What Is Poverty?何為貧窮

鄧夢寒

Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food， clothing and shelter. However， poverty is more， much more than just not having enough money.

The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way：

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job， is fear for the future， living one day at a time.

Poverty has many faces， changing from place to place and across time， and has been described in many ways. Most often， poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action—for the poor and the wealthy alike—a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat， adequate shelter， access to education and health， protection from violence， and a voice in what happens in their communities.”

In addition to a lack of money， poverty is about not being able to participate in recreational activities; not being able to send children on a day trip with their schoolmates or to a birthday party; not being able to pay for medications for an illness. These are all costs of being poor. Those people who are barely able to pay for food and shelter simply can’t consider these other expenses. When people are excluded within a society， when they are not well educated and when they have a higher incidence of illness， there are negative consequences for society. We all pay the price for poverty. The increased cost on the health system， the justice system and other systems that provide supports to those living in poverty has an impact on our economy.

While much progress has been made in measuring and analyzing poverty， the World Bank Organization is doing more work to identify indicators for the other dimensions of poverty. This work includes identifying social indicators to track education， health， access to services， vulnerability， and social exclusion.

There is no one cause of poverty， and the results of it are different in every case. Poverty varies considerably depending on the situation. Feeling poor in Canada is different from living in poverty in Russia or Zimbabwe. The differences between rich and poor within the borders of a country can also be great.

Despite the many definitions， one thing is certain; poverty is a complex societal issue. No matter how poverty is defined， it can be agreed that it is an issue that requires everyone’s attention. It is important that all members of our society work together to provide the opportunities for all our members to reach their full potential. It helps all of us to help one another.

貧窮是沒有足夠的錢來滿足衣食住等生活基本需要，然而，貧窮遠不止是沒有足夠的錢。

世界銀行這樣描述貧窮：

“貧窮是食不果腹，是無處可居，是病不能醫，是學無所教，是目不識丁，是無以為生，是恐懼未來、得過且過。

貧窮具有多面性，因時而異、因地而異，其界定也各不相同。通常而言，貧窮是所有人想要擺脫的一種狀態。因此，脫貧是行動號召，號召窮人和富人一道去改變世界，從而讓更多的人飲食無憂、住有所居、學有所教、病有所醫、遠離暴力，并且在社區有發言權。

除了缺錢，貧窮還意味著不能參與娛樂活動，不能送孩子去和同學們參加一日游或生日聚會，生病了不能支付醫藥費。這些都是貧窮的代價。食不果腹、無處可居的人根本無暇顧及這些其他方面的花銷。如果人們被社會排斥，沒有受到良好教育，更常患病，就會給社會帶來負面影響。貧窮讓我們所有人都付出代價。助貧的醫療、司法和其他社會體系開支將增加，進而影響經濟發展。

世界銀行在衡量和分析貧窮問題方面取得了諸多進展，目前正致力于鑒別貧窮其他層面的指標。這項工作包括確定各項社會指標來跟蹤教育、醫療、服務、弱勢群體以及社會排斥情況等。

貧窮的原因不一而足。不同個例的結果不盡相同。不同情境下的貧窮也各不相同。在加拿大感受到的貧窮和在俄羅斯或津巴布韋感受到的是不一樣的。即使在同一個國家，貧窮和富裕的差別也很大。

盡管貧窮的定義繁多，但有一點是肯定的：貧窮是一個復雜的社會問題。不論如何定義，貧窮問題都需要每個人關注。重要的是，我們所有人共同努力讓每個人都有機會充分發揮自己的潛能。互相幫助方能互惠共贏。

（譯者單位：上海交通大學）