In Haiti, the poor might include those possessing a small plot (hectare) of land with a dwelling; their family of three children would have at least one meal a day. The destitute would typically be without land or housing, with less than a quarter of a hectare of land to grow food, and with more than six children who could not be provided with were not given food every day and were usually malnourished.
The World Bank reported a decline in the proportion of the world's poor from 32 percent in 1985 to about 25 percent in 1995, amounting to 1.5 billion people who are desperately poor.
Where the is no outside assistance, responsibility for looking after the destitute falls on the poor, thus worsening the cycle of pauperization for these people too.