Poverty

The percentage of people living below the poverty line in Mongolia is 36.1% compared to its surrounding countries, which range from 8-16%, (index mundi.com). Perhaps the most alarming fact about this statistic, is that it has remained the same since 1998! That means for the past 13 years, Mongolia has made no progress in bringing its people out of poverty, even with a department of the government made specifically to tackle the problem.

One of the main problems is the lack of jobs. 11% of the population is unemployed, and those who are employed aren't much better off. While the country is trying to make jobs in the private sector, the private sector jobs have the highest poverty rate. According to the Mongolian Poverty Strategy Paper, 35% of the people working in the private sector are below the poverty line. Even the public sector jobs aren't that prosperous, with 26% of the people working in public sectors jobs living under the poverty line. The most telling statistic, is the mere 1% of government workers living in poverty. Understandably, if you want to work in the government you have to be educated, but if the only jobs that almost guarantee a good living are in the government, then what about the rest of the country. There should be greater steps taken to help the workers in the private and public sector, who have a pretty high chance of being poor. A country may need people to run it, but without a general population who farm, work in the mines, run the shops, herd the sheep, and push the paper, you wouldn't have a country at all.

It seems almost silly for me to think that the people who are running the show live the best off, while the people who run themselves ragged making the country actually run, not just make the policies but do the actual hard labor, are the ones left to suffer and live in poverty. And to top it all off, Mongolia has made a special section of the government, who of course do not live in poverty, to deal with the problem of poverty in the country, and the poverty level has remained the same for 13 years! It makes me wonder what Mongolia is really doing to try to relieve the problem. This is definitely an area I would like to see massive improvement in for the country.