How Does Poverty Affect Society?

Poverty impacts society in numerous ways, and it often takes outside intervention to break into the cycle that develops. If that help never arrives, the cycle of poverty will continue generation after generation.

How does poverty affect society?
Here are three ways:

Education

Education and poverty perpetuate one another. Those in poverty can’t afford education and those who aren’t educated don’t have a way out of poverty. It becomes a vicious cycle. On average, people who have an education make more money. In fact, a person’s income increases 10 percent for every year of primary education he or she completes. Those who complete secondary school are twice as likely to escape poverty.1 Education, especially literacy, is a valuable asset to a community and culture.

Health

When a family lives in poverty, they often don’t have access to medical treatment and nutritious food. This means that treatable diseases and illnesses can cause lasting harm or death. For example, when clean drinking water isn’t accessible, people frequently resort to drinking contaminated water. This often leads to diarrhea and other waterborne disease. The World Health Organization reports that 502,000 people die each year from diarrhea—caused by unsafe drinking water.2 Diarrhea is easily treatable, but these people simply don’t have the means or knowledge to treat it.

Wellbeing

The mindset of poverty is powerful and affects one’s overall wellbeing. A person in poverty doesn’t have the capacity to dream or hope for something better. When generation after generation in the same family haven’t broken the cycle, it’s difficult to see an escape. God disagrees! He loves each person and sees the value and worth of each one. The love of God can lift someone out of poverty.


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