A comparative analysis of Poverty in the UK and Mexico
Within this assignment I am going to look at the issue of poverty and how it affects those in the developed countries and the developing ones aswell, I will look at the different types of poverty and how the different definitions effect the way in which we look at how the definitions affect how we perceive those people.
“The fight against poverty stands a good chance only when children are freed from exploitation, violence and abuse. Unfortunately there is no quick-fix solution: a child cannot be immunized against abuse. But there is something that can be done. We can begin by ensuring that all children live in a strong protective environment.” ()
Poverty in childhood is a direct cause for poverty in adulthood. When looking at poverty there are those who look at it in the terms of absolute poverty, this is when “they do not have the resources to maintain human life” (Haralmbos, 2000, pg 292). Yet there are those who support the concept of relative poverty, these supporters say that the definition must be applied to the standards within the society at a particular time, therefore depending on how affluent the society will depict whether somebody is above or below the poverty line. Also when looking at poverty, the definition cannot be determined on material value but other factors and experiences need to be taken into account, things such as poor education and unhealthy working conditions can be seen as aspects of multiple deprivation which leads to poverty. The concept of absolute poverty is usually associated with material possessions, i.e having enough food, clothing and shelter. From this term those who are considered poor are those who do not have the basic provisions, these basics form a poverty line and those who fall below the line are usually considered as being poor. According to Drewnowski and Scott (cited in Haralambos 2000), they go beyond the levels of physical needs and look at other factors such as education, leisure and recreation. Yet the concept of absolute poverty can be criticised as it states that there are minimum basic needs for all societies, Townsend (1970) argues that it would be difficult to compare societies on needs such as food and shelter, without taking into factor things such as leisure activities and occupations. Townsend is a pioneer in the concept of relative poverty he talks about poverty being specific to a society and the time; he says that it transcends a lack of material resources. His work into poverty in the 1970s led poverty to be highlighted into the political forefront. He came up with two standards of poverty, the first of the states definition, in which they use official statistics, and the amount of income support that people get, those who fall below the levels of insufficient housing. He sees it as the government of the time determine who falls below the poverty line. He also states that of the relative income standard of poverty, this households for which fall below the average for households with the same number of occupants. According to Townsend, poverty can only be applied in the terms of relative deprivation, which the society in which the person lives determines what he or she will need for basic survival, the food which people eat and the type of job they have to have so that they can have basic standard of living. Townsend did a number of pieces of research into poverty in the UK and found that from 1979 there has been an increase in the levels of poverty, but in recent years the term social exclusion has been the term which has been used to talk about deprivation and is an expansion on Townsend’s theory of relative deprivation. Carol and Alan Walker define poverty as “a lack of the material resources, especially income, necessary to participate in British society” (Haralambos, 2000, pg 303). They see social exclusion as being partially or fully excluded from systems in society which enable the person to be part of that society. We have already talked about the poverty line, some countries do not use this, those who do usually produce statistics stating the amount of households that fall underneath it, these statistics tend not to be based on sociological or childhood based definitions of poverty, and as they are calculated in a number of ways it makes them harder to compare.
