The Costs of Poverty and Vulnerability

Poverty and vulnerability can impose significant costs not only for those individuals and families in poverty, but also for the communities and societies in which the poor and vulnerable live.

This paper presents important evidence about the damage poverty can cause and about the static and dynamic costs associated with poverty and vulnerability.

It provides a comprehensive analysis, which reinforces the argument that there exist powerful economic and social reasons to eliminate the scourges of poverty and vulnerability.

This paper was prepared in the context of the preparatory process of the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly entitled 'World Summit for Social Development and beyond: achieving social development for all in a globalizing world'.