Poverty in the UK Essay Example for Free

Poverty in the UK EssayIn 1886, Charles Booth investigated the extent of pauperism in London. His was the original systematic sociological study of meagerness in the UK. The results, presented in 1902-3, documented the living and working status of the London poor. Adopting a relative draw close to want which was defined as the inability to meet the ordinary standard of life Booth estimated that the level at which penury set in for a family of both adults and triad children was 21 shillings per week (? 1. 05 today). Booth estimated that 30. 7 per cent of Londons total population were in poverty. roughly the same beat, adopting an absolute perspective on poverty, Seebohm Rgettree investigated the state of the poor in the city of York in 1899. He highlighted the minimum standard of living which fulfilled pecks biological needfully for food, water, clothing and shelter. This is also referred to as the subsistence level. Rowntree after drew up a list of those minimum p ersonal and household necessities required for extract and formal two categories of poverty.Primary poverty is when the person is unable to acquire the minimum necessitates, secondary poverty is when a portion of the persons total earnings is absorbed by other useful or wasteful uptake such(prenominal) that it is non possible to maintain the minimum standard. Poverty digest be defined in several ways, Booth took a relative approach and Rowntree took an absolute approach. In the post-war era, there has been a more than than(prenominal) pronounced shift from viewing poverty as predominantly a m iodintary and economic phenomenon to regarding and acknowledging its more qualitative and subjective aspects.By the end of the 1950s, the check of rationing and shortages was over and, with almost full employment, the UK seemed never to affirm had it so good. Yet, by the sixties, a number of amicable policy academics close to the roil Party (such as Tawney and Townsend) raised the issue of the continuing existence of poverty in a period of keener prosperity. Townsend questioned absolute translations of poverty (such as those of Rowntree) which were outdated and failed to take account of the problems some large number had in fully participating in society.Townsends definitive work on poverty in the UK in 1979 (Townsend 1992) went beyond an absolute definition establish on physical needs, to view poverty in relation to a generally accepted standard of living, in a specific society, at a particular time. Individuals can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and come the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies which they belong.(p. 31) Townsend suggested a definition that was closer in tune to the concept of citizenship poverty constituted a lack of resources that would enable a person to able to participate in the normal expectations and springer of a society. This kind of definition also would imply that the indicators of poverty can change over time in order to stuff changes in society. In the 1960s, Townsend used the example of not being able to afford a decorous Sunday lunch as an indicator of poverty.The idea of a Sunday roast meal power not be so relevant today because of changes in family life and the way people encounter together, and therefore is not so much an integral aspect of what people can be expect to do normally. On the other hand, Townsends indicator of giving presents to near members of the family for birthdays or Christmas still holds. In his 1979 work, Townsend identify twelve items he believed were be relevant to the whole population, and gave each household surveyed a score on a passing index. The higher the score, the more deprived was the household. Townsend calculated that 22.9 per cent of the population brute(a) under the threshold of deprivation (Giddens 2006). When talking about poverty, researchers usually base their work on measures of deprivation rather than the identification of poverty by itself. The existence of deprivation is taken as a replenishment for the existence of poverty. People are said to be deprived genuinely and sociablely if they lack the material standards (diet, housing ad clothing) and the services and amenities (recreational, educational, environmental, social) which would allow them to participate in commonly accepted roles and alliance within society.The compass of poverty is complex, embracing the unemployed, those on low pay or in risky work, the sick, the elderly, and the unskilled. Some minority ethnic groups also come into the picture, for example, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in the UK have, in general, high rates of poverty compared to other groups (Giddens 2006). Absolute poverty assumes that it is possible to define a minimum standard of living based on a persons biological needs for food, wate r, clothing and shelter. The emphasis is on prefatory physical needs and not on broader social and cultural needs.Rowntrees studies of poverty in York in 1901, 1936, and 1951 used such an approach to poverty. But another way of viewing poverty is of relative poverty, which goes beyond biological needs, and is not alone about a lack of money tho also about riddance form the customs of society. Relative poverty is about social exclusion imposed by an inadequate income. affectionate exclusion is a broader concept than poverty encompassing not only low material means but the inability to participate effectively in economic, social, political and cultural life, implying alienation and distance from the mainstream society (Giddens 2006).Social exclusion whitethorn both be a precursor to poverty and an important consequence of it. In 1984, Mack and Lansley study established that the poverty threshold covered not only the basic essentials for survival (such as food and shelter) but als o the ability to participate in society and play a social role for the first time ever, a majority of people see the necessities of life in Britain in the 1980s as covering a wide range of goods and activities, and people judge a minimum standard of living on socially established criteria and not just the criteria of survival or subsistence.(Mack Lansley 1985 55) In the 1980s, the discussion of poverty turned increasingly to the notion of polarisation and to the shrinking portion of the UK legal profession held by the poorest. Poverty and wealth are not simply the bottom and top of the income dispersal, they are polarised social conditions (Scott 1994). Income polarisation was also compounded by a number of policy measure introduced in the 1980s, such as a reduction in the level of income tax for high earners and increasing use of substantiating taxes.Academics showed that polarisation and social disparities were growing between those who had do gooded from the measures of the successive Thatcher administrations and those who had lost out, while the Thatcher government as the time tried to deny the excesses of Thatcherism. According to an analysis of the Child Poverty exploit Group, in the regime of Margaret Thatcher, more than 63 billion has been transferred in subsidies from the poor to the rich (Oppenheim and Harker 1996)Research in the 1990s on the distribution of wealth and poverty in the UK has been produced under a Joseph Rowntree Foundation research initiative. This research highlighted that the number of people living in households with under half the subject field average income fell between the early 1960s and 1970s from five million to three million, but then rose to eleven million in 1991, to a point where one in five households were living on under half the national average income. The number of item-by-items under 60 living in households without stipendiary work has more than forked from 4.1. million, or 8 per cent, in 1979, to 9. 4 million, or 19 per cent by the mid 1990s.This has been go with by a widening gap in the incomes of households in paid work and those out of paid work. In 1997, 12 million people in the UK (almost 25% of the population) lived below the poverty line, defined as under half the average wage, and two out of five children were born poor. Today, according to OECD (Organisation for Economic cooperation and Development), Britain has one of the worst poverty records in the developed world (Giddens 2006).According to the latest available statistics, around 1 in 4 people in the UK amounting to 13 million people live in poverty. This includes nearly 4 million children signifying a shocking 1 in 3 ratio (Oxfam GB 2003). The explanations that have been offered as causes of poverty fall under two categories, individualistic theories and structural theories. Here we will rivet on the former. Individualistic theories identify the main causes of poverty within individuals themselves. Social and cultural factors are not entirely discounted, but more emphasis is place on inappropirated individual conducts.There are three main types of individualistic theories. Orthodox economic scheme This theory proposes that poverty can be explained by the economic deficiency of the individual . Harold Lydall argues that the general abilities of men in the labour force determine the distribution of incomes. These abilities are assumed to be created by genetic, environmental and educational factors. To reduce poverty, policies need to target individuals own value systems, to develop their own personal qualities in a manner that makes them more capable and efficient.The individual is poor because he has not maximised his true potential in the labour market. Minority group theory Minority group theory originate from the earliest studies of poverty based on the findings of Booth and Rowntree. These pioneering social scientists did not attempt to discover the causes of poverty, merely the cha racteristics of certain groups of poor people. Minority group theory has largely constructed its explanation for poverty through examining the characteristics of the poor for example, being old, being married with dependent children.Going beyond such demographic indicators, the theory implicates alleged faulty characteristics. The classification of ar-risk groups has prompted policy makers to implement a benefit system to ensure that the most basic of needs are met, without encouraging idleness or apathy. The poverty policies of successive governments have often informed by minority group theory. Sub coating of poverty theory Subculture of poverty theory is derived form a number of anthropological and sociological studies, particularly, the work of Oscar Lewis.It was Lewis who in 1959 introduced the term the culture of poverty in an effort to draw an analogy between the Mexican lower class families and those in other parts of the world. He attempted to explain the phenomenon of th e persistence of poverty in different countries. The basic idea has its roots in the Chicago School of Sociology and the work of Robert E. Park. According to Park the patterns of the neighbourhood, and the slum area in particular, once they come into being, take on a life of their own and are to a great extent self-generating and self-perpetuating.A sociological process known as labeling also underpins this phenomenon. Labelling somebody negatively may also lead to increased surveillance or segregation from the wider community which further increases (and even creates) the predicted behaviour (Fulcher and Scott 2001). These processes, whereby people tend to live up to the expectation of others are known to be self-fulfilling. Oscar Lewis implies a identical understanding in his formulation of the notion of the culture of poverty. Lewis claimed that poverty affected the very personality of slum dwellers.The poor tend to be at once apathetic yet alienated, happy-go-lucky yet miserab le. former(a) negative characteristics that mark the psychological orientation of poor people include laziness, being unambitious, being disorganised, and fatalistic. To hold poverty at its roots, such psychological tendencies need to be gradually eroded, with more positive attitudes winning their place. Much work also needs to be done on making the destitute people more attractive to their potential employers, in terms of skills and educational qualifications.Substantial and sustained reductions in poverty depend on raising the level of qualifications among older teenagers and young adults in the bottom quarter of educational achievement. Lack of progress here is a major concern for longer term progress on reducing poverty. (Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2006)ReferencesGiddens, A. (2006). Sociology. Cambridge Polity Press Fulcher, J. Scott J. (2001). Sociology. Oxford Oxford University Press Joseph Rowntree Foundation. (2006). Monitoring poverty and social exclusion in the UK 200 6. Retrieved 20 March 2007 from http//www.poverty. org. uk/reports/mpse%202006%20findings. pdf Mack, J. Lansley, S. (1985). Poor Britain. London Unwin Hyman Oppenheim,C. Harker, L. (1996). Poverty the Facts, 3rd ed. London Child Poverty Action Oxfam GB. (2003). The facts about poverty in the UK. Retrieved 20 March 2007 from http//www. oxfamgb. org/ukpp/poverty/thefacts. htm Scott, J. (1994). Poverty and Wealth Citizenship, Deprivation and favour (Longman Sociology Series). London Longman Group United Kingdom Townsend, P. (1992). Poverty in the UK. Berkeley University of California Press