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| Absolute definition of poverty |
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Definition
| A person is in poverty if they are unable to afford the most basic necessities of life. Poverty is seen as destitution. |
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| The occupying of jobs, authority witin the family and political roles on the basis of inheritance or fixed characteristics such as gender and race. |
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| The notion that members of the society put the interest of the group before self-interest. |
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| Approach linked with Etzioni, which claims that social problems should be sorted out by local people rather than by central government or their agencies (e.g. the police). An approach to understanding society associated with the US writer Amitai Etzioni. He argues that government should encourage the rekindling of a sense of community. Local communities can then take over responsibilities for local problems. |
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| A set of values that some poorer people in society share, which they pass on to their children. The result is that they get trapped in poverty. |
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| The belief that individuals are far more important than social groups. The notion that individual self-interest should come before the interests of the group. |
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| Care provided by family or friends. |
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| Defined as earning less than half the average male wage (women's average wages are lower than men's). |
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| Forced out of the mainstream. A sociological term referring to those who are pushed to the edge of society in cultural, status and economic terms. |
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| All a person possesses (does not include their pension). |
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| Rewarding people on the basis of their intelligence, ability, effort, qualifications, etc., i.e. merit. |
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| The lowest legal wage an employer can pay. |
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| Refers to the fact that welfare is provided not just the state, but also by private and voluntary organisations. |
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| Wealth owned by individuals. This can be compared with institutional wealth, which is wealth owned by companies. |
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| Where a person who gets a job experiences a drop in income, because their wages are lower than the welfare benefits they were receiving when unemployed. |
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| Giving control from the state to private companies. |
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| Relative definition of poverty |
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Definition
| A person is in poverty if they are unable to afford the standard of living considered acceptable by the majority of people. |
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| People are content if everyone around them is in a similar situation. However, when the most deprived are put in a situation where they can compare their situation with others who are affluent, they become aware of their own relatively disadvantaged state and become discontented. |
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Term
| Relative income measure (of poverty) |
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Definition
| A form of the relative definition of poverty, based on having only a certain proportion of the average income in a society. |
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| Term used to describe the situation where people are unable to achieve a quality of life that would be regarded as acceptable by most people. |
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| A term used by Charles Murray to describe a distinctive 'class' of people whose lifestyle involves seeking to take what they can from the state and living a life involving petty crime and sexual gratification. |
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| Universalism (wealth, poverty and welfare) |
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Definition
| The belief that everyone should be entitled to free welfare services and benefits. |
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| A tax charged on most goods and services. It is an indirect tax because it is not taken direct from people's wages. |
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| Voluntary (charitable) organisations |
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| Independent organisations that provide health or welfare services, but do not seek to make any profit. |
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| The ownership of property, shares, savings and other assets. |
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| A system of welfare benefits and services provided by central or local government. |
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| Consensual measure (of poverty) |
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Definition
| A form of relative definition of poverty, based on lack of the goods and services deemed necessary by most people in society. |
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| Labelled in a negative way. |
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