Poverty:
Poverty can be defined in two distinct ways:

1. Absolute Poverty

There are no simple definitions of this as there is a lot of disagreement on the definition of this word. This is a difficult to do.

According to economicsonline.co.uk - The simplest definition of being poor is ‘…being unable to subsist…that is, being unable to eat, drink, have shelter and clothing. A common monetary measure of absolute poverty is ‘..receiving less than $1 a day…’’. (In 2008, the World Bank revised this figure to $1.25 a day, and then again to $1.90 a day in 2015.)

2. Relative Poverty

According to economicsonline.co.uk - It can be argued that poverty can be investigated in a relative way – what is poor in Germany is not the same as what is poor in Bangladesh.

Definitions of relative poverty differ, but the definition of the UK government is typical for developed countries – stating ‘..less than 60% of median income..’.

If we look at international poverty, then, Asia has the highest numbers of poor people due to its large population.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest level of poverty, at over 60%.

Human poverty index:

focuses on 3 areas to measure poverty:

• knowledge 
• living standards
• longevity

HPI 1 measured poverty in developing countries

HPI 2 measure poverty in developed countries

HPI – 1.

1. longevity - probability of not living beyond age 40
2. knowledge - checked using adult literacy rate
3. living standard - looked at availability of clean water and whether children are underweight

HPI-2

1. Longevity probability of not living beyond age of 60
2. knowledge - checked how many adults do not have sufficient literacy abilities
3. living standards - how many people live under poverty line