Global Disparities In Development

Poverty, HPI, Education, Gender

Edu Level: Unit2

Date: Aug 13 2025 - 7:26 PM

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Poverty is a condition in which individuals are unable to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, clean water, health care, and shelter.

Absolute poverty occurs when people cannot meet these basic needs, often resulting in poor nutrition, poor health, and low life expectancy.
Relative poverty measures how far a household’s financial resources fall below the national average income threshold. It asks: Can this person afford the same goods and services as an average citizen in that country?

A global tool for measuring poverty is the Human Poverty Index (HPI).

For Developing Countries (HPI-1):
- Longevity: Probability of not surviving to age 40.
- Knowledge: Adult illiteracy rate.
- Standard of Living: Measured by the percentage of people without access to improved water sources and the proportion of underweight children.
For Developed Countries (HPI-2):
- Longevity: Probability of surviving to age 60.
- Knowledge: Adults lacking functional literacy skills.
- Standard of Living: Percentage of the population living below the poverty line (below 50% of median disposable household income) and the long-term unemployment rate, which reflects social exclusion.

Poverty is most severe in Africa and parts of Asia, where many survive on less than US $1 a day.

Key factors that perpetuate poverty:

Limited access to resources and technology.
Poor provision of health care and education.
Reduced life expectancy from malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
Economic instability and weak infrastructure.
Natural disasters, conflicts, and refugee crises.
Geographical challenges such as being landlocked, remote, or on small islands.
Environmental issues, such as drought in the Sahel, leading to famine.
Gender-based poverty risks: In many LDCs, women—especially single mothers—face higher poverty risk. They are often confined to part-time or informal work, with few opportunities for high-paying jobs in the formal sector due to workplace prejudice, not necessarily lack of education.

Life expectancy—average years a person is expected to live—is a major health and development indicator.

MDCs: Higher life expectancy due to advanced medical technology, lower infant mortality, and better living standards.
LDCs: Wide variation among countries; some fare better than others.
Gender gap: Women generally live longer than men, partly because men are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors and hazardous occupations.

LDCs: Often a larger share of national budgets is spent on education compared to MDCs. However, disparities remain—literacy rates are often higher among men, as girls may be discouraged from pursuing education.
Latin America & the Caribbean: Generally, more girls than boys attend secondary school.

Gender-related Development Index (GDI): Measures life expectancy, income, and literacy while accounting for inequalities between men and women. If disparities exist, a country’s Human Development Index (HDI) score is reduced.
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM): Examines men’s and women’s participation in political, economic, and decision-making roles.

2021 GDI examples:

Higher values indicate smaller gaps between male and female achievements.