Chapter 13 - Poverty, Social Exclusion and Welfare - Polity

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Poverty, Social Exclusion and Welfare B. Now focus on the account of William Julius Wilson’s book When Work Disappears. 1. First identify what is distinctive about inner-city poverty in a US context. Now make a list of the main features of what Wilson calls the ‘new urban poverty’. 2. Think carefully about the processes that are at work here. It is clear that blacks are overrepresented in the ranks of the urban poor. Yet Wilson denies that this is simply because of racial discrimination. So what exactly is going on? Try to summarize the argument in a few short sentences. 3. As groups or as an entire class, consider what you think the policy implications of all this might be. In the light of your answers to (2), discuss ways of breaking down the processes that lead to poverty and reversing them. Prepare a five-point plan to improve the lives of all inner-city residents, not just those living in poverty. Activity 3: Homelessness A. Read pages 549-551. 1. Make notes on the reasons why people may become homeless and the processes that may perpetuate this situation. Then consider your own views about homeless people on the streets and your reactions when you see them. You may have recently bought The Big Issue, the magazine sold by and for the homeless, or perhaps you have been stopped and asked for money. 2. In the light of recent political controversy on the subject, form teams and consider possible solutions to the problem of homelessness. In each case, try to make explicit the assumptions which underpin your suggested policies. B. Study the picture on page 550. Consider your reactions to this as an environment in which to do research. What ethical and practical problems do you think are involved in researching the homeless? Activity 4: The evolving welfare state A. Read the relevant material on the subject from the text. 1. Make notes on the major theories of welfare states. Do some research on five major European countries and five more outside Europe. Make a three-column list and place each of your countries in one of Esping-Andersen’s ‘three worlds’. As you do this, think about the main features which determine your decision. 2. Consider the circumstances under which the ‘welfare state’ came into being in a British context. What were the assumptions made and how many of them still seem valid. Try to identify three features that still hold good and three that have been eroded by social change. B. Now read the following extract, about the Turner Report: What are the problems with the system? Rising life expectancy means that the state pension is being drawn by more people and for longer, and the trend looks set to continue. According to the government 113
Poverty, Social Exclusion and Welfare actuary’s department, by 2050 the average 65-year-old male can expect to live until he is 83, while the average 65-year-old female should live until she is 90. And under the existing system they are unlikely to qualify for the same state pension. Women who take career breaks to look after children are missing out on the national insurance contributions vital to make up the full state pension. As a result, just 30% are entitled to a full state pension when they retire. Added to this, voluntary pension provision has been in decline. The cost to employers of offering final salary pension schemes has increased, leading many firms to close them to new employees. And individuals have become nervous about investing their own money in pension schemes, following poor stock market performance and misselling scandals. What did the commission suggest? […] the main recommendations contained in its 460-page report were: • the introduction of a more generous, flat-rate universal pension paid to those who qualify on the grounds of residency in the UK, not on the grounds of national insurance contributions; • the pension would rise in line with earnings, not prices; • an increase in state spending on pensions, from 6.2% of GDP to nearer 8%; • an increase in the state retirement age from 65 to 68. This would be introduced gradually over three decades, starting in 2020 when the pensionable age for women is aligned with that of men; • the introduction of a national pensions saving scheme (NPSS), which would be offered through employers, and would automatically enrol workers unless they requested to opt out […] (Hilary Osborne ‘Q&A: The Turner Report’. Accessed 6 th April 2006. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006, Permission granted by Hilary Osborne) 1. Summarize the potential and the limitations of the recommendations made in the Turner Report. Think about why the problem of saving, or ‘negative consumption’ may need state involvement. 2. Consider again your own life-course trajectory. Make quick notes on when your grandparents retired, when your parents retired or want to, and what savings, if any, you have. Draw up a list of all the possible claims you might need to make on the welfare state over a lifetime. Would public provision be adequate to deal with these? Do you have any independent means for insuring against these misfortunes? REFLECTION & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Poverty At what level would you consider someone ‘poor’ or indeed ‘rich’? Do you think ‘welfare dependency’ explains the persistence of poverty? Is it inevitable that as societies grow richer they must also grow more unequal? Social segregation and social exclusion What are the main features by which one can define an underclass? Why does poverty so frequently appear to be spatially concentrated? What do you understand by the expression ‘social exclusion at the top’?
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Chapter 13 - Poverty, Social Exclusion and Welfare - Polity

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