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The 62 million population of country has fallen below poverty line in FY09. The State Bank of Pakistan in its annual report of economy of the county for last fiscal unveiled that World Bank’s task force on food security has estimated that the Head Count Ratio (HCR) regarding poverty increased in Pakistan to 33.8 per cent in FY08 and 36.1 per cent in FY09, indicating that 62 million population of the country might have fallen below poverty line in FY09.

SBP quoting the interim report of the Panel of Economists constituted by the government and Planning Commission, pointed out that as many as 10 million more people were expected to fall into the poverty trap.

The interim report ‘Economic Stabilisation with a Human Face’ states that headcount ratio in the country may have risen by 3.5 percentage points in FY08 from 22.3 percent in FY06. Going ahead, a further rise is expected in FY09 by additional 2.7 percentage points. This brings the headcount ratio figures in the country at 28.5 per cent in FY09, SBP maintains.

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The number of Filipinos who think they are poor increased in early October after the country experienced the wrath of cyclones “Ondoy" and “Pepeng," a survey conducted by independent think tank IBON Foundation showed.

The nationwide survey, conducted among 1,496 Filipinos from October 2 to 8, showed that seven out of 10 respondents, or 71.4 percent, considered themselves poor. This is higher by four percentage points from the 67.1 percent recorded last July.

The number of people who think they are poor increased the most in Metro Manila, where 62.4 percent of the respondents said they considered themselves as such.  This figure is almost 13 percentage points higher than the self-rated poverty in Metro Manila last July, which was at 49.5 percent.

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It should come as no surprise that poverty is bad for our health. Nor should anyone be shocked that poverty is an issue in Haliburton County. But what should we do with this knowledge? What can we do to get rid of poverty?

It’s not as if we can wish poverty away. In absence of a magic wand, it’s also difficult for us to instantly put more money in families’ pockets and have the problem disappear. If it were that simple, it would have been done long ago. Our economy would be less dependent on the weather, we’d have well-paying jobs for young people so they’d choose to raise their families here and taxpayers would have nothing to complain about.

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Local researchers who study poverty and its effects across the state say they are encouraged by the U.S. Census Bureau's decision to release revised estimates of how many Americans are living in poverty.
The new formula, developed in part by the National Academy of Science, shows that about 47.4 million Americans lived in poverty last year, about seven million more than originally estimated. In addition, almost 18 percent of children lived in poverty, a slight decrease from the number found using the traditional formula.

The traditional measure was created in 1955 and does not take into account factors such as rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs, or non-cash government aid. The new formula was released last week.

"The way we measure poverty is way off-base," said Bobbie DeCuir, project director for poverty at the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning. "I think it's important that to address poverty, you have to make sure you measure it properly first. People are going without. Children are going without."
Decuir said that based on traditional measurements.

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Correction: This story, as it originally appeared, reported as fact poverty statistics that Bloomberg administration disputes. The story has been updated to reflect the debate.

U.S. Census data released in September revealed that more than 1.5 million New Yorkers lived in poverty in 2008, before the financial crisis hit its heights.

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Economic analysis and economic policy are only as good as the data we have. Bad data can make us miss important problems and can lead us to develop bad policies.

Alas, most economic data is somewhat inaccurate. For example, people are only counted as unemployed if they have been actively seeking work during the past month.

If you have lost hope of finding a job, and have stopped looking for work, you are ignored when the government reports the national unemployment rate.

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More than 173 million people smashed the Guinness World Records for largest human mobilisations when they gathered at over 3000 events in more than 120 countries to demand that their governments eliminate extreme poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The record is now held by the global campaign "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!" In 2006, 23 million people Stood Up. In 2007, 47 million people Stood Up. Last year, 116 million people Stood Up and Took Action. The mobilisation was organised globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC), in partnership Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP).

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How should poverty in America be counted? The Census Bureau uses a calculation that put the number at 39.8 million last year.

But a revised formula that lawmakers are considering adds more than 7 million Americans to that number.

If the revised formula is adopted, a more refined picture of American poverty could emerge that would capture the everyday costs of necessities besides food.

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 This popular siSwati adage, which loosely means that a man whose stomach is full will be productive, came to the fore on Saturday during the joint commemoration of the world food and world poverty day at the Matsanjeni Inkhundla.

The joint commemoration was preceded by celebrations of the world poverty week characterised by a series of activities at different Tinkhundlla Centres throughout the whole of last week. Prime Minister Dr. Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, who was the guest of honour during the event, told a gathering of over 1 000 residents of the Inkhundla and others from neighbouring Tinkhundla Centres that observing the two days was not about glorifying poverty and the suffering of the affected population.

He said the main purpose of the commemoration was to increase awareness about the efforts made by government and other development partners to address the poverty situation and the standard of living of the Swazi people.

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The international day against poverty was marked in Madagascar on Friday with the theme proposed by the United Nations "Stand Up Against Poverty".

    "Strengthening of good governance and education is the cornerstone in eradicating poverty" is the main point of the address by Peter Metcalf, UN resident coordinator to Madagascar, during the celebration of the day in the town of Ambalavao, 26 km south of the capital city.

    The day was marked by an awareness campaign around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the rural town of Ambalavao, where poverty in Madagascar is shown in black on white. The awareness, which was led by the young scouts under the patronage of the UN office here, was among others on hygiene, reproductive health, the fight against AIDS and healthy eating.

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