Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Causes of Poverty in Somalia and the Need for Aid

Help People in Somalia
It is no secret that the countries most affected by climate change are the least equipped to combat the implications. Much of Somalia is dependent on livestock and agriculture, and more than half the population is now in dire need of humanitarian assistance after two seasons of poor rainfall. There have been many causes of poverty in Somalia that have left the country unable to aid its own citizens — in fact, the U.N. estimates a need for $864 million to assist 3.9 million people.

 

Leading Causes of Poverty in Somalia

 

The War on Hunger

Famine looms as a very viable threat. In just 48 hours, 110 people died from starvation and drought-related illness in rural Somalia. The drought is more severe in the country’s rural regions. Many Somalis from these areas took to the road out of necessity. Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu offers feeding centers and food distribution.

Like most, Fadumo Abdi Ibrahim made the 30km journey on foot with her nine-month-old malnourished son in arms. While she was fortunate to complete the trek, others were not so lucky. “We found several bodies of children on the road,” Ibrahim said. The malnourished children died in their mothers’ arms; mothers too weak to carry the small corpses the rest of the way.

Like Ibrahim, Somalia travelled a long and challenging road to arrive at its current state of affairs. There are many causes of poverty in Somalia. The following are a few of the most significant.

In the early 1980s, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank instigated an intervention in Somalia and imposed economic and agricultural reforms in hopes of spurring development.

In theory, macroeconomic development seems reasonable.

POVERTIES is an online publication reporting social scientific research and information on economic development, public policy, human rights and discrimination. One article helps to simplify the damages of neoliberal reforms. The neoliberal ideology consistently follows a pattern of “currency devaluation for cheap exports and cheap labor, trade liberalization by opening the borders to world trade (and to global competitors), reducing budget deficits through massive cuts in the public sector and reduction of social services.”

Somali met with many of these consequences thanks to the IMF’s reformations. Unemployment, extremely limited wages and higher food prices proved among the most punishing.

 

Growing Dependency

Somalia was largely self-sufficient in food until the 1970s. Its economy was based on an exchange relationship between herdsmen and agriculturalists. The IMF’s economic reforms undermined these fragile relationships, victimizing food distribution and the agricultural economy.

Since the collapse of the country’s last government in 1991, social and political order in Somalia presents itself in the form of clans. The situation has proved surprisingly less violent than expected. Most conflict, however, is rooted in land and water resources. There is a necessary method within this madness: for many Somalis, access to such resources is dependent on their clan — that is, if they have a clan at all.

Again, the causes of poverty in Somalia are countless, but the IMF and the loss of a centralized government certainly caused the greatest damage.

Somalia’s traditional pastoral economy presented itself as the perfect project for modernization, but forced reformation led the population towards a fight for survival. The reforms devastated Somalia’s agricultural sector, and war and civil war further strained essential resources (as well as other factors too numerous to list).

When the rain stopped, the entire population was at the mercy of drought, with no centralized government to provide relief from impending famine.

The fate of more than half of all Somalis now lies in the hands of foreign and humanitarian aid. Somalia and its citizens like Ibrahim have fought to make it this far on a challenging journey; the question is, will help be waiting to greet them?

– Sophie Nunnally

Photo: Flickr

The Top Six Answers About the Poverty Rate in Mexico

poverty rate in MexicoMexico has the highest poverty rate in North America. Its economy is based on commodities and manufacturing, and it has the second highest degree of economic disparity between the wealthy and the poor. Here are the top six answers about the poverty rate in Mexico:

1. What is the poverty rate in Mexico?

The poverty rate in Mexico in 2014 was 26.2 percent. In a population of 120 million, 55.3 million live below the poverty line. This number is a slight decrease from 2010, revealing that the modest economic growth in the country was not enough to better the poorest people’s circumstances.

2. How is the poverty level determined in Mexico?

Poverty rates are measured by Mexico’s National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL). The council examines the current per capita income, level of education, access to health securities, access to social security, quality and the size of one’s home and access to food. CONEVAL defines poverty as, “People with an income below the wellbeing threshold and with one or more social deprivations.” In 2014, poverty was defined as living on less that 2,542 pesos ($157.70) a month in urban areas and 1,615 pesos in rural areas.

3. What areas of Mexico have the highest poverty rate?

Regions of the the southern pacific coast traditionally have the highest poverty rates. Chiapas has a poverty rate of 76.2 percent and is the poorest state in the country. Oaxaca is the second poorest state with a poverty rate of 66.8 percent. Both of these states are along the southern pacific coast.

4. What about extreme poverty?

The rate of extreme poverty has dropped 0.3 percent from 2010 and is now at 9.5 percent. Extreme poverty is defined as 1,243 pesos in cites and 868 pesos a month in rural areas. Government services have been successful in supporting the least well off in the country. Government programs such as a conditional cash transfer program, Oportunidades, and expansion of health care coverage have reduced the rates of extreme poverty. The majority of people in extreme poverty are the indigenous population of the country.

5. How does economic growth affect the poverty rate in Mexico?

Consistent research shows that economic growth and development is the best way to reduce poverty. Unfortunately, Mexico’s economic growth rate has been stagnant around two to three percent for the past 20 years. The growth rate needs to increase in order to reduce the poverty rate in Mexico. The income of the poor has not increased although Mexicans have seen an increase in services, such as education and healthcare.

6. How does the population size relate to the poverty rate?

The poverty rate may appear to have decreased, but as the population increases the number of poverty living in poverty is actually on the rise. For example, between 2010 and 2012 the poverty rate in Mexico dropped 0.6 percent, but half a million more people were living below the poverty line.

Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto, faces challenging circumstances for lowering the poverty rate. The government priority is on expanding Mexico’s economy rather than creating programs to help people come out of poverty, so a heavier focus on this important issue is necessary for improvement.

– Sarah Denning

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Education in Afghanistan: War Will Not Stop Progress

Afghanistan has been in the midst of a war for several decades. While the conditions of war have the ability to stunt progress, the Afghans are unwilling to let their education system crumble. Whether it be national initiatives or programs developed by smaller organizations, education in Afghanistan continues to make progress.

In recent years, Afghanistan has made drastic progress in its education system. In 2002, about 900,000 boys attended school; girls, on the other hand, were not given the same opportunities. Most girls were educated at home to read and write but not much more. With the help of private donors, these numbers have begun to drastically change, and the Ministry of Education has since been able to build 16,000 schools across the country.

Now, there are over nine million students in Afghanistan, 40 percent of which are girls, a stark contrast to the state of education 15 years ago.

Not only is the government working towards creating a better education system throughout the country, but privately-owned companies are trying to make positive changes as well. Teach for Afghanistan, a sector of Teach for All, has been avidly working toward enrolling more students in school. While numbers of adolescents in school have been on the rise, there are still over three million children unenrolled in school, with two million of those actively working instead.

Additionally, schools still do not have enough teachers, leading the student to teacher ratio to be 111 students to one teacher.

In order to combat this problem, Teach for Afghanistan’s founder, Rahmatullah Arman, has helped obtain more teachers around the country. In the eastern province of Nangarhar, there are 80 graduates from Afghan universities teaching 23,000 students in 21 schools as part of the program.

When selecting fellows to teach for the program, it was important to the program to hire many female teachers to try and change the mindset for female education in Afghanistan. It is common for girls to be pulled from school, but the teachers try to reach out to parents and keep as many girls in school as possible.

Education in Afghanistan isn’t perfect; there are millions of boys and girls who are uneducated and female schooling is still seen as less essential to families throughout the country.

While there are still changes that need to be made, many people, as well as the government, recognize the importance of a strong education in giving their people the best chance in the future.

– Olivia Hayes

Photo: Flickr

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Agencies of the State Department Fighting Poverty Abroad

Fighting Poverty AbroadThe vast apparatus of the U.S. State Department can make it an overwhelming organization to understand. However, by assessing its individual offices, it becomes clear how vital these agencies are to the State Department fighting poverty abroad. These are some of the most prominent branches of the State Department and what they do to alleviate global poverty.

The Bureau of African Affairs (BAA) has operated for decades, promoting democracy, human rights and economic ties beneficial to both the U.S. and its African partners. Democratic transitions in unstable nations have been assisted and coordinated in conjunction with the BAA. The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, coordinated by the agency, contributes to the economic development that has seen millions lifted out of poverty in Africa.

The diplomacy conducted through the BAA highlights the importance of strong relations in allowing poverty alleviation programs to be deployed. By ensuring the cooperation of host nations, the State Department has been able to implement the Power Africa and Feed the Future programs. This is supported by the Global Health Initiative, aimed at eradicating debilitating diseases on the continent, with around 63 billion now invested in the project.

The Office of Global Food Security is another branch of the State Department that contributes to poverty alleviation. As with the BAA, it utilizes its diplomatic toolbox to put in place development programs aimed at eradicating poverty.

The office is particularly focused on agricultural development and promotes employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in agricultural sectors to end famines and establish more secure rural economies.

Aside from boots-on-the-ground agencies, the Bureau of International Organization Affairs is vital for developing and sustaining relationships with important organizations in the fight against global poverty. This office uses diplomacy to strengthen ties with the U.N. and its auxiliaries (such as UNICEF) in concert with promoting U.S. leadership in democracy promotion and poverty reduction. Despite receiving scant media attention, U.S. cooperation with Amnesty International and the Red Cross depends on the IO Bureau.

These agencies of the State Department fighting poverty abroad emphasize how important diplomatic skills are for furthering poverty alleviation efforts. In order for the State Department to continue to promote American leadership in this area, its budget must be preserved.

– Jonathan Riddick

Photo: Flickr

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What Do Most Developing Countries Have in Common?

What do most developing countries have in common that most developed countries do not? Global poverty is a complex issue that involves many historical, regional and social factors. One important factor that most developing countries have in common is a history of agricultural dependence.

Some regions, like Latin America, are in prime geographical positions for growing important foods such as produce, sugar and cacao. Countries in these farming-friendly areas have historically been colonized and exploited by industrialized nations who are unable to grow these crops in their own countries. As a result of this historical process, many agricultural countries have been devastated by foreign influences in their countries and overzealous farming practices on their lands.

Agricultural countries are also challenged by their dependence on many factors beyond their control. Uncontrollable issues such as the environment disproportionately affect those whose livelihoods come from the natural world. The emphasis on producing certain crops for the rest of the world also limits these countries’ agency in the global market. When the international demand for a product such as sugar decreases, countries that focus on sugar production are helpless to find other sources to bolster their economies.

A focus on farming can also limit these nations’ abilities to develop infrastructure and diversify their economies. Agricultural work requires a lot of manpower but little education. In agricultural countries, the educational levels and human capital are not always sufficient to advance beyond the production of a few crops.

Understanding the answer to the question of what do most developing countries have in common can help these countries escape global poverty. Industrialized nations can help their agricultural counterparts through strategy and technology. For example, researchers in the United States can help farmers in Bangladesh by equipping them with the best irrigation practices, most cost-effective tools and highest yield crops.

Climate change is another important area that those in developed countries should focus on in order to help their developing counterparts. Addressing the impact of climate change is a priority for all, but farmers in poor countries feel its effects most strongly.

Foreign aid from wealthy nations is also an important way for developing countries to diversify beyond agriculture. With start-up funding from rich countries, more agricultural nations can follow in the footsteps of rapidly developing countries such as India and China.

Agricultural countries feed the world, yet many of them cannot meet their own people’s needs. Understanding the link between agriculture and poverty is important for dispelling myths about why certain countries prosper while others struggle. Realizing what most developing countries have in common is crucial to truly helping these populations emerge beyond the developing world.

– Bret Anne Serbin

Photo: Flickr

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Common Diseases in Lesotho and Ways to Reduce Them

Common Diseases in LesothoThe Kingdom of Lesotho is a small country of 2 million people. Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa and is also very dependent on South Africa for jobs, resources and healthcare.

The average life expectancy in Lesotho is 50 years for men and 48 years for women. This low life expectancy is the result of the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The number one cause of death in Lesotho, HIV/AIDS has a mortality rate of 38.2 percent. The mortality rate for HIV/AIDS peaks in the 40-49 age group and nearly a quarter of the population between ages 15-49 are infected with HIV.

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is the most common communicable disease in Lesotho. Perhaps the reason that communicable diseases are so pervasive in Lesotho is because behavioral risk factors are ubiquitous. Behavioral risk factors include unsafe sex, poor diet, tobacco smoke and drug and alcohol use. For deaths attributed to behavioral risk factors, unsafe sex is by far the most common, and attributes to 45.8 percent of deaths.

Unsurprisingly, unsafe sex is also the number one mode of transmission for HIV/AIDS. Other modes of transmission include pregnancy, breastfeeding and needle-sharing.

HIV transmission is clearly a problem in Lesotho but is not impossible to solve. The government of Lesotho and other organizations have implemented projects that strive to address the root causes of HIV transmission and provide treatment to as many sick people as possible.

In April 2016, the government of Lesotho provided universal treatment for persons with HIV. Lesotho has also committed to achieving the UNAIDS goal of 90-90-90 by 2020. With the 90-90-90 goal, 90 percent of all people with HIV will know their HIV status, 90 percent of people diagnosed with HIV will receive consistent treatment and 90 percent of people receiving treatment for their HIV will receive viral load suppression.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Lesotho has collaborated with the Ministry of Health since 2007. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been instrumental in allowing CDC Lesotho to assist the Ministry of Health in implementing a national HIV program. Through PEPFAR, CDC Lesotho has also provided all community-based testing for HIV.

Help Lesotho

Other projects and organizations aim to tackle the root causes of unsafe sex in Lesotho. Help Lesotho is an advocacy organization that, among many goals, promotes the prevention of HIV transmission. Help Lesotho specifies that an individual’s behavior is the only risk factor for contracting HIV.

Thus, Help Lesotho’s number one recommendation for avoiding HIV is wearing condoms. Their second two recommendations are taking prescribed treatment to prevent transmission and getting informed about HIV transmission.

The World Bank

A World Bank-funded team in Lesotho has promoted safe sex with lottery tickets. The researchers tested for two STIs in two groups of volunteers in Lesotho. Participants would return every four months for testing. Volunteers in the first group received a stipend for returning. Volunteers in the second group received a lottery ticket.

If the volunteers did not test positive for HIV, they would be entered into the lottery for a prize of $50, a large sum in Lesotho. The study found that after two years, the incidence of HIV infections decreased by 21.4 percent in the lottery-ticket group versus the stipend-group.

International Condom Day

On International Condom Day, February 2, 2017, three organizations teamed up to promote condom use in Lesotho. The United Nations Population Fund, Lesotho Planned Parenthood Association and Mothers to Mothers Organization held a condom use promotion in the village of Ha Ntema, Maboloka in the district of Mafeteng.

The goal of this day in Lesotho was to emphasize the importance of keeping condoms in the home. Previously, condoms were kept at the Councilor’s and Chief’s place and local shops, which made young people embarrassed to get them and ultimately discouraged condom use.

HIV is by far the most of common diseases in Lesotho, with a significantly higher mortality rate than other common diseases in Lesotho.

Despite this statistic, there is still hope. Efforts from the government of Lesotho and other organizations prove that addressing root causes and providing information and resources goes a long way in reducing the prevalence, incidence and mortality rate of HIV in Lesotho.

– Christiana Lano

Photo: Flickr

Artificial Intelligence Preventing Blindness in India

Preventing Blindness in IndiaThe Artificial Learning System – also called Artelus, for short – is a newly-developed artificial intelligence (AI) designed for preventing blindness in India. The Artelus detects early symptoms of diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease found in diabetic patients which causes blindness.

India has a population of 69.2 million diabetics. Of these diabetic patients, an estimated 34.6 percent suffer from diabetic retinopathy. It can be treated if detected early, yet if it goes unnoticed, diabetic retinopathy will lead to irreversible blindness.

Yet with the strained healthcare system in India, diabetic retinopathy often goes untreated until it is too late. The doctor-to-patient ratio is tremendously low, with only one doctor for every 2,000 people. Artelus can take away the burden of diagnosing from doctors, allowing them the time to focus on treatments rather than examinations. This AI captures the patient’s retina image, analyzes it in less than 15 seconds and then prints the results.

Similarly, 70 percent of the Indian population lacks health insurance. This leaves billions unable to afford healthcare. Artelus is an affordable and accessible screening tool that provides results fast. With over a 93 percent accuracy rate, patients without health insurance save money on examinations and will be certain of when they need to spend money on treatment.

But how does the product work? The AI utilizes technologies like portable devices, cloud computing and deep learning. Deep learning uses algorithms inspired by the complex neural systems of the human brain. Thus, the AI will grow to perform better the more data it is given.

With the success of their first product, Artelus seeks to expand their AI screening tools even further. They are looking not only into preventing blindness in India through their diabetic retinopathy screening, but also plan to develop screening tools that can detect early tuberculosis, breast cancer and lung cancer. The company began with the dream of marrying AI with healthcare and look to be steadily on the way to accomplishing their goal, starting with the revolutionary Artelus.

– Hannah Kaiser

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Germany’s Poverty Rate

Germany Poverty RateGlobally known for its engineering prowess and beautiful landscape, Germany lies in Western Europe and is undeniably one of the world’s superpowers. Although the country has experienced economic success over the past two decades, there are an unexpectedly large portion of people living below the poverty line. In fact, in 2015 the Germany poverty rate reached previously unseen levels of 15.7 percent of the population living in poverty.

Germany’s thriving economy is the fourth-largest in the world and has continued to grow with the success of its many companies, notably including Siemens Group, BMW and Volkswagen. There was even a 1.7 percent increase in GDP from 2014 to 2015.

This obvious economic development, however, has not had the expected effect of reducing poverty. The welfare organization Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband reported an uptick in the Germany poverty rate as well as a surge in the rate at which poverty is increasing. The poverty rate in Berlin rose from 20 percent to 22.4 percent from 2016 to 2017. In fact, in 11 of the 16 German states, the number of people living in poverty has increased from the past year.

Single parents and their children are heavily affected, as 43.8 percent remain below the poverty line. Also, many of those who immigrate to Germany do not have access to a stable source of income and consequently live in poverty. Over a third of foreigners are affected by poverty. Old-age poverty has also significantly risen, with a 5.2 percent increase from 2005 to 2015, and it will only continue to rise due to the spread of job insecurity.

Even in the face of lower unemployment, Germany’s poverty rate has not decreased. This may be due to an unequal distribution of resources and wealth. The rich are getting richer while the poor are not necessarily getting poorer, but are increasing in number. The number of millionaires increased from 12,424 to 16,495 from 2009 to 2016. However, the number of homeless also increased by more than 100,000 between 2008 and 2014, and 4.17 million Germans are in serious debt.

Additionally, while the national average pay has increased by 10 percent, wages for lower paying jobs have not increased along with them. The pay for managers has also increased by 30 percent in the last 15 years, which is four times faster than wages. Thus, the problem may lie in the inadequate support of those in poorer social groups.

The booming economy may create new jobs, but these jobs pay so little that people are not able to live above the poverty line even with a stable job. Too many people work part-time jobs that don’t allow them to make ends meet. To help remedy this lack of well-paying jobs, Germany has agreed to increase its minimum wage by four percent in 2017. While the advantages of a higher minimum wage are highly debated, low-wage workers will potentially have the chance to finally climb above the poverty line.

Germany is undoubtedly one of the world’s most influential and powerful countries, but it has much work to do if it wishes to dramatically lower its poverty rate. A few examples of potentially beneficial policy actions include more emphasis on promoting the education of children from low-income areas, more targeted taxes on the rich to help redistribute wealth, financial support for single families and poor pensioners and an overall higher priority placed on combating rampant poverty.

– Akhil Reddy

Photo: Flickr

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Saving Families’ Lives: Option B+ in Developing Countries

Mother to infant HIV-transmission is a notable public health concern in HIV- affected countries. Over the years, organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have developed PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission) programs to reduce transmission rates and help improve the health and lifespans of both mothers and newborns.

These PMTCT programs have proven extremely beneficial. Since 1995, more than 1.6 million child infections have been prevented. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and other PMTCT programs have the potential to drop transmission likelihood from 15-45 percent to under five percent.

Option B+

Option B+ is a 2013 PMTCT program comprised of recent HIV prevention recommendations to health providers. The program aims to enroll HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for life.

It also calls for the expansion of pediatric treatment, including the enrollment of all HIV-positive children under five in ART.

The program is ideal for top PMTCT targets named by the WHO. The top 10 include Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana and India.

Preceding programs included Option A and Option B. Although Options A and B were beneficial during times of use, integrating Option B+ in developing countries has many advantages desirable from a public health standpoint. For example:

  1. Unlike previous options, Option B+ gives mothers treatment for life, regardless of CD4 count.
  2. Without treatment interruptions, mothers can extend HIV-transmission protection to future pregnancies starting at conception through breastfeeding. This is critical to helping decrease the rates of HIV-exposed and -infected infants.
  3. Strong and continuous treatment provides extended protection in serodiscordant relationships.
  4. Early and continuous treatment options help women avoid health risks of starting, stopping and restarting triple ARVs.
  5. The new program simplifies HIV services and ART programs and serves as a reminder to communities that ART can be started and taken for life.

Research and evaluation have shown positive results for this method. Launching Option B+ in developing countries has continuously been attributed to improved progress of PMTCT coverage. By 2015, Option B+ allowed 91 percent of mothers already receiving antiretrovirals to be offered ART services for life.

Many countries implementing the program have also found a decrease in the numbers of HIV-exposed and -infected infants. And, HIV-exposed infants given ART within the first 12 weeks of life are 75 percent less likely to die from an illness related to AIDS.

Effects of Option B+ Implementation

Research in Malawi, one of the first countries to implement Option B+, found that providing treatment options to all mothers for life better prevents infant infections, drastically increases survival years in mothers and reduces rates of orphanhood. In Malawi, Option B+ helped to save more than 250,000 maternal life years and counting. To compare, Options A and B saved 153,000 and 172,000 respectively.

Of course, there are social and financial challenges that can make implementing this new program difficult. For example, studies find that mothers who test positive for HIV need time to disclose this status to their partners. They also have difficulty personally coming to terms with their new status. Additionally, Option B+ is initially more expensive and requires more resources than other PMTCT programs.

But, despite these challenges, Option B+ is the most efficient and strategic plan that simplifies HIV services and integrates them into maternal and child health services. This PTMCT program focuses on more than current pregnancies — it works to protect future children, serodiscordant partners and mothers for life.

Many organizations, including the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, believe that imitating Option B+ in developing countries is “an important step to finally eliminating pediatric AIDS” as well as improving maternal health services and reducing rates of orphanhood — all critical factors in the fight to end global poverty.

– Francesca Montalto

Photo: Flickr

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What Is the Poverty Rate in Cuba? Difficulties in Narrowing Down

What Is the Poverty Rate in CubaWhat is the poverty rate in Cuba? Because of the country’s socialist economy and the government’s lack of published data, this is not an easy question to answer. Estimates range from claiming five percent to twenty-six percent of the Cuban population lives in poverty. What is clear is that poverty in Cuba has lessened since the devastating Special Period in the 1990s.

But how much have the country and individual Cubans recovered? There are many factors to consider when trying to determine what is the poverty rate in Cuba.

At first glance, it may appear that at least two-thirds of the Cuban population currently live in poverty. The state salary is a mere $20 per month, well below the international poverty line of $2 per day. But this figure does not account for the free social services all Cubans enjoy nor other important sources of income, such as remittances from abroad.

Plus, since the 1990s a small private sector has blossomed in Cuba, and as of 2016 it employed one-third of the Cuban workforce.

There are a number of factors beyond income levels and the poverty line that help inform a conception of poverty in modern Cuba. Cuba scores well in many categories traditionally considered characteristics of “the middle class.” These include education, female participation in the workforce, low fertility rates, home ownership and enrollment in social services.

Based on Cuba’s impressive statistics when it comes to these general indicators of economic security, Cuba could be considered a middle class society.

While the majority of the Cuban population could be counted below the international poverty line according to conventional means, Cubans do not suffer from many of the issues that plague low-income societies. But poverty in Cuba does create many daily struggles that cast a shadow on Cubans’ access to free healthcare and education.

For instance, while Cuba has an impressive homeownership rate of 85 percent, most buildings are in such disrepair that they suffer daily losses of electricity and even frequent collapses. Basic consumer goods, a traditional hallmark of middle class societies, are nearly impossible for most Cubans to acquire. The population counts 11 million people, yet only 173,000 cars.

Cubans enjoy certain measures of economic security, but they also suffer shortages of everything from transportation, to food, to internet access.

What is the poverty rate in Cuba? It is hard to narrow down to a single number. But one important factor to consider for the future of the Cuban people is the new U.S. restrictions announced in June. The renewed regulations on travel to Cuba are likely to hurt the tourism industry, the number-one employer of private entrepreneurs. And the new rules against trade with the Cuban government will also further limit the accessibility of goods in Cuba.

Without political outreach from American citizens, the enigmatic Cuban poverty rate may start increasing.

– Bret Anne Serbin

Photo: Flickr