Social Poverty,
religions or governments rule.
We humans are basically social animals, with our main social institutions often including forms of religion and government. Hence human behaviour is rarely entirely individual but is affected by our social setting, and our wealth or poverty is generally affected by these social influences also.
On population, both some religions and some governments have favoured and promoted population growth strongly at times - go forth and multiply to strengthen our religion or our country ! And in other times and places social pressures have favoured lower birth rates as 'responsible parenthood' and limiting population growth. Clearly limiting populations can help to reduce the extent of poverty with less mouths to feed, and expanding populations can increase poverty though not always.
In some societies these social pressures may center on 'big families are good' or 'big families are bad' social admonitions. But social pressures can in some cases include much tougher measures such as contaceptive aids being banned or taxed - or being issued free or made compulsory.
It will of course generally be the non-poor who control the chief social institutions and decide the prevailing social pressures - mainly as whatever they see as being in their own interests. And part of that may be controlling and exploiting a poor they think needs to be kept poor. However having a poor does not promote wealth growth, but instead chiefly encourages exploiter inefficiency that retards wealth growth.
Of course not every individual will follow prevailing social pressures, but the majority generally will.
Religions and governments may or may not economically exploit workers less than rich businessmen employers, but they may generally tend to be less efficient at running business than the average businessman. Since business is less of a priority to them, where society is more dominated by religion or government it may tend to more inefficiency poverty. This form of social poverty generation some call central planning poverty, but such economic inefficiency often also results in societies with business monopoly which removes the efficiency spur of competition from business.
Successful wealth-creating business needs to really be centered on competing for profits, but this needs some real social anti-poverty regulation also - such as minimum wage law and minimum social welfare - to really encourage social wealth instead of social poverty.
To quote Confucius,
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of.
In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
Poverty can be strongly affected by just one or two particular needs that those running countries should safeguard but often fail to do so.
In many poor countries the poor are very dependent on having a good water supply, but in many cases it either does not exist or is controlled by a monopoly that makes excessive charges for it.
In some richer countries the poor are very dependent on having a good electricity supply, but in many cases that either does not exist or is controlled by a monopoly or cartel that makes excessive charges for it.
Governments or religions running countries clearly have a duty to protect the poor in these cases, but some make little or no real attempt to do that.
In richer countries especially, trying to target poor people can create too many problems so that often poor people can be helped more by targeting them less. Hence the UK Child Benefit for everyone with children (rich, poor, unemployed or working) has almost certainly done more good for UK poverty than some of the more costly targeted benefits. January 2010 UK news headlines included a government minister publicly admitting for the first time that UK middle-class governments have not understood the UK poor. Of course the UK is not alone in having that widespread problem.
A doll to encourage girls to have babies ?
You can do a good search of this website, of our sister site, or of the web ;
OR visit our sister website, dealing in depth with the housing and social exclusion problems that can afflict the poor - Social-Exclusion-Housing-religion