Question

Give two points of difference between absolute and relative poverty

Answer 1

Answer:

Absolute poverty refers to the state in which an individual cannot afford a basic subsistence level i.e. is insufficient in basic necessities of life like food, clothing and shelter. Since income and food consumption are the most important criteria to check on well being of an individual, they are used to define what we call as a poverty line.

Poverty line is a threshold level that defines individuals living in absolute poverty as the ones living below it. They are the ones who are unable to meet basic human needs.

However, this minimum income or consumption threshold needed for a healthy living would differ from society to society. For instance, there has to be a different threshold of poverty for people living in metros vis a vis in villages given that the living cost differ highly in the two regions or between USA and India given that two countries differ in many aspects such as population, development, infrastructure etc.

That is where the concept of relative poverty comes into picture. It is a concept that refers to the phenomenon of relative deprivation. It measures the degree of poverty. It refers to individuals or groups that lack in resources when compared with other members of the society they belong to.

That is why, there can be cases where people in relative poverty group might be living above subsistence level i.e. though such people are able to maintain a basic minimum living standard but then no way are their conditions good enough in regards to the society they live in .

Thus, the difference between the two concepts stems out of absolute level of deprivation (absolute poverty) and culturally defined standard of living (relative poverty).

Explanation:

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Answer 2

Answer:

Absolute Poverty

• Absolute Poverty refers to a phenomenon in which a section of the society is unable to fulfil even its basic necessities of life concerning food, clothing, housing, education and health.

• It is caused because of many factors like over population, low economic growth, over dependence on agriculture, etc.

• There are remedies to remove absolute poverty by Poverty Alleviation Programme and other ways.

• It is measured by 'Poverty Line.'

Relative Poverty

• Relative Poverty refers to a phenomenon in which inequalities of income exist and hence one person is poor in relation to other person.

• It is caused because of inequalities of income.

• It can't be removed as people have different skills and accordingly their incomes vary.

• It is measured by 'Gini Co- efficient.'