The distribution of poverty wealth and income

wealth

refers to peoples assets and what a person sells for cash

• jewellery

• house

• car

income

the money coming in to your bank account

marketable wealth

assets that can be bought and sold

non-marketable wealth

pensions or long term serving plans

productive property

unearned income e.g. money from a property that is rented out

consumption property

wealth that you have in the form of consumer goods

disposable income 

what you have left after paying tax 

discretionary income

what is left after tax, bills, food and travel costs

inheritance tax

a tax payed on something you inherit 

capital gains tax 

intended to reduce the profits of those who own shares

income tax

tax payed based on your salary

tax avoidance

• legal

• if you buy something but say its a business expense then you cant get taxed

tax evasion

• illegal

• you dont tell HMRC how much you earn so you can pay less tax

poverty statistics

• 14.6 million live in poverty

• 33.6% of children are in poverty

• 50% of those in poverty are on a low income/have no job

• 16% of pensioners are in poverty

• 46% of lone parents are in poverty

ethnicity and poverty

there 5 reasons for poverty in EMG’s

• low pay

• unemployment

• family types

• underachievement in education

• racism in employment

Wood

ethnicity and poverty

• applied for the same job with the same CV’s just different last names

• evans vs patel 

• evans got invited back for more interviews

kenway and palmer

ethnicity and poverty

• almost 50% of children in EMG homes lives in poverty compared to ¼ of white british

Ball

underachievement in schools could be caused by the ethnocentric curriculum

age and poverty 

• 33.6% of children in the UK live in poverty

• Hirsch said that poverty causes social and material hardhsips and so affects educational achievement 

what did Hirsch identify as factors that increase child poverty 

• lone parenthood

• low paid parents/unemployment

• disability of parents

• costs of childcare 

evaluation for ethnicity and poverty

• F says it sets an example of what not to do and ensures a meritocracy and it increases motivation

• M say that due to low pay children miss out on opportunities 

• Nr say its nothing to do with ethnicity, its just that they are part of the underclass 

age and poverty evaluation

• F says elderly being in poverty is good because theyve finished their role

• Murray blames children being in poverty on the lack of primary soc. in SPF’s 

• M says its because the capitalist system wont employ the elderly 

disability and poverty

• 33% of adults with disability live in poverty (palmer) 

• social exclusion 

• unemployment

• low pay

• discrimination

• inadequate benefits 

evaluation for disability and poverty

• F says that jobs are created in the care sector 

• M says bourgeoisie won’t hire disabled people

• Murray says some people with disability can work but choose not to

gender and poverty

• women are in part time due to child care and triple shift

• women complete the expressive roll - home makers

• middleton found that women bear the burden of making ends meet 

gender and poverty evaluation

• F would says a womens job is to do the expressive role she shouldnt be working

• Murrary would say women bring it on themselves by failing on peverse incentives 

• M says capitalism is too blame and women are takers of shit

what do functionalists say about inequality in wealth

• its good because it encourages people to work harder to get more rewards - meritocracy

• it also creates jobs

Davis and moore 

• functionalists

• specialist skills

• those with more skills get more rewards 

• some jobs are more functionally important

Gans

• functionalist

• poverty means that the dirtiest jobs are always completed because people want some money

• creates jobs

do functionalists think society would work without poverty 

no because no one would choose jobs like a doctor when you could do something easier and be the same 

criticisms of functionalism

• there isnt a way of deciding if jobs are more important e.g. doctor vs nurse 

• some people have inherited wealth and havent worked for it

• some people arent motivated by money - its their passions

• people dont work to avoid poverty - benefit scroungers

weberian theory

• social action theorist

• inequalities exist due to different market situations (skills)

• many people have different market situations e.g. doctor vs singer 

• celeb based society 

• weak market situation = poverty 

what barriers may people face that gives them a weak market situation 

• education  = cant pay for private schools 

• language barriers (bernstein) 

what doesnt weber consider 

those with inherited wealth dont have a market situation because they require no skills for the money to be their

what do marxists think about inequality in wealth

• Miliband says that poverty lies in the private ownership of the means of production 

• and the concentration of ownership means few people own all the businesses

• poverty is inevitable 

• false class consciousness 

is poverty inevitable

• yes this is because the working classes sell their labour 

• the capitalist system causes poverty 

• proletariat cant be socially mobile 

why do the r/c divide the w/c into those who work and those who dont

they use divide and rule through the media

• they portray the w/c as honest workers and the underclass as benefit scroungers 

• this means that more people start to work because they dont want to be known as a benefit scrounger 

are there some jobs in the uk that even the poor wont do 

yes - seasonal work because they dont see the point when they can just rely on benefits 

criticisms of marxism 

they ignore other ineuqality

• gender

• ethnic 

• age 

• and disability