Analysis of Poverty and Social Exclusion

This assignment requires an in-depth examination of poverty and social exclusion in Britain, utilizing a wide range of academic sources, including research papers, books, and policy documents. It involves analyzing the impact of government policies on poverty rates, as well as exploring the experiences of homeless veterans, children living in poverty, and individuals relying on food banks. The assignment also touches upon the topics of fuel poverty, housing, and health, providing a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted nature of social exclusion.

Running head: UK ECONOMY AND CRISIS
UK Economy and Crisis
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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1. Over time, a number of definitions regarding the concept of poverty have evolved but
the first bulk of sociological concept of poverty can be traced back to 1890s. The vast amount
of study resulted in the concepts of in-come related poverty lines which were defined as the
minimum amount of income which was needed to generate by the families in order to secure
the basic level of health and decency. The sociological definition of poverty revolves around
the social condition which is typically characterized by the lack of material resources
significant for the bare survival of a human being.
Absolute poverty is the notion of living a livelihood on the U.S equivalent of $2 and
even less. Although many social theorists have criticized the concept for providing somewhat
an incomplete reflection of the economic condition of the society, nevertheless the concept of
absolute poverty has been helpful in policymaking in reducing poverty. Many scholars have
indeed conducted intense amount of research on the suppression of social, cultural and
economic rights by civil and political rights. Relative poverty, on the other hand relative
poverty is a conditioned by the low income rate of households below the stipulated standard
of living in a particular society. In UK, relative poverty is when the people are living on less
than 60% of median income. The term was developed by Peter Townsend forming a sharp
contrast to the idea of absolute poverty. In the realm of social definition of poverty, relative
poverty can be characterized by inadequate or minimum amount of diet with a severe lack of
resources required for a standard living. It is however, essential to comprehend the huge
difference between relatively poor and poor. Sociology has also identified a particular group
of people who refuses to accept their general lack of resources even after being categorized
falling below the relative poverty line, as living in ‘denial’ (Lenin and Chretien 2015).
The study of relative poverty is essential since it recognizes the needs and lacks of the
people and identifies the section of society who seriously fall below the relative poverty line.
The measurement is subjected to huge differences because of countries and purchasing

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power. This hints to the fact that people considered as living below relative poverty line in
developed countries are richer than those who are struggling in developing nations. The
concepts of relative and absolute poverty point to the flaws of a society and its inability to
provide for its people, this can also denote the political weaknesses (Lambie-Mumford 2015).
Some of the advantages and disadvantages of poverty are:
1. Marginalization and deprivation of the household from basic amenities like hygiene,
sanitation, education and health services.
2. The children remain marginalized in schools and society and deprived from basic
attributes that would shape their future of the better.
3. Unemployment is another pitfall of poverty resulting in emotional and behavioral
problems within the children
Advantages of Poverty
1. The creation of political awareness in the poor is more conservative when compared
to other scenarios (Ball 2016). In U.K, this has resulted in the large-scale support of
the Democratic Party and fight the corruption of the corporate group of institutions.
2. The preservation of cultural entertainment is seen best within the poor people, for
instance the preservation of jazz culture (Ball 2016). The same can also be witnessed
in the preservation of food habits.
Government measures poverty either by the scale of relative poverty by looking at the
median income of a household. Earning below 60% is considered to be living in relative
poverty. It is important to study how far society is addressing the needs of the people and the
consumption pattern of different individuals. According to Sen, poverty is best given a vivid
description in terms of capabilities which are required to escape from poverty (Ball 2016).

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1.1 Poverty is a period which is characterized by an intense hunger and starvation, lack
of education and alienation from basic facilities like healthcare. Social exclusion is one of the
major consequences of poverty, which ultimately result in marginalization
2. In the Marxist’s concept, poverty is inherent and a dominant result of a Marxist state
and their process of production. His only solution for the eradication of poverty is by altering
the means of production of the society and the necessary for a revolution to ensure the equal
distribution of income amongst the members of the society (Valletta 2006). As long as the
capitalist class exploits the labour class, Marx opines that poverty will persist and the private
enterprises will continue to be benefitted the most by the system. According to the concept of
New Rights, the underclass or the poor people desire to remain in the realm of poverty due to
the state provisions that they enjoy. They believe that capitalism is sufficient for providing
resources however, the growing dependence on state resources has attributed to
unemployment and depletion of state resources. This state of poverty has an adverse impact
on the government draining a huge portion of the economy (Goodwin and Milazzo 2015).
The conclusion on reading this approach is that the state should limit its resources while
donating to the so called poor. The theory is concerned more with apathetic behaviour of an
individual while dealing with poverty and unemployment while Marxist theory probes into
the root causes of poverty, exploitation of poor and inequality.
2.1 Individual poverty, the theory denotes that poverty is an individual phenomenon
which is in contrast to the theory of structural poverty that points to the helplessness of
people and failure of the economic system to deliver people adequate wages. The structural
theory blames the economic structure of the country while individual theory is more

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concerned with the fact that people have grown apathetic towards their condition and doing
nothing worthwhile about it (Goodwin and Milazzo 2015)..
3. The government of U.K has realized the need for a new approach to address the issues
like drug abuse, unemployment, alcohol dependency and debt. Government’s Social
Mobility Strategy was formulated to ensure better education opportunities to make sure that
the children have better prospects in shaping their future irrespective of their family
background (Svallfors 2007). Consequently this has resulted in a better integration within the
society, where children from poverty stricken households are given an opportunity to nurture
themselves. It offers means-tested benefits to those young people who come from lesser
privileged background providing promising employment and education benefits. It has
invested 50 million euro to boost the education system starting from early education and 23
million for education talented minds from under-developed households (Treble 2018). The
second initiative is Healthy Lives, Healthy People which aimed for promoting public health
and well-being and empowering the community with knowledge regarding eradication of
major health issues and measures so that people can get access to better health facilities. The
strategy was a breakthrough to reduce health inequalities irrespective of people’s financial
status (Ross-Houle et al. 2017). It offers universal benefits with the creation of public health
clinics, primary care trusts to make sure people are living a healthy life within their
households.
3.1 Some of the remedial actions for poverty could be:
1. The creation of a new approach to meet with the crisis of 21st century labour market
like reduction in the supply of lower end jobs (Cooper 2014). This would require the
government in development of skills and capabilities within the poverty stricken
population to make them gain jobs.

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2. Funding for university education for the poor by the government that will make them
ready for the competitive job market.
3. Allocation of more resources and better hygiene is government funded schools to
encourage education. Upgrading the quality of midday meals would be one such
strategy.
4. Increase rewards and incentive structure for low wage labours. A thorough survey of
what people need the most in 2018 for sustenance can prompt the government to
provide them to poor people (Treble 2018). This could help them in improving their
general living standard. The survey should be aptly based on the type of the
household, for instance UK has witnessed the sprawling up of lone parents household,
disabled people divorced and people with low qualifications struggling to make the
ends meet.
5. The government should work in collaboration with major industry leaders for the
creation of jobs and sustainable growth of the poverty stricken population.
6. Creation of Rebalancing Fund to allot resources and inclusive growth in town with
low employment rate.
7. Making new strategies by the government on stabilizing economic development. The
government can concentrate on trade policies. This would also help the domestic
firms to overcome cultural barriers and create more job opportunities for lesser
qualified people. The policies will further accelerate U.K’s competitive edge in the
global market.
8. Monitoring of employment outcomes for handicapped people, scrutinizing scenarios
resulting in employment gaps, lack of skills and knowledge, and hygiene related
ideas. This would be beneficial in making the people aim for better lives with a
sustaining job.

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Impact of poverty on people’s lives:
The Breadline Britain Project has conducted remarkable survey on the
consequences of poverty and recession on people. It highlights how people have been
struggling at the face of low income and high living costs, growing rate of youth
unemployment which resulted in homelessness which rose drastically since 2014 and more
than 1.5 lakh people found themselves low qualified and unfit for jobs. The group identified
as NEETS which denotes not in employment, education or training has become the face of
poverty gripped U.K. It also identifies how large sections of people are under-paid, the
massive ratio of fresh graduates working in low skilled jobs and the low rates of graduate
recruitment in 2016. The project has however ensured that thousands of young adults carry
on with their education by providing education allowances (Lansley and Mack 2015). The
Joseph Rowntree Foundation defines the consequences of poverty as living life with a
growing feeling of insecurity because of financial scarcity. This pushes people into an abyss
of depressions and prevents them from taking part in society. Their campaign of Solve
Poverty has long-term approach to make major change in the society and economic pattern.
In Britain the charitable organizations have stepped forward to eradicate food scarcity which
is one of the predominant results of poverty in Britain. The serious rise food poverty in
Britain is un-avoidable in UK which is considered the seventh richest country. According to
statistics millions of family are living below breadline and the situation is aggravated further
by rising housing prices from 2010 to 2013. The poorer population of UK is steadily attracted
to fast food chains like McDonald that offer unhealthy range of foods. As a result of low-
income and poverty, the families are highly dependent on these fast foods resulting in health
problems like heart diseases, obesity and stroke (Treble 2018).
3.2 Effects of poverty on people’s life chances

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Life chances are affected by social classes which are segregated on the basis of
economic status. Poverty in UK has primarily made the victims incapable of associating with
the mainstream society due to inadequate resources. Vast amount of research has been
conducted to study the effect of poverty with the result that it has a significantly negative
effect on people’s life chances. It degrades the quality of life by affecting education of the
next within these households, inadequate amount of money in bank accounts and therefore
half of the families in UK face severe challenge to allocate resources even for a simple
survival (Goodwin and Milazzo 2015). Research has shown that it results in social
insecurities amongst children, bullied childhood, lack of parental support, premature death
amongst children due to the inability of parents to afford for a proper healthcare. The state of
housing and sanitation also has a negative impact on the mental state of children. Sometimes
the low income families let go off basic living conditions and amenities due to food. They
become isolated from their family and friends and fall victim to crime and violence, illegal
works and even sexual exploitation.In UK more than 60,000 children are therefore placed
under child protection. For the younger generation, poverty is the most evil since it also result
in cognitive imbalances creating a vicious life cycle for its victims who find themselves
unable to come out of the grasp of poverty (Goodwin and Milazzo 2015). Therefore, in a
nutshell it can be concluded that poverty results in child labour, degradation of education,
poor health, psychological disturbances, drug addiction, social isolation, negativity within
household and homelessness.
3. Housing policy Britain
21st century UK has around one-fifth and a quarter of households placed in the private
rental coupled with rent-free housing for homeless people is also common. The young
students are at an advantageous position with tenant system although they face rigidity
regarding house rents and insecurities. Currently in UK, the rental system is very popular

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with more than 5.8 million households are under private rental. It will rise over the next few
years as in UK owing a house is a faraway dream. Professionals aged from 25-34 are the
largest occupants of these houses. In the history of housing system in Britain, there were a
number of houses ranging from workhouse during the World War I, however the period 1930
saw a booming number of houses in the suburbia like Buckinghamshire owing to growing
number of middle class and Housing Act of 1930 which called for abolition of slums. Post
WW II UK has witnessed crisis in housing due to material and labour shortage. Most of the
population lived in rental, while during 1950s council housing was most common (Morago
and Bolger 2016). During the last few decades building of houses has again witnessed a sharp
decline In UK, Brexit has resulted in a sharp decline of house prices. Financial analysts have
predicted a weakened real estate market resulting in an acute dearth of property (Morago and
Bolger 2016). Presently UK is witnessing a major housing crisis and local authority is
unable to cope up with the increasing rates of new housing and growing rate of homelessness.
The council has built 3,000 new homes comparatively lower than what should have been. The
housing association of UK is the last hope for people and millions of houses are rented from
local authorities and housing associations today since private tenant and its rate accelerated
radically, the tenants depend on housing benefit to pay. Owner occupation is the most
unpopular of housing accommodation has fallen to its lowest level since 1960 in UK due to
people’s reliability on private rent. Data has shown that a majority of children are growing up
in privately rented homes (MacInnes et al. 2014).
5.Concept of homelessness in UK
Homelessness has radically increased in England with over 30,000 people sleeping
outside more pronounced in the areas of Southend-on-Sea and Swindon, as authorities reveal.
Possibilities are that it can rise up to 170% in the coming years unless eliminated by
government (MacInnes et al. 2014). The population is composed of 14% women and 8% of

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young people below 25 years of age. Homelessness has given rise to violence and sexual
exploitation (MacInnes et al. 2014). This is not only apparent in the streets, but a number of
homeless couples along with children are forced to take shelter on friends’ sofa or other
temporary accommodation. The un-affordability of house and unemployment are two prime
reasons of homelessness, loss of private tenancy is another prime reason. However, the
helplessness of local ministers to accommodate for moderately priced shelters is astounding
here (Healy 2017).
5.1Strength and Weakness of current policy on homelessness
Strength:
1. The poorer families will get benefitted as the policy aims to eradicate the prime
factors of homelessness in the very first place. The policy has offered to help
threatened victims help and support within 28-56 days (MacInnes et al. 2014).
2. The families will receive financial support and debt advice as the policy will
economically fund people during tough times.
Weakness
1. The policy fails to provide immediate relief to psychological distress and mental
trauma as well as long-term physical health problems like alcohol abuse and cancer
2. The failure of the policy to allocate resources for employment and education to the
homeless lot. Therefore it does nothing to reduce the social stigma that homeless
people suffer through (Gordon 2002).
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be stated that UK has witnessed a steep rise in poverty, lack of housing
accommodation and the soaring scandal of being unable to provide shelter to people. The

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situation is worsening due to rising home rent and failure on the part of government to
address these issues. We can assert that all these factors have contributed to social exclusion
and a troubled childhood of the majority of population.

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Reference List:
Ball, S.J., 2016. Education, justice and democracy: The struggle over ignorance and
opportunity. In Reimagining the Purpose of Schools and Educational Organisations (pp. 189-
205). Springer, Cham.
Boyd, J.E., Bassett, E.D. and Hoff, R., 2016. Internalized stigma of mental illness and
depressive and psychotic symptoms in homeless veterans over 6 months. Psychiatry
research, 240, pp.253-259.
Bradshaw, J. ed., 2016. The Well-being of Children in the UK. Policy Press.
Brewer, M., Browne, J., Joyce, R. and Payne, J., 2011. Child and working-age poverty from
2010 to 2020. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Cooper, N., 2014. Walking the Breadline: The scandal of food poverty in 21st-century
Britain. Oxfam.
Cunningham, H., 2014. Children and childhood in western society since 1500. Routledge.
Dickerson, A. and Popli, G.K., 2016. Persistent poverty and children's cognitive
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Garthwaite, K., 2016. Stigma, shame and'people like us': an ethnographic study of foodbank
use in the UK. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 24(3), pp.277-289.
Garthwaite, K., 2016. Hunger pains: life inside foodbank Britain. Policy Press.
Goodwin, M. and Milazzo, C., 2015. Britain, the European Union and the Referendum: What
Drives Euroscepticism?. Chatham House, p.6.

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Gordon, D., 2002, May. Measuring poverty and social exclusion in Britain. In Conference on
“The Dynamics of Poverty”, Budapest (pp. 24-25).
Healy, J.D., 2017. Housing, fuel poverty and health: a pan-European analysis. Routledge.
Lambie-Mumford, H. and Dowler, E., 2014. Rising use of “food aid” in the United
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Lansley, S. and Mack, J., 2015. Breadline Britain: The rise of mass poverty. Oneworld
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Lenin, V.I. and Chretien, T., 2015. State and revolution. Haymarket Books.
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Morago, P. and Bolger, J., 2016. Poverty and social exclusion. In Social Policy for Social
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role of alcohol in the life experiences of the homeless population in Merseyside, UK.
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Van den Berg, A., 2018. The immanent Utopia: From Marxism on the state to the state of
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