Diff factors affecting poverty

• Class and Poverty


  -Those who are working class are more susceptible to poverty

  -This argument is based on where socioeconomic classes fall against the Poverty Line
• There are eight reasons why the working class are more likely to be at risk of poverty

  -Loan sharks/payday loans: due to inadequate qualifications, they will not have a stable file so they will not have a good credit file.

  -Job market/ competition: less likely to be in a stable position. Global job market.

  -Psychological effects: feeling of powerlessness. Mental health.

  -Long-term unemployment: it's not a sufficient amount to live on.

  -Ability to claim benefits: some people don't know about benefits.

  -Stigma: embarrassment of being in poverty.

  -Living wage vs cost of living: minimum living wage matches cost of living wage.
• Evaluations of these views

  -->New Right- blames working-class and poor individuals for their situations.

  -->Social Democratic- Redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor reduces poverty - creating social cohesion
• How could this put a working class individual in poverty?


  -Shifts tend to be inconsistent, meaning that individuals may not receive a guaranteed stream of income

  -These roles are limited, in regards to job progression

  -May prevent individuals from receiving adequate welfare support due to being in work
• Diff perspectives thoughts on 0 hour contracts

  Criticism:

  -->Functionalists- Necessary- these jobs tend to be menial roles/ casual jobs. This is beneficial as it provides jobs for those who may struggle with entering the job market.

  --> Feminists- Women are more likely to accept zero-hour contracts due to the dual/ triple burden, childcare commitments, and sex discrimination/ unequal pay. This forces women into these roles to avoid experiencing absolute poverty.

  Support:

  -->Marxists-Created by the elite/ bourgeoisie to create surplus value. A method to continue to exploit the working class, while reinforcing the false class consciousness of meritocracy and social mobility.

  -->Social democrats- Such contracts lead to a poverty trap, which will impact the underclass the most. This is due to exploiting their lack of qualifications/ larger families/ discrimination in other sectors/ fields.
• Age and Poverty: The elderly

  -->Elderly/ retired women are most at risk due to living longer and receiving less pension in comparison to their male counterparts

  -->Despite the introduction of the triple lock, fuel poverty is still the greatest cause of the elderly being at risk

  -->Over 25% of elderly people are now single- meaning less support within the household.

  -->Mack and Lansley-Due to the dependency ratio, people are living longer, meaning society has more dependents

  This will put a strain on the economy and impact the workforce

  Mack and Lansley suggest this will cause more zero-hour contracts, delayed retirement, and fewer benefit schemes.
• Children


  -As children are also dependents, this puts them most at risk of poverty. The cost of childcare and raising children increases yearly.

  -Larger families are also prone to being at risk of poverty due to the amount of money spent on each individual.

  -Child Poverty Act (2010) was introduced to tackle the amount of hardship children face.

  -->Townsend and Walker: Dependency theory (1981). Suggests that children (and the elderly) are most likely to be in poverty due to being dependent on parents/ adults.

  -->Peter Townsend: Structural dependency (1981). Townsend goes further to suggest that this is done purposefully. As it is in the law that children are to be in full-time education or training up until the age of 18, this keeps children in poverty for longer
• Evaulation


  -27% of children live in poverty

  -there are schemes like taxes, and child benefits in order for families to receive benefits.

  -childcare is very costly

  -child benefits are barely enough to cover costs.
• Gender and Poverty: Men

  -White, working-class men impacted by changes in the local labour market eg. Middlesborough

  -Decline in 'masculine' roles, leads to a crisis in employment for w/c men; forcing them to take on low-skilled/low-paid roles

  -->Shildrick and MacDonald (2015)

  -Conducted interviews in Middlesborough (A northern city massively impacted by strikes and closures of mines, factories and outsourcing

  -->Mitsos and Browne

  -Crisis of Masculinity- uncertainty in traditional, male roles forcing men to excerpt masculinity in other ways
• Women

  -The 'feminisation' of poverty refers to social changes over recent decades that have led to poverty - particularly severe poverty - becoming more associated with women than men.

  -Women are more likely to be lone parents, Gender Pay Gap, Sex Discrimination Act,Patriarchy, The glass ceiling

  -Horizontal/ Vertical segregation: Experiencing segregation throughout the industry, including within job roles/ positions

  -->Phal (1993): women are economically disadvantaged within the home as men tend to control and manage a couple's income
• Evaluation

  -women of all ethnic groups have lower average individual incomes than men in the same ethnic group.

  -Poverty rates for all groups of women are higher than white British men

  -Women are more likely to be in low-paid jobs and part-time jobs, and therefore miss out on work-related benefits.

  -Women are more likely to be lone parents than men with sole responsibilities for their children so it would be more difficult for them to take up a job and become dependent on state benefits.

  -Women experience poverty in old age since they spend less time in employment compared to men so they would have fewer pensions and savings for them to survive when they are older.
• Ethnicity and poverty- Ethnic minorities


  -High chance of unemployment due to employer discrimination/ racism

  -Likely to be low paid, possibly due to low educational qualifications

  -Language barriers - problem with application forms etc

  -Less likely to stay on at school/go to uni and therefore under-qualified for top jobs
• Sociologists

  -->Lucinda Platt (2006). Research for the Equal opportunities commission's

  -Many men from BME communities experienced unemployment rates up to 4x the average of all men.

  -Women and men from ethnic backgrounds ,on average earn less than others with similar qualifications.

  -->Barnard and Turner (2011)

  -Ethnic groups suffer from stereotypes due to race and religion and how they come across in the media.

  -Irish Traveller families are at risk of poverty due to stereotypes and discrimination.

  -People of African Caribbean origin and a majority of those from Asian origin have a greater chance of earning lower wages than the majority population, and they are more likely to work in the types of work with low wages.
• Communities most at risk in Britain

  -->Roma and Irish Travellers- Underachievement due to frequent traveling and insufficient benefits.

  -->White British working class- Underachievement lessening market value, Growing global competition.

  -->Pakistani+Bangladeshi-for some, extended family and disabilities(impacting dependency), language barrier.

  -->Black Caribbean- history of underachievement, discrimination.

  -->Black African- international qualification, discrimination
• Statistics (extra info)

  -40% of people from black minority ethnicity communities living in low-income households, this is twice the rate of white people.

  -Scott and Fulcher: 2 thirds of Pakistani and Bangladeshi families are in the bottom fifth of the income distribution in Britain.
• Evaluation

  -->Functionalists- Would suggest that such poverty among ethnic minority groups is functional for the system, as some minority ethnic groups will be motivated to take the low paid jobs that White British don't want, as they often have little alternative.

  -->Social democrats-Refer to the poverty trap. Due to the reasons mentioned for ethnic minority groups experiencing poverty, they are also more likely to end up in a poverty trap, with difficulty to break out and gain social mobility.
• Disability and Poverty

  -->Inability to undertake paid employment - may have impairments (physical or mental) that make it difficult for them to take jobs.

  -->Unemployment - disabled individuals are around four times more likely to be out of work than non-disabled with similar qualifications. Many of those who are not working say they want to work but have been unable to find jobs.

  -->Low pay - more likely to be low-paid than non-disabled people with similar qualifications. This means individuals will have lower pensions in old age.

  -->Employer discrimination - seems to be discrimination within the workplace, even though this is illegal (Equality Act 2010 for example). Some people may not intentionally discriminate but cause it through ignorance e.g. around the abilities of the individual, government support, health, and safety.

  -->Inadequate welfare benefits - social security benefits are insufficient to keep many disabled people out of poverty and increases in benefit levels have not kept up with those for children and pensioners, and are falling in relation to average household incomes.
• Evaluation

  -->Functionalists-Poverty is necessary to enable society to function - everybody needs to fulfil roles within society to enable it to function - individuals may have to take on low-paid jobs due to disabilities and help contribute to running of society in this way.

  -->Marxists-Within the working class, whom are exploited by the rich, individuals with disabilities are likely to be more vulnerable because of discrimination and difficulties gaining well-paid employment - this may result in individuals being part of the unemployed working class that are at the highest risk of poverty.