Poverty

Measuring Poverty. * No single definition of poverty * The study and interpretation of poverty isn't a simple task, as there are as many ways of measuring poverty as there are ways of defining it * We need to look at political and moral dimensions when defining poverty * Social construct and can be defined by absolute or relative
Subjective poverty – is the result of people’s views, perceptions, or feelings about their situation or well-being.
Objective poverty - refers to objective aspects of one’s well-being, most often measured in terms of available resources, such as income and consumption. Often use absolute and relative methods of measuring poverty.

Absolute – refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. America * Lack of resources necessary for survival * Usually a global measurement of poverty not seen as useful when looking at the UK anymore. * Households Budget standards * Based on Rowntrees basket of goods. * Bradshaw socially defined needs * Experts determine elements of household needs. * Seen as lacking absolute basics of life and lacking what is required for physical health. * Measure the cost involved in purchasing essential goods and services allowing a person to reach min levels of satisfaction of basic needs * - 1901 rowntree developed a poverty line of essential goods and services needed to meet the minimum substance requirements in households. Poverty threshold is set using the monetary value of the basket plus a fixed amount of money aimed at covering other types of expenditure. Households less than this are considered poor.
Positives
1. Easily understandable 2. The definition of it fits in with the publics perception of poverty – material. 3. Methodology influential in Beveridge report. Construction of welfare state and dealing with poverty 4.
Negatives
1. minimum foods needs are agreed upon the public have not agree on the other goods and services in the basket. 2. Choice of products changes depending on lifestyle of different societies and classes 3. Chosen by experts not the general public 4. Better for undeveloped countries.
Relative – social defined and dependent on social context. Europe * exclusion from a way of life deemed to be minimally decent or acceptable in a society in which someone lives * Closely linked to inequality * Relative poverty is the percentage of people below the poverty threshold * Based on income distribution or expenditure. * Unlike absolute if the social income situation changes for society individuals will still remain the same, depends on relative position of individuals and households. * Can use annual income. – only provides a partial view.
Townsend 1979 – inequalities can be seen to be objective depending where they come from. This method was an objective measure of relative poverty. * Developed key indicators such as cooked breakfast, holidays and fridges etc. * Household less that 140% of supplementary benefit level * Concluded 22.9% of the population in poverty
The relative income measure was also used – calculates those living on less than half of the average income. 9.2% in poverty

Benefits. 1. Analyse over time. 2. Shows how it’s a social construct and it can vary from society to society, 3. Doesn’t treat poverty as an isolated phenomenon 4. Reflect diverse lifestyles
Limitations.
1. Still works with a hard to define poverty line. 2. The key indicators are arbitrary 3. Fixed empirical measures 4. Has an absolute core – fixed measures SEN 1983 5. Measure of inequality not poverty 6.

Conclusion.
As many politicians have argued that absolute poverty has been eliminated in affluent western countries, it is not surprising that the European Union (EU) and Eurostat (Statistical Office of the EU) embraced the concept of relative poverty. Relative poverty is closely connected with the issue of income inequalities. As a matter of fact, relative poverty is a consequence of the distribution of income.