Just Salvos

Definition

Extreme poverty is the most severe state of poverty, where people cannot meet basic needs for survival, such as food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education and health care.[1] To determine the number of extreme poor around the world, the World Bank characterizes extreme poverty as living on US $1 or less per day, and estimates that 1.1 billion people currently live under these conditions. This $1 a day figure has been adjusted for purchasing power parity,[2] which attempts to eliminate differences in costs of goods and services between countries to present a more meaningful comparison. Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goal. Economists and activists consider epidemic diseases (AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis) as crucial factors in and consequences of extreme poverty.

Statistics

More than 1 billion people around the world live on less than a $1 a day.
A child dies every three seconds from AIDS and extreme poverty, often before their fifth birthday.
More than one billion people do not have access to clean water.[3]
Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
More than 50 percent of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera and infant diarrhea.
More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day, 300 million are children.
Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations.
More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency.
Four out of every ten people in the world don't have access even to a simple latrine.
Declining soil fertility, land degradation, and the AIDS pandemic have led to a 23 percent decrease in food production per capita in the last 25 years even though population has increased dramatically.
For the African farmer, conventional fertilizers cost two to six times more than the world market price.
A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy. This compares with a 1 in 3,700 risk for a woman from North America.[4]

Books

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger - Ron Sider (2006)
A framework for Understanding Poverty - Ruby K. Payne (2005)
Cry Of The Urban Poor - Viv Grigg
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities of Our Time - Jeffrey Sachs (2006)
Bridges Out of Poverty - Philip DeVol et al (2006)
The Working Poor: Invisible in America - David K. Shipler (2005)
The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can't Help the Poor - Charles H. Karelis (2007)
Understanding Poverty - Sheldon H. Danziger (2002)
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some are so Rich and Some So Poor - David S. Lanes (1999)
Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works - Stephen C. Smith (2005)
The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business - Graham Hancock (1994)
Paths to Homelessness: Extreme Poverty and the Urbane Housing Crisis - Doug A. Timmer et al (1994)