Poverty in PakistanBy: Hassan Aftab

Definition:

• Poverty can be defined as:• A state or condition in which a person or community lacks the

financial resources and essentials to enjoy a minimum standard of life and well-being that's considered acceptable in society.

• International Poverty Line:• The financial threshold determined by converting the poverty

threshold of every country into dollars. People below this threshold are considered to be in poverty.

International Poverty Line

• International Poverty Line which was first set to 1$ per day was changed to 1.25$ per day in 2008 by world bank. Currently we use 1.25$ or 2$ as poverty threshold.

• According to a survey held in 2008, the poverty in the overall world was 22% at the threshold of 1.25$ which was 52% in 1981 at the same threshold.

Percentage Poverty in 2005

Percentage population living on less than $2 per day 2009

Poverty in Pakistan

• A STUDY on poverty has brought Pakistan face to face with a reality that it will find hard to accept: Every third Pakistani is caught in the ‘poor’ bracket which means about 58.7 million out of a total population of 180 million subsist below the poverty line. This includes:• 52% of Balochistan• 33% of Sindh• 32% of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa• 19% of Punjab

Poverty in Pakistan history

• Since the beginning, poverty has been a major issue for the economy of Pakistan.

• Like any other economy there have been many ups and downs in the economy of Pakistan.

• Over the years, sometimes there have been increase and decrease in the poverty of Pakistan.

• Data about the poverty of Pakistan that is available shows that the poverty ratio that was almost 90% in 1987 is 66% in 2013.

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Causes of Poverty in Pakistan

1- Government Policies:Government is not well aware of present conditions of country. The policies of government are base on the suggestions of officials which do not have awareness about the problems of a common man. After implementation the policies do not get effective result. After the failure of one policy, government does not consider its failure and announces another policy without studying the aftermaths of last one. Heavy taxes crush the people and they are forced to live below poverty line.

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2- Corruption:Another cause of poverty is corruption. There is no morality and every one is trying to earn more and more by using fair and unfair means. Officials waste their time has low efficiency. Only relationship that exists in society is money. One has to pay a heavy cost to get his right. Law and order conditions are out of control and institutions are failed to provide justice to a common man. Justice can be bought by money only. But government is unable to control such type of things. In this whole scenario some corrupt people has been occupying the resources and common man is living in miserable conditions.

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3- Lack of Education:The literacy rate of Pakistan is very low. Most of people do not have any concept about the modern earning sources. Most people are unable to adopt technology for their business needs, that’s why business do not meet international standards and results as decrease in revenue which lead the society to poor financial conditions.

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4- Unemployment:The very core and basic reason for poverty in Pakistan is ever increasing unemployment in the state. People are not getting jobs and one who are getting are not up to their standards, so even these unsatisfied employees consider themselves unemployed. There are no jobs in market and highly educated and skilled people are being left jobless and without earning this have significantly increased the poverty level in the country.

Solutions to Poverty in Pakistan

Poverty will never end unless there are real solutions to end it; solutions based on economic justice and political changes.

1. The full equality between men and women in public as well as private areas of life, a worldwide minimum wage of $20 per day and the end of child labor under the age of 16 with the creation of a subsidy for scholarship.

2. The guarantee of shelter, healthcare, education, food and drinking water as basic human rights that must be provided free to all.

3. A total redistribution of idle lands to landless farmers and the imposition of a 50% cap on arable land devoted to products for export per country, with the creation of a worldwide subsidy for organic agriculture.

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4- Government should create better policies to tackle this problem and learn from our past. There should be policies for providing jobs to unemployed people.