Poverty Continuity and Change - Coursework Example

Elеmеnts оf соntinuity аnd сhаngе in thе wаys in whiсh роvеrty hаs bееn dеfinеd, invеstigаtеd аnd ехрlаinеd during thе реriоd с.1880 tо thе рrеsеnt. By Student Name Professor Course Institution Date POVERTY CONTINUITY AND CHANGE Introduction Since the time in memorial, the word poverty has had a lot of ambiguity. In late 18th century, poverty was one of the main topics of discussion and it hit many themes. In many occasions, it was referred to as a social problem in England in early 19th century. It was labelled ‘laboring poor’ (Morand, 2006. Pg.17). There was a bit of confusion between people who worked for themselves on small scale and individuals who fully depended on the charity relief. It was then after when it was suggested that the term poor should be referred to the ill and infirm. It was also referred to babies, orphans and for the elderly (Taylor and Daniel 2005 pg. 681). This gave a way in for the poor law reformers who gave it a different school of thought. The distinguished both I theory and policy; the independent poor from the dependent individuals who were poor, laborers and the paupers. These served to eliminate the ambiguity that was there before. The two versions sought for tradition to support them. Tradition proved not to buy their ideas. What they were terming as ambiguity had been accepted in many centuries since the time in memorial (Atkinson & Bourguignon. 2000. Pg159). The traditions of United Kingdom identified the poor as disgraced people in the society. Currently in United Kingdom, poverty has proven not to be a self-defining term. Many scholars in United Kingdom have suggested many forms of definition of poverty as per the prevailing policies. Poverty could be defined as the inability to have command over commodities, or rather could be lack of command on basic needs especially food, housing and clothing. All these drive at a common agreed definition; a status by which a person's good and reasonable standards of living is not sustained (Bapat, 2009Pg 801). It is inability to sustain a socially agreed standard of living. The conventional definition of poverty may disagree with what policy dictated. The policy regarded poor people to be the elderly, children, the sick people with physical disabilities and mentally ill individuals. The definition demands that anyone regardless of the above factor can be poor provided he/she is unable to sustain socially agreed standards of living. In United Kingdom, poverty has proven to be an issue of concern both at national and local levels (Great Britain, & Morley, 2010 Pg 400). This has led to setting some policies that determine if the income and living status of people living in poverty are acceptable or not acceptable. The definitions have been in hot debates by the government to see if they could alter the basis by which child's poverty can be defined. AS the debate is hitting, many of the opinions is supporting the poverty as people in a status which lack of resources leads them to live under the commonly agreed living standards. Other tend to disagree with this definition since needs of different ages; class and gender are different. Any definition of poverty should target all levels without discriminating or leaving out others. In England of late, poverty has been measured by family's income as compared to the national average. This has been done to identify some families that are on the extreme limits (Lambert, 2001. Pg 791) These poverty predicaments have been passed from one generation to anther since the 18th centuries. A study done in United Nations revealed that around 300, 000 families in United Kingdom had no adult individual who has ever been employed. It also pointed out that 300, 000 children have parents who had serious addictions to drugs. Considerate families had individuals suffering from effects of psychiatry and mental illnesses. These are indications of poverty. Children from the very families have limited chances and opportunities in life. The study pointed out that a lot had to be done since this could be a repeat over many decades (King, 2000. Pg 92). The United Kingdom government has shown a lot of determination in coming up with policies that is meant to clear this problem finally. It is determined to eliminate the problem that leads to its people to poverty rather than poverty as a problem itself. According to ‘social justice: Transforming lives' published on 13th march 2002, it explains the efforts of the government to eliminate poverty. The government made a policy of targeting families and individual in poverty crisis in giving them their support and tools they may need to make a change in their lives. The government has utilized its efforts in combination with private and voluntary sectors to achieve its goal of social justice framework (Waldfogel, 2010 pg. 891). This has aimed at monitoring how the resources are distributed at both national and local levels. It is important to note that the government strives to kick out poverty focuses on eliminating problems leading to poverty rather than poverty itself. The government has come up with various policies and strategies to get rid of poverty in United Nations. The local authorities have an obligation to help 120, 000 families, or households to change their lives to better forms of lives by 2015 (N. D, 2013. Pg 274). The government is keen in overseeing the implementation of the plans. The government has also declared a role to deal with mental illnesses and psychiatry among its citizens that has also proven to be the emerging cause of poverty in the country. It has come up with the policy of reducing or rather eliminating poverty especially of children by 2020. Children today are the future of the nation and so appropriate measures should be taken reduce their level of poverty (King, 2000 pg.290). National child poverty strategy was made and was to run between 2011- 2014. After consultations, the second strategy was made on 26th June 2014 that was to run from 2014 to 2017. All these aims at reducing child's poverty. The government is committed at making work pay. This is a policy that will increase participation of youth especially of ages 16 to 24 years old in learning and getting employed. There is a strategy of helping people recover from drug addiction and dependency. The government has come up with policies of restricting illicit drugs and recovery of drug users in their communities. This will be implemented by drug policy enacted by the parliament. How poverty has been explained In British history, poor relief has long been used to refer to policies of the government or faith based organization to eliminate poverty. The British government since memorial has been confronted with issues about the poor and poverty in the country. It has been about who should benefit from the policies passed about the poor and who is fully responsible about poor individuals in the country? As a way of responding to the difficult issues, the government came up with various ways of explaining and understood this crisis to get rid of it. In 16th century to date, the English parliament passed poverty legislation. The legislation leans more on accommodating the poor and looking for a solution to eliminate poverty in the country. In the ancient days in Britain, the poor were disgraced and they were isolated from the rest of the population. The poor were not given their due respect by other people because of their unacceptable status. In the 18th century, legal strategies were enacted; they put to place to intimidate the poor (Sireau, 2008. Pg 203). They focused on administering some forms of punishment poor individuals for acts especially vagabond and begging on the streets. During the reign of Henry V11 of England, the legislating house passed the vagabond act. The Act dictated that, the authorized officials were to arrest any vagabonds, those who were idling, and suspected persons who lived suspiciously. The act demanded that the people should be detained for three nights then expelled out of the town and never to beg again. The law did not have the proper definition of vagabonds and ended up doing many injustices to the poor people. It failed to understand that there was impotent poor, people who could not provide their own basic needs like the sick, elderly and the physically challenged. The population of people in Britain dramatically increased in the late later years. The population was reported to increase more than the nation's economy (Strange, 2005. Pg 197). The government was unable to fully provide employment opportunities to its citizens. At this period, there was a religious division; Protestants moved away from Catholics. It led to the dissolution of monasteries that were there before to benefit the poor. This was a major blow to the poor. Majority of the hospitals which were designed to serve the poor were closed. The poor people were left without any medical centers that were to aid there medical care. This led to led to the British parliament to revise the vagabond act in the legislating house. Unfortunately, it did not consider different classes of the poor. The act only considered people who were old, the sick and those with physical disabilities. These are the people who were considered to be poor, and they were offered with the licenses to beg (Waldfogel, 2010. Pg 518). The poor people out of work were affected by this punishment. In the late 18th century, most of the British regions were in the process of industrialization. These led to industries owners searching for cheap labor for goods production and even marketing. This brought in slavery and child labor issues. Many people went to the extent of employing children without giving them their due wages. This has been one of the reasons leading to widening the gap between the poor and the rich. In fact, the poor law during this period wanted children to work by apprenticeship. By the end of 18th century, this situation was brought to change. Industry owners hesitated in employing children in apprenticeships. They started employing them under payment of some wages. Cheap labor from children made adults miss out jobs and hence could not provide for their families (Sireau, 2008 pg. 173). In the late 19th century, both the rural and urban poverty had many commonalities when compared. They both faced social predicaments like overcrowded houses, low wages, poor diets, unemployment, sicknesses, and old age. Census done by that time revealed that people were highly populated in the urban areas than in the rural areas. The urban areas provided many employment opportunities but of unskilled and casual labor hence, people continued hustling with lower wages and un- predetermined income. This was the main factor that contributed to poverty in urban regions. This led to some amendments due to the increased predicaments of the poor people. There was an amendment of poor law in Scotland. The law demanded creation of a central board that had due authority to raise local and necessary funds. They were then to decide on the distribution of the funds among the poor. Other amendments gave the poor a right to seek for justice in the case of any form of injustice done to them as they begged. Today, United Kingdom is one of the developed countries on the globe. But the widening gap between the rich and the poor has also been seen widening since then. The most recent information released by the department of Work and Pension indicate that people living in poverty has steadily increased over years. Currently, it is estimated that people living in poverty are approximately 10.6 million. This is an imaginable increase compared to the recent years (Waldfogel, 2010 pg.17) Another report revealed that 23.2 % of the Britons are in poverty. They are unable to get socially acceptable basic needs. These are better housing, food and clothing. In early 1950s, it was believed that poverty had been relative been eliminated in United Kingdom with a hand full areas remaining. The assumption was embedded on a study on poverty in U.K. Carried out by Wailtman (2008. Pg 1726). The study showed that only 1.5% of the entire population lived in poverty compared to 36% of the people in poverty in 1936. Later in 1960s, it was discovered that the study was unrealistic. Another study was carried out, and it brought out that 12% of the Britons lived in poverty. They were living below supplementary benefits scales. This was the proposed definition of poverty by Professor A. Atkinson. The poverty status of this people was explained by the fact that they were living in poor housing conditions. The study estimated that about three million families lived in slums. A survey in England and Wales found out that 11.7% of all slum dwellings were not fit for the United Kingdom's citizens (Chinn, 1995. Pg 84). Another way which is being used to explain poverty in the United Nations is child's poverty. London has had the highest levels of child's poverty in U.K. followed by Manchester, Birmingham and then Leicester city. Studies have shown that in the recent past, 2.3 million children were living in poverty in the United Nations. This means that these children are raised in families with an income less than 60% of the national median. The 2020 target has been to reduce children poverty to at least 1.2 million. Child's poverty has been evident in families where the parents are jobless (Englander, 2000. Pg 156). Recently, there have been policies and sensitization from the entire nation. They have demanded that political leaders in the country need to rid the ongoing poverty of United Kingdom's children. They should be on the fore front in taking actions that will solve this predicament both at local and national levels. This can be done through trying to restore the links between benefit and inflation to reduce this problem at family levels. It also can be smoked out by coming out with poverty elimination act through the parliament. The act that will set aside a kitty that will fund children living in poverty. The work and pension secretary and his department brought it clearly that the government had an obligation of ending child's poverty by 2020 (Taylor & Daniel, 2005. Pg 279). In so doing, this could reduce the nation's poverty by 43%. On contrary, the Institute of for Fiscal Studies had their predictions and projected that by 2020, poverty is likely to have risen up by 39%. The government stated that the though the surveys done were not providing a clear picture on child's poverty, It is committed than ever to get rid of that problem. They are fully driven by their initial goal. The goal that aims to reduce children's poverty to lower levels. Children are the hope of the coming nation's generation and so their upbringing should be boosted to have a healthy future nation. The government has already started seeing the results of their efforts. How poverty has been investigated Poverty has a dichotomy of elements in different societies. The two particular central elements identified in the context of Britons, and that has been investigated for long are the continuity of poverty and change (Waltman, 2008 pg. 1006). Continuity on one side implies factors that make poverty appear to be a concern that will have to be part of society for it to progress. The economically stable countries and the so-called developing countries have some degree of poverty in their respective civilizations. It, therefore, means that no country can extremely be rich to lack the poor population. The presence of the poor in society has been inculcated in the economics as there can never be equality in the nation. If everyone is equal in the society then, there will be no exchange or one serving another one. On that perspective, a society is said to be relative rich or relatively poor amongst individual at whatever level (Morand, 2006 pg. 519). Within the class of the riches is relative equally within the poor the poverty is relative, and that is a continuum that no change can alter. Such relativity is what makes the society coexist. It's through this difference that comes with innovation, services, and exchanges within individuals. In the event that the society is equal then innovation cannot happen (Vries. 2013 pg. 306). Secondary to relative poverty or riches, society will remain to be in a state of the continuum within the realms of change. The hard working poor class will momentarily become rich while remaining poor relatively poor to another class. The cycle is in the process of continuum (Morand, 2006 pg. 378). Relative income poverty conceptualization, continuity of poverty is viewed in the prism of living standards of a particular society according with many researches and investigation like In Englander, (2000 ) these circumstances, the concern is with the individuals whose income fall below an acceptable minimum relative to general levels of income. The relative poverty has its conception pinned on such ideals. According to King, (2000) individuals who are salaried in most of the occasions are the one that become the culprit of continuity theory. Once an individual has a general income where many are classified then the continuum and change alternating at a minimal rate. In that light, a criterion has been formulated in investigating the implication of the poverty continuum. Poverty continuum can be measured using a construct that according to Englander (2000) is termed as standard measure poverty line. It is set relatively to the current income. The rationale behind income poverty measures is that those individuals falling below a certain minimal threshold proportion of poverty are considered ‘normal' income levels for a particular society. Consequent to such categorization such groups have been brought to revelation by researchers to lack the ability to participating fully in life of a given society. As a result, such group of people place a state of poverty into a continuum that can hardly change other than shifting as whole. Such measures have been used in the industrialized countries has proven existence of a group of the poor though at a different level compared with developing nations. The collectivity of poverty The two central features of continuity of poverty that has been investigated includes the household income as an indicator of resources, living standards and secondly the capacity to participate in the society. The benchmark of adequacy used in assessing whether a household is in the process of continuity is strictly with the average income of the society. In this case the income of the society is used to gage the poverty level of the individuals. The poverty of individual cannot be defined in solitude but in combination and inclusion of the larger society. For that reason in isolation, everyone is rich, but poverty sets in the society as the gap yawn between individuals. Many pundits, therefore, observer poverty to be in the continuum where the individual in the society that are considered poor must be in the society to be viewed as the poor. In short poverty can never be measured in isolation but in analyzing the larger society at large. Factoring purchasing power in continuity of poverty Geographic location can be a determinant of the poverty level and its state of continuity. Certain areas have higher purchasing power than others. According to many investigations done, the less industrialized area or nations have always had low purchasing power considering running the machines need reasonable threshold of purchasing power. Equivalence comes into play in the continuity of poverty. A good example is the class that is considered rich. Equivalence tends to vary greatly and proportionally at different income levels. In a research, it was found out that the "richer" families found children relatively more costly than the "poorer" families. Such explains that the state of poverty is still in a long continuum that cannot be changed or broken (Morand, 2006. Pg 49) Such in scenarios are best described by a number of factors. The factors include resource allocation. For most of the cases resource usually follow the purchasing power. In such occurrences, poverty will continue to be in poverty for very long because of low purchasing power. Shocking or perhaps even surprisingly, the families with bigger purchasing power, but inside they are living in "hidden poverty" within the non-poor household. In that point of view, poverty is seen to be in the continuum and can never change but shift in position. (Reis, 2011. pg. 27). That is the very reason that even the most developed civilization has destitute and the poor. Two polarities that necessitates continuity of poverty Research done by King (2000), has revealed that many countries that have tried to combat poverty using policies have failed. In country like India where the research was conducted gave a revelation that policies on resource distribution on the entire country, having common household resources among the poor and an existence of differing living standards among the populace did not work to stem out poverty. Ironically, the very poverty was found to be necessary for the exchange of good and services. In other word, a currency of the country will only be on the move if the country has some degree of difference among its population. Such scenario has been described in terms equality being counterproductive in improvement of the economy (Bapat, 2009. Pg. 279). The research father revealed that good economies have been flourishing where the class that has been considered poor has a reasonable purchasing power. In essence, they have cash but also the economy is so pressing that they have to spend. In the effect, they have to keep the cash circulating. The circulation in effect causes the economy to thrive (Morand, 2006. Pg. 574). In comparison, the research revealed that in the event the class that has been tagged poor in the society has a very low purchasing power, then getting the circulating cash becomes difficult and the resultant effect is development of destitute and poor housing units. Such is a consequence of the cash circulating among the rich leading to polarity in the society with two stagnation. First is the poor class with fixated and limited cash flowing amongst themselves and secondly is the rich with fixated unlimited cash flowing amongst themselves. The two polarities then cause the circulation of cash to have to horizons and poverty being in a state of the continuum where change becomes a tough subject to execute (Morand, 2006 pg. 713). For the two polarities to develop, there must exist a profound degree of inequality. Such profound inequality between the societies causes rapid development of destitute families. In most of the occasions, according to King (2000), the inequality that exceeds a certain threshold that are defined by a country can have a very profound negative effect to the society. The effects include excruciating crime index that involve the poor trying to get to the top through unscrupulous means, increased in abolished trade such sale of the narcotic where the poor becomes the soft target of the illegal commerce and other crimes such as robbery.. Poverty explosion now come with other tremendous negative implication such as recruitment into terror groups that in return attack its country. The recruitment is only possible because the poor looks for any avenue of improving their living standard by any means possible. The rich who have different political agendas or religion with other hidden agenda uses such opportunities and recruit the poor into the radicles group. Consequently, the country will have security concerns that will scare away the investors from the country hence poverty will remain endemic forever (Morand, 2006, pg. 689). In conclusion, it has been seen that stemming out poverty can be very hard if not possible. If it were possible, the so-called G8 countries could not be having the poor. Its poverty in a state of continuity that can help to stir the economy of a given country. A fluid poor class of the country that can a time earn decently is very positive for any country. Negative side of poverty comes with two polarities between the rich and poor. Such polarity that leads to poverty exposition with dire economic consequences such as radicalization of the youth and recruitment into terror groups that in turn causes poverty. References Artkinson, A. B., & Bourguignon, F. (2000). Handbook of income distribution. Amsterdam, Elsevier North Holland. Bapat, M. (2009). Poverty lines and lives of the poor: underestimation of urban poverty - the case of India. London, International Institute for Environment and Development. Beckerman, W. (2000). The impact of income maintenance programmes on poverty in Britain. Brady, D. (2009). Rich democracies, poor people how politics explain poverty. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Bradbury, B., Jenkins, S.P., & Micklewright, J. (2001). The dynamics of child poverty in industrialized countries. New York, Cambridge University Press. Callant, T. (1996). Poverty in the 1990s: evidence from the 1994 living in Ireland survey. Dublin, Oak Tree Press. Chinn, C. (1995). Poverty amidst prosperity: the urban poor in England, 1834-1914. Manchester, Manchester University Press. Devine, F. (1997). Social class in America and Britain. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. Englander, D. (2000). Poverty and poor law reform in Britain: from Chadwick to Booth, 1834-1914. London [u.a.], Addison Wesley Longman. Great Britain, & Morley, E. (2010). Fuel Poverty: Fifth Report of Session 2009-10: Volume 1 - Report, Together with Formal Minutes. March 2010. King, S. (2000). Poverty and welfare in England, 1700-1850: a regional perspective. Manchester, UK, Manchester University Press. Korte, B., & Zipp, G. (2014). Poverty in contemporary literature: themes and figurations on the British book market. Lambert, P. J. (2001). The distribution and redistribution of income. Manchester, Manchester University Press. Morand , M., & Darribehaude, M. (2006). Juvenile crime and poverty in 19th-century Britain emergence and spread of an ideological postulate: Master Recherché Civilization britannique. La Garde, Université de Toulon et du Var, Faculté des Lettres et Sciences humaines N. D.(2013). Poverty and insecurity. life in 'low-pay, no-pay' Britain [et al.], [et al.]. Bristol, Policy. N. d.(2013). Pauperland: A Short History of Poverty in Britain. [s.l.], C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd. Reis, N. (2011). Tracing and making the state policy practices and domestic water supply in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Wien, Lit. Robson, P., & Kjonstad, A. (2001). Poverty and the law. Oxford [England], Hart Pub. Rogally, B., Fisher, T., & Mayo, E. (2002). Poverty, social exclusion and microfinance in Britain. Oxford, Oxfam in association with the New Economics Foundation. Ruxton, S. (2002). Men, masculinities and poverty in the UK. Oxford, Oxfam. Salagrama, V. (2006). Trends in poverty and livelihoods in coastal fishing communities of Orissa State, India. Rome, FAO. Sireau, N. (2008). Make poverty history: political communication in action. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Strange, J.-M. (2005). Death, grief and poverty in Britain, 1870-1914. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Taylor, J., & Daniel, B. (2005). Child neglect practice issues for health and social care. Palo Alto, Calif, Ebrary. Vries, P. (2013). Escaping poverty the origins of modern economic growth. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1543278. Waldfogel, J. (2010). Britain's war on poverty. New York, Russell Sage Foundation. Walsh, M., Stephens, P., & Moore, S. (2000). Social policy & welfare. Cheltenham, Glos., U.K., Stanley Thornes. Waltman, J. L. (2008). Minimum wage policy in Great Britain and the United States. New York, Algora Pub. Read More

finition demands that anyone regardless of the above factor can be poor provided he/she is unable to sustain socially agreed standards of living. In United Kingdom, poverty has proven to be an issue of concern both at national and local levels (Great Britain, & Morley, 2010 Pg 400). This has led to setting some policies that determine if the income and living status of people living in poverty are acceptable or not acceptable. The definitions have been in hot debates by the government to see if they could alter the basis by which child's poverty can be defined.

AS the debate is hitting, many of the opinions is supporting the poverty as people in a status which lack of resources leads them to live under the commonly agreed living standards. Other tend to disagree with this definition since needs of different ages; class and gender are different. Any definition of poverty should target all levels without discriminating or leaving out others. In England of late, poverty has been measured by family's income as compared to the national average. This has been done to identify some families that are on the extreme limits (Lambert, 2001. Pg 791) These poverty predicaments have been passed from one generation to anther since the 18th centuries.

A study done in United Nations revealed that around 300, 000 families in United Kingdom had no adult individual who has ever been employed. It also pointed out that 300, 000 children have parents who had serious addictions to drugs. Considerate families had individuals suffering from effects of psychiatry and mental illnesses. These are indications of poverty. Children from the very families have limited chances and opportunities in life. The study pointed out that a lot had to be done since this could be a repeat over many decades (King, 2000. Pg 92). The United Kingdom government has shown a lot of determination in coming up with policies that is meant to clear this problem finally.

It is determined to eliminate the problem that leads to its people to poverty rather than poverty as a problem itself. According to ‘social justice: Transforming lives' published on 13th march 2002, it explains the efforts of the government to eliminate poverty. The government made a policy of targeting families and individual in poverty crisis in giving them their support and tools they may need to make a change in their lives. The government has utilized its efforts in combination with private and voluntary sectors to achieve its goal of social justice framework (Waldfogel, 2010 pg. 891). This has aimed at monitoring how the resources are distributed at both national and local levels.

It is important to note that the government strives to kick out poverty focuses on eliminating problems leading to poverty rather than poverty itself. The government has come up with various policies and strategies to get rid of poverty in United Nations. The local authorities have an obligation to help 120, 000 families, or households to change their lives to better forms of lives by 2015 (N. D, 2013. Pg 274). The government is keen in overseeing the implementation of the plans. The government has also declared a role to deal with mental illnesses and psychiatry among its citizens that has also proven to be the emerging cause of poverty in the country.

It has come up with the policy of reducing or rather eliminating poverty especially of children by 2020. Children today are the future of the nation and so appropriate measures should be taken reduce their level of poverty (King, 2000 pg.290). National child poverty strategy was made and was to run between 2011- 2014. After consultations, the second strategy was made on 26th June 2014 that was to run from 2014 to 2017. All these aims at reducing child's poverty. The government is committed at making work pay.

This is a policy that will increase participation of youth especially of ages 16 to 24 years old in learning and getting employed. There is a strategy of helping people recover from drug addiction and dependency.

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