Rethinking Poverty

My name is Zijian Wang. I am currently a junior in Bard High School Early College in New York. My one-month internship at the Baha'i International Community’s Office in New York recently came to an end. Time flies. My first entrance into the Office seems just like yesterday.

I have accomplished a lot during this short stay, culminating in a presentation to the staff on “Rethinking Poverty.” The presentation was heavily based on the annual publication of the UN Department on Economics and Social Affairs (DESA), titled, “Rethinking Poverty.” In brief, the publication gives an overview on the current poverty-line approach that the UN and most other international organizations use to measure levels of poverty; it provides a detailed analysis of the weaknesses of this approach; and introduces the ‘social exclusion method’ to poverty measurement that the UN is considering to replace the deeply flawed poverty-line approach.

[View full Power Point presentation]

Using the poverty-line approach, poverty is measured in monetary terms. The   poverty line is calculated based on the minimum income or expenditure per capita (or per household) to satisfy people's basic needs. There are many problems with this approach. Among them:

1. The number of people considered to be living under the poverty line can be dramatically changed by very small changes in the poverty line, since many people in developing countries live around the poverty line. For example, in Rural India, only 6.4% of the population is under the World Bank Poverty Line at $1 per day. However, 81.9% of the population lives on less than $2.2 per day.
2. The approach ignores the sustainability, volatility and inequality dimensions of poverty and overlooks all of the relational dimensions. By relational dimensions, I mean relationships between the community and individuals that affect individuals’ chances of getting out of poverty. One example of the relational dimension is racial discrimination—it is hard for a person of color to get out of poverty in certain countries because of his/her racial background.
3. The fact that some people endanger their long-term viabilities to satisfy their short-term needs is not taken into consideration. For example, some households are forced to sell their property, such as land, because they need money immediately due to emergencies. However, according to the poverty-line approach, these households appear better off given the additional income from the sale of their property.
4. Neither the gap between the rich and the poor, nor the power structures of societies which influence people's economic mobility are taken into account.
5. The approach makes the erroneous assumption that all dimensions of poverty can be quantified in monetary terms.

[View full Power Point presentation]

The social exclusion approach that the UN is considering as an alternative measure of poverty can potentially address the problems of the poverty-line approach. This approach focuses on social groups such as women and migrant workers rather than individuals or households. Relational dimensions of poverty are covered and inequality is also part of the discussion. To put it simply, the social exclusion approach gives a holistic view of poverty while the poverty-line approach is mainly based on numbers.

In conclusion, my experience as an intern at the Bahá'í International Community’s Office was fantastic and useful by any standard. In addition to the research above, I also prepared background materials on: the main themes of the Rio+20 conference (the ‘green’ economy and an institutional framework for sustainable development) and on the right to food. At the Bahá'í International Community, I did real work. I didn’t feel like an outsider or someone simply working for free. Rather, I was given real work and my opinions and views were respected and usually accepted. Interning at this Office was an enriching experience.