Transcript Social Inclusion and the Fight Against Poverty Group B3

Social Inclusion and the Fight
Against Poverty
Group B3
Poverty
 The European Union (EU) definition of poverty is one of the most longstanding and
widely known. First adopted by the European Council in 1975, it defines those in
poverty as: “individuals or families whose resources are so small as to exclude them
from a minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State in which they live.”
(Council Decision, 1975).
 Absence of material resources restricts the possibilities for consumption. The absence
of resources makes it impossible to meet basic life needs on an adequate level.
(Večerník)
 Poverty lies somewhere between deprivation (man can´t accommodate his needs) and
insufficient resources (absence food, clothing, insufficient living etc.)
Structural Causes of Poverty
 Poverty has a structural cause, it isn’t simply the result of an individual’s
‘bad’ behaviour or choices.
 Since the pioneering scientific studies of poverty in 19th Century (such
as Charles Booth’s in London), six groups have been identified as being
especially vulnerable to poverty;
- the elderly
- the unemployed
- sick and disabled people
- those with low wages
- large families
- single parent families
Source: Disability, poverty and development, DFID, February 2000
The origins of poverty
 Pathological individualistic view: people fail in a competitive
society, where they aren’t competitive due to a lack of skills or
can’t adapt to society
 Pathological family view – poverty is the result of a negative
family atmosphere and upbringing
 Pathological subcultural view – poverty as a result of primary
value system
 Structural view – poverty is a result of how society is organized
 Factor induced poverty – illness, lack of education, failure of
goverment, unfavourable geographical location or poverty alone
First Study on Poverty
 The first study of poverty was conducted in England by Charles Booth
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Managed a shipping company in Liverpool
Study on poverty was done in his spare time and funded with his own
money
Study was started in 1886 and completed in 1903
Was the first person to come up with the idea of a “poverty line”
 “Inquiry into the life and labour of the people of London”
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Distributed people into 8 classes from A to H based on their wages
Class A: “The lowest class which consists of some occasional labourers,
street sellers, loafers, criminals and semi-criminals. Their life is the life of
savages, with vicissitudes of extreme hardship and their only luxury is
drink”
Class H: “Upper middle class, servant keeping class”
Each class was assigned a colour and a map was made showing the
distribution of poverty across London.
Continuation
 Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree
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” Poverty: A Study of Town Life”
Studied poverty in York and his study was first published in 1901
Distinguished between Primary and Secondary poverty
Primary Poverty: poverty as a result of not earning enough money
Secondary Poverty: Family earns sufficient income but doesn’t manage it
properly
 Peter Townsend
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“Poverty in the United Kingdom” published in1979
Rediscovery of poverty in academic literature
After World War II some people assumed material poverty was no longer an
issue
Developed the “Deprivation Index” which consists of 12 entries
Assessments of poverty
 Absolute and relative poverty
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Absolute poverty: The number of people living below a defined income
level
Relative poverty: People that are below a percentage of average incomes
e.g. The number of people who earn less than 50% of the average income
 Subjective and objective poverty
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Subjective poverty: Person may have enough income to meet his/her basic
needs but feels deprived because they do not have as many material
possessions compared to the average person.
Objective poverty: Income level is below the poverty line and they cannot
afford basic necessities
 Primary and secondary poverty
- Previously mentioned with Benjamin Rowntree
Poverty Trap
 Refers to phenomena when people fall into (or stay in) poverty due to
circumstances beyond their control.
 Circumstances might include corruption, lack of education, poor health care…
 Gap between subsistence level and the average of low wages is important.
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If the gap is too large it can lead to loss of motivation and can lead to people relying on state
social benefits.
Can lead to social parasitism
Instruments to Reduce or Help
with Poverty
 Social insurance
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Meant to aid the elderly, new mothers, those with disabilities…
 State social support
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Welfare, unemployment insurance, child allowances…
 Social support for people with low incomes
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Intervention of non-profit associations (Charities, Red Cross…)
It can be more effective than direct state support
HOMELESSNESS
• HOMELESS
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an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and
adequate nighttime residence
can also include people whose primary
nighttime residnce is in a homeless shelter
• HOMELESSNESS
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the condition and societal category of those people who lack housing
and food, usually because they can not afford a regular, safe, and
adequate shelter
FEANTSA and a European definition of
Homelessness and housing exclusion
(ETHOS)
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FEANTSA: Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales
Travaillant avec les Sans-abris
ETHOS is a "home"-based definition that uses the physical, social and
legal domains to create a broad typology of homelessness and housing
exclusion.
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There are 4 types of homelessness (FEANTSA) :
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rooflessness (without a shelter of any kind, sleeping rough)
houselessness (with a temporary place to sleep in institutions or shelters)
living in insecure housing (threatened with severe exclusion due to
insecure tenancies, eviction, domestic violence)
living in inadequate housing (in caravans, on illegal campsites, in unfit
housing, in extreme overcrowding).
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Main causes of homelessness
 Poverty, caused by many factors
(unemployment,divorce,…)
 Lack of affordable housing
 Domestic violence
 Substance abuse and lack of needed services
 Mental illness and lack of needed services
 Prison release and re-entry into society
 Lack of affordable healthcare
 Natural Disaster
 Dependence on gaming machines, drug addiction,…
Voluntary homelessness
 There is also a special group of homeless
called „voluntary homeless“
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people who chose a homelessness as a way of life
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they want to give up of all the limitations and
problems which are connected with property
Statistics
 A census was made of the homeless in Prague in 2004
 Some results:
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Age structure
men
women
To 25
337
102
25 - 60
1954
299
60 - …
231
32
undetected
140
0
http://www.bezdomovci.eu/sad.ayrton.cz/storage/File/Scitani%20bezdomovcu%20Praha%202004.pdf
World Statistics
 In 2005 an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless.
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European Union: 3,000,000
United Kingdom: 10,459 rough sleepers, 98,750 households in
temporary accommodation
Canada: 150,000
Australia: 99,000
United States: Chronically homeless people (those with repeated
episodes or who have been homeless for long periods) 847,0003,470,000
Japan: 20,000-100,000 (some figures put it at 200,000-400,000)
Reports show that homelessness is on the rise in Japan since the mid1990s.
Social Exclusion
SOCIAL EXLUSION…
 Term was first used in France in 1974, then expanded through EU policy
 Shorthand for the consequences of social problems such as unemployment, low
income, bad health, old age, disability, discrimination, racism, child poverty, etc.
 Broader term than poverty which is simply a lack of money
 Contains relativity (society, time and place); activity (implies action); dynamics
(time and place); multi-dimensional
SOCIAL INCLUSION
 Term developed in response to Social Exclusion
 Term is often used (politicans, practitioners, public)
 Wide use of the term (used in connection with the
process to achieve more social cohesion)
 Relativity, activity, dynamics, multi-dimensional
(analogous to exlusion)
 Many definitions
DEFINITIONS
 'Social inclusion is the process by which efforts are made to ensure that
everyone, regardless of their experiences and circumstances, can achieve
their potential in life. (…) An inclusive society is also characterised by a
striving for reduced inequality, a balance between individuals’ rights and
duties and duties and increased social cohesion'. (Centre for Economic and
Social Inclusion, 2002)
 ‘The development of capacity and opportunity to play a full role, not only in
economic terms, but also in social, sychological and political terms.’
(European Social Fund, available at
http://www.cesi.org.uk/kbdocs/socinc.doc)
 Social inclusion…
SOCIAL INCLUSION & EU
 In 2000 EU leaders estabilished the Social Inclusion Process in a
bid to have an impact on poverty by 2010
 Is a vital element in the EU’s efforts of ensuring sustained
economic growth
 EU has provided a framework of National Action Plans (NAPs)
for EU Member States coordination
 Participation with other actors (NGOs, local and regional
partners)
 Member states submit NAPs to the EU
 Each State has its own priorities to improve social inclusion
OMC and SOCIAL
INCLUSION
 Open Method of Coordination was established at the Lisbon European
Council (March 2000)
 Aim is to provide and support political cooperation among EU‘s Member
States
 States are meant to learn from each others’ experiences
 Flexibile and decentralised method
common objectives (goals)
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common indicators (measures of the progress)
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strategic reports (way to reach the goals)
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evaluating the strategies (jointly the EU Commision and Member States)
(more available on: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/the_process_en.htm)
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CHALLENGES FOR SOCIAL
INCLUSION
General objectives:
 Improve governance, transparency and involvement of stakeholders in
the design, implementation and monitoring of the NAPs
 Promote social cohesion and equal opportunities for all through an
efficient social protection system
 To reach the Lisbon objectives (more growth, more and better jobs,
better governance)
 More about it available on: http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c11325.htm,
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10241.htm
CHALLENGES FOR SOCIAL
INCLUSION
Many problems for the future remain:
 Pensions: need for adequacy, sustainability and modernisation of the
system
 Health care: better coherence and coordination among various types of
care; sustainability
Recommendation to better fight poverty and social exlusion:
 better mainstreaming (pull together, cohesion)
 better governance (as „good“ governance)
 better links among responsible institutions (NAPs, European Social
Fund, European Regional Development Fund…)
(according to Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006,
available http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10154.htm)
Sources
 Disability, poverty and development, DFID, February 2000
 The European Union (EU) definition of poverty: Council Decision, 1975
 Večerník, Jiří: Mzdová a příjmová diferenciace v České republice v
transformačním období. Praha: Sociologický ústav Akademie věd České
republiky, 2001
 pictures were borrowed from:
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Inclusion Europe, 2004, (available: http://www.inclusionurope.org/documents/1591.pdf