David Brady
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195385878
- eISBN:
- 9780199870066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385878.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter begins by reviewing the shortcomings of the official U.S. measure of poverty, arguing that it is unreliable and invalid. Then, the chapter reviews major theoretical and methodological ...
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This chapter begins by reviewing the shortcomings of the official U.S. measure of poverty, arguing that it is unreliable and invalid. Then, the chapter reviews major theoretical and methodological advances in poverty measurement and advocates five criteria in the measurement of poverty: (1) to measure comparative historical variation effectively, (2) to be relative rather than absolute, (3) to conceptualize poverty as social exclusion and capability deprivation, (4) to incorporate taxes and transfers, and (5) to integrate the depth of poverty. Overall, the aim is to facilitate the integration of theoretical and methodological advances into the empirical measurement of poverty. Also, criticisms are made of absolute measures of poverty, the measurement of poverty before taxes and transfers, and measures of redistribution. This chapter makes a theoretical argument regarding how poverty should be measured for the study of affluent democracies.Less
This chapter begins by reviewing the shortcomings of the official U.S. measure of poverty, arguing that it is unreliable and invalid. Then, the chapter reviews major theoretical and methodological advances in poverty measurement and advocates five criteria in the measurement of poverty: (1) to measure comparative historical variation effectively, (2) to be relative rather than absolute, (3) to conceptualize poverty as social exclusion and capability deprivation, (4) to incorporate taxes and transfers, and (5) to integrate the depth of poverty. Overall, the aim is to facilitate the integration of theoretical and methodological advances into the empirical measurement of poverty. Also, criticisms are made of absolute measures of poverty, the measurement of poverty before taxes and transfers, and measures of redistribution. This chapter makes a theoretical argument regarding how poverty should be measured for the study of affluent democracies.
Lane Kenworthy
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199591527
- eISBN:
- 9780191731389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199591527.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
One of the principal goals of antipoverty efforts should be to improve the absolute living standards of the least well-off. This book aims to enhance our understanding of how to do that.
One of the principal goals of antipoverty efforts should be to improve the absolute living standards of the least well-off. This book aims to enhance our understanding of how to do that.
Fred Campano and Dominick Salvatore
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195300918
- eISBN:
- 9780199783441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195300912.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter addresses some of the normative issues related to poverty. Both absolute and relative poverty are discussed as well as the more common poverty measures. The connection between the income ...
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This chapter addresses some of the normative issues related to poverty. Both absolute and relative poverty are discussed as well as the more common poverty measures. The connection between the income distribution model and the computation of the poverty measure is illustrated.Less
This chapter addresses some of the normative issues related to poverty. Both absolute and relative poverty are discussed as well as the more common poverty measures. The connection between the income distribution model and the computation of the poverty measure is illustrated.
Martin Ravallion
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199239115
- eISBN:
- 9780191716935
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239115.003.0021
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter reviews the theory and evidence supporting a relativist approach to poverty measurement. It identifies various sources of welfare interdependence, including the idea of ‘relative ...
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This chapter reviews the theory and evidence supporting a relativist approach to poverty measurement. It identifies various sources of welfare interdependence, including the idea of ‘relative deprivation’ as well as other (positive and negative) welfare effects for poor people of belonging to a better-off group. An economic model combines informal risk-sharing with the idea of a ‘positional good’, and conditions are derived in which the relative deprivation effect dominates, implying a relative poverty measure. The chapter then reviews the problems encountered in testing for relative deprivation effects and presents some micro evidence from Malawi. While the results are consistent with the emphasis given to absolute level of living in development policy discussions, relative deprivation is evident in this poor but unequal country, and it is likely to become more important as the country develops.Less
This chapter reviews the theory and evidence supporting a relativist approach to poverty measurement. It identifies various sources of welfare interdependence, including the idea of ‘relative deprivation’ as well as other (positive and negative) welfare effects for poor people of belonging to a better-off group. An economic model combines informal risk-sharing with the idea of a ‘positional good’, and conditions are derived in which the relative deprivation effect dominates, implying a relative poverty measure. The chapter then reviews the problems encountered in testing for relative deprivation effects and presents some micro evidence from Malawi. While the results are consistent with the emphasis given to absolute level of living in development policy discussions, relative deprivation is evident in this poor but unequal country, and it is likely to become more important as the country develops.
Surjit S. Bhalla
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558032
- eISBN:
- 9780191721335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558032.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics, Development, Growth, and Environmental
There are two standard approaches to the measurement of poverty: an exclusive survey-based method, and the alternative method of using distribution from the surveys and means from the national ...
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There are two standard approaches to the measurement of poverty: an exclusive survey-based method, and the alternative method of using distribution from the surveys and means from the national accounts data. Over the last two decades, household surveys have shown a disturbing trend in terms of the decreasing amount of survey ‘capture’ of national accounts data. This chapter suggests a third method for measuring poverty; this method imputes the growth rate in national accounts consumption to the mean in the benchmark year 1987. The results using this method show world poverty decline to be considerably larger than that revealed by the ‘official’ World Bank exclusive survey method. This finding forms the basis of the suggestion that the world poverty line needs to be raised in order to reflect the drift from absolute to relative poverty in the developing world. The chapter also emphasizes the lack of any relationship, theoretical or empirical, between initial inequality and future trends in poverty. What matters is the inequality around the poverty line, not overall inequality.Less
There are two standard approaches to the measurement of poverty: an exclusive survey-based method, and the alternative method of using distribution from the surveys and means from the national accounts data. Over the last two decades, household surveys have shown a disturbing trend in terms of the decreasing amount of survey ‘capture’ of national accounts data. This chapter suggests a third method for measuring poverty; this method imputes the growth rate in national accounts consumption to the mean in the benchmark year 1987. The results using this method show world poverty decline to be considerably larger than that revealed by the ‘official’ World Bank exclusive survey method. This finding forms the basis of the suggestion that the world poverty line needs to be raised in order to reflect the drift from absolute to relative poverty in the developing world. The chapter also emphasizes the lack of any relationship, theoretical or empirical, between initial inequality and future trends in poverty. What matters is the inequality around the poverty line, not overall inequality.
Richard V. Burkhauser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860586
- eISBN:
- 9780199932948
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860586.003.0004
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy, Children and Families
This chapter considers the implications for the EU of the American experience in measuring poverty. It begins by considering different dimensions within which both the EU and the United States must ...
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This chapter considers the implications for the EU of the American experience in measuring poverty. It begins by considering different dimensions within which both the EU and the United States must make analytical decisions in order to operationalize an income-based measure of poverty. It then turns to the fundamental concepts that the EU's relative poverty measure and the US absolute measure seek to address. It argues that relative poverty rates emerge from a social context where reducing dispersion in income is seen as a primary social goal and that this tradition has been more prevalent in European history. Absolute poverty rates tend to emerge from consideration of the minimum income necessary to live at a subsistence level, which is consistent with the tradition of thinking on this issue in the United States. At a technical level, there are refinements to the US method of measuring poverty that could usefully be drawn from the EU approach.Less
This chapter considers the implications for the EU of the American experience in measuring poverty. It begins by considering different dimensions within which both the EU and the United States must make analytical decisions in order to operationalize an income-based measure of poverty. It then turns to the fundamental concepts that the EU's relative poverty measure and the US absolute measure seek to address. It argues that relative poverty rates emerge from a social context where reducing dispersion in income is seen as a primary social goal and that this tradition has been more prevalent in European history. Absolute poverty rates tend to emerge from consideration of the minimum income necessary to live at a subsistence level, which is consistent with the tradition of thinking on this issue in the United States. At a technical level, there are refinements to the US method of measuring poverty that could usefully be drawn from the EU approach.
Isabelle Maquet-Engsted
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847424822
- eISBN:
- 9781447307235
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847424822.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
Chapter 9 describes the indicators and the analytical framework used to analyse child poverty in the European Union. Comparative analysis is used to identify the main drivers of monetary poverty ...
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Chapter 9 describes the indicators and the analytical framework used to analyse child poverty in the European Union. Comparative analysis is used to identify the main drivers of monetary poverty among families with children in the rich EU countries. It reveals that different factors prevail across countries of the Europe Union depending on how well parents are integrated in the labour market, and how much support is available to families with children. The indicators used are those that have been developed and agreed upon in support of the EU policy coordination process in the field of social inclusion policy. The chapter discussed the potential value added of politically agreed indicators and comparative analytical frameworks for evidenced based policy making.Less
Chapter 9 describes the indicators and the analytical framework used to analyse child poverty in the European Union. Comparative analysis is used to identify the main drivers of monetary poverty among families with children in the rich EU countries. It reveals that different factors prevail across countries of the Europe Union depending on how well parents are integrated in the labour market, and how much support is available to families with children. The indicators used are those that have been developed and agreed upon in support of the EU policy coordination process in the field of social inclusion policy. The chapter discussed the potential value added of politically agreed indicators and comparative analytical frameworks for evidenced based policy making.
Martin Ravallion
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190212766
- eISBN:
- 9780190212803
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190212766.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The last thirty years has seen much progress against extreme poverty in the world—a faster pace of progress than was seen over the prior 100 years or more of economic development globally. However, ...
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The last thirty years has seen much progress against extreme poverty in the world—a faster pace of progress than was seen over the prior 100 years or more of economic development globally. However, continuing progress is far from assured. High and rising inequality has stalled progress against poverty in many countries. We are seeing generally rising relative poverty—judged by the standards of the country and time one live in— over recent decades. There has been less progress in reaching the world’s poorest, who risk being left behind. And a great many people in the emerging middle class remain vulnerable to falling back into poverty. This book aims to support well-informed efforts to put in place effective policies to assure continuing success in the fight against poverty in all its dimensions. The book reviews critically the past and present debates on the central policy issues of economic development everywhere. How much poverty is there? Why does poverty exist? What can be done to eliminate poverty? The book provides an accessible new synthesis of current knowledge on these issues. While economics is the central discipline, the book does not assume that readers know economics already. Those new to economics get a lot of help along the way in understanding its concepts and methods. Economics lives though its relevance to real world problems, and here the problem of global poverty is both the central focus and a vehicle for learning, to help assure well infomed future policy debates and policies.Less
The last thirty years has seen much progress against extreme poverty in the world—a faster pace of progress than was seen over the prior 100 years or more of economic development globally. However, continuing progress is far from assured. High and rising inequality has stalled progress against poverty in many countries. We are seeing generally rising relative poverty—judged by the standards of the country and time one live in— over recent decades. There has been less progress in reaching the world’s poorest, who risk being left behind. And a great many people in the emerging middle class remain vulnerable to falling back into poverty. This book aims to support well-informed efforts to put in place effective policies to assure continuing success in the fight against poverty in all its dimensions. The book reviews critically the past and present debates on the central policy issues of economic development everywhere. How much poverty is there? Why does poverty exist? What can be done to eliminate poverty? The book provides an accessible new synthesis of current knowledge on these issues. While economics is the central discipline, the book does not assume that readers know economics already. Those new to economics get a lot of help along the way in understanding its concepts and methods. Economics lives though its relevance to real world problems, and here the problem of global poverty is both the central focus and a vehicle for learning, to help assure well infomed future policy debates and policies.
Nicola Amendola and Fernando Salsano
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199944590
- eISBN:
- 9780190218850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199944590.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Some commentators argue that greater economic growth implies less absolute poverty. This is wrong. If the economic development process is accompanied by an increase in inequality, this may prevent ...
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Some commentators argue that greater economic growth implies less absolute poverty. This is wrong. If the economic development process is accompanied by an increase in inequality, this may prevent the benefits of growth reaching the fringes of the population: the poverty and social exclusion indicators could remain the same or even worsen. The estimates presented in this chapter—based on a unique collection of household budgets covering 150 years of Italy’s history—establish a number of unknown “facts” about the incidence and depth of poverty in Italy. This knowledge enables us to evaluate how the economic progress of the country—the spectacular increase in per-capita GDP —has been distributed among the Italians and whether it reached the poorest segment of the population. No country in the world can boast an estimate of the absolute poverty trend along such a long time frame.Less
Some commentators argue that greater economic growth implies less absolute poverty. This is wrong. If the economic development process is accompanied by an increase in inequality, this may prevent the benefits of growth reaching the fringes of the population: the poverty and social exclusion indicators could remain the same or even worsen. The estimates presented in this chapter—based on a unique collection of household budgets covering 150 years of Italy’s history—establish a number of unknown “facts” about the incidence and depth of poverty in Italy. This knowledge enables us to evaluate how the economic progress of the country—the spectacular increase in per-capita GDP —has been distributed among the Italians and whether it reached the poorest segment of the population. No country in the world can boast an estimate of the absolute poverty trend along such a long time frame.
Helmut P. Gaisbauer, Gottfried Schweiger, and Clemens Sedmak
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447341284
- eISBN:
- 9781447341338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447341284.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This introduction examines three challenges – methods, concepts, politics – that can help to grasp what could be meant by absolute poverty in Europe and why it is something that deserves attention ...
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This introduction examines three challenges – methods, concepts, politics – that can help to grasp what could be meant by absolute poverty in Europe and why it is something that deserves attention from politics as well as from research. A focus on absolute poverty in Europe, instead of on relative poverty and also shifting the conceptual language in this regard, is important because it challenges what can be called the “relative poverty paradigm” which has emerged as the dominant one in Europe over the past decades.Less
This introduction examines three challenges – methods, concepts, politics – that can help to grasp what could be meant by absolute poverty in Europe and why it is something that deserves attention from politics as well as from research. A focus on absolute poverty in Europe, instead of on relative poverty and also shifting the conceptual language in this regard, is important because it challenges what can be called the “relative poverty paradigm” which has emerged as the dominant one in Europe over the past decades.
Christian Neuhäuser
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447341284
- eISBN:
- 9781447341338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447341284.003.0017
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
Many people seem to believe that absolute poverty is very serious, a violation of human dignity even, while relative poverty is not. Against this assumption, I will defend the claim that both, ...
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Many people seem to believe that absolute poverty is very serious, a violation of human dignity even, while relative poverty is not. Against this assumption, I will defend the claim that both, absolute and relative poverty, are degrading. I will do so by connecting dignity with a certain understanding of self-respect that rests on the ability to take care of oneself in basic matters of life as well as the ability to see and present oneself as a respect-worthy member of one’s society. Absolute poverty threatens the ability to take care of oneself in basic matters of life. Relative poverty threatens the ability to present and see oneself as a respect-worthy member of one’s society. The consequence of this argument is that relative poverty is also serious and real poverty in the sense that relatively poor people lack what is needed to live in dignity. It is closer to absolute poverty then commonly assumed. Relating absolute as well as relative poverty to dignity and self-respect shows that serious poverty is not only a problem for very poor societies in what is called the developing world, but also prevalent in the wealthier regions of Europe.Less
Many people seem to believe that absolute poverty is very serious, a violation of human dignity even, while relative poverty is not. Against this assumption, I will defend the claim that both, absolute and relative poverty, are degrading. I will do so by connecting dignity with a certain understanding of self-respect that rests on the ability to take care of oneself in basic matters of life as well as the ability to see and present oneself as a respect-worthy member of one’s society. Absolute poverty threatens the ability to take care of oneself in basic matters of life. Relative poverty threatens the ability to present and see oneself as a respect-worthy member of one’s society. The consequence of this argument is that relative poverty is also serious and real poverty in the sense that relatively poor people lack what is needed to live in dignity. It is closer to absolute poverty then commonly assumed. Relating absolute as well as relative poverty to dignity and self-respect shows that serious poverty is not only a problem for very poor societies in what is called the developing world, but also prevalent in the wealthier regions of Europe.
Robert Walker
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199684823
- eISBN:
- 9780191765117
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199684823.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter documents the changing understanding of poverty, charting shifting emphases from absolute to relative measures, from unidimensional to multidimensional ones that embrace, deprivation, ...
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This chapter documents the changing understanding of poverty, charting shifting emphases from absolute to relative measures, from unidimensional to multidimensional ones that embrace, deprivation, social exclusion and mental and social well-being, and from pragmatic to capability theories and rights-based formulations. It also briefly reports the latest statistics on the global extent of poverty. The chapter concludes that the science of poverty measurement has been shaped by political considerations and that few, if any, of the most contentious issues around the conceptualization of poverty have been permanently resolved. Definitions of poverty have been used as weapons in ideological debates and as tools by institutions jockeying for influence while the voices of those with direct experience of poverty, and who arguably know most about it, have seldom been clearly heard. Hence, until now, the shame of poverty has largely been overlooked.Less
This chapter documents the changing understanding of poverty, charting shifting emphases from absolute to relative measures, from unidimensional to multidimensional ones that embrace, deprivation, social exclusion and mental and social well-being, and from pragmatic to capability theories and rights-based formulations. It also briefly reports the latest statistics on the global extent of poverty. The chapter concludes that the science of poverty measurement has been shaped by political considerations and that few, if any, of the most contentious issues around the conceptualization of poverty have been permanently resolved. Definitions of poverty have been used as weapons in ideological debates and as tools by institutions jockeying for influence while the voices of those with direct experience of poverty, and who arguably know most about it, have seldom been clearly heard. Hence, until now, the shame of poverty has largely been overlooked.
Jan O. Jonsson and Carina Mood
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198797968
- eISBN:
- 9780191839276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797968.003.0011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, International
This chapter looks at child poverty trends in Sweden across two recessions, the first (severe) 1991–6, and the second (hardly noticeable) 2008–10, using a number of measures. Absolute (bread-line) ...
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This chapter looks at child poverty trends in Sweden across two recessions, the first (severe) 1991–6, and the second (hardly noticeable) 2008–10, using a number of measures. Absolute (bread-line) household income poverty and economic deprivation surged, with some lag, during the first recession, but shrunk steadily as the macro-economy improved up until around 2006, after which there is no trend but temporary fluctuations. Relative income poverty fell somewhat during the earlier recession but has grown since the mid-1990s, mainly because of a more precarious situation for one-parent families and non-employed parents (often immigrants). In a rare but theoretically important step, child poverty is also measured by young people’s own reports, showing few trends between 2000 and 2011. While material conditions improved somewhat, relative poverty did not change, in stark contrast to household relative poverty—perhaps because poor parents distribute more economic resources to their children during hard times.Less
This chapter looks at child poverty trends in Sweden across two recessions, the first (severe) 1991–6, and the second (hardly noticeable) 2008–10, using a number of measures. Absolute (bread-line) household income poverty and economic deprivation surged, with some lag, during the first recession, but shrunk steadily as the macro-economy improved up until around 2006, after which there is no trend but temporary fluctuations. Relative income poverty fell somewhat during the earlier recession but has grown since the mid-1990s, mainly because of a more precarious situation for one-parent families and non-employed parents (often immigrants). In a rare but theoretically important step, child poverty is also measured by young people’s own reports, showing few trends between 2000 and 2011. While material conditions improved somewhat, relative poverty did not change, in stark contrast to household relative poverty—perhaps because poor parents distribute more economic resources to their children during hard times.
Christopher Wimer and Timothy M. Smeeding
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198797968
- eISBN:
- 9780191839276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797968.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, International
The Great Recession (GR) was the most dramatic economic downturn the USA has experienced in more than six decades. But against this backdrop, the USA actually made some limited progress against child ...
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The Great Recession (GR) was the most dramatic economic downturn the USA has experienced in more than six decades. But against this backdrop, the USA actually made some limited progress against child poverty over the Great Recession when one considers the new US Supplemental Poverty Measure which lies at about 40 per cent of median income. The main reason was the growth of a well-targeted near cash safety net, combined with earnings enhancements in the form of refundable tax credits. These enhancements helped the working poor, but not many parents of children who could not find jobs. However these improvements had little if any effect on relative poverty counted at a European or cross-national relative poverty standard set at 60 per cent of median income. Greater progress against child poverty in the US requires a continued strong job market coupled with a child allowance.Less
The Great Recession (GR) was the most dramatic economic downturn the USA has experienced in more than six decades. But against this backdrop, the USA actually made some limited progress against child poverty over the Great Recession when one considers the new US Supplemental Poverty Measure which lies at about 40 per cent of median income. The main reason was the growth of a well-targeted near cash safety net, combined with earnings enhancements in the form of refundable tax credits. These enhancements helped the working poor, but not many parents of children who could not find jobs. However these improvements had little if any effect on relative poverty counted at a European or cross-national relative poverty standard set at 60 per cent of median income. Greater progress against child poverty in the US requires a continued strong job market coupled with a child allowance.
Jonathan Bradshaw, Emese Mayhew, Shirley Dex, Heather Joshi, and Kelly Ward
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861346889
- eISBN:
- 9781447301783
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861346889.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
Probably one of the single most important elements of a child's origins that affect their development and subsequent life chances is the family's economic circumstances. This chapter reviews the ...
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Probably one of the single most important elements of a child's origins that affect their development and subsequent life chances is the family's economic circumstances. This chapter reviews the socioeconomic human capital of parents of Millennium Cohort babies and considers families' financial resources. It examines the extent of families living in poverty at the start of the cohort child's life and the family characteristics associated with living in poverty are described. Measuring poverty involves discussing how to assess poverty using income and relative poverty measures available in the data. The chapter also includes an examination of how families feel their financial circumstances changed over the time of having this birth. Finally, it considers the contribution to family resources and relationships of wider kin, in the form of grandparents who are part of babies' social, relationship and financial capitals at the start of their lives.Less
Probably one of the single most important elements of a child's origins that affect their development and subsequent life chances is the family's economic circumstances. This chapter reviews the socioeconomic human capital of parents of Millennium Cohort babies and considers families' financial resources. It examines the extent of families living in poverty at the start of the cohort child's life and the family characteristics associated with living in poverty are described. Measuring poverty involves discussing how to assess poverty using income and relative poverty measures available in the data. The chapter also includes an examination of how families feel their financial circumstances changed over the time of having this birth. Finally, it considers the contribution to family resources and relationships of wider kin, in the form of grandparents who are part of babies' social, relationship and financial capitals at the start of their lives.
Christian Albrekt Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199681846
- eISBN:
- 9780191761683
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199681846.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The point made in this chapter is that de-industrialization, de-familization, and immigration had very different consequences in the US, UK, Denmark, and Sweden. In the US and UK the ‘shock’ enabled ...
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The point made in this chapter is that de-industrialization, de-familization, and immigration had very different consequences in the US, UK, Denmark, and Sweden. In the US and UK the ‘shock’ enabled the development of a rich upper class and a poor bottom of society. In Denmark and Sweden these developments were avoided. By means of available international statistics, this chapter describes these different developments in the US and UK on the one hand, and in Sweden and Denmark on the other: overall developments in economic inequality, relative poverty, child poverty in single-mother households and the labour-market integration of immigrants. The chapter also enters into the discussion as to why these countries responded so differently to the ‘shock of the 1970s’.Less
The point made in this chapter is that de-industrialization, de-familization, and immigration had very different consequences in the US, UK, Denmark, and Sweden. In the US and UK the ‘shock’ enabled the development of a rich upper class and a poor bottom of society. In Denmark and Sweden these developments were avoided. By means of available international statistics, this chapter describes these different developments in the US and UK on the one hand, and in Sweden and Denmark on the other: overall developments in economic inequality, relative poverty, child poverty in single-mother households and the labour-market integration of immigrants. The chapter also enters into the discussion as to why these countries responded so differently to the ‘shock of the 1970s’.
Benedicte Ingstad and Arne H. Eide
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847428851
- eISBN:
- 9781447302063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847428851.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This book is about being disabled and being poor and the social, cultural, and political processes that link these two aspects of living in what has been characterised as a ‘vicious circle’. It is ...
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This book is about being disabled and being poor and the social, cultural, and political processes that link these two aspects of living in what has been characterised as a ‘vicious circle’. It is also about the strengths that people show when living with disability and being poor: how they try to overcome their problems and make the best out of what little they have. The book aims to provide cross-cultural perspectives on the situation of living with a disability and being poor. This chapter discusses disability and poverty; poverty dimensions such as absolute poverty and relative poverty; the disability concept; the vicious circle of disability and poverty; overcoming poverty for people with disability with opportunity, empowerment, and security; and research on poverty and disability.Less
This book is about being disabled and being poor and the social, cultural, and political processes that link these two aspects of living in what has been characterised as a ‘vicious circle’. It is also about the strengths that people show when living with disability and being poor: how they try to overcome their problems and make the best out of what little they have. The book aims to provide cross-cultural perspectives on the situation of living with a disability and being poor. This chapter discusses disability and poverty; poverty dimensions such as absolute poverty and relative poverty; the disability concept; the vicious circle of disability and poverty; overcoming poverty for people with disability with opportunity, empowerment, and security; and research on poverty and disability.
Thomas J. Donahue-Ochoa
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190051686
- eISBN:
- 9780190051716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190051686.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
What is the severest harm suffered by the global poor? Against theories saying that it is social exclusion, corrosive disadvantage, or humiliating personal failure, chapter 8 argues that the harm is ...
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What is the severest harm suffered by the global poor? Against theories saying that it is social exclusion, corrosive disadvantage, or humiliating personal failure, chapter 8 argues that the harm is that such poverty entangles the poor in a web of crises. The poor are caught up in a spider’s web of agonizing decisions and moral dilemmas, brought on by their poverty. Day in and day out, they face these crises. If they make good decisions, it is probable that their only reward is to continue in their deprived state. If they make poor decisions, then disaster will likely strike. And they know that the next day will bring more crises, and the next yet more. It is this, along with knowing that there are many others in the world who are not so entangled, because they are not poor, that is the severest harm of the injustice of global poverty. The chapter then shows how that injustice suppresses everyone’s potential resistance to it, and thus makes all unfree.Less
What is the severest harm suffered by the global poor? Against theories saying that it is social exclusion, corrosive disadvantage, or humiliating personal failure, chapter 8 argues that the harm is that such poverty entangles the poor in a web of crises. The poor are caught up in a spider’s web of agonizing decisions and moral dilemmas, brought on by their poverty. Day in and day out, they face these crises. If they make good decisions, it is probable that their only reward is to continue in their deprived state. If they make poor decisions, then disaster will likely strike. And they know that the next day will bring more crises, and the next yet more. It is this, along with knowing that there are many others in the world who are not so entangled, because they are not poor, that is the severest harm of the injustice of global poverty. The chapter then shows how that injustice suppresses everyone’s potential resistance to it, and thus makes all unfree.
Helmut P. Gaisbauer, Gottfried Schweiger, and Clemens Sedmak
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447341284
- eISBN:
- 9781447341338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447341284.003.0019
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This chapter states that the hegemonic European relative poverty paradigm necessitates a complementary approach that sheds light on overlooked or neglected individuals and groups in absolute poverty ...
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This chapter states that the hegemonic European relative poverty paradigm necessitates a complementary approach that sheds light on overlooked or neglected individuals and groups in absolute poverty in Europe. It concludes over the lessons learned by preparing ground for such a paradigmatic correlate with an approach that resists the temptation to propose a concise but again necessarily excluding conceptual framework but tries to open leeway for different scholarly debates, disciplinary perspectives and conceptual and practical approaches to why might be termed absolute poverty in Europe. This chapter closes with six perspectives on the way forward to an enhanced and more nuanced scholarly perspective on absolute poverty in an area that understands itself as an anti-thesis to destitution and absolute poverty.Less
This chapter states that the hegemonic European relative poverty paradigm necessitates a complementary approach that sheds light on overlooked or neglected individuals and groups in absolute poverty in Europe. It concludes over the lessons learned by preparing ground for such a paradigmatic correlate with an approach that resists the temptation to propose a concise but again necessarily excluding conceptual framework but tries to open leeway for different scholarly debates, disciplinary perspectives and conceptual and practical approaches to why might be termed absolute poverty in Europe. This chapter closes with six perspectives on the way forward to an enhanced and more nuanced scholarly perspective on absolute poverty in an area that understands itself as an anti-thesis to destitution and absolute poverty.
Sara Ayllón
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198797968
- eISBN:
- 9780191839276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797968.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, International
This chapter provides a diagnosis of the economic ill-fare of Spanish children since 2008 with the objective of assessing the impact that the Great Recession has had on them. The results show ...
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This chapter provides a diagnosis of the economic ill-fare of Spanish children since 2008 with the objective of assessing the impact that the Great Recession has had on them. The results show children’s great economic vulnerability to changes in the business cycle. The Great Recession has had important consequences on the economic well-being of many children—not only because of the sky-high unemployment rates of the adults that look after them, but also because of the lack of a generous and comprehensive social protection system that can be relied upon when the economy slows down. Notwithstanding this, it is important to remember that child poverty was a major social problem in Spain before this economic downturn.Less
This chapter provides a diagnosis of the economic ill-fare of Spanish children since 2008 with the objective of assessing the impact that the Great Recession has had on them. The results show children’s great economic vulnerability to changes in the business cycle. The Great Recession has had important consequences on the economic well-being of many children—not only because of the sky-high unemployment rates of the adults that look after them, but also because of the lack of a generous and comprehensive social protection system that can be relied upon when the economy slows down. Notwithstanding this, it is important to remember that child poverty was a major social problem in Spain before this economic downturn.
