Causes of Poverty in the UK

What is Poverty?  “Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to have living conditions and amenities which are customary in our society.”

Who lives in Poverty?  Poverty is greatest amongst families with children.  Single parent families are twice as likely to be poverty as families with two adults.  On average women have lower incomes than men. Women who are single parents or have given up careers to act as carers are more likely to be in poverty.  Elderly people are now in a better position because many of them are in houses which are worth a lot of money. Although many elderly do live in poverty.

The causes of poverty Unemployment Government Policy Gender Race Age Low paid Employment

Living below the poverty line  defined as 60% of median income  In Scotland 2007/08 there were 860,000 individuals (17% of the pop) living in poverty

Unemployment  Over half of workless adults of working age live in poverty  In December 2010 UK unemployment rate is 7.9%  In 2006 it was 5.3%

What causes unemployment  Structural Changes.  Technological changes.  Foreign Competition.  Education.  Lifestyle.  Government Policy.

Low Income  Having a job lowers the risk of poverty but does not guarantee a good standard of living  40% of adults in poverty live in a house where at least one person works  Av. wage in Britain is £200 p/wk  top 10% in Britain can earn around £800 p/wk  Bottom 10% earn £150 p/wk  Factors that influence low paid unemployment- Geography, Gender, Sector of the Economy.

Race  8% of the UK population is from an ethnic minority group.  52% of Pakistani/ Bangladeshi are likely to live in poverty.  Why is this?

 Cultural Reasons - Pakistani women are more likely to stay at home and look after their families. –Only one income  Larger families than average coupled with lower incomes

 Education- Pakistanis tend to have lower qualifications than average –greatly impacts on the types of jobs that they get.  However Not all ethnic minorities have such a high risk - Indian and Chinese educational attainment is much higher than whites due to the value placed on education.

 Discrimination- Many from Ethnic minorities are offered less interviews which means they have a lower chance of getting a job.  Fluency in the English language can be problem for recent immigrants when seeking work.

Government Policy  Benefits Policy- Benefits are set a low level to make more people want to work.  Many peoples benefits are means rested which means that many go with out.  Relative to earnings, out-of-work benefits for working-age adults without children are now worth 20% less than in  The NMW has raised income levels. Currently £5.73 per hour.  BUT for a single person to reach minimum income standard of £13,400, would need to go up to £6.88

Low Income  Having a job lowers the risk of poverty but does not guarantee a good standard of living  40% of adults in poverty live in a house where at least one person works  Av. wage in Britain is £200 p/wk  top 10% in Britain can earn around £800 p/wk  Bottom 10% earn £150 p/wk  Factors that influence low paid unemployment- Geography, Gender, Sector of the Economy.

Gender  Women are more likely to be employed in low paid jobs  WHY?  Women tend to be carers for young, sick and elderly family members and this greatly effect them developing careers.  Lots of women in part time work- Sales, cleaning etc.

Gender  In 2003/04 the average female wage was just 53% that of a male  on average Women in FT jobs are paid 17% less than men.  42% of women work PT  Only 9% of men

The Glass Ceiling an invisible barrier that prevents women reaching the top jobs. Women make up: 3% of executive directors 10% of company directors 25% of department heads Why?

Family Structure  Single parent families and families with large numbers of children more at risk of poverty  Why?  57% of female lone parents do not work  42% of children living in poverty are in single parent households

Geography  Poverty is highest in N England, Scotland and Wales  Why? Differences in unemployment levels, home ownership, average incomes  However, poverty and wealth exist side by side in many areas – Drumchaple and Bearsden  Living in a deprived area can affect your life chances  Scotland has the areas with highest proportion of low paid workers  Borders, Moray, West Dunbartonshire, Dumfries. Dunbartonshire, Dumfries.

Education  The lower a person's qualifications, the higher their risks of being out of, but wanting, work or being in work but low paid.  those with no qualifications are twice as likely to be lacking but wanting paid work  And if working, they are two-and-a- half times as likely to be low paid.

Age  There are two main groups who are vulnerable to poverty- Children and the Elderly