The $1 Poverty Narrative – Marketing or Good Policy? class=

The $1 Poverty Narrative – Marketing or Good Policy?

Doug Hadden, VP Products

Graphs and charts showing the number of people living below a poverty line of $1 a day ($1.25 today, thanks to inflation) are everywhere. It’s been used to mobile global development effort. But is the notion of eradicating ‘extreme poverty’ realistic? Is the $1.25 an arbitrary value that has no reality to poor people. For example, will earning $1.33 a day make live easier, more secure and enable planning for the future?

These are difficult questions that major development agencies are trying to address. Poverty is a complex problem that is unlikely to be solved by simple technical solutions. Donors like the World Bank are re-organizing to take on this poverty challenge.

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