At dawn in Lusaka, Zambia, a widowed mother leaves home to sell tomatoes at a roadside market. She works from sunrise until dusk, yet every week she watches the price of mealie meal, cooking oil and transport climb faster than her earnings. Thousands of kilometres away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a garment factory worker skips lunch so her children can eat. In Mumbai, a young graduate with a full time job still lives with his parents because buying or even renting a modest home has become beyond his reach. These are not isolated stories. They reflect a growing reality across much of the developing world.

For more than three decades, the global economy appeared to be winning the battle against poverty. According to the World Bank, extreme poverty declined sharply between 1990 and 2019. Rapid economic growth in countries such as China and India lifted hundreds of millions of people above the international poverty line. It was rightly celebrated as one of the greatest development achievements in history.

Yet behind these encouraging figures lies a more complicated picture.

Poverty is no longer measured simply by whether people have enough food to survive. Today, economists also assess access to education, healthcare, clean water, sanitation, decent housing, electricity and employment. The Multidimensional Poverty Index recognises that a family may earn enough to avoid extreme poverty while still lacking the essentials needed to live with dignity.

By these measures, millions remain vulnerable.

The COVID 19 pandemic, rising inflation, conflicts and climate related disasters interrupted decades of progress. In many African and Asian countries, food prices rose sharply while wages remained largely unchanged. Families that had slowly climbed out of poverty suddenly found themselves slipping backwards.

In rural Malawi, repeated droughts have reduced harvests, forcing farming families to rely on food aid during difficult seasons. In parts of Kenya, prolonged drought has wiped out livestock, destroying the livelihoods of pastoral communities. Across South Asia, floods have displaced millions, leaving families to rebuild their lives repeatedly with little financial security.

Perhaps the most worrying trend is that poverty increasingly affects people who are employed.

Street vendors, teachers, nurses, drivers and small business owners are working harder than ever, yet many struggle to pay school fees, rent and medical bills. Having a job no longer guarantees economic security.

Meanwhile, wealth continues to accumulate among those who own valuable assets, businesses and investments. Across the world, property values, technology companies and financial markets have generated enormous wealth for a relatively small number of people, while ordinary wage earners find it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

This widening gap is placing enormous pressure on the middle class.

For decades, the middle class symbolised stability. It invested in education, purchased homes, created businesses and fuelled economic growth. Today, many middle income families are delaying home ownership, reducing household spending and borrowing simply to maintain their lifestyles. One illness, one crop failure or one job loss can erase years of financial progress.

Still, the world has not been standing still.

Several initiatives have helped reduce poverty despite recent setbacks. Cash transfer programmes have improved the lives of millions of families in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia. India’s digital welfare systems have made it easier for vulnerable households to receive government assistance. Across Africa, mobile money services such as M-Pesa have transformed financial inclusion by allowing millions without bank accounts to save, borrow and receive payments securely. Investments in vaccination programmes, girls’ education, clean water, rural roads and agricultural support have also contributed significantly to reducing deprivation.

These initiatives demonstrate that thoughtful public policy can change lives.

However, new challenges continue to emerge. Climate change is threatening agriculture across much of Africa and Asia. Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping labour markets. Urban housing shortages are pushing rents beyond the reach of ordinary workers. Economic growth alone is no longer sufficient if its benefits remain concentrated among a small segment of society.

The world is therefore not necessarily becoming poorer in the traditional sense. Fewer people live in extreme poverty than three decades ago. Yet many more people are living with economic insecurity. They are one failed harvest, one medical emergency or one lost job away from financial distress.

The challenge of the twenty-first century is no longer simply to lift people out of poverty. It is to prevent them from falling back into it. Success should not be measured only by statistics but by whether families can afford decent housing, quality healthcare, education and the confidence that tomorrow will be better than today.

The greatest danger is not merely persistent poverty. It is the slow disappearance of the middle class, the very group that has long provided the foundation for stable economies and resilient societies.

—”This article is based on analysis of reports published by the World Bank, UNDP, ILO, OECD, IMF and UN-Habitat.”