The Distribution of Poverty and Wealth and Income

Question 1

What’s the poverty line?

Answer 1

The estimated minimum income needed to secure the necessities of life. More then one in 5 people in the UK were bellow it in 2021/22.

Question 2

What’s the minimum standard of living standard?

Answer 2

The minimum income for defining relative poverty within the UK.

Question 3

What’s a dependency culture?

Answer 3

A shared set of values which makes people reliant on the state to provide for them.

Question 4

What’s a nanny state?

Answer 4

A new right idea that the government interferes too much with peoples lives.

Question 5

What did Oscar Lewis study?

Answer 5

He was the first person to study the attitudes of the poor in his research in México and Puerto Rico in the 1950s.

Question 6

What did Oscar Lewis study find?

Answer 6

The poor has their own culture of poverty, with distinct norms and values which makes them different from the rest of society. Children that grow up with these people are socialized into these values: 1. They don’t take opportunities to change their situation. 2. They have a sense of fatalism. 3. They are reluctant to work. 4. They don’t plan for the future. 5. They see themselves as marginalized and not part of mainstream culture.

Question 7

What did Marsland argue?

Answer 7

He was a new right thinker. Poverty persists because of the generosity of the welfare state, the nanny state creates a dependency culture. Universal benefits which are available to all regardless of income are wrong as they stop money being invested into the economy. Universal benefits should be stopped and only given to the disabled or long term sick (the deserving poor.)

Question 8

What did Murray argue?

Answer 8

There was an emerging under class, responsible for raising crime rates and unemployment. They were happy to claim welfare benefits and live in deviant family structures - perverse incentives. This leads to a dependency culture, children brought up in single parent family’s were more likely to become criminal due to lack of proper socialization.

Question 9

What are two examples of perverse incentives?

Answer 9

1. Council houses for teenage mums. 2. Benefits for the unemployed.

Question 10

What did Rutter and Mage find?

Answer 10

There is no clear evidence that children inherit their parents behaviours as at least half of children born into poverty do not repeat that behaviour.

Question 11

What did Shildrick find?

Answer 11

He argued that there is no evidence of dependency culture as he found only 0.5% of households had a culture of worklessness.

Question 12

What do Marxists argue about poverty?

Answer 12

Its easier to blame the poor then the government.

Question 13

What did Baumberg, Bell and Gaffney suggest?

Answer 13

That the New Right view of the underclass is based on a constant polluting flow of misinformation from the government and media.

Question 14

What are material explanations for poverty?

Answer 14

Theories which blame the lack of material support, an inadequate welfare state and a basic lack of funding for those in poverty. The hopelessness of the future is what leave them to live in the moment. The poor’s attitude is a response to being poor not the reason for it.

Question 15

What did Coates and Silburn find?

Answer 15

They found how the poor are trapped due to circumstance, the cycle of deprivation.

Question 16

What is an example of a recent law to stop deprivation?

Answer 16

There was a hardship fund to provide council tax relief to venerable people and those effected by Covid-19.

Question 17

Why do the poor pay more?

Answer 17

1. They often live in poor quality homes which are expensive to heat more and maintain, also making people sick. 2. The cost of home and car insurance is higher due to crime rates. 3. They have to buy cheaper clothing which doesn’t last. 4. They have to pay more for food as they cant afford to buy it in small quantities. 5. They may have to shop at a corner shop as its more expensive then a super market. 6. They have to pay more for credit as they have to go to loan sharks. 7. They suffer more ill health and have to pay for non prescription medicines such as painkillers. This can be used to evaluate cultural explanations.

Question 18

What’s the social democratic view of the under class?

Answer 18

The underclass are the people who are excluded from taking part in society. Field suggests this contains the elderly, the lone parents, long term unemployed, the disabled, the low paid and the long term sick. They’re focused to rely on inadequate state benefits which don’t give them an acceptable standard of living. It may also include migrant workers who are forced to work low paid jobs as they cannot receive benefits. Many are forced into the poverty trap.

Question 19

What’s the Marxist view of the underclass?

Answer 19

Marxists such as Milliband do not believe that the poor are the underclass, they don’t see them as separate just worse off. All working class people could end up joining the under class if they became sick, unemployed or disabled. To solve this, we need to destroy the capitalist system.

Question 20

What are 3 critisms of both the social democratic and Marxist view of the underclass?

Answer 20

1. It doesn’t take into account the people who do take advantage of the system. 2. Marxists ignore anything that hasn’t got to do with class such as gender. 3. The only solution being revolution is unrealistic.

Question 21

Why do Marxists believe wealth is unequally distributed?

Answer 21

The proletariat are poor because the bourgeoise exploit them.

Question 22

Why do Weberians’ believe wealth is unequally distributed?

Answer 22

The poor lack the skills and power to gain wealth.

Question 23

Why do functionalists believe wealth is unequally distributed?

Answer 23

They serve a purpose in maintaining society.

Question 24

What’s wealth?

Answer 24

Property in form of assets.

Question 25

What’s disposable income?

Answer 25

What you have left after paying tax.

Question 26

What’s discretionary income?

Answer 26

What is left after tax, bills, food and travel costs.

Question 27

What areas in the UK had the most and least disposable income in 2016?

Answer 27

Most was London and least was Northern Ireland.

Question 28

What’s inheritance tax?

Answer 28

Tax payable on money inherited when a relative dies.

Question 29

What’s capital gains tax?

Answer 29

Its intended to reduce profits from dealing in property and shares and is payable when these are sold.

Question 30

What’s income tax?

Answer 30

Payable on both earned and unearned income and it increases when your wages increase.

Question 31

What’s social welfare benefits?

Answer 31

These are from the state and are a way of using taxes from the wealthy to support the poorest in society.

Question 32

What are 4 reasons why attempts to redistribute wealth haven’t worked?

Answer 32

1. Tax evasion. 2. Tax relief. 3. Problems with the benefit system. 4. Taxes not being high enough.

Question 33

hat did Kenway and Palmer find about EMG and poverty?

Answer 33

Almost half of children from EMG live in poverty compared to a quarter of white British children. There are also differences between EMG, groups.

Question 34

Why might low pay be a factor that explains the differences between poverty in different EMGs?

Answer 34

This may be a large factor in Pakistani and Bangladeshi households where the male works and the women does not. This may be due to the practice of purdah where women are kept separately from men.

Question 35

Why might unemployment be a factor that explains the differences between poverty in different EMGs?

Answer 35

This higher among Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Black Africans and Black Caribbean’s.

Question 36

Why might family types be a factor that explains the differences between poverty in different EMGs?

Answer 36

Pakistanis and Bangladeshis tend to have large families and combined with low pay this increases the chances of being in poverty. Modood says that there are more single parent families and he also suggested that south Asian families are more likely to be more traditional with only men working.

Question 37

Why might underachievement in education be a factor that explains the differences between poverty in different EMGs?

Answer 37

Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Caribbean boys are more likely to underachieve at school, perhaps due to the ethnocentric curriculum according to Ball.

Question 38

Why might racism in employment be a factor that explains the differences between poverty in different EMGs?

Answer 38

Wood found when he sent two applications with the same qualifications but the names Evans and Patel, he got more interviews with the name Evans highlighting discrimination in the selection process.

Question 39

What age group is most likely to live in poverty?

Answer 39

Pensioners.

Question 40

What age group is more likely to live in a low income household?

Answer 40

Children. Child poverty is higher in the UK then most other European countries.

Question 41

What percent of children live in poverty in the UK?

Answer 41

33.6%

Question 42

What did Hirsch say about poverty?

Answer 42

Poverty causes material and social hardships, this effects educational achievement and leaves children with lasting effects on their physical and emotional health, leaving them at greater risks of poverty as adults. It can also cause wider social problems such as bullying as they cant afford certain items. Factors such as: lone parenthood, lack of work or low paid parents, disability of parents, lack of benefits and lack of support from those who want to work but want children cause poverty.

Question 43

What did Palmer find about disability and poverty?

Answer 43

Poverty rate for disabled adults is double for that of non disabled adults. Around 33% of disabled adults are in poverty. They also often face social exclusion.

Question 44

Why does Palmer suggest is the reason why so many disabled people are in poverty? (5.)

Answer 44

1. Inability to take unpaid employment. 2. Unemployment. 3. Low pay. 4. Discrimination from employers. 5. Inadequate welfare benefits.

Question 45

Why would functionalists argue that the disabled being in poverty is good for society?

Answer 45

It creates jobs in the health and social care sector.

Question 46

Why are elderly women more likely to be in poverty then elderly men? (5)

Answer 46

1. The glass ceiling. 2. Ferri and Smiths idea of the dual women shows why women are more likely to be employed in part time and low paid work. 3. Women are the majority of home workers. 4. Women are more likely to be lone parents. 5. Women live longer then men. 6. Women are more likely to sacrifice their own standard of living to provide.

Question 47

What ethnic group of women have the highest rate of poverty?

Answer 47

Bangladeshi and Pakistani at around 50%

Question 48

What did Middleton find?

Answer 48

In many low income houses it is the mother who bears the burden of making ends meet and who sacrifice going without food, new clothes and holidays to provide for their children.

Question 49

Why do functionalists argue poverty is needed to keep society going?

Answer 49

It works as motivation to keep people working.

Question 50

What did Davis and Moore find?

Answer 50

Inequalities in wealth and income are needed to maintain society. Some positions in society are more socially important than others, they require specialist skills which not everyone in society has the ability to acquire. Those who have the ability to do jobs must be motivated and encouraged to undertake the lengthy training with the promise of a future with higher wages. There therefore must be a system of unequal rewards to make sure the most able people get the high positions.

Question 51

What did Gans find?

Answer 51

The existence of poverty is important for the stability of society. It makes sure that the most undesirable, dangerous jobs are done because they have no other choice. Poverty creates job opportunities such as social workers. The threat of poverty keeps people working, reinforcing the idea of a hard days work. Some sectors thrive on having a high number of people in these low paid jobs such as the clothing industry.

Question 52

What recent example can be used to critic Davis and Moore?

Answer 52

During the covid lockdown, it became apparent that the key workers weren’t always the highest paid. Instead the people with the highest income are the ones who became lucky, had the best education and connections.

Question 53

How can new right ideas of the welfare state be used to critic the idea that people are motivated to work through the fear of poverty?

Answer 53

The underclass show that people prefer to live on the limited money of the welfare state rather than working.

Question 54

What did Weber believe about the cause of poverty?

Answer 54

The inequalities come about due to the difference in market positions, they may lack the skills needed to earn a higher reward of pay or barriers stopping them. Those with skills talents and abilities have a higher market ability.

Question 55

Why does Weber’s theory fail to explain those who have inherited wealth?

Answer 55

They didn’t have any specific skills or talents, they were just handed the money which gave them more chances to remain in the higher class giving them a higher market position.

Question 56

What’s a strength of Weberian theory?

Answer 56

It is considers social mobility.

Question 57

What does the Marxist Miliband believe poverty comes from?

Answer 57

It lies in the private ownership of the means of production. The concentration of ownership leads to the bougeraise having a lot of unearned income.