Poverty

Poverty Theories

PovertyTheories

Introduction

The issue of poverty is one that demands attention no matter what part of the world one is residing in. In developing nations, this particular issue is more deeply felt since governments are unable to help their citizens on a more personal level, causing trouble for authorities. Theories in poverty were drawn up in order to alleviate the problem of poverty, and have been used as a mode for moving forward. These theories and other concepts relating to the subject of poverty will be discussed in this paper.

Discussion

There are several theories of poverty, and all three are based around the cultural and political aspects of a nation without poverty. Poverty as a personal failing is the first theory of poverty, and deals with the line of thought that poverty exists mainly due to the personal characteristics of an individual( Mack & Lansley, 1985). This may mean that a person has been born into poverty or have spurned characteristics in their personality that have led them to failure. These traits could generally be considered as laziness or lack of a good education. Those living in poverty with its cause being of a personal nature do not tend to see it as a personal failing, but use their situation in order to be able to strive for a better situation. Some individuals believe that the state should not offer help to the individuals who are faced with this particular kind of poverty as they may deserve their situation( Asselin, 2008).

The second theory of poverty is that of a structural failing. In this theory, it is believed that poverty exists in a nation solely because of the incompetency of the nation's government or economic structural failings. One of the key aspects of a structural failing is that the job market is in a ...