Cause and Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cause and Effect - Essay Example Nevertheless, the greatest brunt of it is felt mostly in developing countries. The poverty levels also differ from one region to another, mainly due to inequitable distribution of national wealth. This is mainly apparent in developed countries where poverty is rife only in secluded areas. However, the effect of poverty in developing nations is felt almost everywhere. Royce (2009) reported that an individual may be born in a society where poverty is already rife or be overcome by poverty due to unfortunate occurrences, such as job loss, disease, and bankruptcy among others. Nevertheless, many studies have been conducted in an attempt to unearth the causes and effects of poverty all over the world. This paper will explore the causes and problems that result from poverty. Background Poverty is a social crisis which affects every part of the society and culture. It pertains to a situation where an individual or a society has low income, resulting in illiteracy due to the lack of proper a ccess to education, health care, markets, and decision making authority. Its effects also include lack of communal facilities, such as proper sanitation, transport system, water and roads, and proper communication links. It is reported that more than half of the world is poor, with people living on less than 2.50USD a day. This figure is put at over 3 billion people. The same report also reveals that out of the 3 billion people affected by poverty, over 1 billion are children. The statistics found out that about 640 live in dilapidated shelters or have none at all; 400 million are not accessible to safe water while 270 million cannot access health services. In Hobson and Boll (2004) it is also revealed that more than 10.6 million children below the age of five succumbed to poverty in 2003. Areas with high levels of poverty Economic research shows that poverty is rife mainly in developing countries of the world. The areas which are mainly affected include Africa, India, South Asia, a nd South America. This does not mean that developed countries as the US are not affected by poverty since even these countries do have destitute people who live under deplorable conditions due to poverty. Royce’s survey (2009) also shows that its effects are mainly felt in the rural areas. Causes of poverty Poverty is caused by several factors in economy. One is overpopulation, in which very high number of people competes for few sources available. This is one of the reasons why a country like India ranks among countries where poverty rates are high. For instance, the population of India is said to be over a billion people. However, the available resources are not able to sustain this entire population thereby rendering others poor (Hobson and Boll, 2004). Corruption. Corruption has also been singled out as a major cause of poverty. This is because it leads to unequal distribution of national wealth. In addition, it leads to mismanagement of public funds which only goes to th e hands of a few leaving many other citizens poor. Royce (2009) emphasizes that this has been witnessed in many countries, such as Nigeria which ranks top in terms of corruption. Unemployment. High rate of unemployment is also a leading cause of poverty across the world. Employment is one way of creating wealth in a country. This means that when there are