What is Poverty?

Half a Citizen Though figures such as these are useful, they tell only a part of the story. In the Pocket Oxford Dictionary the definition for the word poverty is already linked to "Inferiority". Poverty in any country is not just about a lack of resources, it is about lacking power, a voice and having all your efforts to move forwards, and take on responsibilities within society, being undermined by linked insecurities.

Put simply, children being brought up in over-crowded housing or who are constantly moving are unlikely to fulfil their potential at school and are, therefore, already at a disadvantage when entering the job market.

AC Grayling in his 'The Last Word on Poverty' in The Guardian on 19th August 2000 said, "In developed societies possessions of the amenities of life - which includes not just objects like houses and motor cars, but also powers, like being able to go out to the cinema or a restaurant and to take holidays abroad - is equivalent to status, to full membership of the community, to having a place and a voice. Without these things one is less than half a citizen, disempowered and sidelined."

In the UK the new buzz-word is joined-up government recognising that poverty is not just a question of lack of money. This was already put forward in the report "Chronic Poverty and Lack of Basic Security" presented to the French Economic and Social Council back in 1987 by Joseph Wresinski, the late founder of the voluntary organisation ATD Fourth World. He wrote, "As the various insecurities - material, cultural, social and civic - accumulate, they reinforce each other and lead to the loss of fundamental rights. Without a recognised home address, it is impossible to have a voting card. Those who are illiterate remain uninformed about political programmes. A family with minimal resources cannot freely choose where to live. Parents who lack means cannot visit their children if that are in care at a distance from them."

The Human Rights Approach In 1991, the United Nations adopted resolutions on human rights and extreme poverty. In 1992 the General Assembly declared itself "deeply concerned that extreme poverty continues to spread in all countries of the world, regardless of their economic, social and cultural situation and seriously affects the most vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals, families and groups who are thus hindered in the exercise of their human rights and their fundamental freedoms."

This was echoed in 1998 by Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human

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