Poverty and Welfare of the Globe
Poverty can refer to individuals that are considered poor based on their earning, amount of money and/or material possession. A welfare system is a government-based program that works to help and protect the health and well-being of its citizens in
financial or social aspects.
Countries that have welfare
systems also have lower
poverty rates while
countries that don’t have
welfare system usually
have higher poverty rates.
History of Poverty
According to War History Online, the American Great Depression was the result of many economic and environmental factors.
Poverty can also result from imperialism that might have taken place in a country’s history. Imperialism is when a country extends its power and influence through diplomacy and military force. Exhibition.nypl explains that many European powers dismantled African governments throughout the centuries when Europeans were extending their power and influence throughout Africa.
High Income Countries Influence the GLOBE
High-income countries can strongly impact countries with developing welfare systems by influencing them to develop some of their welfare policies by example or by donating money to develop those systems through foreign aid.
What if We Remove the Welfare System?
In 1990, the national government of New Zealand decided to remove the welfare system. Their economy did benefit but many other factors were affected. BBC News released an article that wrote about this event. It states that poverty, crime rate, child abuse, child neglect, suicide rates, and prison population all rose substantially after the cccccccccccccccccccccwelfare program was ccccccccccccccccccceliminated. The article cccccccccccccccccccstated, “New Zealanders cccccccccccccccccbecame the most likely to ccccccccccccccccbe a victim of a crime than cccccccccccccccccccccany other citizens in ccccccccccccccccccccccccany industrialized ccccccccccccccccccccccccccountry around the cccccccccccccccccccccccccworld." People who cccccccccccccccccccccccccrelied on welfare ccccccccccccccccccccccc systems had no to ccccccccccccccccccac access to the food bank. Food banks are run by volunteers and relied on donations for their supplies. The large increase in families that were seeking help from the food banks made the wait time for assistance longer. This meant that families had to wait about 6 weeks before they could receive assistance.
What is Poverty?
BY: Rahma Hassan
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