Poverty is a subjective and comparative term describing a lack of sufficient wealth (usually understood as capital, money, material goods, or resources, especially natural resources) to live what is understood in society to be a ?normal? life. The meaning of ?sufficient? varies widely across the different political and economic areas of the world. Poverty is essentially the collective condition of poor people or poor groups. Entire nation-states are sometimes regarded as poor. To avoid stigma, they are usually called developing nations.

Poverty is a highly political issue. People with right wing views think it is caused by laziness and lack of family planning. People with left wing views see it more in terms of social justice and lack of opportunity in education. It is a highly complex issue. It occurs in all countries - as mass poverty in many developing countries and as pockets of poverty amidst wealth in developed countries.

Inequality is increasing, while the world is further globalizing. Even the wealthiest nation has the largest gap between rich and poor compared to other developed nations. In many cases, international politics and various interests have led to a diversion of available resources from domestic needs to western markets. Historically, politics and power play by the elite leaders and rulers has increased poverty and dependency. These have often manifested themselves in wars, hot and cold, often trade and resource-related. Mercantilist practices, while termed free trade, still happen today.

Poverty is therefore not just an economic issue, it is also an issue of political economics. The IMF and World Bank-prescribed structural adjustment policies have meant that nations are lent money on condition that they cut social expenditure (such as health and education) to repay the loans. Many are tied to opening up their economies and being primarily commodity exporters in such a way that poor countries have found themselves in a spiraling race to the bottom as each nation competes against others to provide lower standards, reduced wages and cheaper resources to corporations and richer nations. This has increased poverty and dependency for most people. It also forms the backbone ofwhat we today call globalization. As a result, it maintains the historic unequal rules of trade. Third World countries are often described as ?developing? while the First World, industrialized nations are often ?developed?. What does it mean to describe a nation as ?developing?? A lack of material wealth does not necessarily mean that one is deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation doesn?t mean much when a significant percentage of the population is struggling to survive. In order to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, women and men must participate fully and equally in strategies for its eradication. This cannot be accomplished through anti-poverty programmes alone but will require democratic participation and changes in economic structures to ensure access for all women to resources, opportunities and public services. Many societies have tried to eliminate poverty through measures including education, industrialization and forms of social welfare. A true solution has remained elusive.