LICs become dependent on HICs and some NEEs for aid
● Many LICs have to borrow money from World Bank → heavily in debt
○ Need to pay for hospitals/health care
● eg/ Ebola outbreak
○ 2014 – 2015
○ > 11000 people died
○ Hospitals deteriorated
■ Many problems experienced by LICs are connected with another
● Causes a development gap = difference in standards of living/well-being between the world’s richest and
poorest countries
Consequences:
→ Wealth
● Due to historical, economical and physical factors → HICs are considerably richer than LICs (and NEEs)
● LICs are reliant upon trade with NEEs/HICs
○ Causes gap between rich and poor to widen
● LICs and NEEs have a wider gap between the richest and poorest people
○ No minimum wage
○ Corruption
○ Richest keep all the money
○ Most people live in rural areas
■ Exploitation, corruption and slavery takes place
● Exploitation = to take advantage of, in a bad way
→ Health
● Low levels of wealth → LICs/NEEs don’t have enough to spend on healthcare
○ People are sicker and die younger
○ Cannot afford to access healthcare
● Medicine shortage
● Hospitals don’t have enough equipment
● Lack of trained doctors
The Gini coefficient:
→ Gini coefficient = measures disparity of incomes within a country in a ratio with values between 0 and 1
● Country with value of 1 = all income controlled by a single person
● Country with value of 0 = all income distributed evenly
○ eg/ LICs and NEEs have high Gini coefficients
■ The lower, the better
● Best performing countries = North
○ Scandinavia
○ Europe
○ Kazakhstan
● Worst performing countries = South
○ Brazil
○ South Africa
○ Chile
● Countries with no data
○ No data due to:
■ Corruption
■ Lack of people
■ Expanse of empty
space
○ Saudi Arabia
○ Libya
○ Greenland
● HICs often have similar Gini coefficients
to LICs → eg/ Chad is similar to UK
○ Doesn’t measure income , only disparities
○ Possible criticism of Gini coefficient
■ Chad = most people are poor (not large difference in income)
■ UK = some people are rich, some people are poor
International migration:
● Uneven development leads to international migration
○ Some migrants move voluntarily for better QOL = economic migrants
○ Others are forced due to persecution/disasters = refugees
● International migration from LICs reached a peak in 2015
○ Due to combination of conflict and poverty
■ eg/ Syria, North Africa
○ 14 million people forced out of their homes
● People in LICs have become more aware of the development gap between them and NEEs/HICs
○ People find out about the “bright lights” of HICs through phones
● eg/ African migrants trying to reach Europe by boat
○ Early 2015 → 50, 000 migrants landed in Italy
○ Late 2015 → 100000 crossed into Europe by land
■ 1000s drowned
■ Fleeing conflict/persecution
● eg/ Indian computer engineers, polish doctors migrate into England
○ High-skilled people
○ Causes “brain drain” of skilled human resources in home country
○ Rate of development in NEE begins to slow
● Migrants from poorer countries send home remittances (+ve consequence)
○ Remittance = the money that international migrants send to
their families
■ eg/ Nepal → remittances contribute 25% of GNI