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Education poverty is often thought to be positively related to income poverty. But, how far is this claim true? In today’s world, we have multi-millionaires who are uneducated. The virtual world has plenty of talented people who suffer education poverty and yet do not suffer from income poverty. We have school dropouts and college dropouts who made it to the success point.
Education leads to employment and employment helps you earn. We all know this! However, is it the only path to income opportunities? Obviously no! Today we shall discuss the anomaly to the concept of poverty trap.
I recently completed a research project on the poverty dimensions of the Indian population. The results derived were interesting but intriguing as well. To all the bookish knowledge we received, we know that uneducated people contribute to the poor section of the society. We have been extensively taught about the poverty trap which replicates a mouse in a mousetrap who is destined to dust.
Human beings have the most developed brain cells and brain power. So, is the theory of eternal trap true? In the virtual world, millennials dominate young adults using social media. Education is a rare spoken concept in the millennial world.
What is poverty?
Poverty is not a unique word. It has been used again and again for economical, financial and political reasons. Internationally, the World Bank describes it in terms of nutrition and calories. A person whose per day food expenditure is below $2 is declared poor. In other words, it is said that if a person cannot afford $2 income to procure a minimum level of nutrition or calories, he is below the poverty line and hence, he is a poor person.
A student (9th grade) of mine, once did ask me, that if we go by the World Bank definition of poverty, then an Indian women performing a religious fast for the entire day will be declared poor for that day?? AHMMMM !!! at least this boy was using his curious side of the brain… 😀
What is Education Poverty?
The term was coined by The Save the Children Fund (Save the Children), describing it as the limitation to the rights of child education. Education poverty covers other grey areas like curbing the opportunities of a child’s future or prohibiting career development, depriving the training and skills required to earn a better standard of living.
Linkage between Education and Income
Education helps an individual to gain knowledge and develop skills. This turn helps the individual to get employed and enhance his productivity. A firm pays fee or salary for this productivity which is used in the process of production of goods and services. Hence, with general concept, we do declare that education leads to income. However, is it the only path to income opportunities? Obviously no! Today we shall discuss the exceptions to the poverty trap concept.
Poverty Trap
The poverty trap is also called the vicious cycle of poverty, indicating that once a person enters the poverty cycle he is lost in the poisonous cycle forever. A poor person is unable to earn good quality education. This leaves the person with fewer and mostly low skilled employment opportunities. Such jobs are bound to pay less and hence, the person is trapped in the mouse trap of poverty forever. Thus, internationally stating that education poverty leads to income poverty and vice versa.
Millennials and the Virtual World
Millennials denote young adults in the 21st century. They dominate and rule the virual world and are often even called influencers. They have amazing virtual conversation skills which make them and their lifestyle desirable. Youtubers, Instagram Influencers, Tik Tokers and Bloggers; command the virtual world. But the real question is, how much does it take to earn through the virtual world? Well… to be true… one just needs a basic smart phone. No education, no training, no skill development programs is required to enter the virtual business of influencing. Does this mean that they can never be trapped in the poverty trap?
Let us consider some young talents on Youtube:
- Anantya Anand aged 10 has a YouTube channel named My Miss Anand which has 4.83M subscribers.
- Ayat Sheikh aged 4 has a channel known as Wonder Girl Ayat with 172K subscribers.
- Samreen Ali another young talent has 1.75M subscribers
- Varchasvi Sharma again aged 4, has 63.9K subscribers
- Aanya Joshi’s channel Kids Fun Learning is blessed with 99.2K subscribers
YouTube is an ocean and these kids are just a single drop of water in that virtual ocean. Thus, it is evident that you don’t need education or degrees to start earning in the virtual world. A smart phone and internet connection is all you need. Smart phones are counted as an necessary item in the 21st century and internet connection is free in most countries (Example: free WI-FI at railway station, bus stops and libraries).
In case, one is unaware, a channel with 1000 subscribers starts earning revenue from the YouTube. Education poverty is not a crucial topic when we are talking about the virtual world. The millennials are the exceptions to the theory of education poverty. There are plenty live examples to prove that education poverty does not lead to income poverty.
From the above diagram, it is evident that a little time investment can pull you out of the vicious cycle of poverty created by education poverty. Hence, I present to you an exception to the law of poverty trap. Thus concluding, Education poverty does not necessarily lead to income poverty.
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Very interesting, Thanks for sharing such a good blog.your article is so convincing that I never stop myself to say something about it.You’re doing a great job….👍👍