Question 3: Outline and discuss two ways of measuring poverty.
Poverty is a major problem in many countries and even though England is classed has one of the richest countries in the world, it still experiences one of the highest levels of poverty. Therefore, this assignment is going to discuss child poverty and the effects it has on children and also two ways of measuring poverty within England and Scotland. Relative poverty is the most useful way of measuring poverty, however because this assignment is going to discuss children in poverty, child deprivation is another appropriate measure to use. This assignment will also explore current opinions on the roles Government policy and legislation plays in effectively reducing child poverty. This will be shown through Government documents, websites and academic books. This assignment will aim to establish if literature supports the effectiveness of policy in reducing child poverty, and the differences of child poverty between England and Scotland if there are any.
In order to discuss ways of measuring poverty, it is important to give an adequate description of what poverty is and how it is classed even though the definition changes over time. According to Alcock, (2006), “Poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill-health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion”. Poverty is measured in a number of ways, however this assignment focuses on relative poverty and child deprivation. According to the United Nations relative poverty is, “a measurement of the resources and living conditions of parts of the population in relation to others, basically it is clearly a matter of social equity, and is associated with the development of policies for...