One of the more pressing issues that has taken a toll on governments and the public across the

globe is that of global poverty. The World Bank estimates that 1.37 billion people live on less than
USD1.25 a day, and 2.56 billion live on less than USD2 a day. With the proliferation of technology
and its ability to provide greater access to remote areas, cheaper machine, food production,
microfinancing and education, technology has seemingly lifted many out of poverty.

The emergence of technology like genetically modified crops and information technology: people
in developing countries can step out of their poverty cycle and experience a new lease of life.

Introduction of the Green Revolution, which refers to the series of research, development and
technology transfer initiatives that increased agricultural production around the world, beginning
most markedly in the late 1960s: Food security within impoverished communities. This movement
saw the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation
infrastructure, modernisation of management techniques, distribution of hybridized leads and
synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to farmers. The highly significant development of new ‘high-
yielding’ wheat cultivated was made possible by advances in molecular genetics. The crops had
undergone DNA modification and were able to resist pests and diseases, and to grow at a faster
rate, eventually increases the yield, helping to alleviate the problem of global poverty.

How poverty tends to trap people into making poor decisions

Weighed down by a scarcity mindset and tunnel vision, the poor are at risk of making choices that
feed the poverty cycle. Sometimes they are out of options.

Example of a family with children. Their desire for packaged foods/soft drinks, things which are
considered fancy. Unable to buy them. So when they receive financial assistance from the Social
Security Office, their mind goes on the things that they could not buy. Tendency to splurge money on
these items. It becomes a sort of obsession. End up getting stressed because very little money is left.
This is one of the common effects of poverty: A kind of tunnel vision that focuses one’s mind on only
one thing. Being broke and seeing one’s children deprived of packet drinks, one’s mind starts
obsessing about what one’s family is missing.

Poverty is complex and is not only about not having enough to buy the things that one needs, such
as food, clothing and shelter. The problem of scarce resources has consequences that make long-
term decision-making difficult, owing to what the financial stress does to the mind. Poverty even has
biological effects.

When asked why poor people are poor, the most likely answers are poor health, laziness and lack of
higher education. This attitude stems from a spirit of self-reliance — people make their own luck, or
bucks. But when people have financial woes, there is more to consider. Owing to what is called the
scarcity mindset, one’s attention gets consumed by immediate problems, and one’s best long-term
interests are rarely considered. And the more problems one has, the lower one’s bandwidth is. This
means not strategising or analysing tasks well, which is more likely to result in inferior choices. When
a person is stressed — a lot more negative emotions, which are very heavy — it might impede his
cognitive functioning. Constantly bugged by having to think when the next meal is going to be on the
table … the problem is compounded and perpetuated. It’s very hard to break out of it, and it affects
their work.

Dealing with bread-and-butter issues that one cannot solve may make a person anxious and
frustrated or even depressed. Many people, when faced with stressful situations, may go on their
mobile phones or watch Netflix, but when the poor are distracted from what they need to do, they
are seen as procrastinating or being lazy. Research from Princeton University has claimed that the dip
in cognitive function in a person preoccupied with money problems is similar to a 13-point drop in
IQ.

It cuts back choices: when a poor person goes grocery shopping, need proper budgeting in order not
to exceed amount earmarked for groceries. In order to stay within budget, cannot benefit from
promotional offers such as buy 2 get 1 free or buy 2 at lower price. Cannot take advantage of
cashback offers which comes with credit cards (credit cards are given based on income). Missing out
on bulk buying, shopping discounts and cashback is just one example. Incurring penalties because of
a backlog of bill payments, such as for utilities, is another fact of life for the poor. The deficits pile up
and spill over into the next month. The cycle continues, and so does the list of everyday situations
where a cash shortage can create a shortage of choice.

It takes years away from life: Through cycles of time, the effects of poverty can also be physiological.
For example, National University of Singapore researchers have found that it is linked to ageing.
Based on a study of 1,158 undergraduates, Professor Richard Ebstein from the NUS Department of
Psychology noted that the DNA of students here who were from a lower socio-economic class had
shorter “telomeres” than those whose families had more money. A telomere is a physical end of a
chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome and prevent damage. Telomere length is
an index of ageing. This implies that these students, despite being healthy, are ageing faster than
other students. Hence the implications of poverty are long-term and may not manifest until
adulthood. If you come from a poor background, and you get admitted into a top-class university,
you are likely to be more stressed out and worn out, despite you’re successful in school. Poverty is
not just about not having enough money. It has consequences for actual physical and mental health.

Measures: Financial assistance can ease conditions for the poor, and this can come in various forms,
including public rental housing at subsidised rates, utilities grants, additional home ownership grants,
child and student care subsidies and the Community Health Assistance Scheme. Only with a resilient
social structure would the consequences of their mistakes not worsen their economic outlook. Social
policies should be designed in the same way airplane cockpits are designed with backups for engines
and other critical safety equipment. The system should be fully resilient. We should have a multi-
layered defence mechanism in which, in a situation where one policy fails, there’s a backup to
support the people who are affected by this policy.

Example: a single mother needing to improve her skills but having to look after her two children: She
would need more time to complete her lessons. Public policy should be customised or tolerant of
such situations in a way that buys the poor second chances. The social system must turn things
around for the poor, who otherwise risk each slip-up becoming a series of more setbacks. It’s a long
journey, so sometimes when the support isn’t there, and when the journey’s too tough for them,
they might drop out halfway. Society could recognise that an unforeseen situation might happen. So
if there’s more flexibility for them, that might help.