Actually 1st world countries are among those with the most number of people in absolute poverty, specially these days in Europe that the economy is falling apart. For example I was reading the Guardian a couple of weeks ago where it stated that in the first 4 months of this year more than a million British families became homeless and have been sleeping on the streets.
If we are talking about absolute poverty, then there is hardly more of it anywhere than in Africa, of course in some countries more than in others - but poverty is not something that does not exist in the developed countries of the Western world. Every month I see young people clashing over garbage containers, children going door to door looking for food, public appeals from parents seeking help for their sick children who have to receive expensive drugs or be treated abroad - and all this in a country that has been a
proud member of the EU for almost 10 years.
A survey conducted in my country a few years ago on children attending primary school showed that as many as 30 000 children come to school without their parents being able to provide them with anything for breakfast. A law that would allow them to get at least one hot meal at school was rejected in the national parliament and would cost only 200 000 a year EUR...