Poverty

Learn the facts about poverty and how it affects children in need and their families.

Poverty
Poverty FactsLearn the facts about poverty and how it affects children in need and their families.
  • Every day 1,500 women die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth that could have been prevented. Each day 10,000 newborns die within a month of birth, and daily the same number of babies are also born dead.
  • Children under age 18 make up nearly 48 percent of the population of the world's least developed countries, compared with 21 percent of the population of the world's industrialized nations.
  • More than 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity and modern forms of energy.
  • Over 1.4 billion people in the developing world live below the poverty line (U.S.$1.25 per day).
  • Annual world economy breaks down like this:

    1. Low Income, $935 or less: 37%
    2. Lower Middle Income, $936 to $3,705: 38%
    3. Upper Middle Income, $3,706 to $11,455: 9%
    4. High Income, $11,456 or more: 16%

  • In developing countries, approximately 130 million children and teens — age 17 or under — have lost one or both parents.
  • More than 9 million children under age 5 die each year. Two-thirds of these deaths — more than 6 million every year — are preventable.
  • Approximately one-third of the world's poor people live in India.