Thread: Poverty
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Old 14-12-10, 09:29 AM   #1
tigersaw
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Location: Llanwrtyd Wells Powys
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Default Poverty

Pretty surprised to hear how many children live in poverty in the UK this morning on breakfast TV.
Thats until I heard the definition of poverty:

Poverty is defined by the Government as ‘household income below 60 percent of median income’. The median is the income earned by the household in the middle of the income distribution.

The definition goes further to say that in 2004/2005, this 60% threshold was defined as a sum of £183 per week for a family of two, after tax, mortgage, water etc.

WTF? When I was a kid we lived in a cottage with no heat, a single cold tap and a belfast sink, no fridge, outside dunny etc.
However, I would never had considered that poverty, I had shoes on my feet, food to eat and a school to go to.

I guess we need a new word to define the kids in Africa in 'poverty', since our definition is the lap of luxury to them.
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