Poverties

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Poverties

• Robert Walker

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Working assumptions

• Poverty does not exist
• Low income exists
• A consequence of unequal income distribution

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Income distribution
Number of people
Low income
Income
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Working assumptions

• Poverty does not exist
• Low income exists
• A consequence of unequal income distribution
• Low income in relation to need - hardship exists

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Income distribution
Number of people
Low income
Income
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Welfare distribution
Number of people
Hardship
Income
Income to needs
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Working assumptions

• Poverty does not exist
• Low income exists
• A consequence of unequal income distribution
• Low income in relation to need - hardship exists

• Need is a relative concept
• Socially constructed
• Poverty is a politically constructed
• Defined arbitrarily
• Predicates action

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30 second summary

• Poverty is not inevitable
• Poverty is differentiated
• Not one poverty but many
• Poverty is shaped by time
• Begins and ends
• Shaped also by space
• Poverty is shaped by individual agency
• Poverty is experienced by people

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Poverty is not inevitable
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Setting the poverty threshold
Poverty line
Number of people
Equivalised income
Poverty
Income
Income to needs
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Income poverty, mid-late 1990s
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Changing the poverty threshold60 per cent of
median
Poverty line
Number of people
Equivalised income
Poverty
Income
Income to needs
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Changing the poverty threshold60 per cent of
median
Poverty line
Number of people
Equivalised income
Poverty
Income
Income to needs
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Income poverty (60 median) 2001
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Reducing income poverty
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Poverty is differentiated
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Incidence of poverty
Poverty line
Number of people
Poverty
Income
Income to needs
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Severity
Income to needs
Poverty
Poverty line
Poverty gap
Severity
mean
Number of people
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Poverty gaps, selected countries, mid 1990s
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Poverty is shaped by time
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Incidence of poverty
Number of people
Annual
Cumulative
t1 t2 t3 t4
t5
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Prevalence of poverty, 1990s
Source OECD, 2001
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Income poverty (60 median) 2001
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Prevalence of poverty types, mid 1990s
Long term poverty as percentage of three year
ever poor
Source OECD, 2001
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Types of povertyRelative risk, UK
Source OECD, 2001
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Types of povertyRelative risk, US UK
UK
Source OECD, 2001
USA
Poor at least once Always poor Permanent income
poor
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ItalyRelative risk
UK
USA
Italy
Source OECD, 2001
Poor at least once Always poor Permanent income
poor
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Triggers of poverty
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Types of poverty
Persistent
Non poor
Transient
Recurrent
Income
Poverty threshold
Occasional
Chronic
Permanent
Time
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Childhood poverty in the US composition of the
38 who suffer poverty
Source Walker with Ashworth, 1994
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Childhood poverty in the UScomposition of
currently poor
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Characteristics of poor US children
Transient
Occasional
Recurrent
Persistent
Non- white
White
One parent
Chronic
Permanent
Two parent
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Poverty is shaped by time

• Distribution of poverty across time helps to
  determine
• The kind of poverty experienced
• Transient poverty differs from permanent poverty
  which differs from repeated spells
• The incidence of poverty
• Short spells mean higher prevalence
• Long spells mean higher concentration

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Poverty is shaped by time

• Distribution of poverty across time helps to
  determine
• The kind of poverty experienced
• Transient poverty differs from permanent poverty
  which differs from repeated spells
• The incidence of poverty
• Short spells mean higher prevalence
• Long spells mean higher concentration
• Structures and institutions affect the
• The incidence and distribution of poverty
  inducing events
• The risk that such events will lead to poverty

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Poverty is shaped by time

• Distribution of poverty across time helps to
  determine
• the incidence of poverty
• Short spells mean higher prevalence
• Long spells mean higher concentration
• The kind of poverty experienced
• Transient poverty differs from permanent poverty
  which differs from repeated spells
• Structures and institutions affect the
• The incidence and distribution of poverty
  inducing events
• The risk that such events will lead to poverty
• Individual agency does likewise

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Poverty is shaped by agency
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Coping strategies

• Budgeting

• Over time
• Deferring
• Forgoing
• Borrowing
• Managing demand
• Shop frequently
• Pander to wants
• Resist children
• Minimise risk

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Coping strategies

• Budgeting

• Increase income
• Get job
• Sell non-essentials
• Delay paying bills
• Work on the side
• Cash in insurance
• Pawn valuables
• Sell essentials
• Seek charities
• Petty crime
• Prostitution
• Begging

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Poverty is experienced
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Poverty is experienced as

• Relative

Jeff Moore
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Poverty is experienced as

• Relative

• Loss of dignity

Gordon Parks
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Poverty is experienced as

• Relative

• Loss of dignity

• Being labelled

The Guardian
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Poverty is experienced as

• Relative

• Loss of dignity

• Being labelled

• Doing without

Murdo MacLoed
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Poverty is experienced as

• Relative

• Loss of dignity

• Being labelled

• Doing without

• Being stressed

Gordon Parks
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Poverty is experienced as

• Relative

• Loss of dignity

• Being labelled

• Doing without

• Being stressed

• Being driven to crime

The Guardian
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Conclusions

• Poverty is not inevitable
• Not one poverty but many
• Poverty is shaped by time and space
• Poverty is multi-dimensional
• Poverty is shaped by agency and experience
• Policy must address
• Different kinds of poverty
• Intervene in peoples trajectories

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Poverty is multi-dimensional
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What to take account of
Personal Consumption
PC
PC SPR
Shared Property Rights (Resources)
State Provided Commodities
PC SPR SPC
PC SPC SPC Assets
PC SPC SPC Assets Dignity
PCSPCSPCAssetsDignityAutonomy
Source Baulch (1996)
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Conclusions

• Poverty is not inevitable
• Not one poverty but many
• Poverty is shaped by time and space
• Poverty is multi-dimensional
• Poverty is shaped by agency and experience
• Policy must address
• Different kinds of poverty
• Intervene in peoples trajectories

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Income poverty (60 median) 2001
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Income poverty (60 median) 2001