CHILD POVERTY AND Week 1: Theorising poverty

WELL-BEING
OUTLINE
 The importance of theory in understanding poverty

 Four approaches to theorising poverty

 Children’s place in these approaches

THE IMPORTANCE OF
THEORY IN
UNDERSTANDING
POVERTY
WHAT IS POVERTY?
 To study poverty, we need to understand what it is – the nature of poverty as a
concept, its causes and consequences, and how it relates to other phenomena
(Gordon and Nandy, 2013)

 There is a great deal of research on poverty, but in many cases there is limited
or no consideration of theory – and this limits what we can learn and, most
importantly, how we can decide what action societies should take to end
poverty (Brady, 2019)

 Spicker (2007) identifies multiple clusters of meanings surrounding the term

‘poverty’ which centre on a core of ‘unacceptable hardship’ – but these
meanings do not always draw on a clear theory about what poverty is
THEORY AND MEASUREMENT
 Theory relates to measurement because it helps us to identify what our unit
of measurement and analysis should be, and the nature of things we should
be measuring (Lister, 2004)

 For example, an individual theory of poverty would indicate a need to

measure individual behaviours, while a structural theory of poverty would
indicate a need to measure interactions between individuals and social
structures and institutions

 Theories of poverty may locate poverty as experienced by individuals,

families, households, communities, states, etc – this determines the level at
which we need to collect data
THEORY AND INTERVENTION
 Theory relates to intervention because it determines what types of intervention are
legitimate or not in addressing poverty as a social problem (Piachaud, 1987)

 Individual theories of poverty should lead to interventions designed to change

individual behaviours

 Structural theories of poverty should lead to interventions designed to change how

societal structures and institutions operate

 Political theories of poverty should lead to interventions which redress power

imbalances between different groups within society
FOUR APPROACHES TO
THEORISING POVERTY
RELATIVE DEPRIVATION
“Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack
the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions
and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged, in the societies to which they
belong” (Townsend, 1979: 31)

 Poverty as relative: inextricably linked to contemporary standards

 Poverty as multidimensional: related to inadequate resources in multiple domains

 Poverty as multilevel: can be experienced by individuals, families and/or groups

 Poverty results in social exclusion

CAPABILITIES
“Despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies
elementary freedoms to vast numbers – perhaps the majority – of people” (Sen, 2001: 3-4)

 Freedom: the capacity to live a life we have reason to value

 Capabilities: the options that are genuinely open to us about how we live

 Functionings: the specific choices we make in exercising our freedom

 Conversion factors: characteristics which shape our capacities to transform resources into
capabilities
RIGHTS-BASED APPROACHES
“Poverty is… a matter of being able to live a life in dignity and enjoy basic human
rights and freedoms” (UN, nd: iii)

 Rights as the basic entitlements we all have, irrespective of who we are or where we
are

 Liberty rights relate to our freedoms – the entitlements we have to autonomy and
choice

 Welfare rights relate to our well-being – the things that we should be provided with
to enable us to survive and thrive
RELATIONAL APPROACHES
“…a ‘relational’ approach to poverty… first views persistent poverty as the consequences of
historically developed economic and political relations, and second… emphasizes poverty
and inequality as an effect of social categorization and identity” (Mosse, 2010: 1156)

 Poverty exists in the interrelationships between individuals and groups

 Identities and social categories serve to maintain the imbalances in access to resources
between people

 Processes of relating to each other maintain inequalities – through stigmatisation,

shaming, dominance and oppression
CHILDREN’S PLACE IN
THESE APPROACHES
THEORISING CHILDREN AND
CHILDHOOD
 Developmental theories of childhood position children as lesser than adults
– ‘becomings’ who are of interest because they will be the next generation
of adults

 Sociological theories of childhood position children as ‘beings’ whose lives

are relevant in the present and who exercise agency and bear rights

 Uprichard (2008): children are both beings and becomings – as reflected in

their own understandings of their lives in general and poverty specifically
(Main, 2013)
LOCATING CHILDREN IN
THEORY
 Relative deprivation theory: Focus on control over resources requires
consideration of what resources children can and should control

 Capability theory: Focus on freedoms requires consideration of whether and

how children can and should exercise freedoms

 Rights-based approaches: Tend to emphasise provision and protection, with

less attention to participation

 Relational approaches: Focus on identities relating to poverty – potential

for status of ‘child’ to be an intersecting focus?
SUMMARY
KEY MESSAGES
 Theorising poverty is a vital step in studying it – it sets the context for what
we think poverty is and what we might do about it

 There are multiple completing theories of poverty, each with their own
specialist terminology and approach which influence how researchers go
about studying poverty

 Child poverty specifically is under-theorised, despite children’s unique

social status. Specifically theorising child poverty is a relatively new focus
for researchers
QUESTIONS? Thank you!
REFERENCES
Brady, D. (2019) ‘Theories of the Causes of Poverty’. In Annual Review of Sociology vol.45 pp155-175.
Gordon, D. and Nandy, S. (2013) ‘Measuring Child Poverty and Deprivation’. In Minujin, A. and Nandy, S. (Eds) Global Child
Poverty and Well-Being. Bristol: Policy Press.
Lister, R. (2004) Poverty. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Main, G. (2013) A child-derived material deprivation index. PhD thesis submitted to the University of York in September 2013.
Mosse, D. (2010) ‘A relational approach to durable poverty, inequality and power’. In Journal of Development Studies vol.46 no.7
pp1156-1178.
Piachaud, D. (1987) ‘Problems in the Definition and Measurement of Poverty’. In Journal of Social Policy vol.16 no.2 pp147-164.
Sen, A. (2001) Development as Freedom. Oxford: OUP.
Spicker, P. (2007) ‘Definitions of poverty: twelve clusters of meaning’. In Poverty: An international glossary. London: Zed Books.
Townsend, P. (1979) Poverty in the United Kingdom. London: Allen and Penguin.
UNHR (nd) Principles and Guidelines for a Human Rights Approach to Poverty Reduction Strategies. Geneva: UN.
Uprichard, E. (2008) ‘Children as being and beccomings’. In Children and Society viol.22 no.4 pp303-313.