Arrange in order of occurrence the 'poverty' cycle which explains the…

Arrange in order of occurrence the 'poverty' cycle which explains the adage 'Poverty begets poverty'

A. Low income and lack of resources
B. Low employment opportunities
C. Low health and nutrition, lack of education and skills
D. Continuance of low income condition and low health and nutrition status
E. Resulting in lowered motivational level

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → A, C, B, D, E

(A) Low income and lack of resources — the starting point of the cycle.

(C) Low health and nutrition, lack of education and skills — with little money, the poor go through poor health and nutrition and miss education and skills.

(B) Low employment opportunities — without health, education and skills, they get few chances of employment.

(D) Continuance of low income condition and low health and nutrition status — few jobs keep income low, and with it health and nutrition.

(E) Resulting in lowered motivational level — the result is a lowered motivation, which makes things worse, and the cycle starts again: poverty begets poverty.

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): “Major Causes of Poverty … 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.”