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Eradicating extreme poverty is the first goal on the list of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that we are expected to achieve by the year 2030.

Most people in the world today are actually poverty stricken. Believe it or not, two thirds of the population live on less than $10 a day and currently, nearly 10% or one tenth of the world population are living in extreme poverty meaning that they live on only less than $1.90 a day and sadly that is the case for a whopping 700 million people.

For decades, the rate of impoverishment has been declining slowly, little by little however, it is still not fast enough if we were to eradicate it by the year 2030 which is just around the corner. In 2017, the extreme poverty reduction rate was 1.2 people per second which meant that around 1.2 people escaped being impoverished each second. Even though that may seem reasonable, bear in mind that elsewhere, people do fall into extreme poverty. At this rate, it is still not enough to tackle the ongoing problem as the figure needs to reach 1.5 people per second to be hopeful of ending it by 2030. Even though a difference of 0.3 may seem little, it matters a lot. Every 0.1 people per second equates to 6 per minute which adds up to 3,153,600 people a year.

However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen the first ever increase in global poverty in decades. More than 88 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty and that figure is projected to reach a staggering 150 million by the end of 2021. Currently, the escape rate has fallen to only 0.8 people per second and we are off track to end extreme poverty by 2030.

So, what’s with the fuss of all this and why it matters

Poverty affects children more than any other people. Children are more than twice as likely to live a poverty stricken life than adults and they die at twice the rate of their better-off peers. Worldwide more than 1 billion are multidimensionally poor; deprived of basic necessities including education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation or water.

Not only that, it is also the main root cause of crimes. Children who grow up and live in deprivation are less likely to go to high school, thus get a well paid job in the formal sector and this results in people committing crimes. An increase in global poverty may mean the world we will live in, in the future, would have more people committing crimes than now.

How to help out

Even during unprecedented times like this, there are many ways that we can help out. Share what you’ve learnt, spread awareness and address this issue. Other methods may include volunteering, donating, or supporting NGOs or other groups who have worked tirelessly.

Worldwide, NGOs including The Borgen Project, Oxfam, OPAD (The Organisation for Poverty Alleviation and Development) and countless others have been helping the impoverished in numerous different ways such as providing food, education and sanitation especially in developing countries.

Bear in mind that this is a shared responsibility. Shouldn't other children live the joyful and carefree life they are supposed to be living?

Below, I have linked an interactive website designed by World Lab Data that shows real time data on world poverty. Check it out!

World Poverty Clock