The Sustainable Development Goals: End poverty
In 2015, the United Nations announced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)which are to be achieved by 2030. It is an ambitious global agenda, covering the fight against poverty, hunger, inequality, the climate crisis, as well as the promotion of peace, justice and sustainable growth.
In our cycle, we look at how the implementation of each of these goals looks like in different regions and at different levels. Today we are reviewing Goal 1, which is the elimination of poverty in the world.
First of all, it is worth noting that There is no one-size-fits-all definition of poverty — depending on the context and purpose of the study, different approaches are adopted. Thus, the concept of poverty hides a series of indicators and factors that can vary greatly depending on the country, region or level of wealth.
In the United States, for example, a poor person is considered to be someone who has less than about 24.55 dollars per day. By comparison, the poverty line in Ethiopia is only 2.04 dollar per day — more than ten times less.
To enable global comparisons, World Bank introduced The International Poverty Line, currently set at 2.15 dollars per day. It is this threshold — used by the UN, among others — to monitor extreme poverty around the world. However, it is worth remembering that this level is extremely low — provides neither a healthy diet nor decent living conditions. So, in practice, it means a minimum of existence, and not a life at a minimal, but decent level. From this perspective, the poverty line becomes simply the limit of survival.
How is global poverty measured? Our World in Data Methodology
The methodology is based on a study prepared by Il nostro mondo in dati, which collates data from national household surveys and adjusts them to international comparisons. Both income and consumption expenditure are taken into account, depending on the country, and all data are presented in International Dollars of 2017, taking into account inflation and differences in the cost of living. In addition, non-market income, such as food produced for self-consumption, is taken into account.
Results of Our World in Data
Poverty data presented on the website Il nostro mondo in dati are mainly based on data from the World Bank, and their last update is from October 2024. These figures are expressed in international dollars from 2017, which allows comparisons between countries by taking into account differences in the cost of living and inflation.
Let's start with the fact that the scale of global poverty is still enormous. The latest global estimates of extreme poverty are from 2019. The World Bank estimates that this year around 650 million people — roughly one in twelve people (!) They lived on less than $2.15 a day.
Countries with the highest levels of poverty
The highest percentage of the population living in poverty is found in countries such as Madagascar, Mozambique, Burundi, Liberia, Malawi, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Ethiopia, where about 70% of the population lives below the national poverty line. In these countries, poverty is a common phenomenon, and a large part of the population does not have access to basic livelihoods. Madagascar and Mozambique, on the other hand, are at the forefront, where as many as 77% of the population live in extreme poverty, making these regions one of the most difficult places to fight poverty.
Impact of the pandemic
The pandemic has caused economic and social destabilization and driven tens of millions into extreme poverty. Official estimates of global poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic confirm previous predictions about the severe impact of the crisis on the world's poorest people. According to the World Bank, the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by more than 70 million between 2019 and 2020 — the first such significant increase in a generation. As a result, the global extreme poverty rate rose to 9.7% in 2020, marking a few years back in the fight against poverty. Since 2020, progress in reducing extreme poverty has begun to be seen again, however, the pace of this process is slower than before the pandemic, and the recovery is proceeding unevenly in different parts of the world.
Europe
According to Eurostat data, in 2024, about 93.3 million people, or 21% of the population of the European Union, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The highest rates were recorded in Bulgaria (30.3%), while the lowest in the Netherlands, but also in our Czech neighbors. Czech Republic, where rates were below 16%. Among the groups most at risk of poverty are women (21.9%), young people aged 18-24 (26.2%), people with a low level of education (33.9%) and the unemployed (66.6%).
Another poverty indicator is the EU's AROPE (At Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion), which takes into account three factors:
- Risk of income poverty: people living in households with incomes below 60% of the national median.
- Severe material and social deprivation: lack of access to basic goods and services, such as adequate heating of the apartment or the possibility of paying unexpected expenses.
- Very low work intensity: households in which people of working age have worked very little or no work in the past year.
Poland
In our country, poverty is measured in several ways, taking into account various aspects of the material situation of households. The main indicators used by Central Statistical Office (GUS) to:
- Extreme poverty: It concerns people whose income does not allow them to meet basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing or housing.
- Relative poverty: refers to people whose income is much lower than the average level of income in society, which can lead to social exclusion.
- Statutory Poverty: determined on the basis of income criteria for entitlement to social assistance benefits.
It is worth adding that Poland also benefits from the aforementioned EU AROPE indicator.
Program 500+
Despite the controversy surrounding the 500+ program (later changed to 800+), it has achieved considerable success in terms of poverty in Poland, although it did not improve, as assumed, the demographic situation in the country. Between 2015 and 2019 in Poland there was a significant decrease in extreme poverty among children — from 9% to 4.5%, i.e. by half. Already in the first year of operation of the “Family 500+” programme, a reduction in the poverty rate by three percentage points was observed. Such a rapid improvement in the material situation of families with children indicates that the programme has had a significant impact on reducing extreme poverty. This can be considered a success of the social policy carried out at that time. However, it is worth remembering that although the results are visible, this does not mean the full implementation of all the objectives of the program — talking about the complete elimination of the problem would be an exaggeration, as indicated by the unrealized goal of improving demographics. However, as another report - EAPN Polska shows, social benefits such as the 500+ program were not properly valued - their real value fell by 30%, and the announced freezing of support levels for the coming years will only aggravate the problem. The income criteria for entitlement to social assistance are still below the official extreme poverty line. Although 500+ has been converted to 800+, no official valorization plan has been created for the following years.
Important and alarming data from the EAPN Polska report
According to the latest report EAPN Poland — Poverty Watch 2023—2024 by Dr. Ryszard Szarfenberg, Poland is on the verge of a serious social crisis. Extreme poverty already affects 6.6% of the population, which means about 2.5 million people. Of particular concern is the increase in poverty among children and the elderly. We can also observe the phenomenon of social exclusion, which has expanded to 46% of the population, that is, as many as 17.3 million people. The report also highlights the dramatic increase in homelessness.
It is worth mentioning that the causes of this deepening poverty are systemic in nature. In 2023, the Polish economy almost did not grow (small GDP growth - by 0.2%), and inflation amounted to 11.4%, and real household incomes are constantly decreasing.
In the report, this situation is called perfect storm for Polish families — the combination of inflation, stagnant incomes and ineffective social policies means that more and more people live below the subsistence minimum and fall out of the support system.
Do we have a comparison with past times? Is it possible to study it at all?
The answer is yes! Looking at the last hundred years, we can conclude that the situation has improved significantly, and even very much. However, is this enough? No, because trends of change are measured by data from recent years, but it tells us that certain things can be done and perhaps we have an answer to them in history. On the Our World in Data page we can find a graph that shows in which regions of the world there was the greatest reduction in poverty in the period 1820-2018.
Analyzing changes in the level of extreme poverty over the years, we will find that the largest reduction occurred in Eastern Europe and in East Asia (mainly in the post-Soviet countries). In these regions, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has fallen to near zero, from about 92% in 1820 in Eastern Europe and 91% in East Asia, down to just 0.1% and 0.4% in 2018. This is mainly the result of the economic transformations that took place after the end of communism in Eastern Europe and the dynamic development of China and other Asian countries. Also in Latin America and North Africa there was a large decrease in poverty, where in 1820 more than 80% of people lived in extreme poverty, and in 2018 this percentage was only a few percent. However, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest levels of poverty, with little improvement — even though poverty has fallen from 94% unto 40%, it has only decreased by about half.
Globally, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has decreased from 79% in 1820 to 8,6% in 2018, which means a decrease of 89%.
Forecasts for the future
World Bank forecasts show that if current trends continue, hundreds of millions of people will continue to live in extreme poverty for many years to come. A future without real change in global and development policy could turn out to be dramatically uneven.
And yet the data also gives reason to hope. Many countries, including in Asia and Latin America, have shown that rapid reduction of extreme poverty is possible. This is proof that with the right decisions and investments, huge progress can be made in a relatively short period of time.
It is impossible to talk about getting out of poverty without looking at the hands of the real social and global pests. It is not the poor who are the problem, but the huge corporations that are outside the real reach of the law, companies breaking labor laws, unlimited capitalism, the cynicism of politicians, as well as the systemic ignoring of climate problems and the global distribution of resources. These phenomena not only exacerbate social inequalities, but also force people to make dramatic decisions — often ones that make their situation worse.
Therefore, when we talk about a future free of poverty, we must also talk about political responsibility. Because ultimately it is political decisions — not only local but global — that will decide whether the system will serve all citizens or only a privileged minority.
Sources:
- https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-population-living-in-extreme-poverty?tab=table
- https://www.un.org.pl/
- https://ourworldindata.org/poverty?insight=after-200-years-of-progress-the-fight-against-global-poverty-is-just-beginning#key-insights
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/poverty-rate-by-country
- https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Living_conditions_in_Europe_-_poverty_and_social_exclusion
- https://www.eapn.org.pl/eapn/uploads/2024/10/poverty_watch_24_final.pdf
- https://oko.press/500-plus-malag-demografia
