Sociologists explain poverty in a number of different ways. Some sociological explanations of poverty say that the problem is with the attitudes and values of the poor, while other explanations say that the problem is with society and the economy. One explanation of poverty is the culture of poverty, which refers to the attitudes and values that people in poverty have. Poor people think that they can't change their situation and will always be poor, so they tend not to aim high and don’t make sacrifices as they feel that they won't achieve much. They also live for the moment (present gratification).
Extreme poverty, according to Sachs, is defined as the inability to acquire the essentials for survival. This includes food, shelter and potable drinking water. Those who endure moderate poverty are just meeting the requirements for physical survival. Poverty in America assumes the character of “relative” poverty, in which those who earn below the national average income struggle to acquire quality housing, quality food and quality education (Sachs, 20). Though the immediate consequences of poverty in America may not be as severe as in other parts of the world, poverty in America still has a negative effect on millions and poses an extremely serious issue for legislators, administrators and other concerned Americans.
According to Townsend (1979) individuals or families can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the type of diet, participation in the activities that are at least widely encouraged in society. This is termed relative poverty. Absolute poverty occurs when a person’s life falls below a fixed standard, experiences complete destitution and can not meet minimum needs of food and shelter (Townsend, 1979). Gender difference is a significant factor that has caused social exclusion and it could be argued that this exclusion is socially constructed. Firstly although much has improved there still is discrimination and inequalities in the labour market.
Businesses also suffer when massive layoffs occur. When spending by households decreases, incomes decrease for the businesses. Governments are not immune from the effects of massive layoffs of employees either. When households spend less, and businesses are selling less, there is less sales tax to be collected by the government. Also, when employees are laid off there is less income tax to be collected and to make things even worse, former employees can collect unemployment benefits from the government.
Women were another vulnerable group because they were always paid at a lower rate than men. There was no safety net for people who fell into poverty other than resorting to the ‘workhouse’ which had been established to deal with cases of extreme poverty in Trade unions had little power as the Taff Vale Incident of 1901 showed and Friendly Societies could only provide a limited amount of help. Attitudes to poverty in the early 20th century were quite unsympathetic many politicians from both the Liberal and Conservative party felt that poverty came from personal laziness. Both parties had an attitude of “laissez-faire” i.e. non interference from the government.
The minimum wage that welfare reform was expecting people to live off of was in fact not enough to even support the buying of food. In Working poor, working hard Katherine Newman expounds on the fact that welfare benefits are cut off at low levels and unavailable to those that earn minimum wage and work a forty-hour week. Newman also states that only a “combination of the two income streams [welfare and a job] make it possible to manage…life.” (Newman) These two sources only emphasize the already established fact that welfare reform must be reformed
These people are known to live in poverty. Relative poverty is where people are having a better life and they have enough money to buy things like food, clothing, get a sheltered place (Giddens 2006). Poverty is measured within our society there is a ‘Poverty Line’ which determines how poor a person is (Cohen 2007). Absolute poverty is determined is based on the price of the basic goods needed for human survival in a particular society. Individuals or households whose income falls below the poverty line are said to live in poverty.
Generational poverty usually passes on the lack of motivation, money and education from one generation to the other. Children affect by poverty usually don’t receive quality education as well as healthcare. There are many families solely but incorrectly depended on welfare for their source of income. We can think of several ways to break this cycle. One way is to get something to do for income.
Examine the view that poverty is beneficial to society Poverty is the social and economic state of either living below a particular standard or average. It can be defined in two ways, the first being absolute poverty which is the inability to afford the five basic essentials that are warmth, clothing, food, shelter and water. A positive for this definition of poverty is that it allows us to make comparisons with other cultures. On the other a hand a negative for this definition of poverty is that many people would feel that a lack of any of these essentials is destitution not poverty. The second way poverty can be defined is as relative poverty which is the inability to afford the average standard of living for a particular society.
Poverty One main cause of poverty is overpopulation. Actually, overpopulation is not a bad thing, only if they’re all contributing to their society. But due to lack of opportunities, lack of skills and lack of education, people are being a burden to its society. Thus, poverty rises. Inequality does exist.