Extreme poverty: what it is and how it is currently identified in the country

Many governments Throughout the world, resources have been allocated through loans, subsidies, charity programs, etc., to reduce the poverty which, in many cases, is much more present than in others.

But, conceptually, What is monetary poverty? Considering that there are several types of poverty, all of these are directly related to this first term.

(You may be interested in: New warning about the use of royalties in Colombia: they are not fulfilling their purpose).

According to Raddar, a household is below the monetary poverty line when the heat in money needed per month to acquire a basic basket of food, services and other minimum goods to live.

They also claim that there are two ranges of poverty measurement: one is a poverty situationin which a household does not have enough monthly income to cover essential expenses, such as housing, transportation, clothing and footwear, etc. It is believed that the per capita poverty line in the country is 435,375 pesosaccording to data from Dane.

(Further: Elderly care and health care account for almost 80% of social spending in Colombia).

Meanwhile, a person or household is in a extreme poverty condition when there is not enough income to purchase a basic basket of food. According to the statistical entity, it is in the 218,846 pesos.

The risk of falling

Taking into account that Almost half of the employed population in Colombia works in the informal sectoraccording to Dane, this population is exposed to the risk of falling into poverty. In fact, according to Raddar, informality is “tightly” linked to the monetary poverty index.

(Besides: This is the true meaning of being ‘poor’, according to experts).

They explain that “(…) normally the income of people who are in this type of work is lower compared to the income of formal workers“, adding to that that between May and March of this year around 100,000 informal jobs were lost compared to the same period in 2023, according to the Integrated Household Survey of Mayaccording to the statistical entity.

Poverty

Cesar Melgarejo / Portfolio

Raddar explains that the Income has a huge weight in the risk that a person or a household may be at of falling into poverty.whether through employment or through the country’s institutional aid, which has not had the expected coverage. In 2023 alone, there were 22.3% fewer who benefited from the Government’s subsidy programs.

(Can read: Why does Bogotá have the highest inequality rate in the country?).

This has led to the most vulnerable households starting to receive contributions from others. According to Dane, 7.9% of the Colombian population received aid from households or individuals inside and outside the country in 2023, a slight 1% increase over 2022.

BRIEFCASE