A child stands outside her tenuous shack in Nagua, Dominican Republic.

Poverty Casts a Broad Net Over Families Across the Globe

Editor's note: To gain a better understanding of the environment in which it operates, Habitat for Humanity International produces a study called the Environmental Scanning Report. Its content provides a global overview of demographic, economic and societal trends, and explores world developments that might assist the organization in its drive to house more people. The following statistics are culled from the 2005 report.

1. Of the 200 U.S. counties with the highest poverty rates, 189 are rural. Thirty percent, or 6.2 million Americans in rural areas, experience housing problems.
   
   
2. U.S. government spending for housing is declining. Three-quarters of those in need of housing assistance are not presently being served.
   
   
3. Nearly half of Africa's population exists on less than US $1 per day, and the number is increasing.
   
   
4. Poverty in Africa is predominantly rural. Seventy percent of rural populations in West and Central Africa are poor. In South and East Africa, 145 million people live in poverty, roughly 75 percent of the rural population.
   
   
5. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 60 percent of the world's HIV/AIDS virus population. By 2015, 5 million to 10 million deaths are expected each year.
   
   
6. Two-thirds of the world's poor live in Asia.
   
   
7. In South Asia, 31 percent of the population live on US $1 per day, down from 41 percent in 1990. In East Asia and the Pacific, 16 percent live on US $1 per day, down from 30 percent in 1990.
   
   
8. In all countries within the Asia and Pacific region, except Mongolia, poverty is concentrated in rural areas.
   
   
9. A study of rural and urban poverty in Europe found that while the urban poor were twice as numerous as the rural poor, the depth of poverty was worse in rural areas.
   
   
10. In the Latin America and Caribbean area, income distribution is the most unequal in the world. The richest 10 percent earn 48 percent of the income while the poorest 10 percent earn 1.6 percent of income.
    
    
11. In the United States, roughly 13 percent of the population live below the poverty threshold of $19,157 for a family of four. Approximately 7.6 million families and 35.9 million people are living in poverty. Since 2000, the number of people in poverty has risen by 4.3 million.
    
    
12. Ninety-five million people-about one-third of the United States' population-face housing problems with most living in a cost-burdened situation and millions enduring inadequate housing and crowded conditions.