Chapter 20: Poverty and the Distribution of Income

Lack of access

________ to credit and other financial resources reduces opportunities for individuals to invest in education and to trade goods and services with others.

Poverty

________ has traditionally been measured using income- or consumption based guidelines.

Governmental instability

________ decreases the attractiveness of investments by foreign producers, an important source of growth and income.

Income ratios

measures of income inequality that compare the earnings of those at one point in the income distribution to the earnings of those at another point in the income distribution.

An income distribution shows

the levels of income in an economy and the percentage. of individuals or households earning those income levels

poverty line

is a specific level of income or consumption below which a person is classified as being in poverty

poverty rate

is the percentage of people with incomes below the poverty line. Poverty rates vary across time, place, and demographic factors.