Key Issues in Poverty & Inequality

This website is organized around 35 key issues that are fundamental to

understanding the structure of poverty and inequality. If you select any
of the key issues below, you will be provided with a brief summary of
the relevant research questions, followed by a listing of the affiliates
who specialize in that key issue as well as the media relevant to it (e.g.,
working papers, books, articles, videos, time series). We actively
update our media databases to ensure that cutting-edge developments
are made available.
Children Effects of family origins, family structure, and family

processes on opportunity
Citizenship & Civil Rights Rights and prerogatives of citizens and

discrimination against non-citizens

Conflict, War, & InstabilityRelationship between poverty,

inequality, and social conflict

Consumption & LifestylesDifferences across social groups in the

consumption of goods and services

Crime & the Legal System Law as a source of inequality and as an

instrument for reducing inequality

Development Economics Poverty and inequality in developing

economies
Disabilities Disability as a cause and consequence of inequality
Discrimination & Prejudice Types of discrimination, trends in

discrimination, causes of discrimination

Education Access to schooling and returns to schooling
Elites Elite cohesiveness, reproduction of elites, power of elites
Environment Unequal exposure to social and environmental

threats
Gender Gender differences in education, occupation, income
Globalization Effects of globalization on income inequality and job

displacement
Health & Mental Health Disparities in health and health care
History of Inequality Rise and fall of different types of inequality

and inequality regimes

Immigration Discrimination against immigrants, assimilation of

immigrants, immigrant policy

 Income & Wealth Trends in and sources of income and wealth

inequality
Labor Markets Trends in employment and unemployment and

types of employment contracts

Land, Housing, & HomelessnessDifferential access to

homeownership, causes and effects of homelessness

Lifecourse, Family, & Demography Age discrimination, poverty

and aging, divorce and poverty

Measurement & MethodologyMethods for monitoring trends in

and sources of poverty and inequality

Organizations The effects of different types of personnel systems

on inequality
Philosophy The ethics of poverty and inequality
Policy The effects of social policy on poverty and inequality
Politics & Political Economy The structure of the institutions

governing inequality
Poverty Trends in poverty, policy and poverty, the experience of

poverty
Public Opinion & AttitudesAttitudes about poverty and inequality
Race & Ethnicity Racial and ethnic differentials in education and

income
Sexual Orientation Discrimination on the basis of sexual

orientation
Social Class & Occupations The changing structure of social

classes and occupations

Social Mobility Rates of social mobility, causes and consequences

of social mobility
Social Networks Finding jobs through social networks
Theory Theories about the structure and legitimacy of inequality
Transportation Disparities in transportation use and effects of

such disparities on inequality

Future of Inequality The dynamics making for change and stability

in inequality

Poverty is a Controversial Issue

Introduction
In sociology we have been studying the welfare state, which is a social system
under which the state has responsibility for protecting the health and welfare of
its citizens. The welfare state was established as a safety net to protect the
vulnerable members of society and provide them a satisfactory level of income,
health care, education and housing level. Poverty was introduced in our group,
with two questions. Which were What do you think poverty is? And What groups
suffer from poverty? We all wrote down our opinions and shared them as a group,
the opinions have been shown in the appendix, I have used this as primary
evidence on different definitions on what poverty is. We came to a conclusion
that poverty was when someone has low income or no income and cannot cope
with everyday expenses. We were also given a sheet with statements on what
poverty was, we had to choose the most satisfactory statement to what poverty
is. Figure 1 shows the results of what we thought describes poverty.
Figure 1:
Poverty is

Homeless people sleeping on the street

45%

Always being short of money

40%

Destitution or extreme hardship

35%

starving

30%

Existing rather than living

20%

Having insufficient money to make choices

15%

Not being able to pay the television license fee

5%

Feeling hungry all the time

5%

Buying second-hand clothes

0%

Not being able to afford a holiday

0%

Living in bed and breakfast accommodation

0%

The group thought homeless people sleeping on the street and always being
short of money were the two most satisfactory statements describe what
poverty is. Again for the second question, we wrote our opinions on paper and
have a group discussion on the groups that suffered from poverty. The results of
that question are shown in figure 2. The groups that suffer from poverty are the
unemployed, single parents, less developed countries, the elderly, homeless,
low-income groups and other groups, which include students, children and
immigrants. Figure 2 show the percentage of each group suffering from poverty.
By referring to figure 1, we know that the group results show unemployed people
suffer from poverty the most. Where single parent families suffered the least
poverty.
Figure 3 shows the groups that suffered poverty in Great Britain in 1987.
Figure 3:
There are two types of poverty, Absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute
poverty is defined as minimum standard of living based on a persons biological
needs for food, water, clothing and shelter. The emphasis is on basic physical
needs and not on broader social and cultural needs. Relative poverty is defined
in relation to a generally accepted standard of living in a specific society at a
specific time and goes beyond basic biological needs. Peter Townsend (1979)
defined relative poverty as having lack of resources needed by the average
individual or family that they are, which exclude them from ordinary living
conditions and amenities which are customary.
We were than asked Why is poverty a controversial issue? We had brainstorming
exercise as a class, and individuals gave their ideas. The purpose of this was to
find out other individual thoughts on the issue, so we see it from different
perspectives. We all had different attitudes and thoughts on the subject. The
issues raised were:

No actual definition/description of poverty

The causes of poverty

Different groups that suffer from poverty

What the government has done or not done about?

What help there is?

Appreciation of the real problems that the poor face

Prioritising needs and types of help available

Pressures on governments and voluntary groups

Why the poor still remain poor?

Britain has not got an official government definition of poverty as well as a

measurement of it. There is no official poverty line that divides the people in
poverty and the ones who are not. Sociologists have used government statistics
to show the extent of poverty. A way of defining the poverty line is to use
minimum government social security benefit levels. Using this measure, all the
people living on or below the state safety net of current benefit rates. Another
way of measuring poverty is based on statistics on households below average
income. With this measure the people in poverty are when they live in a
household that has an income below half of the average wages. This is worked
out at 50 per cent of average income after housing costs have been paid. In
figure 3, I have shown the percentage of people living below 50 per cent of
average income in 1998/89.

Figure 4:
Source: Poverty the Facts (Carey Oppenheim)
Some of the explanations of what causes poverty are the poverty trap, culture of
poverty and the cycle of deprivation. The cycle of deprivation is one aspect of
poverty that can lead to further poverty. This is a vicious circle which most
people find hard to escape from, it is when poverty breeds from one generation
to the next. People suggest that this explanation may describe how deprivation
continues over time from one generation to the next but it fails to explain why
some groups fall into poverty in the first place.
The poverty trap (shown in figure 6) is when someone has fallen into poverty and
it is very difficult for them to escape from it. Although some people are born into

poverty and never escape from it, others fall in to poverty and remain poor.
Others experience periods of poverty, which may happen when going through
temporary unemployment, child-rearing as a single parent or at old age.
Figure 6: (The Poverty Trap)
Deprivation

Lack of Leisure

Negative effects of children

of status

Stigma and lack

Poor housing authorities

Stress
Costs

Depth

Neighbourhood

Ill health

Extra

The culture of poverty is one explanation for the persistence of poverty among
some groups. This theory suggests that it is the characteristics of the poor
themselves, their values and their culture that causes poverty. It is suggested the
poor themselves are resigned to their situation, that they are hardly ever take
opportunities when they arise, are reluctant to work, and dont plan for the
future. Children grow up in this culture, and learn these values from their
parents, and so poverty continues from one generation to the next.
In development of the relative approach, Mac and Lansely (1985) adopted an
innovative approach to poverty which has been described as a consensual or
democratic. They defined being in poverty as a situation in which people had to
live without the things which society as a whole regard necessities. In 1985, Mac
and Lansely did a survey called Breadline Britain, they surveyed over a
thousand people and asked them what they thought were the main necessities in
life, they measured poverty in terms of minimum living standards rather the
income. Figure 4 shows the top ten necessities presented in Mac and Lanselys
survey, the percentage of how much the public the necessity is needed.
Figure 4:
Necessity

Public (%)

Heating to warm living areas of

the home its cold

97%

Damp-free home

96%

Indoor toilet (not shared with

another household)

96%

Bath (not shared with another

household)

94%

Beds for everyone in the

household

94%

Public transport for ones needs

88%

A warm water-proof coat

87%

Three meals a day for children

82%

Self-contained accommodation

79%

Two pairs of all-weather shoes

78%

This list of necessities gave us an indication of what people regarded as being

the most important necessities in life in 1985. This survey was redone in1991 to
see if the publics attitudes had changed, as the old survey was out of date. Mac
and Lansely found that one in five of the population lacked three of these
necessities or more, which they defined living in poverty. In Figure 5, I have
shown what we as a group thinks the main necessities for life are.
Figure 5:
Necessity

Group (%)

Refrigerator

100%

Heating to warm living areas of

the home if its cold.

100%

Three meals a day for children

88%

A warm water-proof coat

87%

Damp-free home

69%

Bath (not shared with another

household)

69%

Public transport for ones needs

69%

Indoor toilet (not shared with

another household)

63%

Toys for the children

63%

A telephone

63%

Mac and Lansely surveyed adults, our group which were surveyed were
teenagers. By looking at both tables of results, I can see what the public regards
as the most important things in life, which we as a group find we can live
without. For example, we find we can live without a garden, presents on special
occasions and a holiday once a year. Where as the public thoughts were that a
refrigerator, toys for the children and a self contained accommodation is most
needed in life. Between the two sets of results, there are many similarities. Both
age groups think that a heated damp free house with an indoor toilet and bath
are some of the main necessities in life. I think they both have similar opinions
on these necessities because it is the biggest necessity for everyone. The
differences between the two results I see are that the group results show that
they dont think a holiday once a year, a night out for the adults or smoking are

important necessities, whereas the adults think that there are quite important. I
think this cause the teenagers (the group) do not realise the pressures that build
up on adults and need a break from things.
I am going to study certain groups in poverty and try to find the reasons why
these groups are in poverty; the groups I am going to study are women, children
and the elderly.
Womens poverty is compounded over a lifetime; they are most likely to
experience poverty than men. In 1995, 59% of adults supported by income
support are women (source: social security statistics 1995).
Figure 6:Mean independent income of women, 1991, by source and
family type
Non pensioners
Income
Source

Pensioners
Single
with
Childre
n

Marrie
d with
childr
en

Single
with
no
childre
n

Marrie
d no
childr
en

Single

Marrie
d

All
women

Earnings

37.00

54.70

92.40

90.60

4.20

6.10

53.40

Selfemployment

4.70

5.10

2.70

7.10

0.20

0.40

3.80

Social Security

61.50

16.40

12.20

3.50

57.40

30.40

23.40

Investments

2.80

5.00

6.70

13.10

18.90

18.20

11.00

Pension/annuiti
es

2.60

0.20

2.10

1.50

19.70

6.50

4.90

Other

15.20

3.80

4.10

3.40

0.80

0.60

3.40

Total

123.80

85.10

120.00

119.1
0

101.2
0

62.20

99.90

( per week)

Source: S Webb, womens incomes: past, present and prospects, Fiscal Studies.
Steven Webb (1991) found that in 1991 two-thirds of adults in the poorest
households were women and women is these households had about half as much
independent income as men - 99.90 per week compared with 199.50 (see
figure 6). The sources of income for men and women were noticeably different;
for example, social security was the principal source of income for lone mothers
and women pensioners. For women, access to independent income from the
labour market was associated with not having dependant children. Among
married women, the amount of independent income was dependent on the age
of the youngest child and the economic activity of the husband.
There are many reasons for this like most women work in part time jobs which
are low paid and have a low status. There is a strong association with low pay
and part time work. In 1994, 4.83 million women worked part time and 77 per
cent of them were low paid (source: The New Review, Low pay unit). The majority

of single parents are women, looking after children swallows up a large amount
of time so they are mainly tied down to childcare than work. The London Livings
Standards Survey found that among parents with a child under five, women
spent 65 hours a week on childcare compared to 20 hours spent by men (source:
U Kowarzik and J Popay). Looking after children has a big effect on womens
employment and earning capacity. Women who are single parents often cannot
afford childcare, so can not earn a living and this may lead to them relying on
state benefits, such as child support and income support. Women also have a
longer life expectancy and their reduced access to pensions mean that a high
proportion are living out their lives on pitiful levels of income.
Women are generally more responsible for childcare and domestic work, the
burden of managing poverty often falls upon women.
Miller (1997) suggests two groups that suffer from poverty the most, older
women living alone and lone mothers. Oppenhiem (1993) maintains that women
often put needs of family members before their own and so this can lead to them
going without. A woman can be in poverty while other members of her family are
not, or she may suffer from deeper poverty.
Poverty which affects children in the most shocking. The figures below show that
children have been more vulnerable to poverty than society as a whole
throughout the period from 1979 to 1992/93 (see figure 7). In 1992/93 there
were 4.3 million children living in poverty 33 per cent of all children this
compares to the 1.4 million in 1979 10 per cent of all children. So between
1979 and 1992/92 there has been large increase in the number of children in
poverty, as you can also see on figure 7.
Figure 7: Proportion of children living in poverty between 1979-1992/3

(Source: DSS, households below average income).

The children which are in poverty,

Another group that may suffer poverty is children, this is because the only source
of income they have is pocket money or money given to them on special
occasions as gifts. For some children they do not receive any pocket money, this
leads to children having to rely on their parents. When children live in poverty
they have difficulties buying clothes and other belongings they may need. For
children, going to school and seeing other children of the same age with
belongings and possessions that they want but they know they cannot due to

financial problems may be difficult. Children in lone-parent families may be

irrationally exposed particular to poverty. Alan Walker (1997) suggests that this
means that two generations are being destroyed by poverty at the same time.
Lone-parent families also suffer from poverty because they are prevented from
getting a full-time job because of the lack of childcare facilities. From looking at
my questionnaire, some people suggest single parents also suffer from poverty
because they can only work part time which in general get lower rates of pay.
The costs of childcare often mean single parents cannot afford to work. The
majority of single parents are women, who in any case get less pay than men.
This may lead to them finding it hard to pay for the bills and the child or
childrens needs, for example school uniform, equipment for school and general
belongings.
Poverty is a controversial issue because there is no single agreed way of defining
it. This means different researchers work with different definitions of poverty.
Defining poverty has proved difficult as many researchers have their own
definitions. Defining poverty is difficult for a number of reasons. We need to be
able to define poverty in order to identify and measure it.
Definitions of poverty affect how we measure poverty and the extent in which it
exists. Our definition of poverty also influences our views and how it should be
tackled.
Pavandeep Johal 11Z
Poverty Coursework