Poverty: can we break the cycle?

SDG 1: no poverty icon


This mission is aligned with SDG1: No poverty, and its aim to end poverty in all its forms everywhere.

 

Emerald and SDGs
We support the Sustainable Development Goals

When we talk about poverty, we mean the state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living.

According to the United Nations, global poverty reduction has been slowing down since 2015. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, reversing three decades of steady progress towards poverty reduction and causing the number of people living in extreme poverty to rise for the first time in a generation. If current trends continue, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030.

In this mission, we ask:

  • What causes poverty? Why does it happen?
  • What are the impacts of poverty, on society, organisations, and us as individuals?
  • And, crucially, what can be done to alleviate poverty? Can we achieve our goal of ending poverty in all its forms everywhere? Or will we always live in a society of haves and have-nots?

Find out how you can help us with our mission and access our free content on poverty and the UN SDGs below.
 

This mission supports our Responsible management goal

Join our mission

We publish mission led social science research that tackles key societal challenges aligned with the UN SDGs. In doing so we work with academics who collaborate across disciplines and countries, and with industry and government, to publish research that influences thinking, changes policies, and positively makes a difference to lives beyond the walls of academia.

If you're a researcher or practitioner looking to publish a paper in this area, you can browse our full list of journals by subject area or view our latest call for papers to find the perfect home for your research.

If you are looking to publish a book or a case study, you can find the resources to help you submit, publish and promote your research on our publish with us page. If you still have questions or would like to talk to us about how you can get involved with our missions, get in touch with us directly using the form at the bottom of this page.

 

Find out everything you need to know about the subject of poverty, what the current research is saying, and the areas we'd love to see more research from in the future, in this video introduction from our goal advisor Professor Richard Oloruntoba.

Calls for papers on poverty

These journals are currently looking for articles on the subject of poverty. Learn more and submit to the journals today.

Not your area? You can browse our full range of calls for papers on all our subject areas right here.

View all calls for papers
Closes: 31 May 2024

The links between poverty, profit and ethics: towards new paradigms

Journal: Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal

When we talk about poverty, a major concern is how we define it. There are many views on this issue, and each one suggests a unique approach and set of solutions to address it.

/calls-for-papers/links-between-poverty-profit-and-ethics-towards-new-paradigms
Closes: 01 Nov 2024

The informal economy and digital labour platforms: Opportunities, risks, and challenges for workers

Journal: International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy

This special issue aims to contribute to the informal economy and labour studies by focusing on the effects of digital labour platforms on the informal work, its conditions, and meanings.

/calls-for-papers/informal-economy-and-digital-labour-platforms-opportunities-r…
Closes: 25 Aug 2024

Celebrating the multidisciplinary contribution of entrepreneurial research on inclusive socio-economic development

Journal: The Bottom Line

This special issue will recognise the contributions of entrepreneurial research to inclusive socio-economic development through theoretical discourse, practical implications and policy conclusions.

/calls-for-papers/celebrating-multidisciplinary-contribution-entrepreneurial-re…

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Free journal articles on poverty

The purpose of our missions is to ensure that the research we publish can fully play its part in solving significant global challenges. This is why we have selected a series of articles aligned with the subject of poverty and made them free to access, so that you too can benefit from this research.

question 1

What causes poverty? How does it happen?

In this section we look at what causes poverty and, crucially, what exacerbates it: from race, consumption and income inequality, to geography, natural disasters, and global pandemics. We will discover why poverty occurs and why it is more prevalent in some areas than others.

Free journal articles

For a limited time only, these articles are free to access.

 
Date published: December 2022

Barriers to entry, entrepreneurship and income inequality within the USA

Author: Colin O'Reilly, Department of Economics and Finance, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JEPP-06-2022-0069/full/html
Find a journal for your research
question 2

What is the impact of poverty on society, the economy, and us as individuals?

What is the impact of poverty? How does it affect us? The following articles examine the effects of poverty, not just on our societies and economies but also on us as individuals. We will learn that poverty affects almost 10% of the world’s population, often with devastating results.

Free journal articles

For a limited time only, these articles are free to access.

 
Date published: October 2021

Good option or only option? Poverty, disability, health and enterprise

Authors: Laura Jackman, Laura Galloway, Isla Kapasi, Rebecca Stirzaker, and Andreea Mihut

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJEBR-10-2020-0681/full/html
Date published: October 2023

Inequality, poverty, and resilience to economic shrinking

Authors: Anthony Smythe, Igor Martins, and Martin Andersson, Department of Economic History, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

open access padlock symbolInternational Journal of Development Issues

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJDI-06-2023-0168/full/html
Date published: May 2022

The effects of COVID-19 and response measures on poverty, household income and household consumption expenditure in South Korea

Author: Taiwon Ha, Department of Economics, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

Journal of Economic Studies

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JES-09-2021-0453/full/html
Find a journal for your research
question 3

How can we alleviate poverty and prevent it from happening in the future?

This section examines the current methods used to alleviate poverty, from Fintech and BOP strategies to conditional cash transfers. How are these methods implemented? And are they effective?

Free journal articles

For a limited time only, these articles are free to access.

 
Date published: August 2022

The contribution of the private sector to poverty alleviation programs: exploring business engagement in conditional cash transfers

Authors: Gerardo Rivera Ungson, David Hudgens, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Yim-Yu Wong, Sara A. Wong, Fabiola Monje-Cueto, Armando Borda, and Sada Soorapanth

Management Research

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MRJIAM-08-2021-1222/full/ht…
Find a journal for your research

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More free content on poverty

Journal articles are just one way our researchers talk about poverty. Explore some of our other forms of content, including free book chapters, an open access issue, a policy document, and podcasts.

Free book chapters on poverty

For a limited time only, these chapters are free access. The full books can be purchased from our bookstore.

Want advice on preparing or submitting your manuscript? Check out our author guidelines for books and book series.

Publish a book or series
Date published: July 2023

Possibilities for Upgrading High-tech GVCs Toward Stronger SDG Performance

Authors: Antonio Biurrun and Isabel Álvarez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Published in: International Business and Sustainable Development Goals

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S1745-886220230000017015/fu…

Open access content on poverty

This content is free to access any time you like.

Are you looking to publish your research open access? You can learn about all our routes to open here.

Publish open access
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Open policy document

open access iconA framework for culturally appropriate and sustainable indigenous housing

The absence of stable housing greatly impacts the ongoing poverty faced by Indigenous people. This brief looks at how governments and Indigenous groups can work together to address this issue.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EOR-13-2023-0014/full/html

Podcasts and videos on poverty

Find out what our author community has to say about the subject of poverty and inequality in these podcast episodes and videos.

Explore our podcast series | Explore more of our videos on YouTube

COVID-19 and homelessness

This episode of the Emerald podcast series explores the impact of COVID-19 on people experiencing homelessness. It considers the diverse and significant challenges faced by local and national governments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Find out more and read the transcript

Inflation: what is it and how does it affect society

This episode of the Emerald podcast series answers the questions of 'What is inflation', 'why prices go up' and 'how inflation can affect the socio-economic fabric of life'.
 

Find out more and read the transcript

Food poverty in the UK and the impact of COVID

Professor Martin Caraher discusses how household debt in the UK has increased during the COVID crisis, resulting in an increase in food poverty.

Watch the video on YouTube

The impact and implications of COVID 19 to climate change, poverty & policy response

Hear our Expert Briefings webinar on the impact and implications of COVID-19 on climate change, poverty and policy response.

Watch the video on YouTube

Featured books

Find out more about the books we've used to select chapters for this page and that cover the subject of poverty.

Visit our online bookstore to see all our latest publications.

Submit your book proposal here

Subject pages

Browse our subject pages to find relevant journals and books.

Explore all our subject areas

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What are we doing to help?

Learn more about what we, as a business, are doing to help tackle poverty and the UN sustainable development goals below.

Our goals

Our core area of focus is interdisciplinary research aligned with the UN SDGs, with these key goals in mind, all of which are about creating real world impact, at a time when it's needed most.

Fairer society

We are passionate about working with researchers globally to deliver a fairer, more inclusive society. This perhaps has never been more important in today’s divided world...

SDGs

/our-goals/fairer-society

Healthier lives

We understand the value of a world that recognises and protects the most vulnerable and acknowledges the importance of a healthy mind as well as a healthy body...

SDGs

/our-goals/healthier-lives

Responsible management

We aim to champion researchers, practitioners, policymakers and organisations who share our goals of a more ethical, responsible and sustainable way of working...

SDGs

/our-goals/responsible-management

Quality education for all

We believe in quality education for everyone, everywhere and by highlighting the issue and working with experts in the field, we can find ways we can all be part of the solution...

SDGs

/our-goals/quality-education-for-all

Sustainable structures and infrastructures

We recognise the transformative power of sustainable engineering, design and building practices in creating a world where our planet and its inhabitants can thrive.

SDGs

/our-goals/sustainable-structures-and-infrastructures
Our mission

Trust: how is it built, and how is it broken?

Once trust is broken, it can be very difficult to repair. Here we look at how vulnerable trust is within organisations and ask a number of key questions.

More on our trust mission

View all our missions on our responsible management page

Our mission

Corruption: what is it costing us?

In this mission, we ask; what are the causes of corruption? Why does it happen? What is the impact of corruption on society, the economy, and individuals? And, crucially, how can corruption be avoided?

More on our corruption mission

View all our missions on our responsible management page

Our mission

Our commitment to sustainability

As a business, we have committed to helping our industry become more sustainable through a number of key initiatives and by publishing research that helps to make real world change.

Find out what we are doing to help and access our free content on sustainability and the UN SDGs.

More on our sustainability mission

View all our missions on our responsible management page

What else are we doing?

 
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Our stance

We want to influence positive change, whether it’s the future of research assessment, open access or finding new ways to make research more accessible and discoverable.

/who-we-are/our-stance
Fields and ocean

Environment & sustainability

Take a look at the actions we are taking as a business to help minimise our impact on the world around us.

/environment-sustainability
Power of diverse voices

The power of diverse voices

We believe that research is most impactful when diverse voices are included. How can we all turn the tide on inequity and create an inclusive academic ecosystem that benefits all?

/power-of-diverse-voices

Time for change

Our annual academic culture survey, Time for change, gathers the views and experiences of academics, students and librarians from across the world.

/time-for-change
Closing the impact gap image

Closing the impact gap

Part of the journey to real-world impact relies on making research both accessible and engaging for policymakers, communities, and end-users. But do current research formats effectively communicate to these groups?

/closing-the-impact-gap
Are you in?

Are you in?

Let’s advance real impact together by committing to change and focusing on what we can all do to make a difference.

/are-you-in

Get in touch

We love hearing from researchers and practitioners about their work.

If you would like to contribute to this page, or you are working on research related to poverty, responsible management, and the UN SDGs, and would like to publish it in a journal, book or case study, please let us know by filling in this form and we’ll get right back to you with advice on the next steps.

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