It's nice to go home to a house, eat a decent meal, lounge in front of the TV and eventually doze off on your bed.  Unfortunately, not everyone has this luxury to enjoy.  There are those who struggle just to keep their home – in fact many don't even have a roof over their heads.  Likewise, many don't get a decent meal and some don't even know what a TV does.  How many people live in poverty do you know? 

Defining the problem

A global definition of poverty is still being sought after.  Of course, putting a label at something as horrific as not being able to get the essentials in life is hard.  From region to region, definitions vary, standards and cost of living are diverse and living conditions are also numerous.  But the question is how many people live in poverty today?  To answer this, do you consider income, perhaps capacity to purchase goods, or perhaps health?  There is no consensus on how to define this term.  But the reality of it can be seen all over the world.  It's just amazing how something so common can not be fully defined. 

Using World Banks $1.25 per day poverty line, the figures are alarming.  From 1990 to 2005, as much as 1.4 billion people are below this critical line.   Statistics may show that the number is improving and the problem is being addressed.  But when you are part of the statistics, everyday is a constant challenge.  Again, how many of these 1.4 billion people do you know?  More importantly what have you done for them?

A new perspective

When you think of how many people live in poverty, you don't just think of it in terms of the properties they own.  There are more pressing concerns rather than not having cable TV or a broadband internet connection.  Accompanying poverty are malnutrition, diseases and illiteracy.  From a larger context there's unemployment, social security, environmental concerns and economic difficulties - just to name a few.  Poverty affects people on the personal level as well as the global scale.  Unless something is done immediately, people living in poverty will continue to suffer. 

Poverty is a problem that has many dimensions from political, social, economics to the environmental.  As such addressing it requires tackling it from every angle.  When you consider how many people live in poverty, you also need to look at how many people are willing to help.   Hope must still be placed on both international and national programs to alleviate the problem.  The important thing is a consolidated effort from all those willing to assist.