Poverty, Deprivation, and Wealth

Measures of Segregation

  • Refer to lecture slides for understanding measures of segregation.
  • Index of dissimilarity is used to measure segregation.
  • Maps visualize the outcome of segregation.

Poverty, Deprivation, and Wealth

  • Social inequality is linked to spatial inequality.
  • Relative Poverty: Focus on richer, more developed countries.
  • Absolute Poverty: Concentrated in less developed countries.

Essential Needs vs. Societal Norms

  • Essentials: Basic survival needs (e.g., food, shelter).
  • Societal Norms: Requirements for participation in society (e.g., transportation, education, internet).

Philosophical Perspectives

  • Debate around adequate, essential, and necessary standards.
  • Poverty can be viewed as a political choice related to income distribution.

Global Poverty Patterns

  • Extreme poverty (earning less than $$2.15$ per day) is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Global extreme poverty has decreased significantly since the 1980s.

Absolute vs. Relative Poverty

  • Absolute poverty line varies, with some countries above the international standard.
  • Relative poverty is determined by the context of each country.

Cultural Definitions of Poverty

  • European survey example: inability to afford rent, new clothes, meat, heating, holidays, or social meals.

Geographical Mapping of Poverty

  • Poverty rates vary by state and county, concentrated in the Deep South.
  • Smaller geographic areas show more variation in poverty levels.

Changing Definitions of Deprivation

  • Definitions of deprivation change over time (e.g., landline vs. internet access).
  • Deprivation is a relative measure; someone will always be in the bottom 10% of the distribution.

Causes of Deprivation

  • Primary causes: economic changes exacerbated by migration, low wages, unemployment, and welfare payment changes.

Deprivation and Health Outcomes

  • Higher deprivation correlates with lower life expectancy.
  • Life expectancy varies based on the level of deprivation in different areas.

Models of Poverty and Deprivation

  • Culture of Poverty: Internal deficiencies within groups cause poverty; government policies are ineffective.
  • Cycles of Deprivation: Poverty is transmitted through generations due to inadequate home environments.
  • Institutional Failure: Government planning, management, and administration fail to address poverty effectively.
  • Maldistribution of Resources: Inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities leads to poverty; underprivileged groups lack political influence.
  • Structural Class Conflict: Capitalist systems inherently create winners and losers, leading to inevitable deprivation.

Solutions to Poverty

  • Educate individuals to increase aspirations.
  • Intervene in families with social workers and health visitors.
  • Change governmental institutions.
  • Implement positive discrimination to redistribute resources.
  • Overthrow the capitalist system (Marxist perspective).

Measuring Deprivation

  • Deprivation is multi-dimensional, including health, access to services, and education.
  • Indexes are used to compare deprivation levels between places.
  • Townsend Deprivation Index: Includes unemployment, overcrowding, no car, and non-homeownership.
  • Index of Multiple Deprivation (New Zealand): Includes employment, income, crime, housing, health, and education domains.