Let's talk about our Country

Poverty in Sri Lanka continues to be a growing problem despite Sri Lanka being an exceptional country with its life expectancy, literacy rate and other social indicators nearly on par with those of developed countries,

and even topping the rankings for the South Asia region. While all these indicate that Sri Lanka should be experiencing a high standard of living, it is only ranked in the medium category of the Human Development Index.

Head Count Index (HCI) - commonly used to measure poverty incidence in Sri Lanka . The proportion of poor population to total population is defined as Head Count Index and it is generally represented as a percentage.

• Poverty map of Sri Lanka

• Unemployment and poverty in Sri Lanka

Even though Sri Lanka is experiencing a high Unemployment rate of 14.4 per cent, according to the World Bank assessment, it is interesting to note that there is lower unemployment rate in the rural sector compared with the urban unemployment rate that has prevailed throughout the past two decades.The survey conducted in the first quarter of 1996 by the Department of Census and Statistics estimated the unemployed population in Sri Lanka (excluding the Northern and Eastern provinces) at 0.71 million, of whom 0.33 million were males and 0.31 million were females. Of the unemployed, 0.11 million resided in the urban sector and 0.6 million resided in the rural sector. The estimated unemployment rates in Sri Lanka by age group also confirm the low incidence of unemployment in the rural sector of Sri Lanka.

• Reviewing the income of the poor and the non-poor

The mean household income for poor households in Sri Lanka is reported as Rs.11534 per month and at sectoral level the lowest mean income for poor households is reported from estate sector (Rs. 10640). At district level, the mean income for poor households in Kurunegala district is reported as Rs. 9431 which is the lowest mean income for poor households among districts. Table 9.1 also shows that the median household income per month for poor households in Sri Lanka is Rs. 9539, which means half of the poor households in Sri Lanka received less than Rs 9539 per month per household in the year 2006/07. The lowest median income for poor households is reported from Moneragala district among districts. Any income received by all the members of the household from various sources, either in cash or in kind was collected from all sample households. The main income sources used in this survey were wages and salaries, income from agricultural activities(seasonal and non seasonal crops), income from non agricultural activities, other cash income, windfall income, income in kind ( consumed quantities of home grown fruit and vegetables, firewood etc.) and estimated rental value of owner occupied housing units.

• Educational status of poor

reference- http://www.statistics.gov.lk(Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka)

poverty cartoons and comics

Did you feel the same?

Almost all of us have witnessed people living with poverty. Most often the clothes they wear would be torn or old. Most probably they may have pathetic complexions. Less food and every time nearly suffering from hunger. In the mean time, we may feel that how sorrowful to live like that. Oh! if we had to live like that and go begging everywhere, and so on.

But. there is something really we do not see. It is the aspect which causes the most serious damage and pain to those people. It is their mentality.
 
What is their mentality? What are their emotions? How terrible is it to feel useless and to feel that they are isolated by most of the ones in the society. Feeling that no one cares about them. Innocence felt when a tinted shutter rolls down and give them a coin or two. Feeling that no one is there to weep on them when they are gone. Also no funeral rituals to them rather than buried underneath the ground by the government. There will be none to visit their graves (or no graves) and place flowers there. To feel completely alone, and not only that but forsaken even.  

Most of we, people do not feel the same about them. Our ears are closed, eyes are closed, hearts are forbidden access to the outer environment. Most of us make excuses, "it is there fault to happen like that" But in my opinion it is not an admirable excuse. Some others may think "they spend uselessly the money we give" Such things happen. But all the time don't stick to the same idea. Because, all are not the same; actually one is different from another.

Our life is short. We are not needed to act as dumb, deaf or blind in that short period. So, drink a glass of water, take a deep breath. Then memorize, "is it correct the way I live?" If not you've got time to correct it. Start caring the poor.  

Sometimes you also may be not able to do it financial-wise. But don't worry. Still you have many ways to help them. I will give some ways and means. What you can do is help them spiritually. Let me tell you. You may be a teacher, for an example. So you can give some children free education. You may be a bank worker. You can organize a long term loan for them to start a self vocational mean of income. You may be a rehabilitation officer. So you can draw the attention of the government for them. So it means there are various ways. Think practically, then you will definitely find some solutions.

Let’s start doing it today, because it might be late tomorrow.
OK, now go on...

Reference: PersonalityCafe.com  

Number of Poverty And Poverty rate (1959-2009)

Two graphs regarding poverty

From :

GFBRANDENBURG'S BLOG

Crime And Poverty.

Crime exists everywhere in the United States – in rural and urban areas, in the East and West, and among all types of people.This has led many government officials,especially those in urban areas, to focus largely on the reduction of crime among their respective constituencies and has led others to speculate on the factors that influence the amount of crime and how those factors can be controlled...

In the US, urban crime is often perceived as a problem amid areas with high poverty levels.This may be the case; however, many other factors,such as unemployment, population density, minority population, age distribution, and locality in the US, are correlated with crime and affect poverty as well.When these factors are controlled for, how much does poverty affect crime?Knowing more accurately how poverty affects crime can help us know if focusing on the reduction of poverty can aid in crime reduction or if money and effort should go to other areas.

Poverty’s effects on crime can be explained through a variety of reasons.“There is a higher rate of mental illness in the poor than in the rich”.Poverty can lead to high levels of stress that in turn may lead individuals to commit theft, robbery, or other violent acts.Moreover, poverty may lead to an actual or perceived inferior education, which would cause youth to count on less access to quality schools, jobs, and role models, decreasing the opportunity costs of crime and increasing the probability of youth spending time on the street associating with gangs, etc.

Human Poverty Index.....

Ranking	Country	HPI-2	Probability at birth of not surviving to age 60 (%)	People lacking functional literacy skills (%)	Long-term unemployment (%)	Population below 50% of median income (%)
1	Sweden	6.3	6.7	7.5	1.1	6.5
2	Norway	6.8	7.9	7.9	0.5	6.4
3	Netherlands	8.1	8.3	10.5	1.8	7.3
4	Finland	8.1	9.4	10.4	1.8	5.4
5	Denmark	8.2	10.3	9.6	0.8	5.6
6	Germany	10.3	8.6	14.4	5.8	8.4
7	Switzerland	10.7	7.2	15.9	1.5	7.6
8	Canada	10.9	8.1	14.6	0.5	11.4
9	Luxembourg	11.1	9.2	-	1.2	6.0
10	Austria	11.1	8.8	-	1.3	7.7
11	France	11.2	8.9	-	4.1	7.3
12	Japan	11.7	6.9	-	1.3	11.8
13	Australia	12.1	7.3	17.0	0.9	12.2
14	Belgium	12.4	9.3	18.4	4.6	8.0
15	Spain	12.5	7.7	-	2.2	14.2
16	United Kingdom	14.8	8.7	21.8	1.2	12.5
17	United States	15.4	11.6	20.0	0.4	17.0
18	Ireland	16.0	8.7	22.6	1.5	16.2
19	Italy	29.8	7.7	47.0	3.4	12.7

The countries ranked in the top 22 by HDI that are not on this list are Iceland. New Zealand andLiechtenstein

Note that not all countries are included because data for the indicators are not always available. So positions could change if they were. Especially countries at the bottom could drop considerably if the list were extended. For specific values for other countries than the ones on the list.