Poverty and Social Research Flashcards
(31 cards)
Give some background to Charles Booth
Shipowner and merchant, chairman of the steamship company until 1912
Unitarian (Religiously minded)
Initially a liberal, but a unionist at time of inquiry. Supports tariff reform after 1903
Successful capitalist
Give some of the origins of Booth’s survey (4)
- Marxist Social Democratic Federation 1885 estimated that 25% of London working-class suffered extreme poverty – allegedly provoked Booth to produce surveys to prove the claim to be a gross exaggeration.
- Bloody Sunday, Trafalgar Square 1887 – extreme poverty provokes social disorder, necessary to know the extent that exists
- Age of progress:
- 1883, Robert Griffen’s essay ‘The progress of the Working classes in the last half century’ – suggests that were was extreme progress and material improvement, but extreme poverty still exists.
- Rev Andrew Mearn’s pamphlet, ‘the bitter cry of Outcast London’ describes the bitter living conditions of the poor. In the midst of the moral and material progress, depravity ad poverty exits – why is this the case? - 7/17 volumes concerned with religious influences – does poverty excliude religious influence?
Give the methodology of Booth’s survey
Covered the whole of London
Did not conduct a house to house to house survey, nor does he construct a clearly defined poverty line.
He collected systematically the impressions of school board visitors as to the numbers of families living in discernible poverty.
- This was a reasonable procedure at the time when poverty was evident in
clothing, household goods and malnourished faces
- Booth then cross-checked these impressions with those other local
people such as clergymen.
- Booth also collected household budgets from 30 families.
Give the methodology of Booth’s survey
Covered the whole of London
Did not conduct a house to house to house survey, nor does he construct a clearly defined poverty line.
He collected systematically the impressions of school board visitors as to the numbers of families living in discernible poverty.
- This was a reasonable procedure at the time when poverty was evident in
clothing, household goods and malnourished faces
- Booth then cross-checked these impressions with those other local
people such as clergymen.
- Booth also collected household budgets from 30 families.
What were Booth’s findings
Classified London according to their degree of poverty:
Classes F & E - High paid labour and regular standard earnings (51%)
Classes D & C - Small regular and intermittent earnings, sometimes in poverty (22.3%)
Classes A & B - Casual earnings, extreme poverty (8.4%)
How did Booth define poverty
“Having no surplus”
30% were in poverty or want
8.4% were in want at all times
These figures refer to the whole of London.
What were the causes of poverty
Poverty in old age (38% over 65’s on poor relief)
Major cause was low pay and irregular work
The issue is not unemployment (never a major issue) but underemployment is
What was Booth’s radical solution
“The entire removal of this class (A and B) out of the daily struggle for existence I believe to be the only solution of the problem of poverty”
Saw the social scale as a scale of morality. The removal of classes A and B would mean less labour, so the price of labour rises, allowing classes C and D to enjoy regular standard earnings
A and B would be sent to labour colonies, far from London and under close supervision
Idea of removing classes form society was not unique to Booth, though the method varied
What were Booth’s more socialist solutions
Limited socialism to those who cannot stand alone - old-age pensions (s a week) or over 65s
- This was not a living pension but a supplement to personal savings. Not enough for those who have nothing
Booth also argues that the care of the elderly should fall to children rather than the state
Charles Booth - moralist or social scientist?
What were some liberal welfare reforms in 1908
Wages Board
Old-age pensions
What were some liberal welfare reforms in 1908
Wages Board
Old-age pensions
Give some background to Rowentree
Praises Booth and says he wants to do for York what Booth did for London
Came from a rich family, and develops an interest in improving working conditions when young
Was a new liberal – favoured using the state in order to address social difficulties
Rowentree family key founders of the liberal press
What was the main criticism of Booth’s investigation
Critics of Booth criticise the methodology as well as London being unique –
not representative of the rest of the country
Rowntree was determined not to make the same mistake and so argued that York was “fairly representative of many, if not most of our provincial towns”
What was Rowentree’s clearly defined poverty line
“No expenditure of any kind is allowed for beyond that which is absolutely necessary for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency”
What was Rowentree’s assessment of the minimum amount a family of 5 needed to stay alive each week
How was this calculated
21s 8d a week
Meticulous in calculating this.
Looks at the price of food across a number of months in York – aware of the varying fluctuations of prices.
Looks at the price of housing in different parts of York. Cutting everything but the essentials for the poverty line
Investigates every working-class household in York (11,550)
What were Rowentree’s findings
10% lived in families with earnings below the poverty line
17.93% lived in secondary poverty – income above the minimum but still living in a state of squalor.
Give a quote from Rownentree
“Comparing with Booth, ‘we are faced with the startling possibility that from 25 to 30 per cent of the town population of the United Kingdom are living in poverty”
How did Rowentree’s occupation assist in his findings
York is smaller than London, and the Rowntrees are major employers in York.
Can ask other employers who are part of his social and business circle what they’re paying their workers – able to roughly assess what the income of the family was.
What is the difference between primary and secondary poverty
Primary poverty is not the fault of the individual – underemployment/low wages
Secondary poverty – potential to argue that it is the fault of the individual for living in squalor. Earn above the minimum required – problem with their expenditure?
What did Rowentree find as the main reasons for primary poverty
51.96% of the chief breadwinner was “in regular work but at low pay”
- 22.16% child poverty
- 15.6% death of chief wage earner
- 2.8% irregular work
- 2.3% unemployment
What is Rowentree’s solution to primary poverty
Looks to the state
Favours a minimum wage, has to be implemented by the state.
How did Rowentree respond to criticism that his findings represent a static picture, and that economics, and thus poverty, were a dynamic phenomenon
Rowntree responded with the lifecycle of poverty. Argues that ‘the life of a labourer is marked by five alternating periods of want and comparative plenty
Rowentree discovered that every labourer with a normal-sized family of three children passed through a period of probably ten years when he and his family would be underfed.
What did Rowentree determine the causes of secondary poverty
Less precise about the causes
Had no doubt that major reasons were drink/gambling
However, these “are themselves often the outcome of the adverse conditions” under which too many of the working classes live
- Certainly an element of blame, but in some circumstances, these are often the conditions of poor living and working conditions
What was Rowentree’s concensus regarding rural poverty
Little public attention was paid towards rural poverty before Rowentree’s and Kendal’s studies
Whilst housing density was lower, they were often as overcrowded and unsanitary as in towns
