There is no single cause of poverty. Poverty is too complex an issue to be the result of just one problem. There are, however, many interrelated factors that contribute to poverty in developing nations.
- Education: Lack of education keeps children from obtaining jobs that would lift them and their families out of poverty. Often, children are kept from school because they are needed at home to support their family with additional income.
- Health: Poor health decreases the amount of work impoverished individuals can do, lowering their income and driving them deeper into poverty.The onset of disease, such as HIV/AIDS or malaria, can result in death (which can cut off a major source of income for a family), or high medical costs that many impoverished families cannot afford.
- Economics: The poor often have very limited economic choices – they are often prevented from receiving loans and other financial benefits. This makes it hard for them to establish businesses, increase their income, and break out of poverty.
- Government: The governments of many developing countries are often dysfunctional, unstable, and corrupt. Lack of government infrastructure (public sanitation, schools, social welfare, etc.) can be crippling for the poor.
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