Social Work for Sociologists: Theory and Practice

Analyzing and Solving Social Problems ● 123

problematic per se but as a product of “claims making” and of the social
construction of people’s experiences (Epstein 1980; Payne 2014). This social
constructionist position offers an interpretivist understanding (that is, reflect-
ing and seeking after meaning) (Payne 2014) of why a problem occurs, but
it needs to be combined with a more real-life understanding of the problem
to ensure a full analysis and acknowledgment of the problem at all levels in
society. Social problems have resulted in the social exclusion and oppression
of entire nations, and we therefore cannot entirely view social problems as
the product of constructed perceptions and theories about interactions and
contexts (Payne 2014). The factual reality of poverty and suffering exists.
Whether poverty is created by capitalism, neoliberalism, constructivism, or
the whims of so-called socialist dictators, people do remain in debt and financial
hardship. This chapter takes the view that social problems can be identified and
analyzed with multiple explanations and that social problems can be solved,
or at least alleviated, with multiple and concrete interventions.

A Social Problem: Family Poverty in New Zealand

Family poverty, whether absolute (falling below basic standards of living) or
relative (in comparison with others in one’s community), is the scourge of
global and national societies (Shannon and Young 2004). Poverty is defined
in many ways, mostly relative, and includes measures like income poverty,
material hardship, severity, and persistence of poverty, as well as health and
well-being indicators (Craig et al. 2013). Internationally, poverty has mul-
tiple and broad meanings—from material hardships to social exclusion and
inequalities to the denial of human and child rights (Redmond 2008). In this
chapter, I use the term family poverty alongside that of child poverty, as child
poverty is part of the bigger picture of family poverty, and solutions to child
poverty are only possible when families are provided with assistance.
New Zealand ranks 19 out of 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development countries for child poverty (rank 1 being the lowest poverty
rate), worse than the United Kingdom, Australia, or Sweden (OECD 2011).
Craig et al. (2013) found that, in terms of family income, around a quarter
(25 percent) of New Zealand children live in poverty, with about 17 percent
living in severe poverty, going on a regular basis without enough fresh fruit or
vegetables, clothing, or warm and decent housing. They reported that one-third
of (indigenous) Māori children and one-third of Pacific Islander ethnicity
children live in poor households and that 60 percent of the children living in
poverty do so for more than seven years.
Being in debt is enormously problematic for New Zealand families, with
64 percent of single-adult families, with or without children, in debt and