Wealth, Poverty and Welfare

• Objectives

• To know at least two areas of contemporary life where there are inequalities related to wealth.

• To be able to support these ideas with a range of evidence.

Is poverty a new concept?

What does this historical image tell us about poverty?

Poverty and the media

• Despite recent news coverage and campaigns against poverty like Make Poverty History, very little is actually done and groups who suffer from poverty are often underrepresented in the media and in government.

• AO2 Therefore there is inequality within how the media treats the issue of poverty

• They are those with disabilities, women, older people and young people, people with caring responsibilities, gay and lesbian people and Black and minority ethnic people, including Travellers. One of the causes of poverty is therefore is discrimination; certain people are rejected by society often for reasons beyond their control.

Why do we need to make poverty history?

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/

Government Policies to tackle poverty

• Tax credits are payments from the government. People who work, but earn low wages, may qualify for Working Tax Credit if they have children.

• AO2• It is an expensive policy. In the three years since it

was introduced in 2003, something in the order of £65 billion was spent on tax credits by government. Even so, there is still a shortfall and poverty persists

Labour Government policy

• Increased benefits must be paid for by the taxpayer and this is unpopular, so some taxes for the rich have been cut.

• The incomes of the poorest 20% of households fell by 1.6% between 2005-06 and 2006-07 while those of the richest households rose by 0.8%.

The New Right and Trickle down theory

• Greed was seen as being a virtue in the 1990s when it was acceptable to be selfish and accumulate vast wealth through the new technological industries that were springing up. The New Right froze benefits and welfare spending in order to pay for tax cuts for the very wealthy.

• AO2 This didn’t work !

An end to universal benefits

• From the 1990s benefits have been targeted to certain groups.

• The system has been complicated and rigid• AO2• People have complicated lives and can

move between situations very quickly. Fernstein (2006)

• Some are ashamed to make claims

Plenary

• Answer questions 1-5 in booklets

• Discuss.

Globalisation and poverty

• Large corporations employing cheap labour abroad to mass produce goods has had its effect on inequality in Britain.

• The decline in manufacturing work in Britain has led to very few skilled labour jobs. This has led to deprivation and dissatisfaction with work

• See Marxism and alienation• AO2 Meanwhile, poor workers in LED

countries may be working long hours in terrible conditions to provide very cheap goods for people in the West.

The credit Crunch 2008-9

• This has changed attitudes to inequalities in wealth in the UK

• The term ‘Fat Cat’ is back and people are outraged by high wages and banker’s bonuses.

• Jonathan Prynn, of the Evening Standard described how executive pay had risen by 30%, more than seven times the rate for ordinary workers.

Joseph Rowntree FoundationSocial Evils

• Website respondents to their blogs felt that growing inequality in Britain is socially divisive and morally wrong, partly because income differences do not always reflect people's efforts.

Famous book

• Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) entitled The Spirit Level underlines the terrible impact of inequality on a society.

http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/justice-and-civil-liberties/the-spirit-level-delusion/

Evaluation AO2

Plenary

• Answer questions 6-10 in booklets

• http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/2009-10/sociology/a2-cynnal/#

Starter

• Why do rich people stay rich?

• Discuss

• 5 Minutes

• Write down your thoughts.

Elite Self-recruitment

• Goldthorpe (1980) and Glass (1954) both found evidence of what they described as 'elite self-recruitment' whereby privileged and powerful positions go to children of wealthy and powerful people.

• Nick Clegg recently commented on inequality in internships !

How the rich stay wealthy

• Investment in land or art

• Tax loopholes

• Overseas investment

• Exclusive education for their children

• Feathering each other’s nests

• Employing legal services to ensure protection of property and wealth

Plenary

• Answer questions 11-16

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfWnumM0He4

Explanations of poverty

• Cultural poverty – Mostly New Right

• Structural poverty – Mostly Weberian and Marxists.

What are the reasons for poverty?

• It is the fault of individuals because they have a different set of cultural values.

• Immediate Gratification, when people want pleasures now and do not work for the future

• Fatalism, when people think, ‘what will be’ and assume they cannot escape from a bad situation

• Poor people do not have a good work ethic and expect bad jobs

• Poor people are the victims of the unequal distribution of wealth.

• The poor do not have enough education to deal with money problems.

• Some people who live in poverty come from harsh backgrounds (domestic violence).

• Many people do not possess the skills to get out of poverty.

Charles Murray says poor people form an underclass and are a threat to society.What do you think?

The underclass is the group at the bottom of society

Benefits encourage people to depend on the

state rather than get jobs because it is easier

for them

Lone mothers are bad parents and allow boys to be criminal. They are

bad role models

The norms and values of the underclass are a disease

that threaten society

Teenage girls get pregnant for houses

and benefit

Young men are involved in crime and do not work for their

families.

Women and Poverty“The Feminisation of

Poverty”.

They do not earn as much as men. They do not have pensions

They are more likely to be lone mothers and therefore poor.

Women do not have access to the money in the home. When relationships break

up, they lose out

It is difficult to get jobs when you provide care for children and

relatives

What do you think about these ideas? What evidence is there to support them?

Critically assess cultural explanations of poverty (30)

• For this essay you should assess the usefulness of cultural explanations by offering strengths and weaknesses and by comparing them to structural explanations.

• Use PEEA ! Blue, green and red.• Introduction = define cultural and structural explanations.• P = Cultural explanation 1+ EEA• P = Structural explanation 1+ EEA• P = Cultural explanation 2 + EEA• P = Structural explanation 2 and 3 + EEA• Conclusion about which is more convincing.

Swap Mindmaps with another person.

• Is the other person’s mindmap good enough for you to answer these questions, Work in Pairs:-

• Name one researcher who supports a cultural explanation of poverty.

• What research can be used to criticise one cultural explanation of poverty?

• What do cultural explanations imply or suggest about the underlying cause of poverty?

• How can one structural explanation of poverty be criticised?

Starter

• http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/2009-10/sociology/a2-cynnal/#

Operationalisation Starter

• Quantitative research involves turning a concept into numbers, how will you do this for :-

• Social Class

• Health Problems

• Attitudes towards the poor

• Impact of students loans on graduates

Operationalisation starter

• Qualitative research does not require such precise operationalisation but you still need to be clear about what you are going to find out, what would you look for when researching the following:-

• Experiences of ethnic minority jobseekers• Experience of women returning to work

after maternity leave.

Research Design

• AHO SMP AE• 5 10 15• As an A level Sociologist, you have been asked to use

qualitative methods to research how wealthy people are able to maintain their position in British society. Suggest a simple research design and justify your choices. Explain the difficulties that you might experience in carrying out your design and suggest how you would avoid them.

• Remember GROVER and the practical issues of carrying out your design.

 

Critically assess the usefulness of Feminist explanations of

Gender inequality (30)

• You should include

• Radical, Marxist, Black and Liberal Feminism,

• Some examples of inequalities

• Weberian theories

• Evaluations of the explanations

Research Design

• As an A level Sociologist, you have been asked to discover whether there is gender inequality in the behaviour and actions of the police in your area using quantitative methods

• Suggest a simple research design and justify your choices. Explain the difficulties that you might experience in carrying out your design and suggest how you would avoid them

Compare and contrast Marxist and Weberian views on class

inequalities. (30)• In pairs use your handout to create an essay

plan which compares these two approaches to inequalities.

• Structure• Introduction• Marxist 1 then Weber 1• Marxist 2 then Weber 2• Marxist 3 then Weber 3• Conclusion

Critically assess sociological explanations of ethnic

inequalities.• Marxist explanations• Divided working class - Miles• Reserve army of labour Castles and Kosack(and scapegoating)• Evaluations of Marxist explanations• Weberian explanations• Dual labour market Barron and Norris• Black Underclass Rex and Tomlinson/Giddens• Evaluation of Weberian explanations• Extra ! Functionalism (AO2 – they wouldn’t say much about it

other than New Right David Saunders talks about minorities more likely to be welfare dependent.

Evaluate the view that inequality is both inevitable

and functional (30)• Outline Functionalist views

• Compare to another perspective e.g Marxist

• Strengths of view and evidence which supports.

• Weaknesses of view and evidence which supports.

• Conclusion

Evaluate the Marxist view that inequality is based on social

class (30)• Suggest a structure for this essay!