Poverty Lines: The First Generation of Poverty Lines
Added on 2021-04-17
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Running head: UK ECONOMY AND CRISISUK Economy and CrisisName of the Student:Name of the University:Author Note:
1UK ECONOMY AND CRISIS1.Over time, a number of definitions regarding the concept of poverty have evolved butthe first bulk of sociological concept of poverty can be traced back to 1890s. The vast amountof study resulted in the concepts of in-come related poverty lines which were defined as theminimum amount of income which was needed to generate by the families in order to securethe basic level of health and decency. The sociological definition of poverty revolves aroundthe social condition which is typically characterized by the lack of material resourcessignificant for the bare survival of a human being. Absolute poverty is the notion of living a livelihood on the U.S equivalent of $2 andeven less. Although many social theorists have criticized the concept for providing somewhatan incomplete reflection of the economic condition of the society, nevertheless the concept ofabsolute poverty has been helpful in policymaking in reducing poverty. Many scholars haveindeed conducted intense amount of research on the suppression of social, cultural andeconomic rights by civil and political rights. Relative poverty, on the other hand relativepoverty is a conditioned by the low income rate of households below the stipulated standardof living in a particular society. In UK, relative poverty is when the people are living on lessthan 60% of median income. The term was developed by Peter Townsend forming a sharpcontrast to the idea of absolute poverty. In the realm of social definition of poverty, relativepoverty can be characterized by inadequate or minimum amount of diet with a severe lack ofresources required for a standard living. It is however, essential to comprehend the hugedifference between relatively poor and poor. Sociology has also identified a particular groupof people who refuses to accept their general lack of resources even after being categorizedfalling 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 thepeople 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
2UK ECONOMY AND CRISISpower. This hints to the fact that people considered as living below relative poverty line indeveloped countries are richer than those who are struggling in developing nations. Theconcepts of relative and absolute poverty point to the flaws of a society and its inability toprovide 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 basicattributes that would shape their future of the better. 3.Unemployment is another pitfall of poverty resulting in emotional and behavioralproblems within the children Advantages of Poverty1.The creation of political awareness in the poor is more conservative when comparedto other scenarios (Ball 2016). In U.K, this has resulted in the large-scale support ofthe 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, forinstance the preservation of jazz culture (Ball 2016). The same can also be witnessedin the preservation of food habits. Government measures poverty either by the scale of relative poverty by looking at themedian income of a household. Earning below 60% is considered to be living in relativepoverty. It is important to study how far society is addressing the needs of the people and theconsumption pattern of different individuals. According to Sen, poverty is best given a vividdescription in terms of capabilities which are required to escape from poverty (Ball 2016).
3UK ECONOMY AND CRISIS1.1 Poverty is a period which is characterized by an intense hunger and starvation, lackof education and alienation from basic facilities like healthcare. Social exclusion is one of themajor consequences of poverty, which ultimately result in marginalization2. In the Marxist’s concept, poverty is inherent and a dominant result of a Marxist stateand their process of production. His only solution for the eradication of poverty is by alteringthe means of production of the society and the necessary for a revolution to ensure the equaldistribution of income amongst the members of the society (Valletta 2006). As long as thecapitalist class exploits the labour class, Marx opines that poverty will persist and the privateenterprises will continue to be benefitted the most by the system. According to the concept ofNew Rights, the underclass or the poor people desire to remain in the realm of poverty due tothe state provisions that they enjoy. They believe that capitalism is sufficient for providingresources however, the growing dependence on state resources has attributed tounemployment and depletion of state resources. This state of poverty has an adverse impacton 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 whiledonating to the so called poor. The theory is concerned more with apathetic behaviour of anindividual while dealing with poverty and unemployment while Marxist theory probes intothe root causes of poverty, exploitation of poor and inequality.2.1 Individual poverty, the theory denotes that poverty is an individual phenomenonwhich is in contrast to the theory of structural poverty that points to the helplessness ofpeople and failure of the economic system to deliver people adequate wages. The structuraltheory blames the economic structure of the country while individual theory is more
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