Poverty and Housing

This essay explores the causes of poverty and the impact on housing. It discusses various theories on poverty, government policies, and strategies to reduce poverty and homelessness. The essay also examines the housing policy in Britain and the efforts to address homelessness.

Running Head: Poverty and Housing
Poverty and Housing
Essay
System04104
4/4/2019

Poverty and Housing
1
Introduction
Poverty affects the life of millions of people all over the world including the United
Kingdom. Poverty means when people are not able to live their life because of unavailability
of resources, which is necessary for their life. Poverty can be defined as a situation where
people face problems related to lack of resources and forced to live below a publicly
minimum standard (Kraay and McKenzie, 2014). This essay helps to understand the various
theories on the causes of poverty. It also helps in identifying the various strategies and
policies to reduce poverty from the community. Poverty is the major cause behind the
homelessness problem in all over the world. The present work also outlines the current
government policies on poverty and homelessness and helps to understand the effectiveness
of these policies.
What is Poverty?
Poverty is defined by many authors and sociologists in many ways and all the definitions
have their own significance to understand poverty. Poverty is a global problem that acts as a
barrier in the way of economic development. Many people consider the income and economic
conditions of people to define poverty while some people describe that poverty is directly
related to income and lack of resources that force people to live under a minimum set
standard (Galloway, 2013). However, the alternative approach to define poverty is
‘deprivation’, which means scarcity. The deprivation approach to define poverty considers
two approaches. Firstly, it considers the public opinion to set minimum standards, and
secondly, it allows for choice in lifestyle. In other words, the first approach considers the lack
of resources or ‘deprivation' that forces people to live under the minimum public living
standard. These types of people cannot afford the basic necessity of life, i.e. food, shelter,
cloth, etc. The second approach is related to income, where people cannot afford their choice
because of their low income. It means there are two aspects of poverty; deprivation and
income.
Theories on the causes of Poverty
There are number of authors and sociologists who explained different theories on poverty.
Some of the famous theories are the Marxist theory of poverty, Weber theory, and

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functionalist theory etc. These theories explain the causes of poverty from different
perspectives. According to Marxist theory, poverty is caused by capitalism and it is also
inevitable under capitalism. The Marxist theory states that society is highly stratified in two
classes. The first class is called ‘bourgeoisie' or ‘ruling classes' and the second one is called
‘proletariat’ or the working class. People belong to first class always thinks about making
profit and they give very low wages to the workers to earn profit. The second class own
nothing, thus they work for the ruling class even on low wages (Anievas and Nişancıoğlu,
2014). However, the functionalist theory says that our society is unequal but it is necessary
for open and social mobility through natural ability and hard work. Functionalist theory
supports the argument that everyone needs to work hard for the wellbeing of society. If
everyone was rewarded the same, there would be no need to work hard. Therefore, the system
may be unequal, but it is fair for both social and human development. However, if we
consider Weber’s theory then it can be said that this theory supports the Marxist theory and
accept that classes are with conflict with each other (Sameti, Esfahani, and Haghighi, 2012).
However, the Weber theory also includes that there is also conflict in same class such as in
middle class the lower middle class and upper middle class conflicted with each other
because of different income level and life chances (Alexander, 2014).

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Compare and Contrast between Functionalist theory, Marxist Theory, and
Weber Theory
Basis of
comparison
Functionalist Theory Marxist Theory Weber Theory
Main argument
in theory
1. Our society is
unequal but it is fair
and necessary for our
social development.
2. Some jobs required
more able and qualified
people, thus they need a
high level of wages and
rewards.
3. Social inequality is
required for the
development because It
is the requirement of
the society that most
talented people get the
most valuable work and
paid high reward and
salary.
4. If everyone rewarded
as the same, there
would be no need of
hard work.
1. Society is highly
stratified in two classes;
the ruler class
(bourgeoisie) and the
working class
(proletariat).
2. The main objective
of the ruler class is to
earn profit and provide
low wages to the
working class.
3. The working class
have nothing to own,
therefore they are
exploited by the ruling
class, and they are not
paid the full value of
their work.
4. When the working
class realise that the
system is not fair, they
will start the revolution
against the ruling class.
1. Weber theory agrees
with the Marxist theory
that classes are
conflicting with each
other.
2. Adding one thing in
Marxist theory that same
classes conflicted with
each other. For example,
in the middle class, upper
middle class and lower
middle class have
different income and life
chances (Beetham,
2018).
3. Consider three other
factors which are as
follow:
a. Economic factor that is
linked with income
b. Status for example
education dress, social
image etc.
c. Power to influence
others (Lash, 2014).
Criticism Ignore the importance
of low wages job,
Ignore the improvement
in living standards. The
Stratification is more
complex than Marxist

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which is equally
important for society.
This theory also ignores
the role of collectors.
children of the working
class now more focus
on education.
theory because a woman
and a male doctor in the
same profession may
have different income,
status, or power.
Alleviation of Poverty in the UK
UK faces a huge problem of poverty after the UK referendum on Brexit. With economic
uncertainty and fear of another recession after referendum resulted in fewer jobs and lower
investment that increases the poverty level even in developing areas of UK. JRF shows
various reasons and causes behind poverty in its report. These causes are economic
conditions of the country including market situation, low wages, lack of skills, family
problems, high cost of basic things including housing, and ineffective benefit system etc.
(Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2016)
(Source: Sparkes, 2018)
The above figure shows the unemployment rate in UK from 2004 to 2015. One of the great
examples of poverty in UK is Milton Keynes issue, where child poverty rates rising every day

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and it is likely to raise every day if the government will not take proper action. More than
15000 poor children are facing problem-related to poverty and the government is unable to
provide appropriate facilities and resources to them (Vu, 2010). The problem of Milton
Keynes needs strong planning and strategies to develop infrastructure in the local areas of the
city. The government should provide more employment opportunities for adult people and
parents.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) came with an idea that we all have a vital role to play in a
fight with poverty. JRF mentioned in its report UK Poverty: Causes, Costs, and solutions that
Government, businesspersons, employers, investors, and citizens all have to contribute in
fighting with poverty (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2016). To fight with poverty, UK needs
long-term strategies and with an effective corporate responsibility with the active
participation of state and individuals. JRF proposed a five-point plan that solves the poverty
in UK.
1. Boost income of people and reduce the cost of necessary things.
2. Deliver an effective benefit system.
3. Focus on education and improve the skills of children to fight against poverty.
4. Strengthen communities and families.
5. Focus on long-term economic growth benefitting to every people in the UK.
Housing Policy in Britain
One of the major problems that people face because of poverty is ‘Homelessness’. A large
number of people (around 320,000 people including England, Wales, and Scotland) in UK
are forced to sleep on the street and they do not have their own house (Booth, 2018). The UK
government recently pledged to ‘end homelessness’ by 2027 (Schmid, 2018). The new
strategy of government that is called “Rough Sleepers Strategy” focuses on providing
affordable houses to poor and homeless people with spending allocation of hundred million
Euro. The government includes all the local charities councils, state government and
homelessness charities to collaborate and address issues related to homelessness. The British
government also reinvent its old housing plans and change the old perception of
homelessness. In 2017, the government passed an act called "Homelessness Reduction Act
(2017)" which came in to force from April 2018 (Crowson, 2018). This act facilitates the

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homeless people and provides all the facilities to build their own home. Government
announces various funds to those street people who are forced to sleep on roads.
the government of the UK passes new policies and strategies to fight with homelessness but
some people are not happy with the government approach. According to Matt Downie, the
Government declares the plan without analysing the root causes of the issues. He said that it
will just like continue to treat the symptoms without finding the basic causes of the problem
(Doward and Walker, 2018). However, the government claim that they are providing
adequate facilities to homeless and poor people with supporting people into work as well.
Conclusion
Poverty is a major problem in the world and it causes many other problems as well like
homelessness, serious diseases, child nutrition, increased infant mortality rates, etc. Different
authors and sociologist defines poverty in different ways based on income and scarcity of
resources. However, the Marxism and Weber theories define the social class and their gaps
that how upper ruling class utilise the handwork of poor and working class people to make
profit. However, homelessness is the major problem in UK that large numbers of people are
facing currently. The current government policies help to effectively reduce the homelessness
from the country but the effectiveness of these plans totally depends on how the government
implement and execute these policies.

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References
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Beetham, D. (2018) Max Weber and the theory of modern politics. New Jersy, USA: John
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