being poor

Roughly 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, which is one person every three and a half seconds according to www. poverty.com. Individuals who live in poverty lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves, which causes them to become weaker and often sick. These individuals would become even more poor and more hungry because being sick will make them less able to work and provide for themselves and/or their family.

According to the UN and the World Bank, the social impact of the global economic crisis continues to be felt in terms of rising hunger, unemployment, and social unrest. The combination of rising food and fuel prices and the financial and economic crisis has reduced poor families’ purchasing power, access to social services, and employment opportunities. Moreover, poor households have reduced food consumption, with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization estimating that nearly one billion people are hungry and malnourished. In addition to the millions already pushed into poverty in 2008-09, another 64 million could fall into extreme poverty during 2010 as a result of the combined, lingering effects of the crisis. A UNICEF survey of 126 developing countries found that among the nearly one-half that are reducing public expenditures, common adjustment measures include public-sector wage cuts or caps, withdrawal of food subsidies, and the targeting and rationalization of already meager social-protection systems.

The European Union’s push to help its companies access raw materials in developing countries will drive “a new scramble for Africa” and increase poverty, according to a report released today.

The EU wants to curb the ability of developing countries to restrict the exports of their raw materials. The EU is also negotiating new investment rules with poor countries to secure European companies unprecedented access to raw materials on the same or even better terms as local businesses.The study shows that EU strategy is being driven by European businesses which want access to cheap raw materials.The EU’s proposed investment policies could facilitate land-grabbing and discourage governments from establishing environmental regulations.

"In too many countries, inequality increased and real wages stagnated -- failing to keep up with productivity -- over the past few decades," Strauss-Kahn, the IMF chief said.

Ron Formisano, professor of history at the University of Kentucky wrote "Many Americans are living poor and voting rich. They vote for politicians who serve the interests of the very rich, of corporations that ship jobs overseas, employ and exploit illegal immigrants and violate workplace rules to protect workers...."