Work, Poverty & Welfare

• Absolute Poverty

  • Lacks the minimum necessary for survival
  • Joseph Rowntree foundation - 'Over the last 5 years, poverty rates have risen for children and pensioners. Poverty rates are highest in London & the north of England.'
• Benefits


  £257.69 as a single adult/weekly
• Issues in defining absolute poverty

  • Difficulty in defining basic needs
  • Ignores the reality of people's lives
  • Ignores the impact of cultural expectations (socialising...)
• Relative Deprivation

  • TOWNSEND - Lacks resources to obtain the types of diets, participate in activities and have the living conditions encouraged in society.
  • Money, car, holidays, technology...
  • Recognises that poverty is a social construct & that the definition of poverty changes over time
• Issues in defining relative deprivation

  • It is not an indicator of poverty more social inequality
  • The measure of absolute poverty is easier to measure
• Social Exclusion

  • TOWNSEND - Allows poverty to be understood through interconnecting disadvanatages
  • People feel marginalised from participating in education, work etc...
  • E.G. Homelessness & lack of job opportunities, low income & lack of social life
• Cultural Explanations

  • Focus on the behaviour & attitudes of those who are poor - often victim-blaming the poor, suggest there is a DEPENDENCY CULTURE, the poor are not self-reliant
  • Oscar Lewis (new right) - The poor have a sense of fatalism, reluctant to work, don't plan for the future
  • Marsland (new right) - The handouts from a 'Nanny state' have created a dependency culture
  • Murray (new right) - Emerging underclass in the 80s, a group responsible for rising rates of crime, they lived in deviant family structures
  • Perverse incentives - Council houses for teenage mums, benefits for the unemployed
• A03 of cultural explanations / new right

  No clear evidence that children inherit parents behaviour. Blame victims rather than the cause
• Material Explanations

  • Blame the lack of material support & an inadequate welfare state
  • Coates & Silburn - The poor are trapped (CYCLE OF DEPRIVATION)
  • Social Democrat - The underclass are at the bottom of the social hierarchy, they are excluded from taking part in society
  • Marx - The poor are not the underclass, but the disadvantaged of the working class.
  • Milliband - All working classes could join this group if they became sick, unemployed or disabled
• Distribution of poverty

  • 33.6% of all children live in poverty
  • 16% of pensioners are in poverty
  • 46% of lone parents are in poverty
  • 14.6 million are living in poverty in the UK
• Distribution of poverty - ETHNICITY

  • Kenway & Palmer - Children from EMG's are more likely to be in poverty than white British people
  • Reasons:
  • Low pay - Large factor in Pakistani & Bangladeshi households where only the males work and women do not
  • Unemployment - High amongst Bangladeshi's, Pakistani's, Black Africans and Black Caribbean's.
• Distribution of poverty - ETHNICITY 2

  • Underachievement in education - Ethnocentric curriculum (Ball) the curriculum only focuses on the culture and history of the white majority
  • Racism in employment - Wood found that the surname 'Evans' got more interviews than the surname 'Patel'.
  • FUNCTIONALISTS A03 > EMG's being in poverty keeps society going
• Distribution of poverty - AGE

  • Hirsch (2006) - Poverty causes material and social hardships, affects their educational achievement and has long-lasting affects
  • Lone parenthood, lack of benefits, cost of childcare can all lead to poverty
  • Child poverty in the UK is higher than any other countries in Europe
  • MURRAY A03 - Children are in poverty due to poor parenting
• Distribution of poverty - DISABILITY

  • Palmer - The poverty rate for disabled adults is nearly double that of non-disabled adults
  • Reasons:
  • Inability to undertake paid work - welfare dependent
  • Unemployment - Those with disabilities are 4x more likely to be out of work
  • Discrimination - Palmer argues that employers overtly discriminate despite it being illegal
  • MURRAY A03 - Some of those on disability benefits could be working
  • FUNCTIONALIST A03 - Those who are disabled in poverty is good for society as it creates jobs in the health and social care sector
• Distribution of poverty - GENDER

  • Women of all ethnic backgrounds have a lower average income than men from the same ethnic group
  • Reasons:
  • Women usually combine childcare and paid work- (Ferri and Smith - dual burden)
  • Women are more likely to be lone parents - with the responsibility of children
  • Women live longer than men - lack of pension, may experience poverty in old age.
  • MARX A03 - Structural factors lead to women being in poverty as they are given low paid jobs. (GLASS CEILING)
• Functionalist View


  Inequality in wealth is needed to keep society going. Wealth helps people to control their lives.

  • Davis and Moore - Some positions in society are more functionally important than others and require specialist skills that not everyone has.
  • Those who do have these skills must be motivated with the promise of rewards like high wages (doctors, lawyers etc)
• Functionalist View 2

  • Gans - The existence of poverty has important functions for the stability of society. It makes sure the undesirable jobs are done and the threat of poverty keeps people working.
  • A03 - Some people have inherited wealth & poverty may not motivate people to work to avoid it
• Weberian View


  Inequalities in wealth exist due to the different MARKET SITUATIONS of individuals (the different skills a person has and how much that is worth)

  • Poverty arises when an individual is in a weak market situation. They may lack the skills to earn the reward of pay; E.G. disability, lack of socialisation
• Marxist View


  Wealth and income inequality lie in the private ownership of the MEANS OF PRODUCTION.

  • Milliband, Westergaard & Resler
  • Wealth and income are concentrated in the hands of the RULING CLASS
  • Poverty is inevitable in a capitalist society
  • The working class keep the inequality going by working for the ruling class
  • Poverty divides the working class.
• The Welfare State


  Implements the 'cradle to the grave' well-being of the population

  The Welfare state began with the Beveridge Report of 1942:

  • Full Employment
  • Universal Welfare
  • Free Healthcare and education
  • Women to be housewives and Mothers
• The Welfare State as we know it - 1948

  • Free NHS
  • Benefits
  • Free compulsory education
  • Social services

  ADVANTAGES: Provides a safety net for when private services fail, more likely to provide a wider range of services

  DISADV: Often at the mercy of funding from the gov, too much demand can place services under pressure. (NHS - Covid)
• Welfare Pluralism

  • Informal welfare provision - family and friends
  • Voluntary sector - Macmillan, Age UK, Shelter...
  • Private sector - hospitals, schools, care homes, pensions, insurance...
• Marxism - Welfare State


  Welfare state is buying off working class protest, gives a "caring face of capitalism"
• Feminism - Welfare State


  Welfare state supports patriarchy, inadequate meets for women's needs.
• New Right - Welfare State

  The generosity of the Nanny state undermines personal responsibility
• Government Responses - Conservative Gov 1979-1997

  • Raise quality through competition, develop principles of self-help
  • Target benefits to the 'deserving poor' > ill/disabled
  • Serious cuts in welfare spending & benefits
• Government Responses - New Labour Gov 1997-2010

  • Rather than victim blaming, the aim was to give people a 'hand up'
  • Sure start centres
  • National minimum wage
  • Increase in how much people could claim in benefits
• Government Responses - Coalition Gov 2010-2015

  • Introduction of universal credit
  • Ensured it was more beneficial to go to work than be on benefits
  • Continued emphasis on parenting skills

  Foucalt (1991) - There was an intensifying process of disciplining those on benefits. Checked they were still actively seeking work
• Is the welfare state succeeding?

  YES - Everyone is guaranteed "cradle to the grave", national minimum wage still intact

  NO - Pressure on services like NHS, not everyone can access benefits
• The Labour Process - Management and Organisation

  Abercrombie Et Al (2000) 4 types of controlling the workforce:

  • Direct Control - Clear supervision of workforce by managers
  • Technical Control - Nature of jobs controlled by technology, involves little skill
  • Bureaucratic Control - Workers controlled by hierachy
  • Responsible Autonomy - Workers are less controlled and workforce is more self-policing
• Scientific Management


  Management of workers should follow strict principles - like a piece of machinery
• Taylorism


  Breaking work down into its simplest elements
• Taylor


  The idea of using machinery to control the workforce was first developed by Taylor. He believed the best means by which management could reduce the power of workers was by:

  • Making the labour process free of creativity
  • Defining every task down to the smallest detail
  • Removing as much skill as possible from the worker
• Fordism


  Henry Ford - 1908

  • Cheap, standardised cars were produced.

  MARX A03 - Workers are being exploited, cheap and easy labour so workers are easily replaced. Workers are in a state of FALSE CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS so believe they're working hard.
• Contemporary Example - Mcdonaldisation (Ritzer)

  • Efficiency - Production process is as streamlined as possible
  • Calculability - Each item is carefully calculated & quantified
  • Predictability - Products are stable, as is the environment, as are the staff
  • Control - Management control
• Deskilling - Braverman


  Criticises the control of work under capitalism, managers cannot trust workers so remove the autonomy of them.

  • Workforce is controlled by scientific management, leading to deskilling
  • E.G. Supermarkets, hospitality
  • A03 - Technology has created new skills, there has been an increase in skilled work - 'upskilling'.
• Human Relations - Mayo


  Research found that workers were more productive if they felt valued, less controlled and enjoyed their work.

  • Work was made more rewarding through - job enrichment, job rotation, teamwork...
  • A03 - Still retains overall management and control
• Alienation


  The condition whereby workers lack power and control at work and have no job satisfaction. 'Work is meaningless, apart from as a means of earning money.'
• Extrinsic Attitude


  The most important thing about a job is high wages
• Intrinsic Attitude


  Other factors are important - socialising, feeling good about yourself...