Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

REACHING THE MARGINALIZEDGetting left behindMany millions more were living just above thethreshold, surviving on less than US$2 a day,rendering them highly vulnerable to acutepoverty (Figure 3.22).Global aggregate figures can obscure the depth ofpoverty. The average daily consumption level of apoor person in sub-Saharan Africa is just US$0.73 –a figure unchanged in twenty-five years (Chen andRavallion, 2008). The incidence and depth of povertyare more marked in sub-Saharan Africa than anyother region. Depth of poverty matters because ithas a bearing on capacity for coping with shocks.For people surviving on US$0.73 a day, even smalllosses can have catastrophic consequences fornutrition, health and schooling.Figure 3.22: Mapping global povertySelected poverty indicators by region, 2005Million people2 0001 8001 6001 4001 2001 0008006004002000Sub-SaharanAfricaPopulation living on less than US$1.25 a daySouthAsiaEast Asia/PacificAbove poverty thresholdsUS$2 - US$1.25Less than US$1.25Latin America/CaribbeanThe good news is that the number of peopleworldwide living in extreme poverty has beenfalling. The decline is driven by strong performancein East Asia; progress in most other regions –notably sub-Saharan Africa – has been far lessencouraging. The bad news is that a combinationof rising food prices and the global financial crisishas slowed the pace of poverty reduction. For 2009,there may be 55 million to 100 million more peopleliving below the international poverty line than wasexpected before the crisis. On current economicgrowth projections, the number of people living inextreme poverty could rise in more than half of alldeveloping countries in 2009 (World Bank, 2009k).Poverty trends in developed countries are alsoa source of concern. Evidence from the OECDsuggests that children are disproportionatelydisadvantaged by household poverty, with anaverage of 12% affected. 4 Just as disturbing asthis number is the underlying trend. During adecade of sustained economic growth up to themid-2000s, child poverty rates grew as incomeinequality rose. Rising unemployment causedby the financial crisis is likely to lead to sharpincreases in child poverty during 2009 and 2010(see Chapter 1). The danger is that rising childpoverty will in turn fuel inequalities in education.Poverty’s effects are transmittedto educationEducation can help lift people out of poverty byboosting productivity and opening doors to jobs andcredit. Conversely, lower educational attainmentis strongly associated with higher poverty levels.The evidence thus points to a negative cycle inwhich poverty begets education disadvantage, whichin turn perpetuates poverty. What drives this cycle?Incidence of poverty (%)Average consumption(2005 US$)51 40 17 80.73 0.93 0.95 0.77Notes: ‘Incidence of poverty’ is the proportion of the population whose consumption expenditure is lessthan US$1.25 a day, at 2005 exchange rates. ‘Average consumption’ is the average daily consumptionexpenditure of those below this poverty line.Source: Chen and Ravallion (2008).The inability of poor households to supportinvestment in education is one significant factor.In many countries, parents have to pay a highproportion of their income to put their childrenin school. The costs include official school fees,informal and unofficial charges levied to supportteachers’ pay and other expenses, and paymentsfor uniforms and textbooks.For the poorest households, schooling competeswith other basic needs, such as health care andfood. A study covering four slums in Bangladeshillustrates the extent of the financial burden. Forthe average household in these slums, expenditureon education amounted to 10% of their incomeper child in school, rising to 20% for the poorestone-fifth of households. Monthly expenditure perchild by the poorest households averaged aroundUS$2 out of an income of less than US$12 permonth. Overall, the largest single cost wasfor supplementary tuition, which many familiesdeem necessary for progress through school(Cameron, 2008).Eliminating official school fees can help lowerfinancial barriers for the poorest households. From1999 to 2007, fourteen countries, most of them insub-Saharan Africa, reported abolishing tuition fees.For poor peoplein sub-SaharanAfrica, even smalllosses can havecatastrophicconsequences fornutrition, healthand schooling4. The OECD defines povertyas living in a household withan equivalized householddisposable income of lessthan half the median forthe whole population(OECD, 2009g).165