3 ms·
There should be a universal human standard to define what extreme poverty is--i.e. the amount needed to secure food, shelter, and clothing--and then that amount
by dudeinjapan 1y ago
There should be a universal human standard to define what extreme poverty is--i.e. the amount needed to secure food, shelter, and clothing--and then that amount should be assessed country-by-country (or region-by-region) by an independent body. The number of $3 per day is well above the "basic needs" threshold in some of the poorest countries, and well below it in the US, for example.
- duskwuff 1y agoThis is addressed in the article - see the section titled "Estimating comparable national distributions". (In short: income is being scaled relative to purchasing power parity.)
- ivape 1y agoMakes you wonder what the real purpose of that number was. Must have served some agenda, because saying some people live on less than $3 (when it's not a fair statement) definitely could serve a purpose.
- owebmaster 1y agoHow is that not a fair statement?
- ivape 1y ago$3 USD can buy you basic things per day like food, but it won’t buy you that in America, for example. It’s not a fair metric at all. $3 buys you various foods in various parts of the world, which would not put you in abject poverty.
- owebmaster 1y ago$3 a day makes you filthy poor in South America and probably everywhere besides India but there are still poorer people there.
- ivape 1y agoCan’t look at it like that. Does the person buy food and basics per day? Then don’t worry about what the dollar amount equates to. It’s a ridiculous metric when it comes to measuring abject poverty.