The Poverty Of The United States

There are serious pockets of child poverty at a local level: in 100 local wards across the UK

Income inequality plays a major role in the education disparity present in communities such as West Chelsea. The economic hardship several families experience affects the way a child grows up and the certain education they receive. As seen in Class Divide, more privileged children can attend schools such as The Avenues where they are given opportunities to grow and learn, while less privileged students are

Poverty is an ever increasing issue in the UK and is perceived as a major social problem due to the consequences that it brings with it .The term ‘social problem’ refers

children living in these types of households. In 2012, “24.2 million U.S. children were living in poverty, reflecting an increase of 1.7 million children since 2008” and has the country now ranking “near the bottom of the pack of wealthy nations on a measure of child poverty” (Ingraham). The most distinct reason as to why these children are affected is due to low levels of average income in parental work which eventually leads to irresponsible childbearing throughout the child’s lifetime. However, by directing all the attention towards solving these apparent causes on the entirety of these households, we are completely neglecting the least obvious yet major social, physical, and psychosocial effects poverty has on our younger

Table created by Emma Greaves – data sourced from (P. Townsend (1979) ‘Poverty in the United Kingdom’, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p.250 as cited in Haralambos and Holborn, 2008)

I’m contacting you regarding the issue of poverty and how children and families are mostly affected by this. Poverty is a major issue within the UK and I believe there needs to be an increase in awareness, and actions being taken to tackle this issue. So the reasoning of me writing to you is to address the major factors causing poverty and look at why poverty is not being reduced. There has to be an explanation to why this is happening and I wish to explore these areas, as I believe children and families in our country should grow up healthy and have equal opportunities. However, this isn’t the case and many children and families lack the opportunities to improve their life and this needs to be confronted. As a Labour

There are 32 council areas in whole Scotland. 4 of those voted “Yes” to independence. All 4 of these have high levels of deprivation, as there is high working-class population too.

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.

Child poverty in Britain affects an increasing number of families; the most recent statistics from 2014-2015 show that poverty affects 1 in 4 children in the UK today1. The cause of child poverty has many contributing factors and creates multiple issues for the individuals affected. Child poverty in Britain is much different than the television adverts that show the awful living conditions of children in third world countries, however still has devastating outcomes for those experiencing poverty. Our standard of living is much different and therefore we must compare poverty in Britain to the living standards that we are accustomed to in society today; this concept was introduced by sociologist Peter Townsend in 1979 who defined poverty as; ‘Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong.’ 2

“When I was young, poverty was so common that we didn’t know it had a name” a quote by Lyndon B. Johnson.(Brainy Quotes) We all have witnessed or experienced poverty in our lives whether we identify or not are not the points of my study. I want people to see the numbers do not lie and we have to help with this huge increase of poverty. Poverty affects families, groups and individuals especially the children where the UK is concerned. The major reason for these kids and families experiencing poverty are the low wages, low benefits or having no income at all. The results of children poverty can lead to affect their social, educational and personal development.

Socio-economic status and political economy are similar to each other. Being underprivileged is similar to being in the lowest in the socio-economic ladder. Being at the bottom of the ladder is undesirable. Poverty has an effect that is not only related to “personal behaviours engaged in by poorer or richer people (Coburn, 2006).” What’s more discouraging is “the gap between the rich and poor in society and how much the society cares for and shares with its members (Coburn, 2006)”.

In conclusion, this essay considered the three module questions and the two chosen strands, discussing how differences and inequalities are linked and seen persisting over time and how they are interrelated when looking at examples from Consumerism, Wealth, Homelessness and Class. Concluding that differences and inequalities in Britain are at an all-time high continuing to be made and remade in unequal ways not only within the U.K. but Globally. Consequently, with poverty levels rising it can be inferred that increasing numbers of people will be left poor some with their most basic needs unmet whilst the top percent of society will continue to see their share of global resources increase. Therefore, inequality is now a global issue because the distribution of equal valued resources does not exist and thus differences and inequalities will continue to persist over time to the detriment of us

There are two main areas for social inequality, one being the equality of conditions, the other being income and material possessions. (Lewis 2011) The poor are being blamed for their own poverty and have been labelled as scroungers who prefer to receive benefits than earn a living. In actual fact a large number of people living in poverty are working, these are usually long hours for minimum wages. Housing is also typical of social inequality, in particular the homeless or those who are in hostels. The poorer communities

Currently, one in four children in the UK is growing up in poverty (DWP 2009). For these children, the impact of poverty on their chances of educational and life success can be great. Even though the average overall test scores have improved, there still remains large differences in educational achievement according to socio-economic status, with family income and status by far the most

Poverty is escalating in the UK; with a government attempting to manage the economic climate and tackle the deficit from the recession, a surge in cuts to the public sector are inevitable (Jones et al., 2011). Jones et al (2001) found, in turn, households are financially affected and health is jeopardised. There is an array of reasons as to why people fall into poverty, such as unemployment, lone parenting and disability (Aiken et al., 2001). According to Office for National Statistics (2014) lone parents are more likely to be unemployed than the population average; and certain ethnic minority groups such as Asians and Afro-Caribbean’s have higher levels of lone parents than the