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The title for this is misleading. Poverty is defined as the inability to access basic human needs such as food, water, healthcare, education, clothing and shelt

by derrida 16y ago

The title for this is misleading. Poverty is defined as the inability to access basic human needs such as food, water, healthcare, education, clothing and shelter. While the relative purchasing power of American's is strong if they go to another country, the relative purchasing power of American's locally is severly diminished. As a result about 15% of Americans live below the UN defined poverty line. So what is "wealth" if you are in that 5% that surely are below the UN poverty line?

yummyfajitas 16y ago
As a result about 15% of Americans live below the UN defined poverty line. This is blatantly false. The UN defines poverty as follows: 1) Severe Food Deprivation– Body Mass Index of 16 or below (severe underweight). 2) Severe Water Deprivation - access only to surface water (e.g. rivers, ponds) for drinking or living in households where the nearest source of water was more than 15 minutes away – 30min round trip (e.g. indicators of severe deprivation of water quality or quantity). 3) Severe Deprivation of Sanitation Facilities – no access to a toilet of any kind in the vicinity of their dwelling, e.g. no private or communal toilets or latrines. 4) Severe Health Deprivation – Women who did not receive treatment for a recent serious illness or who did not receive any antenatal care or who did not receive any assistance with birth or who did not receive a tetanus inoculation during her pregnancy. Men who did not receive treatment for a recent serious illness. 5) Severe Shelter Deprivation – living in dwellings with 4 or more people per room (severe overcrowding) or in a house with no flooring (e.g. a mud floor). 6) Severe Education Deprivation – youth who never attended school and who are also illiterate 7) Severe Information Deprivation – no access to newspapers, radio or television or computers or phones at home (e.g. no information sources). Absolute Poverty threshold is equal to 2 or more severe deprivations of basic human need http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_poverty.pdf http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_... There is virtually no one in America suffering from any of these problems. Most of the poor in America are fat, have clean drinking water, flush toilets, watch plenty of TV, and do not have mud floors.
- derrida 16y ago
  That is the UN definition for "Absolute Poverty" which is different to the UN definition for Overall Poverty. But you are right in that I cited the US figures in place of the UN figures. But my original point remains. Consider this "In 2009, in the United States of America, the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 was US$11,161; the threshold for a family group of four, including two children, was US$21,756". "Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 13 to 17% of Americans living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some point within a 10-year time span." Thank you wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    Just curious, what is the UN definition of "Overall Poverty"? The US poverty threshold is irrelevant when comparing to India (and determining whether the graph/title is misleading) since we have no idea what fraction of Indian households fall below it.

by derrida 16y ago

yummyfajitas 16y ago

As a result about 15% of Americans live below the UN defined poverty line. This is blatantly false. The UN defines poverty as follows: 1) Severe Food Deprivation– Body Mass Index of 16 or below (severe underweight). 2) Severe Water Deprivation - access only to surface water (e.g. rivers, ponds) for drinking or living in households where the nearest source of water was more than 15 minutes away – 30min round trip (e.g. indicators of severe deprivation of water quality or quantity). 3) Severe Deprivation of Sanitation Facilities – no access to a toilet of any kind in the vicinity of their dwelling, e.g. no private or communal toilets or latrines. 4) Severe Health Deprivation – Women who did not receive treatment for a recent serious illness or who did not receive any antenatal care or who did not receive any assistance with birth or who did not receive a tetanus inoculation during her pregnancy. Men who did not receive treatment for a recent serious illness. 5) Severe Shelter Deprivation – living in dwellings with 4 or more people per room (severe overcrowding) or in a house with no flooring (e.g. a mud floor). 6) Severe Education Deprivation – youth who never attended school and who are also illiterate 7) Severe Information Deprivation – no access to newspapers, radio or television or computers or phones at home (e.g. no information sources). Absolute Poverty threshold is equal to 2 or more severe deprivations of basic human need http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_poverty.pdf http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_... There is virtually no one in America suffering from any of these problems. Most of the poor in America are fat, have clean drinking water, flush toilets, watch plenty of TV, and do not have mud floors.

derrida 16y ago
That is the UN definition for "Absolute Poverty" which is different to the UN definition for Overall Poverty. But you are right in that I cited the US figures in place of the UN figures. But my original point remains. Consider this "In 2009, in the United States of America, the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 was US$11,161; the threshold for a family group of four, including two children, was US$21,756". "Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 13 to 17% of Americans living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some point within a 10-year time span." Thank you wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Just curious, what is the UN definition of "Overall Poverty"? The US poverty threshold is irrelevant when comparing to India (and determining whether the graph/title is misleading) since we have no idea what fraction of Indian households fall below it.