Blog by Sr. Barbara Kane, OP[/caption]
Part 1: End Poverty
This is the first of a series of blogs about the Sustainable Development Goals devised by the United Nations. These 17 goals imagine a world without hunger, poverty, and natural disasters caused by climate change. They vision a world in 15 years where children can grow up in a healthy environment including access to education and sustainable development. And while there has been significant progress over the last 15 years, there are still millions of people who fall into these categories. Each of my blogs will highlight one goal and provide information on the progress yet to be made.
The first goal is to end extreme poverty by 2030. It seems daunting but when you consider that in the past 15 years, extreme poverty was reduced by half, it is possible. Around the world, 800 million people or 10% of the world’s population, live on $1.90/day. In 2017, economic losses attributed to disasters were estimated at over $300 billion. This is among the highest losses in recent years, owing to three major hurricanes affecting the United States of America and several countries across the Caribbean.
While extreme poverty has eased considerably since 1990, pockets of the worst forms of poverty persist. Ending poverty requires universal social protection systems aimed at safeguarding all individuals throughout the life cycle. It also requires targeted measures to reduce vulnerability to disasters and to address specific under-served geographic areas within each country. Based on 2016 estimates, only 45 percent of the world’s population were effectively covered by at least one social protection cash benefit.
In the US, extreme poverty is called deep poverty and is defined as a household with a total cash income below 50% of its poverty threshold. According to the Census Bureau, in 2016, 18.5 million people lived in deep poverty. This is 5.8% of the total population. For a single individual under 65 years old, a deep poverty income would be below $6,243 and for a family of four with two children, it would be $12, 169.50. Nearly 8.2% of all children lived in deep poverty compared to 3.3% of adult over 65.
Regardless of the amount, when an individual or his/her family are not able to purchase enough food to be nourished, don’t have healthy living environment or cannot attend school, there is a problem that world governments must care for. 