Wealth, Poverty and Welfare
• Objectives
• To understand the difference between
cultural and structural explanations
• To be able to describe some causes of
poverty in the UK.
• To describe and evaluate different
sociological explanations of wealth
inequalities.
Is poverty a new concept?
What does this historical
image tell us about poverty?
A key debate is what causes itis it the culture of some groups
or is it the structure of society?
Some say poverty will always
be with us – why do you think
that is?
What are the reasons for poverty?
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It is the fault of individuals because
they have a different set of
cultural values.
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Poor people are the victims of the
unequal distribution of wealth.
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The poor do not have enough
education to deal with money
problems.
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Some people who live in poverty
come from harsh backgrounds
(domestic violence).
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Many people do not possess the
skills to get out of poverty.
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
Causes of poverty ranking
• Rank these in the order you think are most important
in explaining poverty. Which explanations do you
think are cultural and which are structural?
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Unemployment
Slow economy
Poor health
Addictions e.g gambling/alcohol
Poor skills/education
Low wages in the workforce/exploitation
Social exclusion/marginalisation
Culture of apathy/welfare dependency
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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
• Government policies which protect them
• Culture of deferred gratification
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 !
Cultural Theories
• New Right David Marsland – Over
generous welfare
• AO2 evidence suggests people do want
to work
• New Right Charles Murray – deviant
values of underclass.
• AO2 evidence is that values and
aspirations are similar
Teenage girls get
pregnant for houses
and benefit
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
Charles Murray says poor people form an underclass and are a threat to society.
What do you think?
The norms and values of the
underclass are a disease
that threaten society
Young men are
involved in crime and
do not work for their
families.
Lone mothers are bad
parents and allow boys
to be criminal. They are
bad role models
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 !
Structural theories
• Marxist – Welfare distribution is unfair
• AO2 high benefits are unpopular with hard-working
people
• Marxist – Reserve army of labour/new reserve army
• AO2 suggests govt would not favour eradicating
poverty however lots of policies suggest otherwise.
Still cannot explain the marginalisation of certain
groups (although could be divide and rule)
• Weberian – Dual Labour Market – skills and status
• AO2 Doesn’t explain why certain group like women
have high skilled jobs which are poorly paid. Same
argument is used for women and ethnic minorities
Unemployment and low
wages
• 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%. This was under
labour government. Since coalition
government came to power poorest
households have felt further relative drops in
income despite some tax cuts.
Labour Government Policy
• 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 was an expensive policy. From 2003-2006,
something in the order of £65 billion was
spent on tax credits by government. Even so,
there is still a shortfall and poverty persists
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
Globalisation and poverty
• Large corporations
employing cheap labour
abroad to mass produce
goods has had its effect
on inequality in Britain.
Economic decline
• The decline in manufacturing work in
Britain has led to very few skilled labour
jobs. This has led to deprivation and
dissatisfaction with work as well as an
increase in casualised, flexible working
• 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.
They do not earn as much as
men. They do not have pensions
Women do not have
access to the money
in the home. When
relationships break
up, they lose out
Women and Poverty
“The Feminisation of
Poverty”.
They are more likely
to be lone mothers
and therefore poor.
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?
Marginalisation
• 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/
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 Foundation
Social 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.
Evaluation AO2
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/jus
tice-and-civil-liberties/the-spiritlevel-delusion/
Critically assess cultural explanations of poverty
(30)
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Give some basic definitions of poverty and describe the difference
between cultural and structural explanations give examples
Explain Marsland’s New right theory, give examples and describe
policies which reflect this view e.g Trickledown or cuts to welfare.
Analyse and evaluate
Explain Murray’s underclass theory and give examples - analyse and
evaluate.
Explain Marxist view welfare state fails to distribute wealth fairly with
supporting evidence e.g govt policy – analyse and evaluate.
Explain Marxist view of reserve army of labour/new reserve army
(decline in manufacturing/globalisation) explains why poverty is not
dealt with! Analyse and evaluate
Explain Weberian view dual labour market – This explains why lack of
skills leads to poverty. Analyse and evaluate.
Conclusion – Some argue poverty will always be with us, this is
because definitions change with time. However poverty may be
persistent because it benefits the most powerful in society. Whilst
cultural arguments are popular there is little evidence to support them
and structural explanations explain better why poverty is so persistent.
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?
Revision
• http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/200910/sociology/a2-cynnal/#
• http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/200910/sociology/a2-cynnal/#
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfWn
umM0He4
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
• 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
Objectives
• Be able to identify various problems
with sociological research and say how
to overcome them.
• Be able to evaluate a novel piece of
research to time.
• Suggest areas for improving evaluation
skills
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.
Peer Assessment Criteria
• Award a mark out of 15 based on the
following criteria taken from the
markscheme.
• 1. Reference to issues of ‘GROVER’ all
• 2. Reference to practical issues – 3+
• 3. Identified 3+ ways to improve study
Evaluating Research – A2 Sociology
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What are the issues to consider?
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How can Sociologists overcome these issues?
Truancy is a persistent problem in British schools. Some geographical areas experience more truancy
than others. For example Local Education Authorities produced statistics in 2000 that showed that in
the Wirral absent pupils had missed on average 26 half days whereas in Wokingham this figure
was 11. Corrigan researched truancy but his aim was to understand it rather than just measure its frequency.
To do this he used participant observation telling those involved that he was a writer interested in the lives of
working class boys. He found that the boys truanted because they didn’t like particular lessons or particular
teachers or even because they enjoyed rebelling against the fact that school was compulsory.
(a) Give two reasons why Corrigan decided to use participant observation to research truancy. (10)
(b) As an A Level sociology student you have been asked to design a research project to collect
quantitative data on attitudes towards grammar schools amongst a representative sample of British residents in
your area. Outline each stage of your research design explaining the reasons for your choices at each stage.
Identify some of the problems that you anticipate might occur and the impact that these
may have on the quality of the data collected. (30)