagogists and policy makers should
additionally nurture and build up this trend via awareness programmes.

Conclusion
If any individual country suffers with extreme poverty, it has developed in to a significant issue, a risk
to the survival, stability, and improvement of the humankind and world. Nowadays, globalization can
play a significant role to make a bridge for connecting nations thus, any nations’ instability can
legitimately and profoundly influence the steadiness of other nations. The global network has to hold
hands to alleviate poverty with numerous governmental and non-governmental anti-poverty
organizations that operate both regionally and internationally, including United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Programme on
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD), Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), and Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA). The UNDP set eight
Millennium Development Goals which contain major recommendations for addressing problems
associate with poverty comprehensively (UNDP, 2017);
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• “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development”

Though, all of the above referenced recommendations performed straightforwardly by organizations,

and nations not only emphasis on the roots of poverty, but also break its cycle. Moreover, the poor
ought to have a feeling of their poverty, and must be accountable for their own destiny and effectively
battle poverty as opposed to sitting tight for help.

It is obligatory a significant alteration from their very own praxis which could enable them to
experience a procedure of solving problems, sharing, learning, and prompting to social
developments. The individuals and the government of any nation have to understand better than any
other individual clearly the characteristics and strengths of their countries. It pursues that they could
productively contribute to avoid causes of poverty, solving consequences of the poverty, and
preventing the return of poverty in their nations by numerous ways, for example, particularly through
the proper education, awareness programmes.

In conclusion, the war against poverty is not simple to end and take time, money, human resources
and energy. Once more, poor people and vulnerable groups ought to be educated to be completely
mindful of their circumstance to that they can beat poverty themselves. At the point when entire
world should grab hands in solving this global issue and then, the unending circle of poverty would
be terminated certainly in near future. But, every nation ought to be liable for finding fitting
approaches to beat poverty before getting supports from different nations.
Limitations and Future Research
In the current review, the authors attempted to be very systematic and accurate in choosing studies,
for example here we selected only the empirical research articles, and web pages related to the
poverty that have been published in the period of 2000-2020, and those shortcomings might be
overwhelmed by future studies. The factors recognized might have different influences on individuals
from different cultural and social backgrounds.

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