A Solution to Break The Chain of Poverty

Throughout history, poverty has been a challenging issue and to this date, it is a subject that many people have insufficient evidence about. Despite annual income, employment status, or overall success level, there will always be individuals who have no shelter, clothing, or food to fulfill their hunger. Poverty is something we should be concerned about because it has developed into a great problem around the world and continues to increase. A sufficient amount of people knows about it; however, some people are still unaware of the severity of the issue. To some, it is more painful to even think about how many people are trapped in this unlucky situation identified as “absolute” poverty, in which these people become extremely inferior to others.

Absolute poverty can be defined as a condition categorized by a severe scarcity of basic human needs. This includes food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health shelter, education, and resource information (Mack). Moreover, it is significant for an individual to meet a certain level of physical, social and emotional needs to live normally. People who reside in poverty have a hard time achieving a life of a normal individual because they are not welcomed in many places. Since their incomes are low, they have difficulties in maintaining their health, hunger, and education; as a result, they do not have control in the community which makes it even harder for them to escape from poverty.

According to Peter Singer, the author of the article “The Singer Solution to Poverty”, a person can benefit someone in vital need, only if they contributed all their extra money to donations instead of spending it on bonus items, like showy cars and eating places (Singer). Poverty is life-threatening and the world needs to find solutions in order to universally eliminate it. Of the countless causes of absolute poverty, the major ones that in fact contribute to poverty are illiteracy and excessive population growth through teenage pregnancy. There are several solutions available, but it is entirely up to the individual to utilize them in their life. Education in all the aforementioned forms is significant in breaking the progression of poverty.Foremost, illiteracy disturbs all parts of our life. Thus, illiteracy may be well-defined as the condition of being unable to read and write, and it is one of the main problems that contribute towards poverty in today’s world.

According to the World Academy of Science, the increase in poverty levels in poor countries are due to the lack of training skills and knowledge in the areas of reading and writing (Ng et al.). As education becomes a vital role in human, social, and economic development, most countries are left far behind in training and educating their young. One of the reasons behind this is that individuals are unable to attend school or gain high-quality education due to lack of elementary and secondary schools in some developing countries. Moreover, the educational opportunities that are available to them are too expensive for them to afford, and this holds them back from getting a high paid job. In addition, in most third world countries, for example, children have restricted access to education because of political instability, geographical characteristics, and ineffective local governance (Ng et al.). Not only do these restrictions reduce the quality of life, but they also decrease employment opportunities, lower economic growth, and reduce healthy lifestyles making education a critical predictor of poverty.

Therefore, as suggested by Ng et al. literary programs are needed to reduce poverty by education development assistance and financial contributions from developed countries. With the help of education improvement assistance and financial contribution from wealthier countries, poverty rates could be greatly reduced, as this will provide opportunities and open doors for these individuals to be introduced to some new knowledge and skills which could really boost them to be useful in their lives later. One of the organizations that are making this possible is ChildFund International. ChildFund targets to help families escape the cycle of poverty through various educational and livelihood programs (“Poverty and Education”). Awareness gives youngsters an opportunity to dream of a healthier approaching and the self-confidence compulsory to pursue a complete education, which will benefit the generation yet to come. ChildFund of India began a year-long campaign in two phases the first one called “Books, My Friend” to inspire children to read for entertainment and, to challenge the used to problem of illiteracy (“Lighting Up”).

After this “Books, My Friend” campaign was successful the common problem still faced by these individuals were that many households didn’t have electrical energy; and for them, evening meant the finish of the reading day time (“Poverty and Education”). Through ChildFund of India, in their second phase of the campaign called “Toward a Brighter Future” 40,000 children were grateful to receive solar-powered lamps, which gave youngsters more opportunities to read, study and do other activities after the end of the day (“Lighting Up”). One of the students, Aarathi, the recipient of the solar-powered lamps with excitement speaks “Now that I have my own solar lamp, I can study anytime and anywhere” (qtd in “Lighting Up”). Not only the children but parents, too, are benefiting from the solar-powered lamps, which they are utilizing to prepare food and do other everyday jobs even when the night has fallen (“Lighting Up”).

Education is an encouraging fact that can alter individuals, societies, entire nations and the future of human race. It is considered as a talent that can take us to the top of our dreams by showing us the accurate path that could open opportunities to having a wonderful life.Another significant cause of poverty is excessive growth of the population in the world. When the birth ratio is higher than the death ratio of a country, it is said to be normal population growth; however, a country is said to be extremely populated when the increasing population size turns out to be uncontrollable compared to resources available. Everywhere in the world today, regardless of the culture they belong to, the deprived people are having the most offspring. Taking India as the example, we can see that its population is critically growing, and the country cannot produce enough to satisfy the needs of even half of its citizens.

Poverty and population growth are said to be connected, and poverty is considered a cause and a concern of teen pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is an increasing issue mainly all over the developing countries and are caused by quite a lot of unfortunate actions. Teenagers feel the need to participate in sexual activities due to peer pressure or to be accepted into the peer group, violence and statutory rape is what leads them to birthing their offspring and in other cases they abort them. The presence of a teenage mother in a community means that they have decreased access to use educational programs available, which eventually affects their capability to provide for themselves later in life. Furthermore, parental influence and strong family relationships lower the numbers of teenage pregnancy. Parents sometimes significantly provide false information to their offspring about sex for the reason of discouraging their children from participating in it. To help teens recognize the penalties and realism of teen pregnancy better, abstinence education and sex education can be introduced to direct teens in a better direction and support them to decide the appropriate outcome for their babies.

According to Melissa Daly, in the “Human Sexuality Newsletter” entitled Control Issues, the only 100 percent effective method of avoiding both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is abstinence (Daly). According to David Paton, in the article, “Family Planning, Teenage Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infection,” it was argued that an important factor contributing to high teenage pregnancy rates in England was a lack of knowledge of and access to family planning services and it specifically impacted the teenage population (Paton). As well, in most parts of the world, the earliest sexual encounter is said to be more mutual among the teens at the age of 13. It is important to have an education for a healthier understanding of family planning and its practices; therefore, education plays an important role in the understanding of family planning.

According to Małgorzata Drwal, et al., in the journal entitled “Prevention of STI and Teenage Pregnancies through Sex Education”, in other countries, like Portugal sex education is taught as a separate subject by the teachers of biology, religious education, geography and philosophy. Sex education classes were first introduced in Scandinavia. Initially, they were optional in year 1942, then they became mandatory for all students in year 1955, which had significant impact on reducing the rate of HIV and lowering the number of unwanted or teenage pregnancy (Drwal et al.).

A worldwide effort of implementing the proper education at the right time such as family planning education programs could be an easier and less costly solution towards breaking the sequence of teen pregnancy and human population growth. Family planning is comprised of methods to postponed childbirths, practice of contraceptive measures and other natural techniques for proper spacing birth over time and to reduce the number of unintentional pregnancies. When women and men can standardize the size of their families, they are more likely to have wealth to support their offspring.

Poverty is an issue that has challenged society throughout history. Poverty is something that could not be overcome by the individual itself, but education could help reduce their situation. Research has shown that illiteracy and excessive population growth can be solved with education. By educating population in the developing countries on these major issues, we are one step closer to eliminating this unlucky trap of absolute poverty. Eliminating poverty completely is something very difficult but education can create a pathway which can help individual pull themselves out of this cycle of poverty.

Works Cited

1. Daly, Melissa. “Control Issues.” Human Sexuality Newsletter, vol. 36, no. 3, Nov. 2009, p. 1. EBSCOhost,ezproxy.losrios.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=44971982&site=eds-live&scope=site.
2. Drwal, Małgorzata, et al. “Prevention of STI and Teenage Pregnancies through Sex Education.” Polish Journal of Public Health, vol. 126, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 46–49.
3. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1515/pjph-2016-0010.“Lighting Up the Future of Children in India.” ChildFund International, ChildFund, https://www.childfund.org/Content/NewsDetail/2147491272/.
4. Mack, Joanna. “Absolute and Overall Poverty.” Social Exclusion and Mental Health: Review of Literature and Existing Surveys | Poverty and Social Exclusion, 27 Oct. 2016, www.poverty.ac.uk/definitions-poverty/absolute-and-overall-poverty.
5. Ng, Alex Hou Hong, et al. “Poverty: Its Causes and Solutions.” International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 5 Oct. 2013, waset.org/Publication/poverty-its-causes-and-solutions/17223.
6. Paton, David. “Random Behaviour or Rational Choice? Family Planning, Teenage Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections.” Sex Education, vol. 6, no. 3, Aug. 2006, pp. 281– “Poverty and Education.”
7. ChildFund International, ChildFund, www.childfund.org/poverty-and-education/.Singer, Peter. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” The New York Times, 5 Sept. 1999.