Magnitude Of Poverty Research Articles

FISCAL DEFICIT CONTAINMENT NOT AN EXCUSE FOR NEGLECT OF POOR

The paper holds the view that while fiscal discipline is important this must be achieved through good management of resources. The magnitude of poverty does not justify slackness. The poor should not be asked to pay the price for the mistakes and inadequacies of politicians and bureaucrats. If there is inefficiency in economic management, this is not the fault of those who cannot afford a square meal a day. Those who are inept or inefficient must look for other scapegoats than people who are barely surviving.

Social welfare and social work: the meaning of poverty programs in Latin America

During the last decade, the concern about poverty has turned into a key issue in the government discourse, and participatory poverty programs have multiplied all over Latin America. Nevertheless, poverty and social unrest keep growing. The objective of this article is to explain this apparent paradox. First there is an analysis of the relationship between structural adjustment, the growth of poverty, and the reorientation of broad social policy away from social rights towards selective and targeted poor relief. In order to illustrate the content and operation of a typical Latin American poverty program, the Mexican National Solidarity Program is examined. The initial question posed is whether this program alleviates poverty and grants a social minimum for the poor in view of the magnitude of poverty, the quantity of resources and their allocation. Next the participatory approach of the program is analyzed in relation to the empowerment of poor groups and communities. Finally, there is a reflection on the place of social work in this program and how the role of the social worker has been transformed.

Evolución y magnitud de la pobreza en México

Este trabajo destaca las características del método de medición integrada de la pobreza (MMIP), en esta que constituye una de sus primeras aplicaciones, proporcionando una visión de la magnitud y características de la pobreza en México. Utilizando el método de líneas de pobreza (LP), en su variante de canasta normativa de satisfactores esenciales, se muestra que mientras la incidencia de la pobreza disminuyó durante el periodo 1963-1981, la tendencia se revirtió en 1982, y desde entonces no ha dejado de crecer. Tanto este análisis como el que se aplica para 1989 con base en el MMIP, muestran que la gravedad de la pobreza es mucho mayor que la que suele considerarse: más de dos terceras partes de los mexicanos son pobres y cerca de la mitad (45%) son pobres extremos. Aunque hay más personas pobres en el medio urbano que en el rural, al tomar en cuenta también la intensidad de sus carencias, se concluye que hay más pobreza en el campo. Desde el punto de vista metodológico se constata la capacidad analítica de MMIP y se puede aseverar que, conforme a este método, el nivel de incidencia de la pobreza se ubica entre el determinado por los métodos parciales de necesidades básicas insatisfechas y de LP.

Cash Benefits and Poverty Alleviation in an Economy in Transition: The Case of Lithuania

Transition caused output to contract sharply and income differentials to widen, thus poverty has become a serious policy issue in Lithuania. Dramatic increases in the number of people needing assistance occurred at the same time the capacity to finance social welfare services significantly decreased. Utilizing the latest definition, this paper measures the magnitude of poverty, examining the impact of social assistance programs. Policy simulations suggest that better targeting of the poor would generate a significant reduction in the incidence of poverty.

Do poverty programs alleviate poverty? The case of the Mexican National Solidarity Program.

In recent years, compensatory poverty programs have been adopted in several countries in response to the social and political effects of structural adjustment programs implemented by most Latin American and African countries. The authors analyze the Mexican National Solidarity Program "Pronasol," often cited as an exemplary social compensation program, by inquiring into its impact on poverty. The authors first investigate the relationship between structural adjustment and the process of impoverishment, in order to establish the dynamics and magnitude of poverty in Mexico. They find that the structural adjustment program has considerably increased poverty, mainly through a sustained wage decrease and job losses. The authors next discuss whether Pronasol complies with the requisites of a program that warrants a social minimum for the poor, and whether the resource allocation complies with objective criteria of the sociogeographic distribution of poverty. The data suggest that Pronasol cannot be considered to guarantee a social minimum for the poor, given the magnitude of poverty, the scarce resources allocated, the orientation of the subprograms, and the regional distribution of funds. Nor does it qualify as a social compensation program of any importance. Finally, an alternative interpretation of Pronasol is offered in the field of legitimation and political control.

The magnitude of poverty in Latin America

In the last two decades, Latin America has gone through two opposite phases: the 1970s, which was a period of economic growth for most of the countries, and the 1980s, when the crisis seriously depressed the standard of living of broad sectors of the population. In order to appraise and interpret these changes properly, however, it is necessary to have at hand indicators which, individually or together, give an idea of the various dimensions of the social situation and the way they have evolved.

Pauperismusin Germany during theVormärz

EDUCATED and sensitive observers in Germany between 1815 and 1848 were noticeably disquieted by the problem of mass poverty, which they, in stressing its peculiarities to their own time, labelled Pauperismus. Yet until recently the historiography ofthe period has tended to treat the subject only peripherally, while the few scholars who have investigated it have come to diverse, sometimes uncertain, conclusions. Pauperismus and the broader problems ofthe eco? nomic, social, and political history of the lower classes in the Vormarz constitute one of those frontiers of German history that is just beginning to attract intensive scholarly exploration. This review will outline some ofthe major recent approaches to the phenomenon and critically evaluate them in the light ofthe book of sources recently compiled by Carl Jantke and Dietrich Hilger. The discussion will focus on two crucial issues: the magnitude of poverty in the Vormarz and its causes. In addi? tion, an attempt will be made to point out what these sources suggest about the relationships between Pauperismus and developments in eco? nomic and class structure. From the late nineteenth century to the 1930's many writers, impressed with the social question of their own industrialized society, tended to see in the distress of the Vormarz only the early stages of proletarianization and modern class conflict produced by technological advance and the growth of large-scale capitalist industry. Gustav Schmoller and Franz Mehring are eminent contrasting examples of this approach. Strong elements of it are discernible in Paul Mombert's well-