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For many decades America has been stuck in a loop of having millions of impoverished citizens despite being one of the richest countries in the world. Lack of education, mass incarceration, and failed government policy are just some of the many causes of a very perplexing problem. Poverty is a downward spiral that emphasizes the inconsistencies between government policy and the weakness of the country's economy, which can only begin to be overcome if opportunities to help the less fortunate are developed.

To properly assess the extent of poverty in Kazakhstan it is important to understand the methodology of its definition and measurement. There are three basic concepts of measuring poverty. Absolute poverty is based on the establishment of a living wage or poverty line. The position of the World Bank is dominant in the world in the assessment of absolute poverty. The WB experts use multiple criteria income. An internationally accepted poverty line was established in 2005 at US$ 1.25 (PPP) per person per day. They also used less "hard" indicator of US$ 2 per day (in constant 2005 prices) which is the median poverty line for all developing countries. For the transitional economies WB applies poverty line based on the differential absolute poverty equal to US$ 4.3 (before 1999 – US$ 4), for developed economies – US$ 11. According to a relative concept, the category of poor includes individuals and households with income clearly insufficient to live on prevailing community standards of consumption. This approach is used primarily for the developed countries. For example, in the EU the relative poverty is defined at the level of 60% of the median per capita income. Subjective approach (developed by Leiden University, Netherlands) takes into account people's own estimates of their welfare status. In terms of Kazakhstan, the author states that any one-dimensional approach will fail to estimate the real extent of poverty and deprivation of the population. International and national statistics fail to provide an accurate picture of the number of poor in the country and the dynamics of poverty. According to national and WB statistics, in recent decades Kazakhstan showed substantial progress in reducing poverty. However, this was achieved largely due to maintaining rather low official levels of subsistence and cost of minimum food basket. Establishment of these indicators is mainly determined by political considerations, thus it lacks objectivity. For a country aiming to improve competitiveness of its economy and to achieve the level and quality of life comparable to developed countries the focus on a poverty criteria that is close to the standards of the poorest developing countries is not acceptable. Actually, the poverty situation in Kazakhstan continues to be a serious challenge. This is evidenced by the materials of international statistics based on criteria of poverty for countries in transition; by a quite high proportion of household spending on food and the relatively low (as compared to many Eastern European countries) national poverty line. It is concluded that a large-scale poverty still persists in Kazakhstan despite high rates of economic growth.

"Understanding poverty and what to do about it, is perhaps the central concern of all of economics. Yet the lay public almost never gets to hear what leading professional economists have to say about it. This volume brings together twenty-eight essays by some of the world leaders in the field, who were invited to tell the lay reader about the most important things they have learnt from their research that relate to poverty. The essays cover a wide array of topics: the first essay is about how poverty gets measured. The next section is about the causes of poverty and its persistence, and the ideas range from the impact of colonialism and globalization to the problems of "excessive" population growth, corruption and ethnic conflict. The next section is about policy: how should we fight poverty? The essays discuss how to get drug companies to produce more vaccines for the diseases of the poor, what we should and should not expect from micro-credit, what we should do about child labor, how to design welfare policies that work better and a host of other topics. The final section is about where the puzzles lie: what are the most important anomalies, the big gaps in the way economists think about poverty? The essays talk about the puzzling reluctance of Kenyan farmers to fertilizers, the enduring power of social relationships in economic transactions in developing countries and the need to understand where aspirations come from, and much else. Every essay is written with the aim of presenting the latest and the most sophisticated in economics without any recourse to jargon or technical language."--Publisher description

For the past hundred years thinking about poverty has been stuck within an empiricist framework that has concentrated on the measure ment of poverty to the neglect of theory and explanation. This has had very limiting effects on the way that both poverty and the poor have been understood. It is time to re-think how poverty is looked at and analysed in order to locate it within its proper political perspective, not only to arrive at more meaningful measurement but also to help de velop a strategy to overcome it.

Chapter One The contribution of China's poverty alleviation to MDGs -- Chapter Two The aim of SDG's poverty alleviation: connotation and policy orientation -- Chapter Three The present situation of China's poverty and the challenge of poverty alleviation towards 2030 -- Chapter Four Poverty alleviation and development system with Chinese characteristics -- Chapter Five China's poverty alleviation and development policy system -- Chapter Six The outlook of China's poverty alleviation: 2021~2030 -- Chapter Seven The general situation of China's engagement in global poverty governance.

"The book takes the reader on a journey through Rocinha, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro which is advertised as 'the largest favela in Latin America.' Bianca Freire-Medeiros presents interviews with tour operators, guides, tourists and dwellers to explore the vital questions raised by this kind of tourism."--Page [iii].