Social Groups Likely to Experience Poverty (AQA GCSE Sociology)

Groups at risk of poverty

• The likelihood of living in poverty is not evenly distributed, as some people face particularly high levels

• The proportion of people in poverty is relatively high among:

  • older people

  • people with disabilities or ill health

  • people from some ethnic minority groups

  • women

  • families with children, including lone-parent families

Ethnicity and poverty

• People who live in UK households headed by a member of a minority ethnic group are more likely to be low-income households

• According to the Joseph Roundtree Foundation (2024) between 2019/20 and 2021/22:

  • Around half of people in Pakistani (51%) and Bangladeshi households (53%) were in poverty

  • Households from Black African backgrounds (42%) were in poverty

  • These households have higher rates of child poverty, very deep poverty and persistent poverty.

• Minority ethnic groups typically face disadvantages in terms of job quality, pay, and unemployment

• Explanations for this include racism and discrimination in the labour market

• They also tend to be disadvantaged within the welfare state through low take-up of state benefits

Gender and poverty

• Women are more at risk of poverty than men for a number of reasons:

  • Despite having longer life expectancies than men, women are more likely to live alone and have lower occupational pensions

  • Low-income, single-parent households are more likely to be headed by women than by men

  • The gender pay gap exists because many female-dominated positions in customer service and retail are paid relatively poorly

  • Compared to men, women are more likely to work part-time for low pay, which affects their occupational pension

Child poverty

• Children are particularly vulnerable to poverty if they live in a family:

  • with four or more children

  • where the head of the household is a lone parent or from a minority ethnic group

  • where the head(s) of the household is unemployed

• Children's life chances, such as their life expectancy, health, housing, educational attainment, and employment prospects, are negatively affected by poverty

The life-cycle of poverty

• Official statistics provide us with a snapshot of the proportion of households below average income at a particular point in time

• The life-cycle of poverty:

  • demonstrates a person's journey into and out of poverty throughout their lifetime

  • implies that individuals may enter and exit poverty at various points in their lives

    • For example, a person may experience a period of situational poverty due to losing their job, an illness or a divorce

Explanations for poverty

• There are several explanations of poverty:

  • Some focus on individuals and imply they are responsible for their position

  • Some concentrate on societal structures and the ways in which political systems produce and maintain poverty

The culture of poverty

• During the 1950s and 1960s, some groups' poverty was explained by their culture or way of life

• One view is that people from the poorest section of society were socialised within the subculture of poverty and are unable to break free from it (e.g., Oscar Lewis)

• To deal with their circumstances, people in poverty adopt a way of life and a set of values. They may hold the following beliefs:

  • People can do little to change their situation so they may as well accept it

  • Live for today and do not worry about tomorrow (immediate gratification)

  • There is no point in saving up and planning for the future

• These values helped those in poverty adapt to their situation but discouraged them from escaping poverty through staying on a school or planning for the future

• Because parents instilled these values in their children through socialisation, poverty continued to exist across generations

Evaluation

• This explanation can be criticised as it:

  • shows how people might adapt to poverty, but it doesn't explain what actually causes poverty in the first place

  • blames those in poverty for their situation as it focuses on individuals and their culture

  • ignores structural factors such as unemployment levels or the impact of global economic recessions

The cycle of deprivation

• Supporters of the culture of poverty approach argue that people are locked into a cycle of deprivation

• Material deprivation involves having insufficient money to be able to afford goods and services

  • People might not eat a balanced diet as a result

  • Childhood poverty may result in poor health

  • Families may live in temporary housing, such as hostels, due to a lack of suitable housing

• Cultural deprivation occurs when a child's upbringing does not give them the tools they need to succeed in school

  • They have less parental encouragement

  • In comparison to children from more affluent backgrounds, they have less positive educational experiences

• According to this explanation, the policy to remove poverty involves employing social workers and seeking support from local authorities to break children out of the cycle of deprivation

Evaluation

• This explanation can be criticised as it:

  • fails to explain why some groups fall into poverty in the first place

  • ignores structural factors that cause poverty and focuses on the behaviour of individuals or families