What do you think about when you think about being poor? Is it not having money to buy the food or clothes you want? Being in extreme poverty might mean that not only you don't have the money to buy what you need, but you might have to go without it for an extended period of time. You might have to eat what's available, whether you want it or not, and wear clothes that are not the latest trends or possibly not even your size.

Poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money to buy things. The World Bank Organization describes Poverty as: "Poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty does not have a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time."

How do we measure poverty? There are many ways in which we can measure the levels of poverty of a nation. However, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains one of the most popular. The GDP is the dollar value of what the national economy produced during a specific period. You can think of it as the county's report card.

The GDP includes the following:

- How much you, your family, and other citizens spend on food, clothing, services, and other things.

- The money businesses spend to buy equipment for their factories, the money families spend to purchase their homes.

- The money spent by the government for defense, building roads, schools, hospitals, etc.

- The number of goods and services a country sells to other countries.