Even though human beings have made a lot of progress in terms of science that fact remains that we have been able to do little to alleviate poverty. Poverty statistics show that nearly 80 per cent of the population of the world lives under an income of $10 everyday. The answer to why all of us who lead comfortable urban lives are unaware of this ghastly fact lies in poverty statistics too.

And that is not all when it comes to poverty statistics. The World Health Organisation has estimated that about 28 per cent of children in developing countries are stunted and underweight because of the conditions of poverty that they live in. Because they do not have access to any source of nutrition, these children often contract many illnesses that even shorten their life span. South Asia and South Africa are two main regions that account mainly for this deficit. Poverty statistics further point out towards the fact that if the current trend of malnutrition among children continues the Millennium Development Goals target will be missed by a huge margin of 30 million children, because of the poor progress in these nations.

Most of us who are fortunate enough to live in big cities and have easy access to a lot of amenities tend to take essential things like water and air for granted. There are alarming poverty statistics with relation to water. More than a billion odd people who live in developing countries do not have access to clean drinking water and nearly 3 billion people in these countries make do with the lack of basic sanitation.

There is more disparity apparent in poverty statistics with regards to basic needs such as water. 85 per cent of the wealthiest people in the world have access to piped water in their homes whereas the poorest 20 per cent of the world population have to walk miles to collect a small utensil full of clean drinking water. If this is the progress that we claim to have made, we should indeed hang our heads in shame.

Poverty Statistics

Related terms: Poverty Statistics United States, Effects of Poverty, Causes Poverty, World Poverty Stats, World Poverty Rates, Poverty Facts, Poverty around the World, 2011 Poverty Statistics