poor

Lagos slum evictions don’t work: 6 ways city planners can actually help the poor

Lagos slum evictions don’t work: 6 ways city planners can actually help the poor: Millions of people in Lagos live in slums. Slums typically have poor housing infrastructure and sanitation, and limited access to education, health facilities and clean drinking water. These challenges make the people who live in slums vulnerable to health crises, high …

VAT hikes can raise tax without hurting the poor: an economist sets out the evidence

VAT hikes can raise tax without hurting the poor: an economist sets out the evidence: South Africa’s 2025-6 budget has been subjected to more comment than usual. This is due to the political tensions generated by a proposed increase in value added tax (VAT). South Africa’s choices on how it manages the revenue and expenditure …

Burnout and bias can lead to poor care during childbirth – we created a project in Kenya that helps health workers

Burnout and bias can lead to poor care during childbirth – we created a project in Kenya that helps health workers: An estimated 800 women die every day across the world as a result of pregnancy-related complications. Most deaths (95%) occur in low- and middle-income countries. Two-thirds are in sub-Saharan Africa. For every woman who …

How a currency devaluation in Kazakhstan made the country’s poor worse off

How a currency devaluation in Kazakhstan made the country’s poor worse off: It is the job of the government to keep a country’s economy in check. But sometimes policies don’t work out as planned. Governments often take economic decisions that follow specific political agendas, and these decisions are not always beneficial for everyone. Take, for …

Minimum wage for South African farm workers: study shows 2013 hike helped reduce poverty even though compliance was poor

Minimum wage for South African farm workers: study shows 2013 hike helped reduce poverty even though compliance was poor: Minimum wage policies are typically aimed at reducing poverty. Yet there is little direct evidence of this effect, especially in developing countries. And none for South Africa. In a recent paper, we consider the income, employment …

Kenya’s devastating floods expose decades of poor urban planning and bad land management

Kenya’s devastating floods expose decades of poor urban planning and bad land management: Floods in Kenya killed at least 169 people between March and April 2024. The most catastrophic of these deaths occurred after a flash flood swept through a rural village killing 42 people. Death and destruction have also occurred in the capital, Nairobi, …

Almost 50% of adult South Africans are overweight or obese. Poverty and poor nutrition are largely to blame

Almost 50% of adult South Africans are overweight or obese. Poverty and poor nutrition are largely to blame: Malnutrition, in all its forms, includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight and obesity. South Africa has undergone a nutritional transition over the past 30 years characterised by the triple burden of malnutrition: households …

PhD students’ mental health is poor and the pandemic made it worse – but there are coping strategies that can help

PhD students’ mental health is poor and the pandemic made it worse – but there are coping strategies that can help: ESB Professional/Shutterstock A pre-pandemic study on PhD students’ mental health showed that they often struggle with such issues. Financial insecurity and feelings of isolation can be among the factors affecting students’ wellbeing. The pandemic …

Ukraine war increasingly seen as ‘fought by the poor’, as Zelensky raises taxes and proposes strict mobilisation laws

Ukraine war increasingly seen as ‘fought by the poor’, as Zelensky raises taxes and proposes strict mobilisation laws: After the failure of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive, Kyiv finds itself at a major crossroads and with no easy options. The demand late last year by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, for the mobilisation of an additional 500,000 …

Social isolation and loneliness linked to poor health – our study could help explain why

Social isolation and loneliness linked to poor health – our study could help explain why: ERIK Miheyeu/Shutterstock Numerous studies have shown that social isolation and loneliness are associated with an increased risk of early death, on a scale comparable to other known risk factors such as smoking and obesity. This year, the US surgeon general …

Rural communities are being left behind because of poor digital infrastructure, research shows

Rural communities are being left behind because of poor digital infrastructure, research shows: In an era where businesses and households depend on the internet for everything from marketing to banking and shopping, the lack of adequate digital access can be a significant hurdle. And our recent research shows that many homes and businesses in the …

South Africa’s immigration proposals are based on false claims and poor logic – experts

South Africa’s immigration proposals are based on false claims and poor logic – experts: The South African government recently issued a long-awaited policy statement – called a White Paper – outlining proposed changes to the country’s asylum and immigration system. More than 20 years after its first post-apartheid immigration legislation in 1998, immigration remains a …

Antimicrobial resistance is a silent killer that leads to 5 million deaths a year. Solutions must include the poor

Antimicrobial resistance is a silent killer that leads to 5 million deaths a year. Solutions must include the poor: Microbes such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi form part of our everyday lives – they live in us, on us and around us. We need them for healthy digestion, immune function, and the synthesis of …

COP28: a year on from climate change funding breakthrough, poor countries eye disappointment at Dubai summit

COP28: a year on from climate change funding breakthrough, poor countries eye disappointment at Dubai summit: At the COP27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, an agreement to establish a loss and damage fund was hailed as a major breakthrough on one of the trickiest topics in the UN climate change negotiations. In an otherwise frustrating …

Concrete in schools: how missing data and poor funding contributed to today’s closures

Concrete in schools: how missing data and poor funding contributed to today’s closures: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock In September 2022, schools in England were at risk of bankruptcy as their day-to-day spending threatened to overtake their regular income. A hasty autumn budget included additional revenue funds for schools, coming as a relief to many school leaders. …

Suspension of two South African judges has opened up debates about bad working conditions and poor delivery of justice

Suspension of two South African judges has opened up debates about bad working conditions and poor delivery of justice: The suspension of two judges in South Africa for tardiness – failing to process cases in a reasonable amount of time – has sparked fierce debates around the conditions under which judges work. There are implications …

Ay??bámi Adébáy??’s new novel is a modern Nigerian tragedy about the rich and the poor

Ay??bámi Adébáy??’s new novel is a modern Nigerian tragedy about the rich and the poor: Ay??bámi Adébáy??, whose novel A Spell of Good Things has been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images Nigerian writer Ay??bámi Adébáy?? took the literary world by storm with her debut novel Stay With Me in 2017. Six …