World Bank: 400 million children live in extreme poverty

EROMOSELE EBHOMELE/Agency Report

The World Bank has said that though the number of people living in extreme poverty around the world has sharply declined over the past three decades, in 2010 it still included roughly 400 million children, or one-third of those living in such abysmal conditions.

The analysis made available by the World Bank showing an in-depth profile of the poorest people in the world, further found that 721 million fewer people lived in extreme poverty in 2010–defined as under $1.25 a day–compared to 1981, but concluded that a disproportionate number of children were among them.

According to the report which majorly concentrated on 2010, children accounted for one in three of those living in extreme poverty around the world as at that year, compared with only one in five of those living above the poverty line.

In low-income countries, the report said, the percentages were even worse, with half of all children living in extreme poverty.

The analysis found that more than 78 percent, of those living in extreme poverty lived in rural areas, with nearly two thirds of the extreme poor deriving their livelihoods from agriculture.

It said the extreme poor also continue to lag significantly behind in access to basic services, adding that only 26 percent of the poor had access to clean water in 2010, compared to 56 percent among those living above the $1.25 poverty line.

It also stated that 49 percent of the extreme poor had access to electricity, compared to 87 percent of the non-poor and that while 61 percent of those above the $1.25 poverty line had access to basic sanitation, just 20 percent of the extreme poor had access to similar services.

“We need to act urgently, and with a sharpened focus, to implement effective policies in places where poverty remains entrenched, particularly rural areas.

“Children living in complete deprivation today are unlikely to benefit much from growth in the future, unless they secure access to adequate nutrition, education, and health services.

“Accelerating the pace of poverty reduction in low income countries represents a moral imperative. There is no time for complacency,” World Bank Acting Vice President on Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, Jaime Saavedra, said.

Speaking concerning the analysis, World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, said: “we have witnessed an historic movement of people lifting themselves out of poverty over the past three decades, but the number of children living in poverty alone should leave no doubt that there remains much work to do.

“We can reach our goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity, including sharing that prosperity with future generations, but only if we work together with new urgency.

“Children should not be cruelly condemned to a life without hope, without good education, and without access to quality health care. We must do better for them.”

For Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, the finding that over 400 million children live in extreme poverty and children are more likely to be poor than adults is disturbing, “since this can exacerbate child labour and create inter-generational poverty traps.

“Hence, if we want to make a sustainable dent on global poverty, this is where we need to focus our attention.”

The World Bank said six months ago, governors within its group endorsed two global goals-ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity by fostering income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries.

It said though poverty reduction globally has moved at a faster pace than expected and that the Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty between 1990 and 2015 was reached five years ahead of time, the analysis underscored the difficulty of reaching the goal to end poverty by 2030.

It said it found that while the reduction in poverty moved significantly in middle-income countries such as China and India, low-income countries showed much slower progress.

It further stressed that while extreme poverty rates have declined in all regions, the world’s 35 low-income countries, 26 of which are in Africa, registered 100 million more extremely poor people now than three decades ago.

“In 2010, 33 percent of the extreme poor lived in low-income countries, compared to 13 percent in 1981,” the report said.

The analysts also found that the poor in 2010 were as bad off as they were in 1981, with the exception of India and China.

The average poor person in a low-income country, according to the report, lived on 78 cents a day in 2010, compared to 74 cents a day in 1981. But in India, the average income of the poor rose to 96 cents in 2010, compared to 84 cents in 1981, while China’s average poor’s income rose to 95 cents, compared to 67 cents.