Relative Poverty In The UK

The term ‘social problem’ refers to certain problems that are socially recognised by society and are felt to threaten certain values cherished by the public. This essay will investigate the different types of poverty that occur in the U.K and will explore the sociological arguments as to how poverty links with social problems such as social exclusion, gender discrimination in the work place, lone-parenting and disability and look at how these problems are perceived in today’s society.

The UK government, however, uses a different definition of absolute poverty: The measure used by the DWP seems to be more accurately described as a minimum acceptable standard of living over time. This standard is set relative to what people earned in 2010/11: the threshold is a household earning less than 60% of the 2010/11 median after taxes and transfers, adjusted for household size and composition.

Relative poverty can only exist where there is inequality. nevertheless this does not mean that inequality and poverty are identical as not all forms of inequality will indicate relative poverty, only those in which individuals or groups fall well below the average. ASB(1996). Poverty alleviation is a central aim of economic and social policy, and yet there is no consensus about what poverty means or how it is best measured Thye measurement of poverty itself can have several risk factors with poverty measures such as the oldest and most widely used is that of income deprivation where the poverty line is the required disposable income needed to meet peoples basic needs. Saunders (2005) In Australia, we measure poverty can be defined by The proportion or number of those who earn below a set poverty line. This poverty line can be determined as relative meaning in relation to everyone else’s income. This increases as income increases. A fixed poverty line usually increase with inflation also known as the Henderson Poverty line, which was adopted concluding the report of the Commonwealth Commission of Inquiry into Poverty in 1974. More recently poverty has be calculated as being below 50 per cent of the median household income. This measurement tool is used by the Australian Council on Social services (ACOSS) which is a peak body for non-government welfare groups. Baum &

Townsend (1979) created a deprivation index to measure the extent of poverty in the UK.

Relative poverty is ‘a measurement of the resources and living conditions of parts of the population in relation to others’ (Schwartzman, 1997). This means that people, who are living in a way that deprives them of a similar standard of living that is the norm to their society, can be considered as living in poverty; relative rather than absolute (Fulcher, J & Scott, J 2007).

With the United Kingdom being the 3rd European country with the highest GDP it is rather difficult to assume that issues such as negative economic growth, rising unemployment (Mooney and Scott, 2012) and consequently poverty would have any magnitude in its territory. However poverty does appear to be an issue in Scotland, even though it contributes as the 2nd largest percentage on UK’s GVA (7.7% ONS, 2012). With the acceptance of the referendum Scotland was aiming for independence and therefore taking in its own hands decision making regarding sectors such as the economic one by prioritizing and making the right decisions in order to tackle issues such as that of poverty. After September 18th 2014 economic changes concerning currency, unemployment and natural resources would have an impact on Scotland’s current issues regarding poverty.

There is strong evidence indicating that one out of five residing in poverty in the UK with countless families hit by crisis unable to afford food. At present, people are experiencing hunger in their own households. Growing food and fuel prices, stagnant incomes, soaring unemployment and changes to benefits are resulting in many families to struggle to place food on the table. The constant economic recession has caused the number of people in need of food-banks to rise significantly; and the local authority of Liverpool is not isolated from the economic challenges nationwide and this has seen the need for food-banks soaring over time (Oxfarm, 2014).

With the widening gap between the North and South of England and poverty rates being at an all-time high, there are many theories and explanations as to why individuals choose to commit suicide. There are some ideas that people commit suicide due to poverty and being socially and economically disadvantaged there are others that believe that having no education leads to higher levels of suicide. However critics would argue that these explanations do not take into account personal circumstances of the individual. However statistically suicide rates are higher in areas of higher levels of poverty.

One of the many social problems London faces is poverty. Due to this issue, the lack of programs and resources have negatively impacted the youth of London. These young children are the future of the city but have no support in finding a successful path that can greatly influence the lives around them. There is no positive social attitude or example set for these kids because all they see is poverty and crime around them. Without a mentor or a goal to strive for, these children are at a loss. Fortunately, our new program, “Repeat for Receptions- Expanding the Game One Catch at a Time” will able to provide a goal that these children can strive towards.

In 2010, about 46.2 million people were considered poor. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent, whereas in 2009, 14.3 percent of people in America were living in poverty (Censky, 2011). That is an increase of 2.6 million people in 2010. In the United States, the federal poverty line – an absolute measure of annual income – is frequently used to determine who is categorized as poor (Ferris & Stein, 2008, 2010). Currently the government defines the poverty line as an income of $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four (Censky, 2011). In sociology, poverty can be defined using two terms – relative deprivation and absolute deprivation. Relative deprivation is a comparison between people and social class. With

can poverty be defined? And what is the difference between absolute and relative poverty? In

The study of poverty that was in the twentieth century during the second half was moved toward the problems little differently, the concept of relative poverty was then introduced. This was then to define poverty, as a level of income that would stop individuals that are participating that is in the life of the society that the people live in. The man called Peter Townsend was the key when it came to the development toward the used of the relative poverty that was of the studies of inequality and deprivation and in 1979 his view

Relative poverty has been defined as the level of deprivation, where individuals are unable to play the roles, participate in the relationships, and follow the custom behavior that is expected of them by virtue of their being in society. Inequality tends to influence people’s perceptions of poverty. “Policymakers and analysts use poverty rate to measure programmatic successes and failures and to create, defend, and dispute new policy initiatives” (Oslen pg. 4) The level that any poverty line is set to may be considered random and debatable. Poverty is the inability of having choices and opportunities, a transgression of human dignity. It is a lack of capacity to participate effectively in society.

‘Relative Poverty’ refers to: “The state of being poor, with reference to a real, or perceived standard of living in a society” Lawson et al (2001, p.207). Lawson et al (2001) state it’s difficult defining relative poverty accurately, due to living standards varying over place and time. They add, it’s also difficult to agree on how standard of living should be measured, and used as a reference point. ‘Absolute Poverty’ refers to: “The lack of basic necessities i.e. (food, shelter, and access to clean water and medical care) with which to sustain a healthy existence” Lawson et al (2001, p.1). Absolute poverty tends to be correlated with developing countries, however, it’s disputed that this type of poverty exists in numerous developed industrial societies among the destitute (Moore et al., 2002).

Absolute poverty (AP) is where a person or family lack the bare minimums for healthy survival, referring to a person's living needs of water, food, clothing and shelter (Browne, 2009). AP is measured by pricing these basic necessities and drawing up a poverty line, those incomes that fall below the line are defined as poor (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). There has been attempts to define and operationalise the concept of AP; in 1995 The United Nations defined AP as a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food and water, shelter, education and information; it depends not only on income but also access to services, such as schools and hospitals (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). In America they use $1 a day threshold for serving with the minimum needs but, in the UK incomes are not this low, so these thresholds have no importance (The poverty site, 2007).  In 2015-16 30% (18.9 million) of individuals where living in households with income below minimum income standards it increased over a 5th since 2008 to 2012 (JFR, d.u.).