The Sociology Book

74

See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Friedrich Engels 66–67 ■ Richard Sennett 84–87

P

overty was defined by

the social campaigner

Seebohm Rowntree at the

beginning of the 20th century as a

state in which “total earnings are

insufficient to obtain the minimum

necessaries for the maintenance of

merely physical efficiency.” This is

the “subsistence level” definition

of poverty, which has been used by

governments to determine the cost

of a person’s basic needs such as

food, rent, fuel, and clothing.

However, in 1979 the British

sociologist Peter Townsend said

that “poverty” should be defined

not in absolute terms, but in terms

of relative deprivation. He indicated

that every society has an average

level in terms of living conditions,

diet, amenities, and the type of

activities people can participate in.

Where an individual or family lacks

the resources to obtain these, they

are socially excluded from normal

life, as well as being materially

deprived. Other factors, such as

poor skills or bad health, must also

be taken into account.

Townsend—a leading

campaigner who cofounded the

Child Poverty Action Group—

pointed out that there was an

assumption that poverty had been

steadily decreasing in affluent

societies. But he drew attention to

the increasing income gap between

those at the top and lower levels

of society, and said that when a

country becomes wealthier, but

income distribution is markedly

uneven, the number of people in

poverty is bound to increase. ■

Food banks have faced surging

demand in recent years. They meet

basic needs, but often include

non-essential foodstuffs that are now

considered normal for people to have.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Relative poverty

KEY DATES

1776 Scottish economist

Adam Smith says the

necessities of life include,

“whatever the custom of the

country renders it indecent for

creditable people, even of the

lowest order, to be without.”

1901 British sociologist

Seebohm Rowntree publishes

Poverty: A Study of Town Life.

1979 Peter Townsend

publishes Poverty in the

United Kingdom.

1999 The UK government

carries out the Poverty and

Social Exclusion survey

of Britain.

2013 French economist

Thomas Piketty publishes

Capital in the 21st Century,

documenting extreme income

inequality in 20 countries.

T H E P O O R A R E E X C L U D E D

F R O M T H E O R D I N A R Y L I V I N G

P A T T E R N S , C U S T O M S , A N D

A C T I V I T I E S O F L I F E

P E T E R T O W N S E N D ( 1 9 2 8 – 2 0 0 9 )