Poverty and its causes

Poverty and its causes

            This research assignment is based on the article, Causes of Poverty, Alex Addae-Korankye being the author under the American international journal of social science and the article was published in December 2014. The study analyzes and reviews what poverty is, its causes and the effects of poverty. The study limits the causes of poverty to a few factors that include poor governance, corruption, limited or scarce employment opportunities, poor infrastructure and resources usage, and unending conflicts. However, the study asserts that policies and strategies have been adopted to be able to achieve a poverty reduced state. From the available evidence in the article, the aim of this research assignment is to define and determine the core causes of poverty. In addition, the study investigates the impact of poverty on society and how best to avert the problem.

Addae (2), defines poverty as the state of lacking sufficient resources or income or the lack of basic needs to sustain the survival of a people or person. It is an intricate phenomenon that refers to the insufficiency of resources and denial of choices that aid people enjoy a comfortable life. According to World Bank, (2007) as from the article, poverty is the situation where a person is unable to fend or sufficiently provide his or her needs such as clothing, accommodation, and food. The author states that poverty is not only the limited access to good food and other necessities but also the lack of capabilities to produce their own food, which threatens a people’s security. The financial and economic implications of poverty are the preclusion of individuals’ ability to move from subsistence to commercial products, thereby affecting business development.

The primary variables of the study include unemployment, inflation, corruption, poor resource management, and poor infrastructure. Unemployment is the circumstance of actively looking for a job but currently not employed. It’s a measure of the prevalence of unemployment. An example of such a case is where a graduate has just graduated and is new in the job market. The types of unemployment evident from the study include structural unemployment which is as a result of the mismatch of the skills of the workers and the skills demanded by the employer. Frictional unemployment, which is the unemployment resulting when a person is in the transition from one job to another. Involuntary unemployment, a situation where a person is willing to work at the prevailing wage rate yet they are still unemployed. From the evidence in the article, an average of 71% of the total population are actively trying to secure employment with no success.

Inflation is the continuous increase in prices of commodities in the economy over a period of time. Increase in the prices results to fewer goods purchased by each unit of currency reflecting a reduction in the purchasing power of money. It is responsible for increasing the opportunity cost of holding money, uncertainties about the future hence discouraging investments, and shortage of goods due to the hoarding of consumers. Inflation has remained to be responsible for the cases of insufficiency in the resources available for consumption by individuals hence poverty.

Corruption is a form of dishonesty or activity by an individual or organization in a position of authority majorly to acquire illicit gain. The society remains to be a victim of such activities in terms of resources, employment opportunities, and infrastructure which are policies put in place to fight poverty. Examples of corruption include bribery and embezzlement. In this scenario, employees work in an official capacity for personal gain rather than the ultimate gain of the entire society.

Poor resource management entails the overexploitation and misuse of the available natural resources. Activities such as the unequal sharing of the available natural resources such as land which has not been settled to date are among those entailed in poor resource management. Resource management sustains industries such as agriculture, mining, tourism, fishing and forestry which are some of the crucial industries that aid in the survival and provision for human necessities.

Infrastructure entails all physical systems of a nation, society or business. It includes transports, communication, electric systems among others. They require high investment but are essential in a country’s economic development, prosperity and ability to overcome poverty. The inadequacy of better transport means has resulted in little or no delivery of goods in areas affected by poverty and famine. The high cost of production operation due to inadequate electric systems have limited the general development of the economy. The research was aimed at proving poor infrastructure to be the major cause of poverty.

In order to obtain relevant data for the research, a sample was taken from the target population. The sample included 5 members of the society who had recently graduated aged 23- 27 years, 7 members of the public, employed/ unemployed aged 28-55 years and 8 retired employees. In order to allow researchers to deduce information about a population in relation to the outcome from the sample, non-probability sampling methods were employed in the research. These sampling techniques include convenience sampling, judgment sampling, judgment sampling, and snowball sampling.

Convenience sampling, here, the participants were selected on the availability and willingness to take part in the research. However, the results were prone to significant bias as those who took part might have been different from those that chose not to. Therefore the specimen may not have represented characteristics such as gender.

Judgment sampling was employed as it depends on the judgment of the investigator on deciding on the participant. The samples were chosen with the need to suit the required data. This technique is time and cost-effective in performing a research resulting in a variety of responses which proved useful in the research. Snowballing, on the other hand, uses the existing subjects to nominate further subjects familiar with them. Snowball sampling proved effective when the sample frame was difficult to identify.

For purposes of the research, the methods used for data collection include interviews, questionnaires and surveys, observations and focus groups. The data analysis techniques employed include the qualitative research, which revolves around the description characteristics without the use of numbers for instance observation and interviews. Also, the quantitative research method was used which focuses on the quantity in terms of numbers, for example, experiments and surveys to determine the measurement of poverty between 1990 and 2004 in Latin America.

Interviews as a technique of data collection offered a complete description and analysis without limiting the scope of the research. Interviews offered an advantage of capturing verbal and non-verbal clauses in the data collection, aided in the selection of suitable candidates, it ensured sufficient collection of information as well as time-saving. The interviews were conducted on a face to face conversation formally, semi-structured or informally with the interviewer.

Questionnaires and surveys were the main instruments of data collection used. They are a list of standardized questions that tend to follow a fixed scheme for purposes of data collection of individuals concerning a specific topic. This technique of data collection came in handy as it is cost-efficient due to affordability in gathering quantitative data, it is practical as well as sociable as it covers a large audience.

Observations offered to be a good source of providing additional information about the sample of interest and allowed the study of the dynamics of the situation, frequency counts, and other behaviors. This involved site visitations to document the situation in the society. The technique came in handy where surveys and questionnaires were unsuitable to be used, similarly, it gave the accessibility to people in actual life. From the study, the data were analyzed and tabulated. Each cause of poverty was assigned a value corresponding to the raw data obtained from the sample in the research.

From the evidence of the research, the hypothesis that infrastructure is the major cause of poverty in the society is not supported. This is due to the fact that unemployment rates have the highest percentage (70%) making it the major cause of poverty. In addition, poor infrastructure has the least percentage (0.5%), implying that cases of poverty due to this cause are very minimal in the society.

The study, however, has a number of limitations which include biasedness in the sampling techniques such as judgment sampling where the researchers might have chosen samples to suit their own interests. Questionnaires and surveys were only limited to the literate target sample, excluding the illiterate whose views are otherwise important for the research. The research assumes the covered causes to be the major not considering the minor causes. This assumption renders the findings as obsolete and unreliable for future reference.

Accurate and reliable results can be obtained through the use of sampling techniques that avoid biased decisions during the research. A variety of techniques should be employed in the collection of data to ensure all samples of the target population are covered. Avoiding assumptions in future aids in obtaining reliable data. Problems associated with observation research such as the effect the researcher has on the people and situation observed can be avoided by use of non-participant observation.

The article provides enough evidence that poverty can only be fought in the presence of powerful institutions and equal distribution of resources. In order to achieve this, a non-corrupt government is required, otherwise, an imbalance is created in the society which leads to more poverty because the few influential and powerful individuals oppress the poor who are the majority in the society.