Poverty begets poverty, the poverty cycle explains why poverty tends…

Poverty begets poverty, the poverty cycle explains why poverty tends to continue among the same section of society. Some of the factors that do not lead to poverty are:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → More job opportunities

The poverty cycle explains why poverty tends to continue among the same sections of society. It begins with low income and lack of resources; the poor then go through low health and nutrition, lack of education and lack of skills; these lead to low employment opportunities, which keep the income low, and the cycle starts again.

Option (1) Low income and lack of resources — Leads to poverty. This is where the cycle begins.

Option (2) low health and nutrition — Leads to poverty. With little money, the poor cannot afford proper food and health care, and poor health reduces their capacity to work and earn.

Option (3) Lack of education and skills — Leads to poverty. Without education and skills a person cannot get good work, which keeps the income low.

Option (4) More job opportunities — Does not lead to poverty. The cycle runs through low employment opportunities. More jobs bring income and so break the cycle instead of continuing it.

Note: The poverty cycle, in the chapter ‘Psychology and Life’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26). Hence this question has been picked from the pre-rationalised NCERT.

NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Poverty and Discrimination … The poverty cycle is another important cause of poverty that explains why poverty tends to continue among the same sections of society. Poverty begets poverty. Beginning with a low income and lack of resources, the poor go through low health and nutrition, lack of education, and lack of skills. This leads to low employment opportunities, which, in turn, continue their low income condition, and low health and nutrition status. The resulting lowered motivational level only makes the situation worse; the cycle starts and continues again. Thus, the poverty cycle involves an interaction between the factors mentioned above, and results in declining individual motivation, hope, and sense of control.”