Social Exclusion vs. Poverty

1653 Words4 Pages

There are many factors that contribute towards social exclusion in the

United Kingdom. Not all of these factors are as straightforward as

each other. By considering these causes, I will be able to explain why

poverty is not the same as social exclusion.

It states in the "Introduction of Labour's next steps: tackling social

exclusion", that social exclusion is about more than poverty and

unemployment, it is also about being cut off and neglected by the rest

of society.

The Social Exclusion Unit states that the definition of social

exclusion is a shorthand term for what can happen when people or areas

suffer from a combination of linked problems. They also state that the

key aspect of social exclusion is 'dynamics', where people are not

just excluded because they are unemployed, but also they very often

have very few prospects for the future. The blame for this problem

could be passed around to many different areas. For example, the

family for an unsettled way of life, the government for not enough

funding within education and society itself for its own influence

towards peer pressures.

A dictionary definition of poverty would be:

" the state of having little or no money and few or no material

possessions."

(Wordnet ® 1.7)

Poverty has been with is for hundreds of years. Poverty can be

described as some individuals or groups who are disadvantaged in

comparison to others, and that the poor do not have enough to sustain

a decent standard of living. Poverty can mean having a 'shortage of

the necessities of life'. This comes under the concept of 'need'.

Equally, it can mean being unable to secure all the 'benefits o...

... middle of paper ...

... social

exclusion and poverty was high on his agenda, and although there have

been many reports to say that this is just so, I have also discovered

that poverty is looked upon in a different way. It used to be the case

that to be in poverty was to have no basic foundations for living:

namely shelter, warmth, money, etc. However, a variety of statistics

now show that many people today believe that basic foundations to live

on a day-to-day basis is much more in depth. To end my conclusion, I

leave with you a survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics

(ONS), providing unparalleled detail about the material and social

deprivation and exclusion among the British population at the close of

the twentieth century.

I hope that I have discussed my argument that social exclusion and

poverty is not the same thing.

Open Document