Author: Nancy Birdsall
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199244073
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 457
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Book Description
The effect of demography on economic performance has been the subject of intense debate in economics for nearly two centuries. In recent years opinion has swung between the Malthusian views of Coale and Hoover, and the cornucopian views of Julian Simon. Unfortunately, until recently, data weretoo weak and analytical models too limited to provide clear insights into the relationship. As a result, economists as a group have not been clear or conclusive.This volume, which is based on a collection of papers that heavily rely on data from the 1980s and 1990s and on new analytical approaches, sheds important new light on demographic--economic relationships, and it provides clearer policy conclusions than any recent work on the subject. In particular,evidence from developing countries throughout the world shows a pattern in recent decades that was not evident earlier: countries with higher rates of population growth have tended to see less economic growth. An analysis of the role of demography in the "Asian economic miracle" strongly suggeststhat changes in age structures resulting from declining fertility create a one-time "demographic gift" or window of opportunity, when the working age population has relatively few dependants, of either young or old age, to support. Countries which recognize and seize on this opportunity can, as theAsian tigers did, realize healthy bursts in economic output. But such results are by no means assured: only for countries with otherwise sound economic policies will the window of opportunity yield such dramatic results. Finally, several of the studies demonstrate the likelihood of a causalrelationship between high fertility and poverty. While the direction of causality is not always clear and very likely is reciprocal (poverty contributes to high fertility and high fertility reinforces poverty), the studies support the view that lower fertility at the country level helps create apath out of poverty for many families.Population Matters represents an important further step in our understanding of the contribution of population change to economic performance. As such, it will be a useful volume for policymakers both in developing countries and in international development agencies.
Author: Dennis A. Ahlburg
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662032392
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363
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Book Description
This book examines the nature and significance of the impact of population growth on the weIl-being of developing countries-in particular, the effects on economic growth, education, health, food supply, housing, poverty, and the environment. In addition, because family planning programmes often significantly affect population growth, the study examines the impacts of family planning on fertility and health, and the human rights implications of family planning programmes. In considering the book's conclusions about the impact of population growth on development, four caveats should be noted. First, the effects of population growth vary from place to place and over time. Thus, blanket statements about overall effects often cannot be made. Where possible, the authors note the contexts in which population effects are strongest and weakest. Second, all of the outcomes examined in this book are influenced by factors other than population growth. Moreover, the impact of population growth may itself vary according to the presence or absence of other factors. This again makes bl anket statements about the effects of population growth difficult. Throughout the chapters, the authors try to identify other relevant factors that influence the outcomes we discuss or that influence the impact of population growth on those outcomes.
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464809623
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
In 2013, the World Bank Group announced two goals that would guideits operations worldwide. First is the eradication of chronic extremepoverty bringing the number of extremely poor people, defined as thoseliving on less than 1.25 purchasing power parity (PPP)–adjusted dollars aday, to less than 3 percent of the world’s population by 2030.The second isthe boosting of shared prosperity, defined as promoting the growth of percapita real income of the poorest 40 percent of the population ineach country.In 2015, United Nations member nations agreed in New York to a set ofpost-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the first and foremostof which is the eradication of extreme poverty everywhere, in all its forms.Both the language and the spirit of the SDG objective reflect the growingacceptance of the idea that poverty is a multidimensional concept thatreflects multiple deprivations in various aspects of well-being. That said,there is much less agreement on the best ways in which those deprivationsshould be measured, and on whether or how information on them shouldbe aggregated.Monitoring Global Poverty: Report of the Commission on Global Povertyadvises the World Bank on the measurement and monitoring of globalpoverty in two areas:What should be the interpretation of the definition of extremepoverty, set in 2015 in PPP-adjusted dollars a day per person?What choices should the Bank make regarding complementarymonetary and nonmonetary poverty measures to be tracked andmade available to policy makers?The World Bank plays an important role in shaping the global debate oncombating poverty, and the indicators and data that the Bank collates andmakes available shape opinion and actual policies in client countries, and,to a certain extent, in all countries. How we answer the above questionscan therefore have a major influence on the global economy.
Author: Kathleen Beegle
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464812330
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 481
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Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa's turnaround over the past couple of decades has been dramatic. After many years in decline, the continent's economy picked up in the mid-1990s. Along with this macroeconomic growth, people became healthier, many more youngsters attended schools, and the rate of extreme poverty declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015. Political and social freedoms expanded, and gender equality advanced. Conflict in the region also subsided, although it still claims thousands of civilian lives in some countries and still drives pressing numbers of displaced persons.Despite Africa’s widespread economic and social welfare accomplishments, the region’s challenges remain daunting: Economic growth has slowed in recent years. Poverty rates in many countries are the highest in the world. And notably, the number of poor in Africa is rising because of population growth. From a global perspective, the biggest concentration of poverty has shifted from South Asia to Africa.Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa explores critical policy entry points to address the demographic, societal, and political drivers of poverty; improve income-earning opportunities both on and off the farm; and better mobilize resources for the poor. It looks beyond macroeconomic stability and growth—critical yet insufficient components of these objectives—to ask what more could be done and where policy makers should focus their attention to speed up poverty reduction. The pro-poor policy agenda advanced in this volume requires not only economic growth where the poor work and live, but also mitigation of the many risks to which African households are exposed. As such, this report takes a "jobs" lens to its task. It focuses squarely on the productivity and livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable—that is, what it will take to increase their earnings. Finally, it presents a road map for financing the poverty and development agenda.
Author: Kathleen Beegle
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464807248
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278
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Book Description
Perceptions of Africa have changed dramatically. Viewed as a continent of wars, famines and entrenched poverty in the late 1990s, there is now a focus on “Africa rising†? and an “African 21st century.†? Two decades of unprecedented economic growth in Africa should have brought substantial improvements in well-being. Whether or not they did, remains unclear given the poor quality of the data, the nature of the growth process (especially the role of natural resources), conflicts that affect part of the region, and high population growth. Poverty in a Rising Africa documents the data challenges and systematically reviews the evidence on poverty from monetary and nonmonetary perspectives, as well as a focus on dimensions of inequality. Chapter 1 maps out the availability and quality of the data needed to track monetary poverty, reflects on the governance and political processes that underpin the current situation with respect to data production, and describes some approaches to addressing the data gaps. Chapter 2 evaluates the robustness of the estimates of poverty in Africa. It concludes that poverty reduction in Africa may be slightly greater than traditional estimates suggest, although even the most optimistic estimates of poverty reduction imply that more people lived in poverty in 2012 than in 1990. A broad-stroke profile of poverty and trends in poverty in the region is presented. Chapter 3 broadens the view of poverty by considering nonmonetary dimensions of well-being, such as education, health, and freedom, using Sen's (1985) capabilities and functioning approach. While progress has been made in a number of these areas, levels remain stubbornly low. Chapter 4 reviews the evidence on inequality in Africa. It looks not only at patterns of monetary inequality in Africa but also other dimensions, including inequality of opportunity, intergenerational mobility in occupation and education, and extreme wealth in Africa.
Author: Diana Mitlin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415624665
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 370
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Book Description
This is compounded by the lack of voice and influence that low income groups have in these official spheres.
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464816034
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 307
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Book Description
This report provides an update on levels of global poverty and shared prosperity and explores which countries are on track to reduce extreme poverty to three percent by 2030 and beyond. It will explain why this challenge is so complex and what complementary strategies might be needed to make greater progress by 2030.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309483980
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 619
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Book Description
The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464813604
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
The World Bank Group has two overarching goals: End extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity by boosting the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of the population in each economy. As this year’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report documents, the world continues tomake progress toward these goals. In 2015, approximately one-tenth of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, and the incomes of the bottom 40 percent rose in 77 percent of economies studied.But success cannot be taken for granted. Poverty remains high in Sub- Saharan Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected states. At the same time, most of the world’s poor now live in middle-income countries, which tend to have higher national poverty lines. This year’s report tracks poverty comparisons at two higher poverty thresholds—$3.20 and $5.50 per day—which are typical of standards in lower- and upper-middle-income countries. In addition, the report introduces a societal poverty line based on each economy’s median income or consumption.Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle also recognizes that poverty is not only about income and consumption—and it introduces a multidimensional poverty measure that adds other factors, such as access to education, electricity, drinking water, and sanitation. It also explores how inequality within households could affect the global profile of the poor.All these additional pieces enrich our understanding of the poverty puzzle, bringing us closer to solving it.For more information, please visit worldbank.org/PSP
Author: Celia M. Reyes
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 1552504328
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 124
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Book Description
Fighting Poverty with Facts: Community-based monitoring systems
