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The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it

Very few think the world is making progress. In this article I am looking at the data to challenge the widespread negative sentiments.

These poverty figures take into account non-monetary forms of income — for poor families today and in the past, this is important, as many of them are subsistence farmers who live largely from their own food production. But at a time when doctors did not wash their hands when switching from post-mortems to midwifery, the theory was crucial in convincing our ancestors that hygiene and public sanitation are essential for health. On the contrary, it shows us that a lot of work still needs to be done — accomplishing the fastest reduction of extreme poverty is an important achievement, but the fact that 85% of the world live on less than $30 per day is unacceptable.

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