Introduction and Overview

This piece of work will discuss what poverty is and will compare and contrast three main theories and what their view on poverty is. These theories will be the New Right approach, Social Democratic and Feminism. Each approach will have a study support the theory, as well as an evaluation.

Social policy is guidelines and legislation that have an affect on everyday's people's welfare. Government and businesses all have policies which effect families and individuals. The aim of social policy is to improve human welfare in areas such as; health, education, housing, unemployment and pensions. (Blakemore,K and Griggs 2007)

The welfare state and social policy came about after the war, Britain was in a poor state, so many people were deprived and living in poverty. Therefore, in 1942 the government set the Liberal Politician William Beveridge the task of finding out the problems and discovering how to make Britain a better place to live in. Beveridge wrote a report called "The Social Insurance and Allied Services Report" (better known as the Beveridge Report) which stated that there were five giants’ evils that had to be addressed.

 

The first giant evil Beveridge came up with was Want, this dealt with poverty. Beveridge found a lack of income in a family i.e. if family members were out of work and had no income then this led to people living in poverty. To tackle this problem Beveridge suggested a combination of mean tested benefits given to people who earn under a certain amount. The next giant evil brought forward, was disease, this looked into health. As a result of this evil the NHS was introduced a health service available to all. The third giant was ignorance which is also known as education. This was tackled through state education particularly state funded secondary education. Another giant evil brought forward by Beveridge was squalor; this was concerned with housing, to deal with this problem Beveridge, proposed a programme to build affordable council owned housing to rent. The final giant was Idleness which dealt with unemployment. Beveridge aimed to get full employment for Britain to tackle this giant evil. These five combined all made up the welfare state: social security, National Health Service, free education, council housing and full employment (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008).

 

 

Defination of Poverty

 

 

There is not one agreed definition of poverty as there are many differing opinions of what poverty is. Poverty is defined in terms of the society where it takes place as what people can eat, and where they can live, depend on the society they live in. However, there are two main ways to define what poverty is: absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty would refer to those who are severely deprived of basic human needs, such as food, drinking water and shelter. 'An absolute standard means one defined by reference to the actual needs of the poor and not by reference to the expenditure of those who are not poor. A family is poor if it cannot afford to eat.' (Keith Joseph 1979). However, relative poverty describes those who lack things in comparison to others in the same society.’to have one bowl of rice in a society where all other people have half a bowl may well be a sign of achievement and intelligence... To have five bowls of rice in a society where the majority has a decent, balanced diet is a tragedy.' (Harrington 1962 The Other America). New Right politicians believe there is only absolute poverty, whilst Social Democratic politicians have tended to favour relative definitions. To ensure society is living above the poverty line basic needs to need to be met. Normative needs are identified according to norms or general set standards. These standards are usually set by experts, for example local authorities have to ensure that their standard of housing is fit for living in.  Comparative needs concerns problems which emerge by comparing with others who are not in need. One of the most common uses of this approach has been the comparison of social problems in different areas in order to determine which areas are most deprived. (s-cool.co.uk accessed 1 November 2012).

 

 

 Absolute Poverty

Relative Poverty

 

New Right Approach

The new right approach is the based on the politics of the conservative party who believe that the welfare state was leading to a culture dependency. The new right approach is believes on a free market economy. Unlike, the social democratic approach they believe that universal benefits drain the economy and state that the best option for the welfare state would be privatisation. By privatising the welfare state, they state that the individual would be encouraged to take responsibility for themselves which would help the economy grow. They believe that the government should not provide so much help through welfare as, government interference leads to wages that are too high, unemployment and a lack of initiative (S-cool 1 November 2012).

 

Sociologist David Marsland has adopted the new right approach and does not believe that poverty is as bad as others are making out. He claims that groups such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation purposely confuse poverty with inequality and completely exaggerates the extent of poverty. He argues that there is only absolute poverty and that relative does not exist. Marsland is very critical about universal benefits and services such as health care, education and child benefits. He believes that people who are on low income are results of the state being too generous in their benefits and services rather than the individual’s inadequacy to work (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008).  A quote from Marsland : "the expectation that society, the sate, the government, "they", will look after our problems tricks us into abdicating from self-reliance and social responsibly" (Marsland 1989).

 

However, Marsland has been criticised by Bill Jordan who says that he is wrong to blame the culture of dependency to universal welfare provision. He argues that selectively means testing benefits can trap people in a life of poverty. It often turns out that people are better off on benefits than they would be in work. It also can exclude the individual from the rest of society and make them feel ashamed and embarrassed that they receive benefits. Also, if education and health care are private then people with disability and unskilled workers may not be able to afford or find work. Jordan also claims that societies that rely upon means-tested benefits and private health care, tend to develop a large underclass, who have little chance of escaping from poverty; this is the case in countries such as America. Jordan states that poverty is a result of societies being too harsh. He argues that the only way to break the cycle of poverty is by universal benefits that are at a high enough standard so people can afford to work and get back up on their feet (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). Despite this, the New Right approach has been influential across Western countries, and the Conservative party is in power in Britain today.

 

As solutions to these problems of welfare, the New Right have changed some policies. A significant proportion of the welfare state has been privatised, such as cleaning and transportation of prisoners. There have been cuts in benefits; benefits are not going to be paid out in line with inflation. Up until now child benefits were universal, however the Conservative government have introduced plans to means test child benefits as of the 7^th of January 2013, meaning thousands will lose out in benefits. If a family earn more than £50,000 then they will not receive child benefits, they are also only giving benefits for two children to encourage those on welfare not to have more children if they can not afford them (BBC.co.uk 2 November). Iain Duncan Smith the conservative secretary for state work and pensions, has suggested that pensioners should not receive universal benefits, he stated that wealthy pensioners should not get benefits, free TV licences and bus passes (Daily Mail.co.uk 4 November 2012).

 

Charles Murray an American sociologist came to Britain in 1989 and claimed that Britain, like America was developing an underclass. He produced a study called the "underclass", his findings from the study showed there were three factors that played a part in the rising underclass these were; illegitimacy, crime and unemployment. Firstly, he looks at illegitimacy. He states that in 1979 Britain's illegitimacy rate was 10.6 per cent which was low compared to most Western societies, however, by 1989 this has risen 25.6 per sent which was higher than many other Western countries. The rising illegitimacy rate is important because illegitimate children will tend to "run wild", and the lack of fathers results in a level of physical unruliness which makes life difficult. Murray suggests the reason for this problem is due to changes in legislation that allowed pregnant women priority to houses and increased their benefits. Murray claimed that there has always been a potential for rising illegitimacy because "sex is fun and babies are endearing", however, to reduce illegitimacy we need to go back to a time where it was extremely punishing to be a single parent, socially and financially. The next point that Murray associates with the development of an underclass was rise in crime. He claimed that in 1989 the rate of property crime in Britain was higher than the USA; however, violent crime was lower. Murray argues that crime is particularly damaging to a society as people will become defensive and suspicious of one another. It may also result in young people copying their role models and participating in crime themselves, which can be even more damaging to a community. Murray suggests that like illegitimacy, crime too has become less severely punished. To solve this problem we have to go back to a time where criminal where more likely to be caught and punished. Finally, Murray saw the unwillingness of young men to take jobs as a problem for society. He says there is a considerable number of people who claim benefits even though they are perfectly able to work and would probably turn down any job they were offered. Similarly to illegitimacy and crime rates, unemployment is much higher in the lowest social class. According to Murray, attitudes of work are changing amongst the young, near the end of the 1980's. The older generation of males who were unemployed, were generally more committed to work and saw being unemployed and relying on benefits as being humiliating unlike the younger generation. Murray states, that when a large number of men do not work then communities break down. Young men who are unemployed are unable to support families so are therefore, unlikely to get married, however, when they do father a child, illegitimacy rates rise. Supporting a family is a way for a man to prove their manhood, so when a man does not have family responsibilities, they will use other methods to prove themselves such a violent crime. Murray states, that providing more jobs will not solve this problem of unemployment as it is more of an attitude problem. He suggested that local communities should be given a responsibility to run things such as education, housing and criminal justice. These way communities would ensure problems were tackled. (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008)

 

Charles Murray underclass theory has been a very influential study for New Right theorist. The study supports what the new right sociologists says and it has also been a valuable study for the conservative party who use a lot of Charles Murray's ideas for helping produce legislation. However, Murray's study has been subjected to fierce critics. Alan walker (1990) argues that Murray puts forward totally inadequate evidence and unreliable data to support his case. For example, Murray's figures on illegitimacy are not accurate. He claims that, approximately 60 per cent of illegitimate births to women younger than 20 are registered by both parents. He also states, that lone parenthood is often short lived with the average women finding a partner within 3 years. Therefore, most children do not spend their childhood with a single parent. Anthony Heath found in an attitude survey that 86 percent of the underclass said that they would like to have a paid job. This shows that Murrays claim that those reliant on benefits are unwilling to work regardless of the job is untrue. Murray has also been criticised for making a sweeping generalisation about lone parents and unemployed (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008).

 

The Social Democratic Approach

Contrasting the views of the New Right, is the Social Demorcratic. The social democratic approach is based on the ideas of the Labour party and has been influenced by the work of Beveridge. They believe that poverty is a result of the inequalities created by the labour market in capitalist societies. As a result of capitalism they say there is a free market economy where, there are low wages and high unemployment and as a result there is a need for a welfare state. Unlike Marxist, they do not think that revolution is the answer; they believe that the state should intervene. A profit driven market does not adequately care for the elderly, poor and disabled. Economic development under capitalism leads to conditions which threaten social stability. Wealth is not distributed evenly; some people need support in order to promote social stability (s-cool 6 November 2012).

 

One major influence in social democratic was R. Tirmuss. He was concerned with the creation of greater social justice and equality. Titmuss believed that the welfare state could bring people together and give them a shared sense of citizenship. He firmly believed that there should be universal social services and benefits that are available to all regardless of their income. Universal social services referred to services such as family allowances, the NHS, free state education and pensions, these were provided through national insurance and was available to all. Titmuss believed that the universal benefits should not be means tested as it is humiliating, bureaucratic, and off putting, which may discourage people from claiming benefit to which they are entitled. For social democrats the low take up of means tested benefits is an important failing of the current social security system. In 1980, no means tested benefit had more than an 80% take up. (Parliamentary answer, 1981). Universal benefits are cheaper to administrate and are less complicated. Means- testing benefits can also produce a poverty trap. If the person was to get a job, then their benefits would stop which may result in them being worse off than they were on benefits therefore, this may result in higher unemployment. The Beveridge report strongly supported universal benefits; he stated that they are funded from tax and national insurance that is paid for by the people, so therefore, the people should be entitled to support. Furthermore, means testing can be seen as a form of social control through a framework of rules (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008).

 

The social democratic approach had some influence on the Labour governments of 1964-70 and 1974-9. It influenced the introduction of comprehensive schools which replaced the tripartite system. The social democratic approach also had a big influence in the new labours welfare to work programmes. The new deal was introduced by labour in 1998 it was set up to reduce unemployment by providing training, subsidised employment and voluntary work to the unemployed. In 1998 National child care strategy was announced this promised early education places for all three and four year olds. In 1999 Britain's first national minimum wage was introduced. In 2002 the job centre plus was established, this is a centre where the unemployed may go to get support finding work. All of the above where all introduced to support people in society who were struggling and was a result of the Social Democratic Approach. (S-cool 1 November 2012)

 

The social democratic approach has been criticised for being naively optimistic. It fails to see the problems of the development of welfare. Social democratic societies do not live in a problem free society. Pierson points out that Sweden who has the most advance welfare state in the world has had serious problems of unemployment. Some feminists believe that the social democratic approach emphasis on the rights of workers leads to a neglect of the rights of women, particularly in their roles as mothers and domestic labourers. Marxists believe that anything approaching equality cannot be achieved in a capitalist society and they believe that social democratic policies on welfare fail to distribute wealth and income from the rich to the poor. Marxists therefore, believe that social democrats do not go far enough in wanting only to reform capitalism. However, Pierson argues that the social democratic approach acknowledges both the importance of political factors and social changes such as industrialization, technological change and the development of capitalism which other perspectives does not (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008).

 

The Joseph Rowntree foundation conducted a study in 2010 called “Addressing in-work poverty”. The report shows that although families are working they are not always better off and that they still face poverty. It found that there were 1.8 million impoverished children in homes where parents work – this is an increase from the previous year. Child poverty within working households accounts for 58% of all UK cases. Even with, child and working tax credits many families are unable to get out of the cycle of poverty. Of these, 44% were considered to be in deep poverty, a household is considered to be in deep poverty if its income is less than 60% of median household income. Save the children said the report showed that for 2.1 million families, work did not pay. Further plans to working tax credit and childcare support will penalise working families even more. The coalition government claims that this is due to benefits being too high and radical reforms to the welfare system will ensure that work always pays and people are not trapped in a cycle of dependency and worklessness. (Kenway, P 2008)

Feminisation of poverty

In recent years there has been evidence to suggest that there has been a feminisation of poverty and that women are more likely to experience poverty than men. In the last three decades the proportion of poor families headed by women has grown to more than 50 percent.

 

Women face the problem of being stereotyped in the work place. As a result they receive lower wages and lack access to promotion. According to the guardian (1 November 2012) women generally earn 15% less than men. Women have stereotypical career choices which are lower paid positions than men. For example women are stereotypically thought to do caring which receives an average annual salary of £14,000 (Aberdeenshire Council, accessed 6 November 2012). Compared to a man's stereotypical job of an engineer which has an average salary of £35,000 -£37,000 (The Job Crowd accessed 6 November 2012).

 

Women face poverty due to the fact they have childcare responsibilities, especially those who are single parents. Feminists have criticised the welfare state for failing to provide adequate high-quality, affordable universal childcare for women who wished to pursue a career. It was reported in the guardian that due to the rising cost of childcare, going out to work full-time is now hardly worth-while for middle- and low-income families. " In the most extreme case – where a second earner takes a full-time job at the minimum wage – a couple who use childcare could be left just £4 a week better off with two incomes than with one" Guardian 1 November 2012.

 

 

A study by Oxfam called "A Gender Perspective on 21st Century Welfare Reform" shows how women would be worse off due to proposals for a single payment of benefits to be made to one member of the household. By doing this Oxfam feared that it would make one member of the couple a dependant (usually the women) on the other and as a result make them poorer. If a man was given the money he would not prioritise his families’ needs first such as buying things for the children. He would give the women a small percentage of this pay before spending the rest on him, the women would then have to go without in order to ensure her children's needs are put first.  Oxfam also noted that the proposal for mean testing benefits would be a problem for women. For many women, income from universal benefits such as Child Benefit may be the only independent income they have, if this is stopped then the women is even more so controlled by the man in the amount of money she is given for her and the children. The use of stronger conditionality, which lone parents (mostly women) in particular may not be in a position to meet, has also become an issue of concern for Oxfam. If stringent conditions are in place then this could especially hit parents bringing up children alone. Oxfam also pointed out in the study that the impact of the changes in earnings disregards on labour market motivation for those affected, many of whom will be women. Larger earning disregards can help part-time and low-paid workers. However, women cannot move into part-time or full-time work unless there is affordable childcare provided. Help with childcare costs in tax credits is not available for jobs with fewer than 16 hours. Oxfam suggests that there should be a legal right to request more hours of work just as there is the right to request reduced hours. (Veitch, J 2010)

 

Women occupy many public sector positions which are stable and offer job security. However, these jobs are often gender stereotypical. If matriarchy replaced patriarchy, this would not resolve the issue of class and discrimination. Feminists have been accused of generalising the wishes of women and not looking at the individual. Some women do want to be at home supporting their family’s fulltime (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008).

Conclusion and Bibliography

To conclude, social policy and the introduction of welfare came after the war when Beveridge published his report which was very influential for the welfare state. There is not one agreed definition of poverty, however this essay has looked at the concepts of relative and absolute poverty. There are three contrasting theories that look to explain poverty and ways to help the issue of poverty through various social policy. The New Right approach believes that there should be minimum state input and that welfare should be privatised, whilst the social democratic approach state the opposite. They believe that in order to help people out the poverty trap, the state must support these individuals and not single them out through mean testing the welfare state. Feminists, have pointed out how there is a feminisation of poverty. They argue that due to women being discriminated at work and having childcare responsibilities then this makes them more subjected to poverty than males.

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