The Nature, Existence and Persistence of Poverty Flashcards
name a study that shows poverty in London
.Charles booth - described as father of modern pov. studies, carried out street survey of east and inner city London (1889-1993) which documented and mapped numerical extent of poverty.
.applied and absolute app. to pov. and set an income level below which he regarded as living in pov (bellow 18-21 shillings per week)
.concluded -m31% of ppl in study living in pov
what was booth successful in doing
setting a level of income that was socially acceptable and unacceptable that became recognised as a valid indicator by social policy makers
what study occurred that was inspired by booth’s
.rowntree - wanted to see if finding could be applied to outside of London - conducted in York
.used an absolute app. but also used a ‘budget stadards’ app. as income level based upon - cost of v basic diet, buying min amount of clothing, rent for basic level of housing - pov line drawn to meet 3 costs of this own definition
.28% of pop living in state of pov
how did rowntreee class poverty
.’primary’ and ‘secondary’ poverty
.primary (9.9%) where ppls incomes were so low that even if they didn’t waste a single penny they still wouldn’t have enough
.secondary (17.9%) were families that should have enough money but a sig. amount of it spent on other things (did recognise this in later studies that’d budget standard app. needs to include social life)
absolute poverty
.refers to how these ppl lack the min necessary for healthy survival and to subsist and maintain life
.mainly found in developing countries
how does the un define absolute poverty and what is the official poverty line
.severe deprivation of basic human needs
.official pov line - ppl living on/below 60% of median income - overall 21% of pop living below this and 27% of children (hbai - relative pov - as average income changes so dos pov line - and relative income measurement)
strengths of absolute pov app
.clear measure of who is in poverty - simple in finding out who is below pov line as they simply have to be below the ‘budget stanards’
.can easily compare societies throughout time as the poverty line does not change
.can easily compare between countries due to basic physical and subsistence needs being fairly easy to identify so straightforward to make nat or internat. comparisons
limitations of absolute poverty
.difficult to identify basic subsistence needs - rowntree min budget based on list of nutritional and other requirements essential for life, crit for heavily relying on values and opinions on those who drew up the list e,g, followed a ‘no waste budget’ which reflected cooking and shopping skills of mc researchers
.ignores reality of ppls lives - don’t take into acc knowledge ppl have, shopping habits and social, cultural and psychological factors that may influence these
.pov line changes - no clear subsistence min between societies and in. within societies (some may require more calories)
.treats ppls nothing more than biological machines, ignores that ppl are social beings who live in groips which creates needs beyond physical survival
relative poverty
.a generally accepted standard of living in a specific society at a specific time - takes into account social and cultural needs along w biological needs so ppl can join in w the usual pattern of society
.in. are deprived of opportunities, comfort and self respect which maj. of social enjoy
what does relative pov suggest apt pov
.indicat that there are wider social, cultural and psychological dimension of pov apart from just low income - not just apt low on money but also apt going short on material goods
.recognises that wha counts as pov. is not subsistence min or absolute pie but what is regarded as an acceptable standard of living
townsends deprivation index
‘a list of goods and services that if ppl cant afford to buy/access them renders them poor
.initially had a dep. index of around 60 indicators of lifestyle considered to be at Ana acceptable standard of living - reduced it down to 12 (part. imp. indicators of dep.)
what san issue with the dep. index
.can be said that they are just measuring inequality as, no matter how rich someone becomes, someone will always be poorer
what did Townsend argue for relative pov
.ppl have diff obligations - jobs, parents, lifestyle etc influence amount of calories needed
.absolute measurement that only focuson income ignores other resources that might be available - those who own their own home
how is relative poverty linked to social exclusion
.ppl lack resources from rel. pov that may enable them to participate fully in the community/society where they live, excludes them from what most regard as a normal life
.may be excluded from part. in work, ed. community life, access to services
as well as money, poverty is also…
.homelessness - can make gettingg and holding down a Jon much more difficult and lead to a downward spiral
.lack of healthcare - fewer doctors in inner city areas (where maj. poor live) - those who do are often overworked and have less time to spend w each patient, poor have more healthcare problems
.pov at school - inner city schools have older buildings and poorer facilities so have a concentration of social problems
.stocial isolation - no money to get involved w activities
strengths of relative pov
.recognises the measures of social deprivation are influenced by how members of society define themselves
.looks at degrees of pov. and considers elements of social exclusion and recognises social, cultural and environmental dimensions of poverty
limitations of relative poverty
.what is normal/average is a subjective judgement - not an indicator of poverty but instead social inequality so there is always someone who lacks things that most have, normal/average will have diff definitions for diff ppl
.value judgements - standards reflect that of mc researchers and not actually those in poverty e.g. tdi
.difficult to define as what counts as an acceptable standard of living and what cultural needs should be included as ppl are broadly similar in. most societies
poverty surveys
.mack and lansley - asked large samples of ppl what is socially approved and of vital importance to life
.different to Townsend - attempts to distinguish between what ppl cant afford to do and what ppl choose not to do
.uncovered a large rise in relative pov during thatcher years
.confirmed in Gordons study - incomes of the richest grew rapidly creating a growing inequality and a rise in rel. pov.
subjective poverty
.where ppl generally have the own feeling act whether they’re poor and is often related to their own reference group - compare themselves to reference group and will see themselves as poor in comparison to others
.links to concept of relative deprivation - sense of lacking things in comparison to others
.also possible for someone to be quite well off and wouldn’t be regarded as poor by most measures but may experience subj. pov . if they can no longer live up to their former high standards of living and lifestyle
