International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Editor’s note: On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Daily27 revisits two pieces published on this same date in previous years. In 2024, Jeffrey Sachs argued that the end of extreme poverty was within reach if the world committed to financing quality education for every child. A year later, after the World Bank raised its global poverty line to $3 a day, Jonathan Morduch warned that daily averages hide the hardest moments of poor households’ lives, such as the lean seasons between harvests. Read together, they remind us how far we have come, and how much a single number can leave out.
The End of Poverty is Close at Hand – If We Act
By Jeffrey Sachs · October 17, 2024
Extreme poverty has fallen dramatically since 1990, and Sachs identifies the step that could finish the job: long-term, low-interest financing so that every child in poorer countries can complete a quality secondary education.
To eradicate poverty, we need to get beyond averages
By Jonathan Morduch · October 17, 2025
The $3-a-day poverty line captures something real, but by averaging income over the year it hides the seasons when families go hungry. Morduch proposes measuring how much of the year people actually spend in poverty.
University Professor at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Author of The End of Poverty (2005).
Professor of Public Policy and Economics at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. His research focuses on people’s economic lives and their financial capabilities. His most recent book is The Financial Diaries with Rachel Schneider.