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Theories of Poverty and the Impact of Poverty on Society
Theorists have derived to explain the detriment and causations of poverty since Victorian Britain created workhouses to take advantage of the poor. Living conditions of the poor mean that they had higher levels of sickness, and mortality rates amongst the poor were far higher.
Poverty is defined as not having an adequate income or resources to meet one’s needs adequately. It can also be defined as not having the ability to change circumstances due to a lack of opportunity. Poor life chances due to social status, age, race, gender, religion, and disability.
Children born into poverty are less likely to achieve academic success and more likely to go on to commit petty crimes.
Crime rates are higher in areas where poverty is more prevalent, and this has a detrimental effect on society as a whole.
According to Households Below Average Income (HBAI) households living below the poverty line are more common in urban areas and are more likely to be of working age. (Poverty, 2019).
Engels (1845) identified the relationship between the industrial revolution, poverty, and poor living conditions, he identified correlations between living in squalor with little access to fresh water and high mortality rates. He cited poor nutrition and high levels of air pollution as risk factors for ill health in children. Women living in poverty are more likely to die in childbirth, and their children have lower birth weights.
Marx provides an early explanation for the causes of poverty in Victorian Britain. He mandated the conflict theory of poverty which he stated that poverty is a dysfunction within society, yet it exists to benefit the wealthy. Social stratification, therefore, is defined as an exploitation of the poor.
According to Marxist theory, poverty is rooted in a lack of opportunity and prejudice against the poor. Classes were divided into two parts, the capitalists or the bourgeoisie, and the masses. Capitalists control the economy in society and the underclass or proletariat exists to provide the labor which maintains the status quo. The capitalist culture according to Marx promotes an unequal distribution of wealth and therefore was the fundamental cause of poverty he argued that the working poor or ‘proletariats’ lived in poverty and squalor. Marx’s theory states that the divide between social classes increases as time goes by and the poor-rich divide increases. The bourgeoisie owns the means of production such as land, property, or factories and the masses exist to work the land, produce goods or pay rent, while not being paid a fair wage for doing so and living in poor conditions.
Marx stated that a communist revolution would happen, and society would break down, as a result, he stated that he believed wealth should be distributed equally and that the rich therefore should not exist. (Allen, 2017)
Marx’s idealist theory was somewhat limited; it could be argued that his idealist theory is open to corruption and abuse of power. His classist theory could be seen as too simplistic today as there are more than two social classes and society today is more socially ‘mobile’.
Furthermore, Weber argued that there were four classes or levels of stratification, status, class, and power. He argued that the wealthy deserved their status and survival of the rich was necessary. He divided society into four categories. The propertied upper-class, who owned factories, land, or property. The white-collar workers who had desk jobs and earned a regular income. Meanwhile, The petty bourgeoise were lower-class workers with declining wealth, and finally, the manual working class who worked as laborers and factory workers. He argued that each stratification deserved their position. He also stated that each class divide was necessary for society to function. (Weber, 19045)
Additionally, functional theorists argue that stratification and inequality are necessary for society to function as a whole.
In his empirical study, Rowntree (1901) identified ‘minority group theory’ as a concept. He used this term to identify attributes of the sub-cultures of within the impoverished society.
In writing about his functionalist theory, Rowntree stated that he was not aiming ‘’to discuss the ultimate causes of poor people”(p199). He did however identify several possible common themes such as insufficient earnings, death or disablement of chief wage earner, chief wage earner unemployed or being unable to obtain regular employment, large family size, and low wage being the most common factors in the group he studied. He also identified that young families and the elderly had the highest rate of people living in poverty. Further to that, he stated that there are secondary factors that can cause poverty, alcoholism, gambling, and poor housekeeping choices such as improper spending.
He identified the need for a welfare state; However, he did not provide any guidance on what factors represent qualifying for welfare.
Symbolic interactionist theory is more concerned with the individualistic impact of poverty, it provides no explanation, and is instead concerned with the impact poverty and therefore stratification has on the individual.
Harrington (1962) argued that poverty created a sub-culture that had a different lifestyle to that of the wealthy, he states that poverty is cyclic and those in that cycle of poverty had little chance to escape. Lack of education, poor communication skills, and poor lifestyle choices gave very little hope to those living within this cycle. He further argues that poor people have fewer life chances, and substandard living conditions lead to a lack of self-esteem which then leads to poor school attendance and therefore lack of education, which further leads to fewer job opportunities, and the cycle continues. Poor public transport links are a further barrier to education and employment.
He stated that crime rates were also higher amongst this poor sub-culture and career crime was seen as a way to break the cycle. Drug dealing and theft are most common within this sphere of society.
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