Why Millions Stay Poor Despite Working Hard

Описание: If hard work alone could end poverty, the poorest people in the world would be the richest. Yet millions remain trapped in poverty for generations. Why?

In this episode of Newsreel Asia’s explainer series “We the People,” Harshita Rathore examines why poverty cannot be reduced to individual effort or personal choices. Instead, the deeper causes lie in structural inequality, inherited disadvantage, and economic systems that reproduce gaps across generations.

We explore key ideas such as path dependency, the Great Gatsby Curve, and the concept of a poverty trap showing how the conditions of birth shape access to education, healthcare, land, and income. The episode also examines how caste, gender, landlessness, weak labour protections, and unequal wealth transfer reinforce long-term inequality.

Many of the world’s poorest people are already working long hours. The issue is not effort it is low wages, unstable employment, lack of public services, and policies that fail to protect the vulnerable.

Drawing on the ideas of economists like Amartya Sen and Thomas Piketty, this explainer shifts the focus from blaming individuals to questioning institutions and public systems.

Watch till the end and tell us, do you think poverty is a personal failure or a structural problem?

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