Wealth Inequality/Poverty

What is poverty?

* defining poverty is challenging as there can be many interpretations depending on those around you and what your view of the causes are
* sociologist peter townsend defined poverty as “lacking the resources to meet those basic needs, including social participation, which others take for granted”
* two measures of poverty include absolute poverty and relative poverty
* the UK median income in 2021 was £31,400, with those in relative poverty earning less than £18,840

Absolute poverty

* typically the type of poverty we see in very poor, lesser developed countries
* this could be when people are living on very little money
* £1/£2 per day

Relative poverty

* is defined in terms of the area in which a person lives
* applies to wealthy, developed countries such as the UK
* in the UK you are in relative poverty if your income is less than 60% of the UK median income

Minimum income standard (MIS)

* since 2008, it has shown how much households need for a minimum socially acceptable standard of living, as specified by members of the general public in ongoing research
* in order to reach a minimum socially acceptable living standard in 2020, a single person needs to earn £19,200 a year and a couple with 2 children each need to earn £18,700
* the national minimum wage in 2022 for over 23s is £9.50 per hour and on average people work 38 hours a week equalling £20,216

Joseph Rowntree Report 2022

Causes of poverty

* unemployment
* low pay
* educational attainment
* gender
* geography

Causes of poverty - unemployment

Causes of poverty - low pay

Causes of poverty - educational attainment

Causes of poverty - gender

Causes of poverty - geography

Responses to wealth inequality

* universal credit
* national minimum wage/national living wage

Responses to wealth inequality - universal credit

Responses to wealth inequality - universal credit successes

Responses to wealth inequality - universal credit failures

Responses to wealth inequality - national living wage/national minimum wage

Real Living Wage

Responses to wealth inequality - national living wage/national minimum wage timeline