9781422281383

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What Is Poverty?

R oxana lives with her family in south-central Los Angeles. In many ways, 15-year-old Roxana is lucky. She has a loving family and two parents living at home. She is one of the best students in her class and wants to go to college to study law. So, what’s the problem? The problem is that Roxana comes from a poor family in one of the most deprived areas in a rich city, and this will affect her opportunities in life. Let us take school as an example. Roxana is a keen student and her parents want her to do well. But the local schools are old and decaying. Roxana’s high school was built for 1,000 stu- dents, but today it has three times that number. She says, “There are not enough books and computers, and classes are too crowded. It’s impossible to talk to a teacher on your own, there are so many other students.”

An Indian woman with her children in their rural village. Roughly 400 million people in South Asia are considered to be living in “absolute poverty,” or surviving on less than US $1.25 per day.

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