Reducing Poverty
The first graph shows the share of population living in extreme poverty by world region vs time. All continents, except for Europe and Central Asia, experienced a decrease in extreme poverty levels from 1987 to 2013. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest levels of extreme poverty amongst the population (around 40%), while all other regions have less than 15% share of extreme poverty. The second figure is a world map showing the countries’ progress in reducing GHI scores, which represent a country’s hunger situation. All countries that have had their GHI score calculated are showing a decrease in the score, indicating an improvement in the world hunger situation. Moreover, some countries such as China, Mongolia, Brazil, and Peru have experienced a 50% or more decrease in their GHI scores. The third graph shows the share of the world population living in extreme poverty as a percentage out of 100% over time. There is an evident downward sloping trend in the data with the share of population living in poverty declining from 95% to 9% from 1820 to 2015. The fourth graph shows the share of the population living in absolute poverty, defined as living with less than $1.25/day. The share of population living in absolute poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia have all stayed relatively static over time - experiencing a minor decrease. On the other hand, data for Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East Asia and Pacific show a significant decrease in poverty levels. The global curve too has a negative slope and has experienced a decrease of 36% in the share of world population living in absolute poverty. The next figure shows a curve demonstrating the amount of people living on $1.25 or less a day from 1990 to 2030. The curve is downward sloping and is predicting that in 2030, there will be 0.3 billion people living on $1.25 or less a day versus the 1.6 billion in 1990. The next figure shows a graph of the death toll from great famines over time. There was a significant decrease in the death toll in the 1900s; however, the period from 1910s to 1960s brought back the high death toll of up to 17 million mortalities. Nonetheless, the curve slopes down to roughly zero soon after and shows no significant movement through 2010. The next figure shows a graph of the percentage of population living in poverty, living in extreme poverty, and living with less than $1.25 a day from 1820 to 2010. All three curves are downward sloping and indicate a significant decrease in poverty levels over time. The next graph shows the proportion of undernourished people in the developing world versus time. The curve is generally downward sloping and indicates an overall decrease of around 17% in the proportion of undernourished people in the developing world. Nonetheless, it’s important to note that the curve experiences a spike in 2009, likely caused by the global economic crisis that year. The next graph shows the global food supply per capita. The curve is upward-sloping and experiences an increase of 650 kcal per day per person from 1961 to 2011. The data from all of the abovementioned figures is indicative of progress because it signifies a decrease in poverty. While the situation is not yet ideal, the fact that less people experience hunger and are affected by mortality from hunger is a sign of improvement in human development.
The next figure shows a graph of the percentage of income spent on food over time. There is a decrease from 18% to 10% in the percentage of income that people spend on food in the United States. The data is indicative of progress because the less percentage of income people have to spend on food, the more freedom people have to spend their money. Expansion of freedom is a definite indicator of progress in the realm of human development.
The next graph demonstrates the percentage of farm jobs as a percentage of total US jobs from 1790 to 2000. The curve is downward-sloping indicating a decrease in farming jobs over time. The date is indicative of progress because human labor is better utilized for jobs other than farming due to the abundance of farming technology and machinery.
Amartya Sen thinks of human development as an expansion of human freedoms. A decrease in poverty levels provides people the ability to live a healthier life and have the freedom to pursue other avenues of life. Professor Runfola talked about the issues with human development. One issue with this expansion of freedom by virtue of decreasing poverty levels is the governments in developing countries, which happen to be the countries that are the most affected by poverty. A lot of governments in developing countries are corrupted and value their personal benefit over the wellbeing of civilians.