What Are the Causes of Poverty, and How Does GFA World Help?

The question “What are the causes of poverty?” may seem simple, but it has many answers. In fact, most cases of poverty are caused by a combination of factors,[1] so solving the problem of poverty must also be a multifaceted effort.

The global poverty line is considered living on $2.15 or less per day.[2] This seems incomprehensibly small, but about 719 million people around the world live below this extreme poverty line.[3] That is about 10 percent of the global population. While that number has been shrinking, events of recent years—diseases and conflicts—have hindered further progress in ending poverty.[4] Poverty is present all over the world, but it is especially concentrated in Africa and Asia. Nineteen of the twenty poorest countries on the planet are in Africa.[5]

With so many people struggling to survive below the $2.15 a day line, answering what are the major causes of poverty? could help in continuing to fight the problem.

A very simplified explanation is that poverty causes more poverty. Chronic poverty is partially the result of a vicious cycle where people born into poverty stay there for generations.[6]

A person living in poverty has fewer opportunities. They have less education because they must work to help the family eat and poorer health as they generally can’t afford healthcare. This all leads to lower income, which means more work and even less chance to rise above the line. When that person has kids, they must raise them in the same poor state since they can’t afford anything else, and the cycle continues.

There are many other contributing factors that answer the question, “What are the causes of poverty?” Innate inequality—gender, ability, health, ethnicity and age—contributes to the poor status of millions. Conflict can lead to poverty as well since war-torn regions have their infrastructure destroyed. For example, the poverty rate in Syria has gone from less than 10 percent to over 80 percent since fighting broke out in 2011.[7]


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