IGCSE Development Studies: Specimen Questions with Answers 13 - 14 of 98

Explanation

One of the biggest challenges of the world is poverty eradication. In alleviating poverty private sector plays a major role in increasing growth of the economy, employment generation and purchasing options for reduction in poverty.

The ways to reduce poverty are:

• Jobs creation: The best way to overcome poverty is to create well-paying jobs. The central government aim should be of increasing investment in strategies for job creation like, industrial development, infrastructural development, renovation of abandoned houses, developing renewable energy resource and other investments that aim at boosting the economic growth and helps in creation of jobs.
• Raise minimum wages: By raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation would lift majority of the population of the world out of poverty.

Explanation

Poverty is the state where one lacks socially acceptable amount or possessions in material. When the people lack the basic means to satisfy their basic needs is referred to as poverty. Basic needs refer to the needs required for survival or the needs which represents the standard of living prevailing in a country. Some examples of poverty are-

• Poor health
• Low level of education
• Inability to work
• High rate of disorderly behavior
• Lack of food, clothing, and shelter

The income of the people is so low that the basic human needs cannot be met. Every country has its own threshold level of poverty which is used in the determination of how many people in a country are affected by poverty. Poverty is of various types like- Absolute poverty, relative poverty, Situational poverty, generational poverty, rural poverty, and urban poverty. Thus, poverty is a multifaceted which includes social, economic, and political elements.