Poverty

Lisa ◦ 24 years old ◦ Lone mother of two (divorced w/ spurious support from her ex-husband) ◦ Works at a call center and takes on extra work as a cleaner ◦ Her mother takes care of her children ◦ She has plans to get a better job, move to a better neighborhood, to lead a healthier life ◦ Not dependent on welfare!

Lisa lives in UK, a welfare state which ensures that everyone(??) has enough money to pay for their basic needs and no one is forced to live in conditions of absolute poverty. Welfare states differ in ◦ the types of benefits they provide for their citizens ◦ Underlying philosophies

Underlying philosophies ◦ Providing a ‘basic safety net’ ◦ Wide range of services available ‘from cradle to grave’ ◦ Minimal welfarestate where benefits are linked to commitment to work Welfare provision differs from one country to another, being more comprehensive in some than in others. Why do people living in some of the richest countries in the world still live in poverty?

Back to Lisa Why is Lisa poor? (individual/social) ◦ Her poverty and low position in society are results of her natural abilities or a consequence of her personal upbringing ◦ She is not working hard enough to overcome her difficult situation ◦ It’s all structural How does sociology evaluate which answer is more accurate?

Carol Walker, 1994 ◦ How do people living on income-support (means-tested benefit for certain groups of people who cannot work full time and do not have enough money to live on) organize their lives? ◦ Is living on welfare an easy option?  Deterioration in living standards (unemployed living on welfare)  Life is a struggle; just getting by  Food can be cut back when money is short  Result of a traumatic event in life (loss of job/partner/health)  Living on social assistance is not an option most people would choose if they were offered a genuine alternative.

OECD 2000 Report ◦ Along with Italy, Spain, Portugal and the USA, the UK had one of the worst child poverty records in the developed world. ◦ Child poverty rate > 15% ◦ Turkey, 21%

What is poverty? Absolute poverty ◦ Idea of subsistence, the basic conditions that must be met in order to sustain a physically healthy existence ◦ People who lack these fundamental requirements such as  Sufficient food  Shelter  Clothing are said to live in poverty. ◦ Universally applicable concept ◦ Any individual anywhere in the world can be said to live in poverty if they fall below the universal standard.

Universal measure of absolute poverty Commonly used measure of absolute or extreme poverty is the number of people who live on less then $1 per day. ◦ 1.5 billion in 1981 ◦ 1 billion in 2004 ◦ More than 40% of population in sub-Saharan Africa in 2004 Inequalities between vs inequalities within countries ◦ Stark contrasts between developed and developing countries. ◦ What if we compare the share of national revenue that goes to the bottom fifth?

Relative poverty It is not possible to identify a universal standard of absolute poverty ◦ Many people in the developed world that are in relative poverty will suffer more illness and die earlier than wealthier social groups ◦ Needs differ between time and place, ‘culturally defined’ ◦ Human needs are not identical, they differ within and across societies (for example ??) ◦ As societies grow, standards for poverty are continually revised upwards ◦ Relative poverty relates poverty to overall standard of living that prevails in that particular society

Even the definiton of absolute poverty is relative (changed over time according to available knowledge) ‘Poverty line’ to measure absolute poverty ◦ The price of basic goods needed for human survival in a particular society ◦ Individuals or households whose income falls below the poverty line are said to live in poverty. Single criterion of poverty is problematic ◦ Variation in human needs within and between societies ◦ Some assessed as above poverty line when their income does not meet their basic subsistence needs

As societies develop, the understanding of and standards for relative poverty change and are gradually adjusted upwards as societies become more affluent. ‘The invention of permanent poverty’

Measuring Poverty Use of deprivation index, not income statistics Townsend’s twelve items – 22.9% of population in poverty ◦ Related to social exclusion – denying full citizenship to people in poverty Mack and Lansley’s Breadline Britain used 22- item index based on respondents’ own definitions Gordon’s Poverty and Social Exclusion was partial replication of BB and showed that number of households without key items had grown

Income and living conditions survey 2013, TUIK nleri.do?id= nleri.do?id=16083 Assesing poverty and related factors in Turkey, PMC / PMC /

Population living under poverty ries_by_percentage_of_population_living _in_poverty ries_by_percentage_of_population_living _in_poverty

Who is poor? Regional dimension – North-South divide Child poverty – more than doubled in twenty years from 1979 from 14 to 34% Female poverty – women account for 58% of all adults in poverty Ethnic minorities (Pakistani/Bangladeshi) due to high unemployment, low employment rates, labour market segregation

People in some social groups are more likely to be poor than others ◦ Children ◦ Women (feminization of poverty) ◦ Ethnic minorities ◦ Older people People who are disadvantaged or discriminated against in other aspects of life are more likely to be in poverty.

Why are the poor poor? Theories that see poor individuals as responsible for their own poverty Theories that view poverty as (re)produced by structural forces in society Murray’s work on the dependency culture – welfare state undermines self-help and personal ambition WJ Wilson – economic restructuring hypothesis, jobs flee to the suburbs, fall in numbers of marriageable men, vicious cycle of disadvantage

Blame the victim Blame the system Poverty as an aspect of social inequality. Reduce structural inequality to tackle poverty. Social policy!