Nature And Extent Of Poverty Pt.2 Flashcards
Coates and silburn
Coates and Silburn (1970) in their study in Nottingham emphasised how the poor are trapped due to circumstance - they called this the CYCLE OF DEPRIVATION. E.g. a child born into poverty, may get ill a lot, misses a lot of school, underachieves, goes into a low paid job or unemployment, and therefore experiences poverty as an adult.
Poor cost of living
Source B - Trapped in poverty; the poor pay more
One of the greatest irony is that the cost of living is higher for the poor than non-poor - and this hinders them if they try to escape poverty. The poor pay more because:
• They often live in poor quality homes that are expensive to heat and maintain
• The cost of home and car insurance is more as there are higher crime rates in the area
• They have to buy cheap clothing which doesn’t last
• They have to pay more for food as they can only afford to buy it in small quantities
• They may have to shop at the corner shop which is more expensive as they don’t have a car to get to the supermarket
• They pay more for credit as they have to go to loan sharks
They suffer more ill health and have to pay for non-prescription medicines such as pain killers
Milliband
Marxists such as Milliband (1974) are critical that the poor are an underclass. They see the people as not separate, especially disadvantaged group but simply the most disadvantaged of the working class. They argue that all of the working class could join this group f they became sick, unemployed or disabled. They argue to solve this we need to destroy the capitalist system.
Three structural explanations of poverty
Structural theories argue that poverty arises from the structure of inequality in a capitalist society.
- Marxism: The poor the proletariat) are poor because they
are exploited by the rich ( the bourgeoisie) - Weberian: they lack skills and power
- Functionalism: they serve a purpose in maintaining society
Structural approaches suggest the poor lack the ability to change their position.
