Ending Poverty Is As Simple As A, B, C

We know the relationship between poverty and education – no education means no job, no job means no income, and no income means no education.  It becomes an unbreakable cycle. Children are bound to this reality; a glass ceiling is created.  Education, while not simple in practice, is simple in solution and is integral to ending poverty and provides the structure for sustainable economic growth. 

On October 17, the world unites in support to eradicate poverty in every corner. 

Poverty is a much bigger issue than just a person’s financial status.  Poverty impacts every facet of a person’s existence, including the most influential indicator to break the cycle – education.

We cannot avoid the glaring statistics of how a lack of education impacts poverty:

• If the world’s illiterate were given basic reading skills, 171 million people would be lifted out of poverty.  This would equal about a 12 percent drop in world poverty. 
• Educating girls directly correlates to increased female participation in the labor force, thus increasing economic growth.
• Right now, worldwide, 61 million children are not going to school. These children are in the poverty cycle, their futures are defined.  A life continued in poverty is nearly certain without their ability to receive a basic education. 

Having effective teachers, adequate resources – even a classroom – becomes merely a dream to many in developing countries. During classroom instruction, about 10 percent of children will have no place to sit and the hidden costs (school uniforms, travel, etc.) can cause many to consider school a nonstarter. Those fortunate enough to attend school are often too distracted from hunger to engage in learning, therefore, the learning is minimal.  We have to start somewhere to break the cycle and providing education for all is step one. 

Education is invaluable across all societal levels, from teaching literacy skills to job skills.  Ending poverty is not a narrow focus on one age group, but a targeted approach to those that need it the most.  Education at any level, from primary to adulthood, will help to reduce poverty.  Each additional year of schooling raises the average annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.37 percent. Additionally, one extra year of schooling increases an individual’s earnings by up to 10 percent (the returns are even greater for educating girls – 10-20 percent – who, as women, are known to invest an estimated 90 percent of their income back into their families).

Highlighting this important issue should not only be isolated to one day in October, as this task will require the commitment of all until the right of education is realized by all and the days of poverty are over.  As Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stated at the Education First launch in New York City, “Education is a basic building block of every society and the pathway out of poverty.”  In order to alleviate the burden felt by millions of people living in poverty, we must not turn our backs on them but offer education as a tool.  After all, ending poverty is as simple as A, B, C. 

By Laura Taylor, GCE-US/RESULTS. Global Campaign for Education-US is a coalition organization dedicated to ensuring access to education for all. This blog is part of a series in recognition of the UN's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Oct. 17.