Characteristics of Poverty

At endPoverty.org we believe we are called to serve the very poor. Viewing our “target population” in those terms forces us to consider what poverty is and how it manifests itself in people’s lives.

While on the surface poverty is often defined as a lack of income or assets, in the day-to-day lives of the very poor, poverty becomes a network of disadvantages, each one exacerbating the others. The result is generation after generation of people in chronically poor communities lacking access to health care, adequate housing, good nutrition and education; vulnerable to a host of evils, and powerless to improve their circumstances. These conditions often carry with them dysfunctional family and societal relationships, paralyzingly low self-esteem, and spiritual darkness.

According to the World Bank, more than one billion people today live on less than $1 per day. Roughly 3 billion people, about 45 percent of the world, live on less than $2 per day. About 70 percent of those living on less than $1 per day are women, and about 46 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa survives at that income level.

These “very poor” face struggles in nearly every aspect of life. Robert J. H. Chambers, in his book “Rural Development: Putting the Last First”, describes poverty as a trap with five linked areas of disadvantage: lack of assets, physical weakness, isolation, vulnerability and powerlessness. Bryant Myers, in “Walking With The Poor”, adds spiritual poverty to that list. The following is taken from Myers’ summary:

Material Poverty – few assets, inadequate housing and sanitation, little or no wealth.

Physical Weakness – a lack of strength from poor health and inadequate nutrition.

Isolation – a lack of access to services, information, markets, capital and infrastructure.

Vulnerability – few buffers against emergencies or disasters; at risk of being further impoverished by cultural demands such as dowries and feast days.

Powerlessness – lacking the ability to influence life around them, and therefore their own circumstances.

Spiritual Poverty – broken and dysfunctional relationships with God, people, the community and creation; possible spiritual oppression.

These elements of poverty are linked and each exacerbates the effects of the others, trapping the poor in a system of chronic disadvantage. Those caught in this web of poverty are typically malnourished, in ill-health, with low literacy rates, vulnerable to abuse, powerless to improve themselves, and with no understanding of God’s love for them.

EndPoverty, through its microenterprise development work, seeks to address the needs of the poor in a holistic way. Through training, micro-loans, assistance with micro-business development, and Christian counsel, endPoverty programs enable the very poor to support themselves financially, appreciate their immense worth as individuals, grow in the skills and knowledge necessary to lead in their communities, and understand the good news of Jesus Christ. We work to enable the poor to free themselves from poverty in all its forms and come to know abundant life.
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Excellent discussions of poverty, its impact in people’s lives, and sources of hope can be found in the following resources: