DEFINITIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF POVERTY Flashcards
Describe someone in absolute poverty
Someone who lacks the bare minimum for healthy survival
Why was Charles booth significant?
Because he was the first ever sociologist to apply an absolute approach to his research in London 1899.
Give two advantages of an absolute approach to poverty?
It is very clear and it allows easy comparisons over time
Give two disadvantages of an absolute approach to poverty
Ignores individual variations and does not consider that the definitions of necessities and luxury items change with time
How did the poverty line come about and what does it represent
Rowntree embarked on poverty surveys in York 1899. He used a budget standards approach and worked out the minimum amount needed for basic rent, plain clothes and a basic diet. He used these surveys to draw a poverty line at a 60% median of his findings to distinguish whether you were poverty stricken or not.
Define primary and secondary poverty
Primary poverty is when you are experiencing poverty despite spending all of your money completely efficiently
Secondary poverty is when you are a bit wasteful (on things like presents or alcohol) and are experiencing poverty.
Define relative poverty
Relative poverty is defined in correlation with the dynamic nature of the changing expectations of contemporary society. Experiencing relative poverty refers to missing out on opportunity’s, comforts and self respects which the majority of the population get to experience.
How many people are experiencing absolute poverty according to the UN
2 billion people are living off an income of $1.25 or less
Give two advantages of the relative measure of poverty?
Reflects degrees of deprivation
Give two disadvantages of the relative measure of poverty
Based on subjective judgement of the researcher
Can’t be used to compare over societies (based on the normality of one society)
Outline the deprivation index
Introduced by townsend in 1977 to measure relative poverty. A list of everyday item, if a person did not obtain three of these items they were considered to be experiencing relative poverty. However, this approach is purely based on subjective judgement.
Outline the consensual approach
A approach to define relative poverty. Developed by Mack and Lansley through breadline Britain survey. Created a list which were created up n a consensus from the general public (things were put in the list that up to 50% of the public did not have).
What was the Mack and lansley quote on relative poverty
‘An enforced lack of socially perceived necessities’
Outline the households below average income measure
Those who receive below 60% of the median income are relatively poor. However this does not consider the fact that suffering increases the longer one experiences poverty.
