Poverty in Uk (2)

8/3/2019 Poverty in Uk (2)

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Actually what is poverty .Poverty is the lack of basic necessitiesthat all human beings must have: foodand water, shelter, education, medical

care, security, etc. A multi-dimensionalissue, poverty exceeds all social,

economic, and political boundaries. As

such, efforts to alleviate poverty must beinformed of a variety of different factors.


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Just under 1 in 4 people in the UK or nearly 13million people live in poverty, in the UKaccording to the latest figures. This includesnearly 1 in 3 children (almost 4 million).


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Over 10.5 million people live in financialinsecurity: they cant afford to save, insure theirhouse contents, or spend even small amounts on

themselves. About 9.5 million cant affordadequate housing heated, free from damp,and in a decent state of decoration. The crucial

factor about these findings is that they are based

on a survey of what the general population seesas necessities.


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We also know what a dark shadow povertycasts, particularly over childrens lives and their

futures. Eighteen per cent of children go without

two or more items that the majority of thepopulation says are necessities, such asadequate clothing, toys, or three meals a day.


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Children from poor homes are more likelyto die as a baby or a child, and have lowerlife expectancy overall. They also have agreater likelihood of bad health, a greaterrisk of unemployment, and a lower chance ofhigh educational achievement.


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One in five non-working families on lowor moderate incomes reported beingunable to afford some basic food itemson most days in 2000.


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Poverty is likely to last longer for young childrenin particular.Overall, a recent survey found that

about half of all individuals in the bottom fifth ofincome spent 6 or more years there out of ten.Whilst people do move out of poverty, many do notmove very far, and many more experience poverty

sometimes.


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Long-term poverty can eat away at peoplessavings and assets, leaving them more vulnerable:between 1979 and 1996, the number ofhouseholds without any assets doubled to 1 in10.It costs more to borrow money if you dont havemuch to begin with.


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Groups in the UK at greater risk of poverty includewomen, as well as children: nearly 1 in 4 womenlived in poverty in 1999/2000, compared with 1 in

5 meneven before taking account of the hiddenpoverty that may exist in households where income

and other resources are not shared fairly.


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Minority ethnic groups in the UK are oftenmore vulnerable to poverty, in particularPakistanis/ Bangladeshis, more than two-thirds of whom were living in poverty in2000/01. Some groups, such as asylum-seekers, also have to live on lower benefit

levels.


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Just under two-thirds of individuals inhouseholds containing adults of workingage who had no paid work were living in

poverty in 2000/01. And those in someregions were much more likely to be poor thanthose in other areas


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Bigger percentages have been

poor, and poverty has beenmore severe, in the past; but

because of the largerpopulation, more people live inpoverty today measured by the

standards of today.


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Poverty strips you of your dignity.

Poverty affects your self-esteem, yourconfidence You feel totally powerless.


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People living in poverty the world over often feeltheir voice is not heard and their dignity is notrespected. The public in the UK has tended to

be more judgmental about those living inpoverty than people in many other countriesbeing more likely to say, for example, that poverty

is due to laziness and lack of will-power, ratherthan to injustice in our society


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They also often think that many people on benefithave enough money to live on; but when they are

told the actual amounts (53.95 per week foreverything except housing costs and council taxfor a single unemployed person, for example),

they are more likely to acknowledge the existenceof real poverty amongst this group.Also, the experience of unemployment andpoverty amongst friends and family tends tomake people more likely to see poverty asprimarily due to structural reasons, ratherthan the fault of individuals themselves.


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What is the government doing about it?

The prime minister has set out his commitment to ending childpoverty in a generation.The numbers of those living in povertyhave started to decline over recent years. But there is still someway to go to make a significant impact on the dramatic increase inpoverty and inequality in the UK since the late 1970s.

As the Labour government has started to recognise, one of thecrucial ingredients in tackling poverty is public support.Recognition and understanding amongst the general public of theseriousness of the problem, and a determination to do something

about it, will be essential to a sustainable long-term strategy toeradicate poverty in the UK.


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IncomeThe most commonly used threshold of low income is 60% ofmedian income. In 2002/03, before deducting housing costs,this equated to 194 per week for a couple with no children,118 for a single person, 283 for a couple with two childrenand 207 for a lone parent with two children.In 2002/03, 12.4 million people were living on incomes below

this income threshold. This represents a drop of 1 millionsince 1996/97.The numbers of people on relative low incomes remainedbroadly unchanged during the 1990s after having doubled in the

1980s.In 2002/03, there were 8 million people on incomes below thefixed threshold of 60% of 1996/97 median income. Thisrepresents a drop of 6 million since 1996/97.Half of all people in social housing are on low incomes

compared to one in six of those in other housing tenures.


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WorkIn 2004, there were 2.3 million people who wanted to be inpaid work but were not, compared to 3.5 million a decadepreviously. This rate of reduction is much less than the rate

of reduction in ILO unemployment because the numbers whoare 'economically inactive but would like work' haveremained unchanged.Two-fifths of all lone parents do not have paid work.Around million young adults aged 16 to 24 were

unemployed in 2004 (around 10%). Numbers have reducedby two-fifths since a decade ago but young adultunemployment rates two-and-a-half times higher than thosefor older workers.Two-fifths of those getting work are out-of-work again withinsix months. A third of temporary employees would like apermanent job.People without qualifications are three times less likely toreceive job related training compared with those with some

qualifications.

L


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Low pay5 million adults aged 22 to retirement werepaid less than 6.50 per hour in 2004.

1.2 million 18- to 21-year-olds were paid lessthan 6.50 per hour in 2004. 300,000 werepaid less that the full adult minimum wage.

Around 14% of working age households arenow in receipt of tax credits. In total, more thanthree times as many people are now in receipt

of tax credits as were in receipt of Family Credita decade ago.

Ed ti


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Education11-year-olds: The proportions failing to achieve level 4 orabove at key stage 2 in English and Maths have fallensubstantially in recent years but children in schools withrelatively high numbers on free school meals continue to do

much worse than other schools.16-year olds: In 2003/04, around 25% of pupils (170,000pupils) got no grades above a D at GCSE. This compareswith around 30% (190,000) a decade previously. 12%obtained less than 5 GCSEs and 6% got no grades at all.19-year-olds: 200,000 had no basic qualifications (without aNVQ2 or equivalent) in 2004. This compares to 230,000 adecade previously.10,000 pupils were permanently excluded from school in2002/03. This represents a fall of a quarter since the peak in1996/97.


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Child povertythere are 3.6 million children living in poverty in the UK, that is one infour childrenthe UK has the worst rate of child poverty in the European Union a

third of Europes poorest children live in the UKchild poverty is three times higher than it was 20 years ago.one in five children lives in a family where no one works at all.children born into poor families are more at risk of being poorthemselves.one in eleven 16 to 18 year olds are not in education, training oremployment.children from poor backgrounds lag 14 per cent behind better offchildren in educational development at 22 months.

diminished expectations of what their parents can afford lead childrenin poor families to reduce their own hopes and aspirations for thefuturein the school holidays the complex webs of involvement and supportthat is provided by schools and related agencies falls away from

childrens lives


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HealthScotland has by far the highest proportion of premature deaths for bothmen and women.Adults in the poorest fifth of the income distribution are twice as likely to

be at risk of developing a mental illness as those on average incomes.Almost half of adults aged 45-64 in the poorest fifth of the populationhave a limiting longstanding illness or disability, twice the rate for thoseon average incomes.Children from manual social backgrounds are 1 times more likely todie as infants than children from non-manual social backgrounds.Babies from manual social backgrounds are 1 1/3 times more likely tobe of low birthweight than those from non-manual social backgrounds.Teenage motherhood is six times as common amongst those from

manual social backgrounds as for those from professional backgrounds.A quarter of women aged 25-64 are now obese compared to a sixth adecade ago.5-year-olds in Scotland, Wales and North West have, on average, twiceas many missing, decayed or filled teeth as 5-year-olds in the West

Midlands and South East.


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CrimeThe number of burglaries has fallen by almost ahalf over the last decade. Young, lone parent andunemployed households are twice as likely to beburgled as the average household.

Households with no household insurance arearound three times as likely to be burgled asthose with insurance. Half of those on low income

do not have any household insurance comparedwith a fifth for households on average incomes.

H i


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Housing

4/5% of people live in overcrowded conditions,compared with 6% a decade ago. Overcrowding is more

than three times as prevalent in social rented housing asin owner-occupationAlthough poorer households remain more likely to lackcentral heating, the proportion who do so is now actually

less than that for households on average incomes in1996/97. Those living in the private rented sector arethe most likely to be without central heating.The number of mortgage holders in serious arrears is

now at its lowest level for fifteen years.105,000 households were in temporary accommodationin 2004. This compares to 45,000 in 1997.


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Ethnic minorities

People of Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi and African

ethnicity are twice as likely to be out of work and wantingwork compared with white people.Although the rate of permanent exclusions for blackpupils has halved in recent years, they are still three

times more likely to be excluded than Whites.Black young adults are seven times as likely as whiteyoung adults to be in prison.Black adults are more than twice as likely not to have a

bank or building society account as the population as awhole.


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Older peopleThe number of pensioners living in households below60% of median income was 2.2million in2002/03. This is 21% of all pensioners.Older pensioner couples are much more likely to be onlow income than younger pensioner couples. The

same is not true for single pensionersThe proportion of elderly people aged 75 and over whoreceive support from social services to help them liveat home is three-fifths what is was a decade

previously. County councils and unitary authoritiessupport far fewer households than either urban orWelsh authorities.

TASK:


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TASK:

Either

Looking at poverty in the UK

OR

Looking At Poverty Around The World

Write an essay about

Why Poverty Is Such A Big Problem?TIP: Use

PEE

Point

Evidence

Explanation

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Poverty in Uk (2)