Poverty Rates In Developing Countries

Poverty rates in developing countries continue to inflate enormously. Countries such as Niger and Burundi are faced with an epidemic of continued poverty and no improvement in sight. Several factors affect the rate of poverty in developing countries. The primary factors that significantly improve or deteriorate poverty rates in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Niger, and Burundi are the mean years a women spends in school and the average age of a woman 's first marriage. In perspective, the more years a woman spends in school determines their education level. In turn, education keeps young ladies occupied with their school work and offers these young ladies a better life thanks to any achievements via educational benefits. Meanwhile, the …show more content…
In addition to poverty, Burundians often have to deal with corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, and hunger. The poverty rate in Burundi is 66.9 percent and the mean years spent in school is less than 2 years while the average age of first marriage is 22 years old. In Burundi, schooling is mandatory for children ages 7-13. However, due to the civil war that ended in 2005, many schools were destroyed. The country suffered extreme teacher shortages and a lack of access to educational resources. In Burundi’s culture, “Women 's primary duties are childbearing and child care….women are almost entirely unrepresented in business and at all levels of government” (Eggers, 3). In countries that limit the rights of women, they are typically developing countries that are plagued with poverty and war. Numbers show that Burundi suffers huge poverty in relation to education and marriage ages. Poverty continues to soar in Burundi because of low education opportunities for women and forced marriages between older men and young ladies. Many accounts of young Burundi girls say “Some families in Burundi arrange early and forced marriages for their girls. Regardless of it being forbidden by both civil law and the Christian churches, it still exists” (Francine, 4). Early children marriages is a violation of basic human rights. The country does not have comprehensive laws and policies to protect and help young women threatened with a forced marriage. Arnaud, a young girl who was forced into an early marriage in which she contracted HIV, noted “encouraging girls to stay in school can help Burundi to reduce early and forced marriage, by promoting their rights”. (Arnaud, 5). Promotion of rights is the key factor for a country to make the jump from developing to developed country. Forcing women into anything, eliminates basic human