page_title: Disability and poverty
section_title: Extent
hierarchical_section_title: Disability and poverty / Extent
caption_attribution_description: Disabled beggar in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
context_page_description: The world's poor are significantly more likely to have or incur a disability within their lifetime compared to more financially privileged populations. The rate of disability within impoverished nations is notably higher than that found in more developed countries. Since the early 2010s there has been growing research in support of an association between disability and poverty and of a cycle by which poverty and disability are mutually reinforcing. Physical, cognitive, mental, emotional, sensory, or developmental impairments independently or in tandem with one another may increase one's likelihood of becoming impoverished, while living in poverty may increase one's potential of having or acquiring special needs in some capacity.
context_section_description: A multitude of studies have been shown to demonstrate a significant rate of disability among individuals living in poverty. The evidence on the association between disability and poverty was recently reviewed in the United Nations' first Flagship Report on Disability and Development <The UN Disability and Development Report. New York: United Nations https://social.un.org/publications/UN-Flagship-Report-Disability-Final.pdf.</ref> The association between disability and poverty has been shown to be stronger when poverty is measured multidimensionally as multiple deprivations compared to when it is measured through income or consumption expenditures. 
  Former World Bank President James Wolfensohn has stated that this connection reveals a link that should be broken. He stated, “People with disabilities in developing countries are over-represented among the poorest people. They have been largely overlooked in the development agenda so far, but the recent focus on poverty reduction strategies is a unique change to rethink and rewrite that agenda.” The link between disability and development has been further stressed by Judith Heumann, the World Bank's first advisor for international disability rights, who indicated that of the 650 million people living with disabilities today eighty percent live in developing countries. Additionally, some research investigations with proved social impact are opening venues that lead to establish enabling factors to break the cycle of deprivation faced by poor people with disabilities. According to the United Kingdom Department for International Development, 10,000 individuals with disabilities die each day as a result of extreme poverty, showing that the connection between these two constructs is especially problematic and deep-seated. This connection is also present in developed countries, with the Disability Funders Network reporting that in the United States alone those with disabilities are twice as likely to live below the poverty line than those without special needs.
caption: Man with disabilities in Bangladesh
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix S9500", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2007:02:22 02:09:27", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "934", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13890", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/340", "EXIF FNumber": "18/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:01:28 11:57:24", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:01:28 11:57:24", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "211/25", "EXIF ApertureValue": "37/10", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "367/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "14", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3488", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2616", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "4482", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "4482", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}