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Work, Poverty and Welfare
Relative Poverty
• A Lack of things taken for granted by the majority e.g. education
• People being poor by comparison to the majority
3 ways of measuring relative concept
• An expert opinion
• Measure based on consensus
• Relative income measure
Expert Opinon - Townsend 1979
• Deprivation index
• Drew up list of ‘essentials’ e.g. cooked meals and holidays (every few years)
• Households deprived of significant number of items were judged to be poor
• Found households below 150% Supplementary Benefit (income support) could be
classed as poor.
Problems
• Out of date quickly - poverty changes as tastes change e.g. ‘no cooked breakfast most
days of week’ one item thus not good for comparing poverty over time
• Based on Townsend’s opinion so is subjective
• Doesn’t take choice into account
Consensus - Mack + Lansley 1985 + 1991
• Conducted questionnaire to find out what people thought were ‘essentials’ and included
top items in definition
• Decided those lacking 3 or more necessities were ‘poor’ (unless lacked through choice)
• People classed heating and indoor toilet as most important (97%)
Problems:
• Still went out of date quickly
• More objective but still partly subjective - researchers decide on list and how many items
would define as poor
• Improvement on Townsend as asked population what they thought should be on index
The relative income measure - HBAI
• The EU and British government say a household is in poverty if it receives less than 60%
of the median British income
Strengths:
• Allows comparison of figures across a number of countries
• Allows to compare poverty in same country over time
Problems:
• Still subjective as someone have to decide on percentage
• Incomes vary between countries e.g. 60% UK income different 60% Greek income
Arguments FOR defining poverty in relative terms
• Shows poverty is a social construction not fixed
• Broader definition, linking poverty to lifestyle and not just necessities
• Less blunt than absolute, reflects degrees of relative poverty
Arguments AGAINST defining poverty in relative terms
Work, Poverty and Welfare
Relative Poverty
• A Lack of things taken for granted by the majority e.g. education
• People being poor by comparison to the majority
3 ways of measuring relative concept
• An expert opinion
• Measure based on consensus
• Relative income measure
Expert Opinon - Townsend 1979
• Deprivation index
• Drew up list of ‘essentials’ e.g. cooked meals and holidays (every few years)
• Households deprived of significant number of items were judged to be poor
• Found households below 150% Supplementary Benefit (income support) could be
classed as poor.
Problems
• Out of date quickly - poverty changes as tastes change e.g. ‘no cooked breakfast most
days of week’ one item thus not good for comparing poverty over time
• Based on Townsend’s opinion so is subjective
• Doesn’t take choice into account
Consensus - Mack + Lansley 1985 + 1991
• Conducted questionnaire to find out what people thought were ‘essentials’ and included
top items in definition
• Decided those lacking 3 or more necessities were ‘poor’ (unless lacked through choice)
• People classed heating and indoor toilet as most important (97%)
Problems:
• Still went out of date quickly
• More objective but still partly subjective - researchers decide on list and how many items
would define as poor
• Improvement on Townsend as asked population what they thought should be on index
The relative income measure - HBAI
• The EU and British government say a household is in poverty if it receives less than 60%
of the median British income
Strengths:
• Allows comparison of figures across a number of countries
• Allows to compare poverty in same country over time
Problems:
• Still subjective as someone have to decide on percentage
• Incomes vary between countries e.g. 60% UK income different 60% Greek income
Arguments FOR defining poverty in relative terms
• Shows poverty is a social construction not fixed
• Broader definition, linking poverty to lifestyle and not just necessities
• Less blunt than absolute, reflects degrees of relative poverty
Arguments AGAINST defining poverty in relative terms
