POOR AND RICH

Do the rich get richer and the poorer get poorer? You may be born into poverty and die wealthy. There is also the possibility of opposite happening to you also. The poor people are the biggest group in the society. That is about eighty-five percent of the population. The remaining 15 percent has all they need and more too. Someone has to do something to change this enormous develop! Human development is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth, which is only a means—if a very important one—of enlarging people’s choices. — What is Human Development?, Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Program Inequality is not just bad for social justice, it is also bad for economic efficiency — Growth with equity is good for the poor, Oxfam, June 2000 The poorest of the poor, around the world, have the worst health. Those at the bottom of the distribution of global and national wealth, those marginalized and excluded within countries, and countries themselves disadvantaged by historical exploitation and

persistent inequity in global institutions of power and policy-making present an urgent moral and practical focus for action. But focusing on those with the least, on the ‘gap’ between the poorest and the rest, is only a partial response. … In rich countries, low socioeconomic position means poor education, lack of amenities, unemployment and job insecurity, poor working conditions, and unsafe neighbourhoods, with their consequent impact on family life. These all apply to the socially disadvantaged in low-income countries in addition to the considerable burden of material deprivation and vulnerability to natural disasters. So these dimensions of social disadvantage – that the health of the worst off in high-income countries is, in a few dramatic cases, worse than average health in some lower-income countries … – are important for health. — Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health PDF formatted document, Commission on Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization, August 28, 2008, p.31 Everyone has the right to work, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection for himself and his family [and] an existence worthy of human dignity … Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care. — Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948