25. Inequality in the countries with transition economies and Kazakhstan.

26. Concepts of poverty. Causes of poverty.

31. "Poverty" defined as an economic condition of lacking both money and basic necessities needed to successfully live, such as food, water, education, healthcare, and shelter. Poverty has many causes, some of them very basic. Some experts suggest, for instance, that the world has too many people, too few jobs, and not enough food. But such basic causes are quite intractable and not easily eradicated. In most cases, the causes and effects of poverty interact, so that what makes people poor also creates conditions that keep them poor. Primary factors that may lead to poverty include overpopulation, the unequal distribution of resources in the world economy, inability to meet high standards of living and costs of living, inadequate education and employment opportunities, environmental degradation, certain economic and demographic trends, and welfare incentives. For further information of the each factor click on the link.

25. Absolute and relative poverty.

Absolute and relative poverty (Wikipedia)

Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live.

Absolute poverty

Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative (the latter being actually an index of income inequality). Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries.

Relative poverty

This graph shows the proportion of world population in extreme poverty 1981–2008 according to the World Bank.

Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context, hence relative poverty is a measure of income inequality. Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income. There are several other different income inequality metrics, for example the Gini coefficient or the Theil Index.

Relative poverty measures are used as official poverty rates in several developed countries. As such these poverty statistics measure inequality rather than material deprivation or hardship. The measurements are usually based on a person's yearly income and frequently take no account of total wealth. The main poverty line used in the OECD and theEuropean Union is based on "economic distance", a level of income set at 60% of the median household income.

25. Indicators of poverty. The Human Poverty Index. Indicators of poverty. The Human Poverty Index. The first deprivation relates to survival: the likeliness of death at a relatively early age and is represented by the probability of not surviving to ages 40 and 60 respectively for the HPI-1 and HPI-2.

The second dimension relates to knowledge: being excluded from the world of reading and communication and is measured by the percentage of adults who are illiterate.

The third aspect relates to a decent standard of living, in particular, overall economic provisioning.

If human development is about enlarging choices, poverty means that opportunities and choices most basic to human development are denied. Thus a person is not free to lead a long, healthy, and creative life and is denied access to a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-respect and the respect of others. From a human development perspective, poverty means more than the lack of what is necessary for material well-being. The Human Development Report 1997 introduced a human poverty index (HPI) in an attempt to bring together in a composite index the different features of deprivation in the quality of life to arrive at an aggregate judgment on the extent of poverty in a community.

25. The levels of urban and rural poverty. Urban poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. The urban poor live with many deprivations. Their daily challenges may include:

limited access to employment opportunities and income,

inadequate and insecure housing and services,

violent and unhealthy environments,

little or no social protection mechanisms, and

limited access to adequate health and education opportunities.

The levels of urban and rural poverty.

Farm living is dependent on unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought, flood or pestilence, survival becomes extremely problematic. It has been argued that out-migration is primarily due to the growth of the local population beyond the carrying capacity of the land. Indeed, excessive pressure on land resource and increasing poverty generate a large volume of migration from rural areas.

Persistence of high poverty rates in both rural and urban areas underpins social vulnerability and undermines these areas’ adaptive capacity and resilience to climate-induced extreme events. Sound adaptation strategy therefore requires effective poverty alleviation measures, which are focused especially on the poorest members of population in disaster-prone places. Existing food security and sustainable livelihoods of rural and semi-rural households, which are often based on local farming and fisheries and in-part engagement with non-farming and urban-based economic activities, have become rapidly eroded by changes in land and water uses and demands brought about by urbanization and broader economic transformations. Moreover, limited access to financial and economic resources by the urban poor compromises their food security. These problems affect vulnerability and adaptive capacity of rural and urban households to climate-induced extreme events.

General poverty and lack of sustainable livelihoods in many localities have forced people into internal migration as a livelihood coping strategy. These internal migrants settle where ever job opportunity and making a living exist nearby, oftentimes compromising or totally ignoring considerations of basic safety of their destination habitats vis-à-vis natural disaster threats.