Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Education in Bolivia

Education in BoliviaThe history of Bolivia is a clear representation of how education can be used as a tool for maintaining political control.

Education in Bolivia was first formalized by Spanish-speaking Europeans who colonized the Iberian states occupying present-day Bolivia. In order to keep power from returning to the indigenous people after the liberation of these Iberian states, Bolivians of European descent used education as a tool to eradicate indigenous languages, traditions and ultimately, identity.

They believed they were “remaking Indians into productive peasants” and wanted to integrate them into campesino culture so that it would grow dominant over the indigenous culture. Education in this context was used as a method of control and subordination; it promoted prejudice against any language or culture that differed from that of the hegemonic group.

The schools set up for these indigenous groups did not teach its students traditional subjects such as arithmetic, reading or social studies. Instead, they focused on agriculture and pushed literacy to the edge of the curriculum. Reading and writing was assumed to be useless for people meant to work the fields—even potentially dangerous. In a world where knowledge is power, the ruling class knew that literacy among the working class would only undermine their authority.

The revolution of 1952 changed the power structure in Bolivia and eventually led to the redevelopment of the education system.

A new education act unified all people under one system, taking the place of the previous system where the working class and upper class had separate schools. However, students were only taught in the national language from that point on—a change that was intended to help integrate the indigenous population into the national Spanish-speaking culture, but instead further marginalized them. Indigenous children forced into Castellan-taught classes could not understand their teachers properly and often dropped out. Furthermore, teachers were poorly trained and classes often focused on memorizing rather than practical learning.

The result of these educational practices is a Bolivian population that is only 50 percent literate and an elite educated minority. It is estimated that 70 percent of the rural populate and 30 percent of the urban population are illiterate.

However, this is not necessarily a result of lack of funding. Bolivia devotes 23 percent of its annual budget to educational expenditures—a greater investment than most South American countries usually spend. The problem more likely has to do with lack of effective spending, to which the Bolivian government has responded by decentralizing spending on education in order to meet the diverse needs of local communities.

Since 1994, this decentralization has significantly improved dropout rates. More children are going to school across the nation; however, schools still seem to be lacking in quality teachers and relevant curriculum. This can be observed by the high rate of secondary school graduates who want to attend university but must take an entire year’s worth of extra courses in order to bring their knowledge up to speed with international standards.

Bolivia still has a long way to go in terms of improving its education system in order to substantially increase literacy rates and to help its students acquire the skills needed to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

– Shenel Ozisik

Sources: FOCAL, Journal of Intercontinental Communication, Foundation for Sustainable Development
Photo: Lab

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Education in the Gambia

education in the gambia
Located in west Africa, just slightly less than twice the size of Delaware bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and Senegal, lies the smallest country on the continent of Africa, the Gambia. Of the estimated 1,925,527 residents of the Gambia, 90 percent are of Muslim religion and the population can be deemed mono-ethnic with only 1 percent of the population reported as non-African.

The Gambia’s education expenditure was an estimated 4.1 percent of the GDP in 2012 and ranked 109th in comparison to the rest of the world. The Gambia’s literacy rate (defined as those who are 15 and over and can read and write) for the total population was estimated at a mere 51.1 percent in 2011 (male: 60.9 percent, female: 41.9 percent.) In comparison, the United States doubles this rate with 99 percent of the total population deemed as literate.

The school life expectancy, primary to tertiary education, in 2008 totaled to only 9 years— the U.S.’s school life expectancy totaled to 17 years. Contributing to low school attendance rates is the prevalence of child labor (children ages five to 14), which was estimated at 103,389 (25 percent) in 2006.

The Gambia’s Education Structure: Lower and Upper Basic School

The formal system of education in the Gambia operates on a 6-3-3-4 system. Basic education consists of six years of primary (lower basic) and three years of upper basic education, together totaling to 9 years of uninterrupted basic education.

Typically, gambian children start school at age seven. From ages seven to 13, the students are enrolled in a lower basic school. At grade six, students take a placement exam.

At age 13, students enter an upper basic school for three years until they are 16 years old. Upon completion the upper basic school, the students take a Basic Education Certificate Exam (BECE) in nine or 10 subjects and this completes their basic education. Depending on their performance on the terminal examination offered in the ninth grade, the student may attend a Senior Secondary School or other Vocational Training provisions.

According to the U.S. Embassy, “Until 2002, primary education lasted for six years and led to the Primary School Leaving Certificate (phased out). Secondary education was divided into junior secondary schools, which offered a three-year course leading to the Junior School Leaving Certificate, and Senior Secondary schools which offered a three-year course. Since 2002, a new unified basic education system was introduced covering 1-9 years, through an automatic transition with no examination at the end of the lower basic cycle. The cycle is divided into two cycles: lower basic (Grades I–VI) and upper basic (Grades VII–IX).”

In the Gambia, there are 368 lower basic schools and 89 upper basic schools. Another type of school system in the Gambia called the basic cycle schools is a combination of the lower and upper basic school.

Senior Secondary School (SSS)

Admission to Senior Secondary/High School is very competitive in the Gambia. 75 percent of Gambian students attend government schools. According to the U.S. Embassy, “Secondary schools offer a variety of subjects in science, arts and commerce. At the end of Grade 12, pupils sit for the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council. Students in all the 55 Senior High Schools take a Core curriculum consisting of English language, integrated science, mathematics and social studies. Each student also takes three or four elective subjects, chosen from one of seven groups: sciences, ‘arts’ (social sciences and humanities) or commerce (visual arts or home economics).”

Collegiate Education

Like the United States, gambian students pursuing an undergraduate program at a university will typically study there for four years prior to receiving their bachelor’s degree. There is also a significant amount of Gambian students studying in the U.S. In the 2007-2008 academic years, 330 Gambian students were studying in the U.S. at various times. Also similar to the U.S., Gambian student may further their education at a university as a graduate student for over a year to obtain their Master’s degree.

– Eastin Shipman

Sources: U.S. Embassy, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2, CIA 1, CIA 2
Photo: Access Gambia

Controversial Leadership: China’s Role in Africa

In recent years, China’s role in Africa, particularly its economic role, has expanded significantly.

China is currently the continent’s largest trade partner. China and African nations exchange roughly $160 billion worth of goods every year, and one million Chinese have moved to Africa in the past decade.

China says that more than half of its foreign aid goes to Africa; between 2010 and 2012, China provided Africa with more than $14 billion in foreign aid. Additionally, China funded the building of the $200 million Africa Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as “a symbol of deepening relations.”

China also provides economic guidance in Africa. In a November 2014 conference, officials from China and the African Union met in Ethiopia to discuss how Africa can learn from Chinese industrialization practices. A joint-commissioned comparative study on Special Economic Zones in China was presented at the conference, with the goal of improving Special Economic Zones in Africa.

Many, including Ethiopian president, Dr. Mulatu Teshome, see China’s leadership role in Africa as a good thing: “Benchmarking China’s best practices in industrialization is essential, in that that it is almost unthinkable to realize the African dream of becoming an industrialized, united and prosperous continent by 2063 only through Africa’s own technology generation.”

It would appear that China is uniquely suited to provide development leadership in Africa. Much of China’s success in reducing poverty amongst its own people stemmed from agricultural and rural development. Similarly, rural poor account for over 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africans living below the poverty line. According to a World Bank study, roughly three-quarters of China’s overall poverty reduction between 1981 and 2001 came from gains to the rural poor.

Some, however, have accused China of “resource colonialism,” asserting that China is using Africa’s mineral wealth to spur its own economic growth — a charge that foreign minister Wang Yi has adamantly denied.

“In China’s exchanges and cooperation with Africa, we want to see mutual benefit and win-win results. I want to make clear one point, that is, China will never follow the track of western colonists and all cooperation with Africa will never come at the expense of the ecology, environment or long-term interests of Africa,” Wang asserted.

Others wonder whether China’s political role in Africa is expanding along with its economic role. China insists that its support is unconditional, and that it has no designs on interfering in the political affairs of African nations. “Politically, we always speak up for African countries and uphold justice. Economically, we help African countries to enhance development to achieve prosperity,” said Wang.

A recent article in the Economist argued that, while China’s win-win rhetoric is largely empty, China appears to have no designs on building its political influence on the African continent. “Some thought, after a decade of high-octane engagement, that China would dominate Africa. Instead it is likely to be just one more foreign investor jostling for advantage.”

– Parker Carroll

Sources: The Economist, The Guardian, International Fund for Agricultural Development
Photo: PxHere

Liberia’s Ebola Treatment Unit Design Could Save Lives

ebola treatment unitThe Ebola epidemic has been a main topic of discussion for months now, and while the U.S. did briefly face a couple of cases, the center of the diseases is taking place primarily in Central Africa.

There are numerous reasons why Ebola has continued to spread and defy all attempts at containment. With widespread lack of vaccinations paired with unsanitary living conditions, it is no surprise that the disease has continued to thrive for most of 2014. At the beginning of 2015, new ideas for combating the Ebola spread are being implemented.

While U.S. advocates are providing as many vaccinations as possible right now, a new solution may offer a decline in mortality rates by changing one line of defense that may be a bit easier to control: clinic conditions.

African temperatures average in the upper 90 degrees Fahrenheit each day, and the intense heat is detrimental to patients losing precious body fluids from lying in the suffocating heat. Tents and tarps are set up in the typical Ebola clinic center, attempting to shield patients, volunteers and doctors from the intense heat. But as sweat, bugs and more people gather under the tents, patients and volunteers alike become quickly dehydrated and exhausted from the relentless sun.

A new Ebola treatment unit, or ETU, opened in Zwerdu — about 300 miles from Liberia’s capital of Monrovia — and is the first of its kind to feature bamboo-lined walls and a thin, tarp-like roof.

Thomas ten Boer of the German non-governmental organization Welthungerhilfe raves about the new structures. “I used bamboo because it is hollow and helps absorb the heat … Feel the plastic on the inside of the tent, it is cool to the touch,” he said. American aid organizations are excited about the new ETUs as well and USAID is set to build four ETUs in Liberia this year.

All construction materials, including the bamboo, are purchased locally, which also stimulates the economy while keeping costs down for the buyers. Local workers turned out to aid volunteers in the construction of the ETU. “You include the community and it helps them accept your project and gives them hope,” said ten Boer. For head engineer Daniel Dined, this project hit home. A Liberian native himself, Dined explained, “I have been working for humanitarian organizations … but to work for the Liberian people, that’s my dream and I love it.”

USAID hopes to have all four clinics open by Christmas, but as Dr. Elsie Karmbor of the Zwedru County Health Office said, “we pray that no patient will [have to go there].”

– Alaina Grote

Sources: Doctors Without Borders, USAID, YouTube, World Health Organization
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense

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Poverty in Tehran

Socioeconomic conditions in Iran, and Tehran in particular, are declining at a rapid rate. The country is home to high unemployment rates, dire poverty, rising inflation, and an unsustainably low minimum wage. Tehran teems with street vendors — many of whom are children — who engage in their dangerous work out of sheer desperation. Meanwhile, the nation’s rich continue to grow wealthier. The result is an ever-widening gap between Tehran’s rich and poor.

Nearly 40 years after the Iranian revolution, the nation’s leaders have yet to ensure equal distribution of wealth and opportunity to its citizens. Iran is currently home to seven million people living in absolute poverty, struggling to find enough food to eat each day.

Meanwhile, there are also five million people living in Iran who are tremendously wealthy, with Labor Minister Ali Rabiee deeming their financial statuses comparable to those of the wealthiest Americans. Nearly all of Iran’s national government officials are multimillionaires — a fact that the nation’s working class has protested over the years — and the country gains a considerable amount of wealth from its lucrative oil exports.

More detailed figures describing poverty data in Iran remain hard to come by, as news sources have criticized the government for withholding such information. This tendency to shy away from revealing relevant statistics is in no way a new trend; when former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in office, the government similarly refused to comply with the United Nations’ requests for official data reflecting poverty levels in Iran. This remained the case despite the passage of Iran’s Fourth Development Plan, which required the Welfare Ministry to make such information accessible.

Despite the ongoing secrecy, current Iranian President Haxdsssan Rouhani has been vocal about making poverty a top focus since assuming office, declaring in an October speech that there was “no evil worse than unemployment and poverty.”

Since taking over the presidency in 2013, President Rouhani has implemented several measures intended to address the nation’s growing poverty problems. Some of these measures have proven successful in helping to curb rising inflation levels and bringing a timely end to two full years of negative growth. However, it remains to be seen whether the president will be able to address the issue as fully as it demands; critics point out that the largest parts of Iran’s economy are heavily controlled by the government or semi-private bodies that remain intricately linked with the nation’s power players.

Officials believe that unemployment will only grow in the years to come, as approximately four million new college graduates leave their universities and struggle to find employment, joining the four million people in Iran who are currently in need of jobs. In the last fiscal year, nearly one quarter of all households in the nation were entirely unemployed.

In Tehran, many of the poorest city-dwellers turn to establishing informal businesses on the streets as a means of survival. It is common to see such vendors setting up makeshift “shops” on sidewalks or simply carrying their goods for sale throughout the city, peddling items like balloons, hair ties and socks to passersby. These street peddlers face instability and even danger in the face of constantly changing city ordinances and brutal security officials who try to extort them for protection money. Some peddlers, when confronted by rogue officials, are forced to regularly pay them in order to avoid harassment. If they refuse, the officers simply take all of the sellers’ earnings.

The situational poverty in Tehran goes beyond an economic problem to a human rights issue.

– Shenel Ozisik

Sources: The Borgen Project, PBS, Al-Monitor, FIDH, The Guardian, The Baltimore Sun
Photo: Payvand

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Top Five Projects for GlobalGiving

GlobalGiving is a charity fundraising website that has helped nonprofits and social entrepreneurs organize donors and raise money to improve their communities.

Since 2002, GlobalGiving has raised over $164 million to support around 11,000 projects, fulfilling their mission to catalyze a global market for ideas, information and money that democratizes aid and philanthropy.

GlobalGiving allows people to choose where they want their money to go, enabling funds to support any creative idea that might never have been funded through traditional approaches.

Here are the most popular projects:

1. “Send 8 Children to High School – Kibera, Kenya”

This project will provide one year of scholarship support for eight children (three girls, five boys) from Kibera to attend secondary school. Scholarships will cover school fees and supplies. In a country where only half of school-age children are enrolled in secondary school – and rates are even lower in Kibera where the population lives on less than $2 per day and few secondary schools exist in the community – support will give children an opportunity to achieve a unique goal.

2. “Help Baltimore Youth Achieve Their Business Dreams”

Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s students come alive when they have the chance to develop the mindset of an entrepreneur. NFTE Baltimore will use these funds to launch its program in a new classroom next year, bringing entrepreneurship education to 30 additional local youth in underserved communities.

3. “Christmas Gift – Donate For An Animal”

Even though the holidays are over, you can still make a donation to an orphaned wild animal on behalf of a loved one. With DAKTARI, you can choose the animal you want to spoil. This cherished animal will send you a personalized thank you photo, a certificate, and for more than $500 donated, a video.

4. “Provide New Clothes For Unfortunate Children”

This micro-project provides new dresses to underprivileged children. 40 abandoned orphan children between 5 to 15 years old can benefit from just two pairs of new dresses donated to them, helping them feel confident and more independent.

5. “Fund Vania’s Journey From A Shelter To Success”

Vania is extremely vulnerable to the pressures of trying to help raise her little sister who lives with her in a shelter. Vania also feels the pressures of knowing that her mother and brothers are living in Santa Cruz under difficult circumstances. There is no room or money to be part of her mother’s home. Next year, Vania will be homeless when she turns 18 because the shelter cannot house adults. Vania has a dream to live a better life for her and her family, but needs your help. This micro-project will help supply her living expenses.

In addition, each project states the issue at hand and how the project will help solve that issue with a potential long-term impact. Funding information is also included.

– Chelsee Yee

Sources: Global Giving, Fundraising UK
Photo: 3BL Media

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Seven Helpful Sites for Policy Jobs

So, you’ve got your education, you finally finished that internship during your undergrad, you have participated in a thousand mock interviews, and your resume has been polished at least 100 times. Now you just have to find that job you’ve been working toward your entire career. Here are seven websites to help you find policy jobs:

1. USAJOBS

USAJobs.gov is a helpful resource when it comes to finding a policy or federal job. According to USAJOBS, “The Pathways Programs offer clear paths to Federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates, and provide meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their Federal service.” Programs include the Pathways Internship Program, Recent Graduates Program and the Presidential Management Fellows Program.

The site also has additional helpful resources that allow users to search federal occupations by college major, look through a comprehensive A-Z list of federal agencies, find an internship, or recent graduate job by a keyword, salary, pay grade, category, location, department or agency.

2. Going Global

Going Global is committed to providing “grassroots intelligence” through their team of in country researchers. They monitor and update the career information and resources that are delivered to users. GoinGlobal.com allows the user to easily find international jobs and policy jobs. Their website provides country specific career and employment information for 30 countries and its database search allows users to search by country, profession or topic.

3. International Organization Careers

According to International Organization Careers, “International Organization Careers is brought to you by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO). IO is the U.S. government’s primary interlocutor with the United Nations and a host of other international agencies and organizations.”

IO Careers allows users to register for job alerts online, search international organization jobs database and filter the search by organizations, grades, professional fields, and locations, subscribe to jobs, assists students and young professionals, lists federal agencies, provides other employment possibilities.

4. Partnership for Public Service

According to their website, “The Partnership is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that believes good government starts with good people. By strengthening the civil service, and the systems that are supposed to support them, we help government serve the needs of all Americans.”

The Partnership goes above and beyond by actually getting involved and challenging policymakers and our government to have quality employees. Their website provides users with ample amounts of resources for programs and services for Federal Management, Federal HR, Political Appointees, Higher Education, Private Sector and Congress.

5. House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives can be a great resource for those seeking policy jobs online. This website allows users to see how to apply for various positions within the House as well as employment positions with members and committees and positions with other House organizations. The site also provides information for new employees and information for former employees.

6. United States Senate

Like the House, the U.S. Senate holds various resources and information about employment and policy positions. According to senate.org, “The Placement Office assists Senators and Senate Committees with filling entry-level through professional staff vacancies by providing resumes of qualified candidates. The Office is nonpartisan and administered by the United States Senate Office of the Sergeant at Arms. Read the Placement Brochure and complete the required Applicant Referral Form to begin registration in the Resume Bank.”

The Senate Employment Bulletin is published as a service to Senate offices that choose to advertise staff vacancies. The listing is posted online and revised throughout the week.

7. State and Local Government on the Net

State employment websites include agencies that conduct studies, publish labor market statistics, and often enforce occupational safety regulations. These agencies process unemployment claims, administer workmen’s compensation programs, handle workplace discrimination complaints, and sometimes sponsor job fairs.

This site states that it is “The Official State, County, & City Government Website Locator.” All 50 states are listed on this page with various websites of departments, divisions, industries and employment opportunities, allowing users to skim through a variety of helpful links that correspond with the state of their choice.

– Eastin Shipman

Sources: USAJOBS, Going Global, International Organization Careers 1, International Organization Careers 2, Partnership for Public Service 1, Partnership for Public Service 2, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate 1, U.S. Senate 2, State and Local Government
Photo: Business Marketing Blog

How Falling Oil Prices Affect the Poor

oil prices
Decreasing oil prices directly correlates with the price of food. Fuel transports food and with lowered oil prices, the cost of food is dropping. The price of fuel is important to the global market, because it dictates how imports and exports are priced.

The cost of petroleum determines the cost of agricultural products, like corn and wheat. The price of these crops includes the cost of transportation, chemicals and pesticides – all of which are made from petroleum.

Impoverished citizens will often spend over 50 percent of their budget on food. For instance, in Vietnam, parents will spend 65 percent of their budget on food for themselves and their families. With decreased prices in food, families living in developing countries will be able to purchase larger quantities.

While many living in developing countries are benefiting from the fall in oil prices, there is a population who is not benefiting from lowered oil prices. The fall in oil prices negatively affects independent farmers and crop growers.

These farmers do not use large amounts of pesticides or fuel to transport their goods. Therefore, the decreasing price in oil does not affect their cost in production and distribution. These farmers transport their food only a short distance. Disconnected from the global market, these small-holder farmers are at a disadvantage.

Overall, developing countries are benefiting from the decrease in oil prices, with the exception of small-holder farmers.

Lower oil prices can potentially benefit developing countries in another way, through investment. With lower oil prices, investment is possible because high oil importing countries have the opportunity to invest increased amounts into improving rural infrastructure and social services.

– Maxine Gordon

Sources: Yahoo, New York Times, Reuters
Photo: Inquisiter

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The Future of Food Security

food security
According to the World Bank, the world’s population is set to reach over 9 billion by 2050. With food security already a challenge, how will agriculture meet the food security needs of a much larger population?

According to Chris Brett, global head of sustainability at Olam International, food security success will depend on what he calls the ‘four A’s’—availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy.

Availability, says Brett, will depend on smallholders’ access to land rights and financial support. Brett believes that policy-makers should look at ways to encourage lending, and increase the extent to which farmers legally own the lands that they cultivate.

As over 2 billion people depend on smallholder farms for their livelihoods, augmenting the smallholders’ ability to prosper could potentially go a long way to reduce poverty.

Banks, however, are unlikely to lend to farmers in disaster-prone areas. Farmers in such areas face the difficult choice between investing in safe but unprofitable crops, or riskier though potentially more lucrative alternatives.

According to a recent article by Gaby Ramm and Roland Steinmann, agriculture insurance presents a potential solution to the conundrum faced by farmers in risk-prone regions. Pilot study results suggest that insurance can indeed play a role in encouraging farmers to engage in more lucrative practices. In India, farmers with rainfall insurance displayed a tendency to gravitate toward cash crops, which—though vulnerable to rainfall deficits—produce much greater returns.

Furthermore, insurance can also indirectly allow farmers access to more credit, by encouraging lenders to lend with more frequency and confidence. This, in turn, leads to further capital investments.

Smallholders can also benefit from cooperation with large-scale agriculture. According to Brett, cooperation between large-scale and small-scale agriculture can be mutually beneficial, and can increase yields through pre-financing and training in skills such as inter-cropping.

Brett also notes that, while Africa’s agricultural potential is enormous, investments in infrastructure will be necessary for that potential to be fully realized. It is estimated that Africa needs $55 million in agricultural investment to guarantee self-sufficiency.

– Parker Carroll

Sources: Poverty Action, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2
Photo: WSJ

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Poverty in Singapore

Singapore has a population of almost 6 million people with a $297.9 billion GDP which is growing at the average rate of 3.9 percent every year. Singapore is one of the richest Asian countries per capita. In 2012, Singapore city was ranked as the sixth most expensive city to live in the world—after cities including Tokyo, Sydney and Oslo. Despite these statistics, one-tenth of Singapore’s population is currently living in poverty.

Today, the income inequalities have become more noticeable than ever. Unlike large countries such as China or India where there is a distinct difference between urban towns and rural villages, Singapore is a small island where both the wealthy and poor live in proximity to each other.

Out of 136 countries considered, Singapore currently ranks the 26th most income disparate. This makes them the second most income unequal country in Asia. According to the Singapore government, over 105,000 families live in poverty. This translates to about one in 10 family homes, or 378,000 people.

While Singapore has the highest concentration of millionaires in the world and has an average per capita income of over $52,000, there are 105,000 families left with $5 to spend per day and 114,000 individual residents making less than $805 per month.

Furthermore, the purchasing power of the poor has significantly dropped. It has been determined that the top 10 percent wager-earning households earn as much as 25 times more than the bottom 10 percent. While the top earners saw their real wages increase, those on the bottom saw their real wages decrease. It is further distressing to realize that the price of goods and services rose by 13.1 percent since 2012.

Poverty in Singapore Today

Singapore had never had an official poverty line to measure the rates of poverty in their country. However, the Singaporean Parliament chose to establish a rough definition after neighboring Hong Kong created guidelines to better identify and take strides towards relieving the financial stress those particular citizens.

Currently, while Singapore has no acceptable measure of poverty, they consider any four person household that makes less than $1,250 per month as somewhat struggling. The $1,250 figure is considered the average a four person household would typically spend on food, clothing and shelter per month.

Much of the country’s poverty is created by the influx of foreign workers taking blue collar jobs that were once held by native Singaporeans. Foreign workers unfortunately mean cheaper labor. There is always a cost to globalization, and this time it has affected Singaporeans in their own home.

Despite the large, wealthy buildings in Singapore, many are often struggling to find affordable housing. Those that cannot make it live in tiny government-owned apartments that are barely bigger than 13 square feet. In those cases, rent is paid to the government according to how much they can afford to pay, children from impoverished backgrounds attend school on fees subsidized by the government and food is provided not by the wages earned but by charitable donations.

While Singapore does not have abject poverty like one would find in various parts of Africa, being unable to afford living in your country is an issue that any government should address and find solutions.

– Christina Cho

Sources: BBC, Singaporeans Against Poverty, Al Jazeera, World Bank
Photo: SMU