Comparing and Contrasting Sociological Terms: Absolute Poverty and Relative Poverty

This report compares and contrasts the sociological terms absolute poverty and relative poverty. It explains the meaning, measurement, eradication, and impact of these two terms. Absolute poverty refers to the poverty where a person or family is deprived of primary and basic requirements such as food, water, and shelter. Relative poverty refers to the poverty where a person or family is able to fulfill basic requirements but is not able to actively participate in society and derive benefits from those experiences and activities.

COMPARE AND
CONTRAST
SOCIOLOGICAL TERMS
ABSOLUTE POVERTY
AND RELATIVE POVERTY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Comparing and contrasting the Relative and absolute poverty...................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Sociology is related to the learning of institution and human social relations. It tells the
behaviour of humans and the hold of societal influence over it. This is an important study as it
provides a great understanding on the reasons that lie behind the social differences, difference in
the behaviour of people, differences in the opportunities given, relevance of the social power and
the social hierarchies. Study of Racial issues, gender dynamics, feelings and phenomena around
the entertainment, different structures of the social institutions and also the development of
various social movements are some examples of sociology. Here, this report will be comparing
and contrasting the two of the sociological terms namely: relative poverty and absolute poverty.
MAIN BODY
Comparing and contrasting the Relative and absolute poverty
Absolute poverty is defined as the poverty, when the income generation of a household
comes beneath certain level and worsen the condition of the family. This condition also makes
the family to beg for the basic requirements such as the shelter, drinking water, healthcare,
education and even food (Zheng and et.al., (2022)). There are also many cases responsible for
the absolute poverty such as the unavailability of the jobs, daily life conflicts, lack of
infrastructures, advances in the agriculture field, poor education of the children and mental
health of a person by which the one is not capable enough to earn a good living for the family.
The unavailability of the jobs is also one factor which is leading to the increase of unemployment
rate (Song and et.al., (2022).). Thus, the families are becoming more dependable on the society,
whereas, the relative poverty is referred to the poverty where one person and the family is able to
fulfil the basic requirements of the family by providing a good shelter, food to survive and a
good health but, it is not able to actively participate in the society and derive benefits from those
experiences and activities. It is typically a lack in context to the income generation that is needed
in the society to maintain a standard lifestyle (Decerf, (2020)). There are also many causes of this
kind of poverty such as, unemployment, inequalities in context to the labour market and the poor
health issues, where the unemployed people are not able to fulfil the daily needs, the unhealthy
ones are not able to earn a good living and the inequalities such as the racial issues in the labour
market which even affect the wages of the people working in the field.
Comparison Basis Absolute Poverty Relative Poverty

Meaning A poverty which makes a
person or the entire family
deprived of the primary and
basic requirements such as the
food, water, shelter etc.
A poverty that limits a person
or a family to afford a standard
living and participate in the
societal activities and gain new
experiences.
Indicating poverty in context
to
Lack of the income generation
in a family leading to
difficulties in fulfilling the
basic needs.
The economic condition of
other people in the society.
Standard Remains consistent throughout Keeps changing over time
Measure It is measured by the use of set
poverty line in a nation
It is measured by using the
Lorenz curve and the Gini
Coefficient
Eradication It can not be removed Eradication is possible in case
of relative poverty
Found in The countries which are still
developing
Mostly in developed countries
The absolute poverty explains the minimum income which is required to fulfil the daily
needs for living. Conversely, the relative poverty is associated with maintaining an economic
status in a society (Lee & Zhang (2022)). Where the absolute poverty can not be changed and
remains the same throughout, the relative poverty can be changed and the economic status of the
families can be improvised. It is the same when it comes to the eradication of poverty, the
absolute poverty can not be eradicated from the world, but yes, the relative poverty can be
eradicated (Vella, & Camilleri (2022)). Every nation has a set line of poverty according to their
currency and therefore, the absolute poverty is measured according to that poverty line but, the
relative poverty can be measured only through the Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient. Also, it
has been observed that the countries who are still developing and growing have large number of

families who live under the absolute poverty and the countries who are developed have high
number of families who come under the relative poverty. But the number of absolute poverty in
the developed countries are not much.
Speaking in terms of Australia, the poverty is impacting the country by increasing crime
rate and resulting in poor health in the school-leavers. Also, prior to 2020, it was found that the
people who were living below the line of poverty and coming under the absolute poverty were
almost 3.24 million and almost 50% of the population of the country was of median income.
Thus, the impact of the factors such as the health, education, unavailability of the jobs are the
main factors that contribute to the growth of the poverty in the nation.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that to study the sociology terms is an
important thing, as it provides the reason behind why there are inequalities existing in the society
be it in terms of racism, gender, caste etc. there are also inequalities when it comes to giving
opportunities. Here in this report, a comparison of the relative poverty and the absolute poverty
has been done. Where relative poverty is defined as the poverty in which the person or a family
is able to meet the standards of living, absolute poverty is the condition where the family or the
person is not even able to afford the necessities of life.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Decerf, B. (2020). Conciliating absolute and relative poverty: Income poverty measurement with
two poverty lines.
Zheng, X. and et.al., (2022). Associations between childhood maltreatment and educational,
health and economic outcomes among middle-aged Chinese: The moderating role of
relative poverty. Child Abuse & Neglect. 130. 105162.
Song, J. and et.al., (2022). Households production factor mismatches and relative poverty nexus:
a novel approach. Polish J Environ Stud. https://doi. org/10.15244/pjoes/146987.
Lee, K., & Zhang, L. (2022). Cumulative Effects of Poverty on Children’s Social-Emotional
Development: Absolute Poverty and Relative Poverty. Community Mental Health
Journal. 58(5). 930-943.
Vella, M., & Camilleri, G. (2022). More at-risk-of-poverty despite economic growth: what is
going on?.