DEFINITIONS OF POVERTY

There are  three different ways of defining poverty.

Absolute or subsistence poverty This is measured by estimating a list of the basic necessities of life. They may include the number of calories and amount of protein to sustain life; quality of accommodation; availability ofmedical facilities to maintain good health, and even the availability of educational, leisure and cultural facilities.

Relative poverty This is measured in terms of assessments by people in society as to what is considered to be an acceptable standard of living at a particular time. Lafitte says it must be assessed in the context of the community's prevailing standards. Townsend says people could be poor where their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average person that they are excluded from ordinary living patterns. Holman (Poverty) says it is concerned with the lowest incomes, being too far removed from the rest of the community.

Subjective poverty This refers to the subjective attitudes of people with regard to poverty. Do they feel themselves to be poor? How do they perceive themselves in relation to others in the society and how do their patterns of behaviour relate to their sense of being poor?

2. The following are  studies or results from research which have produced some measurementsof poverty using these definitions:

(a) Rowntree used an absolute method of analysis and found in 1901 that per cent 15 per cent of people in York has an income insufficient for them to achieve the minimum necessary for the maintenance of life.His last study in 1950 suggested that this had fallen to about 1.5 per cent.

(b) Townsend (Poverty in the UK), using a relative concept, says that over 50 per cent of the population of Britain are likely to experience poverty at some stage of their lives as a result of failure to enjoy the normal expectations of modern society.

(c) Using a subjective analysis of poverty, MORI researchers found that between 5 and 12 million people were living in poverty in 1983. More than 5 million said they considered themselves to be poor all the time and nearly 12 million said they were poor some of the time.

REF: Selfe L P. Work out sociology A level.Mcmillan.London.

BY WILBERT MASAMBA

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