How Does Poverty Affect the Community?

Poverty never just affects one individual or family. Communities are made up of families, and since poverty tends to run through whole communities, it’s important to understand the impacts. How does poverty affect the community? In a myriad of ways.

Employment opportunities within a community can make or break the fabric of an area. With enough economic drivers, a village or town can employ multiple people, raising the overall flow of opportunities and resources for the people who live there. For example, if there is a large farming business, the farm can hire on many people for harvesting and other duties. Those people in turn can buy goods and services from others, and the flow of money creates an economic environment of hope and possibility.

Lack of jobs, though, can bring entire economies to a halt. As the United Nations sees it, “There should be a focus on creating better and more productive jobs, particularly those that can absorb the high concentrations of working poor.”

Among the necessary elements for creating such jobs are investing in labour-intensive industries, especially agriculture, encouraging a shift in the structure of employment to higher productivity occupations and sectors, and upgrading job quality in the informal economy. In addition, there should also be a focus on providing poor people with the necessary skills and assets that will enable them to take full advantage of any expansion in employment potential.”[1]


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