Global and Social Issues

Global Social Issues and Change Social scientists are trying to measure global poverty, despite specific disagreements pertaining to where to draw the poverty line. For instance whether to base the poverty line on minimum income, or the ability to purchase specific foods, or even consumption. In 2000, the United Nations began addressing the issue of global poverty and created the Millennium Development Project (Schaefer, 2011). Thorbecke (2011) states the project’s mission is, “The reduction and ultimate eradication of poverty is the major objective and the heart of socioeconomic development at all levels--subnational, national, and global…by 2015” (para. 1). Of the estimated 6.9 billion people in the world today approximately three billion of these people live in poverty. Almost every nation in the world has some degree of poverty, and many of these impoverished people are maintaining their existence on $2 per day or less (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012; Schaefer, 2011). The United Nations has a deep-seated commitment to making positive changes specific to global poverty. However, they have also met with resistance in response to changing the status quo. In an effort to help, various social organizations, and human rights groups have begun taking a more active stance on eliminating global poverty and in addressing specific human rights issues (Schaefer, 2011). Some sociologists such as Clark and Hulme (2010) believe more research is necessary to comprehend the many dimensions of global poverty. Global Poverty Over the years, many groups, researchers, and organizations have struggled with developing and implementing different strategies aimed at the reduction and elimination of global poverty. Currently, a plethora of interdisciplinary research exists, which includes different theoretical perspectives specific to global poverty such as various poverty definitions, effective interventions, various divisions in measurement, and theories

References: Clark, D., & Hulme, D. (2010). Poverty, Time and Vagueness: Integrating the Core Poverty and Chronic Poverty Frameworks Morazes, J., & Pintak, I. (2007). Theories of Global Poverty: Comparing Developed World and Developing World Frameworks Thorbecke, E. (2011). Debates on the Measurement of Global Poverty. Journal Of Economic Literature, 49(3), 751-75 U. S. Census Bureau. (2012). World POPClock projection. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/popclockworld.html