World Bank Finds More People Living Below the Poverty Line

sjs
August 28, 2008

Even as it adjusted the recognized yardstick for measuring global poverty from $1 a day to $1.25 a day, the World Bank finds that the number of people living in poverty has increased.

The World Bank figures show 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day as of 2005. Although the new estimates are below the 1.9 billion people that were living below the new $1.25 a day poverty line in 1981, Justin Lin, World Bank cheif economict says the new data means there is “no room for complacency and rich donor nations need to keep their promises of stepped up aid to poor countries.”

Read the article.

As a side note, while the World Bank has increased the poverty measure from $1 to $1.25, the Asian Development Bank released a new poverty line – the Asian Poverty Line – and set it at $1.35 a day. Read the article.


Tags:

share Share