Even though East Asian economies are getting much stronger, poverty is spreading through the countryside and in cities. Almost half of China’s population lives on less than $2 a day, with most of these people living in rural areas. Two hundred million of these people survive on less than $1 a day.

In the countryside, there are very few public services, including schools. Many people are hungry and there is little hope for the future.

East Asia Poverty Facts

• In China, 142 million rural kids are malnourished, which means they aren’t getting the nutritious food they need.
• Severe malnutrition in kids is about three times higher in rural areas than in cities.
• Twice as many babies die in the rural western part of China than in the more developed eastern coastal area.

Poverty is bad in cities too. East Asia has the second highest number of people living in slums in the world, with 194 million slum-dwellers in 2001. A slum is a place in the city where thousands of people live in cramped quarters, without basic things like clean drinking water, a proper shelter or a clean place to go to the bathroom.

Poverty is especially hard on kids. In general, kids who live in the country aren’t nearly as healthy as kids who live in cities. They don’t have the same access to doctors and medicine and often go hungry.