The Conservative/Functionalist Approach

• In his text, More Equity (1973), Herbert J. Gans argues that poverty persists because it is beneficial to certain non-poor and affluent groups in society.
• These people do not view poverty as a social problem and, as such, Gans argues that there are certain functions of poverty:

  i. In every society there are menial, dirty, hazardous jobs, and poverty ensures that there is a pool of low-wage labour with no choice but to accept these types of jobs.

  ii. Poverty ensures that there are continuous employment opportunities for those who serve the poor, such as doctors, welfare workers, police, probation officers and the like.

  iii. The poor provide a yardstick against which the ‘success’ of the non-poor may be measured.
• In sum, Gans claims that the poor are unable to alter their situation, and poverty exists to benefit certain non-poor members of society.