Académique Documents
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Chapter 12
Anthony Giddens and Philip W.Sutton
What is Poverty?
1. Absolute Poverty
It is grounded on the idea of subsistence--the basic conditions that must be met in
order to sustain a physically healthy
existence.
People who lack sufficient food, clothing
and shelter are said to live in poverty.
It is held that standards for human
subsistence are more less the same for all
people of an equivalent age and physique,
regardless of where they live.
What is Poverty?
2. Relative Poverty
It relates poverty to the overall standard of
living that prevails in a particular society.
Poverty is culturally defined and should
not be measured according to some
universal standard of deprivation.
It is wrong to assume that human needs
are everywhere identical---in fact, they
differ both within and across societies.
2. Women
3. Ethnic minorities
4. Older people
(1) Children
Worse health
A low birth weight
To be injured and killed in a road accident
To suffer abuse and self-harm
To attempt duicide
(2) Women
The gendered division of labor inside and
outside the home.
Part-time job
A mans job vs womens work
Less well-paid
Explaining poverty
1. Culture of poverty
Blame the victims
2. Structural poverty
Blame the systems.
Structural Poverty
Blame the system
Structural forces or factors such as class,
gender, ethnicity, occupational position,
educational attainment and so forth shape the
way in which resources are distributed.
R.H Tawney (1964) said that poverty as an
aspect of social inequality.
Reducing poverty is not simply a matter of
changing individual outlooks, but requires policy
measures aimed at distributing income and
resources more equally throughout society.
Service Exclusion
Service exclusion refers to lack of access
to basic services, whether these are in the
home ( such as power and water supplies)
or outside it (for example, access to
transport, shops or financial services).