Four The necessities of life
-
Christina Pantazis
Abstract
One of the primary purposes of the Poverty and Social Exclusion(PSE) Survey was to establish what possessions and activities the public perceive as necessary – that no adult in modern society should have to go without due to a lack of money. This type of social inquiry reflects a long tradition within poverty research of attempting to establish what constitutes human needs. For example, Charles Booth (1902, p 33) argued that the “‘poor’ may be described as living under a struggle to obtain the necessities of life and make both ends meet”. The 1983 Living in Britain Survey (published as Poor Britain (Mack and Lansky, 1985)), which set the precedent for the PSE Survey, was the first in Britain to capture what ‘standard of living’ is considered unacceptable by society as a whole. In a radical departure from previous poverty studies, which relied on the role of ‘experts’, the central idea of the Living in Britain Survey was:
to try to discover whether there is a public consensus on what is an unacceptable standard of living for Britain in 1983 and, if there is a consensus, who, if anyone, falls below that standard. The idea underlying this is that a person is in ‘poverty’ when their standard of living falls below the minimum deemed necessary by current public opinion. (Mack and Lansley, 1985, p 50, emphasis added)
One of the major achievements of the Mack and Lansley study was that it established that this minimum covered not only the basic essentials for survival (such as food and shelter) but also the ability to participate in society and play a social role:
for the first time ever, … that a majority of people see the necessities of life in Britain in the 1980s as covering a wide range of goods and activities, and … that people judge a minimum standard of living on socially established criteria and not just the criteria of survival or subsistence.
Abstract
One of the primary purposes of the Poverty and Social Exclusion(PSE) Survey was to establish what possessions and activities the public perceive as necessary – that no adult in modern society should have to go without due to a lack of money. This type of social inquiry reflects a long tradition within poverty research of attempting to establish what constitutes human needs. For example, Charles Booth (1902, p 33) argued that the “‘poor’ may be described as living under a struggle to obtain the necessities of life and make both ends meet”. The 1983 Living in Britain Survey (published as Poor Britain (Mack and Lansky, 1985)), which set the precedent for the PSE Survey, was the first in Britain to capture what ‘standard of living’ is considered unacceptable by society as a whole. In a radical departure from previous poverty studies, which relied on the role of ‘experts’, the central idea of the Living in Britain Survey was:
to try to discover whether there is a public consensus on what is an unacceptable standard of living for Britain in 1983 and, if there is a consensus, who, if anyone, falls below that standard. The idea underlying this is that a person is in ‘poverty’ when their standard of living falls below the minimum deemed necessary by current public opinion. (Mack and Lansley, 1985, p 50, emphasis added)
One of the major achievements of the Mack and Lansley study was that it established that this minimum covered not only the basic essentials for survival (such as food and shelter) but also the ability to participate in society and play a social role:
for the first time ever, … that a majority of people see the necessities of life in Britain in the 1980s as covering a wide range of goods and activities, and … that people judge a minimum standard of living on socially established criteria and not just the criteria of survival or subsistence.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- List of tables x
- Acknowledgements xv
- List of acronyms xvii
- Notes on contributors xix
- Introduction 1
-
Principles
- The concept and measurement of poverty 29
- The international measurement of ‘absolute’ and ‘overall’ poverty: applying the 1995 Copenhagen definitions to Britain 71
- The necessities of life 89
- The concept and measurement of social exclusion 123
-
Processes
- Does work pay? Employment, poverty and exclusion from social relations 163
- Debt and financial exclusion 191
- Social exclusion and local services 217
- Crime, ‘disorder’, insecurity and social exclusion 249
- Mental health, poverty and social exclusion 285
-
People
- Children, poverty and social exclusion 315
- Youth, poverty and social exclusion 347
- Gender, poverty and social exclusion 375
- Lone mothers, poverty and social exclusion 405
- Pensioners, poverty and social exclusion 431
- Conclusion 459
- Index 471
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- List of tables x
- Acknowledgements xv
- List of acronyms xvii
- Notes on contributors xix
- Introduction 1
-
Principles
- The concept and measurement of poverty 29
- The international measurement of ‘absolute’ and ‘overall’ poverty: applying the 1995 Copenhagen definitions to Britain 71
- The necessities of life 89
- The concept and measurement of social exclusion 123
-
Processes
- Does work pay? Employment, poverty and exclusion from social relations 163
- Debt and financial exclusion 191
- Social exclusion and local services 217
- Crime, ‘disorder’, insecurity and social exclusion 249
- Mental health, poverty and social exclusion 285
-
People
- Children, poverty and social exclusion 315
- Youth, poverty and social exclusion 347
- Gender, poverty and social exclusion 375
- Lone mothers, poverty and social exclusion 405
- Pensioners, poverty and social exclusion 431
- Conclusion 459
- Index 471
