Work, Poverty and Welfare

Our state of work determines how wealthy we are. In turn, this determines the amount of welfare we experience or require from the state. Work, poverty and welfare go hand in hand, especially in the sociological world. It's important to look at the relationships between these aspects to understand how they affect individuals in society.

• In this article, we will explore the following questions:
• What is meant by work, poverty and welfare in sociology?
• How has legislation impacted work, poverty and welfare?
• Which specific factors affect our access to work?

Work, poverty and welfare in sociology

Work, poverty, and welfare fall under the sociology of work and employment, which is the study of work attributes, processes and outcomes.

It considers the relations between workers (employees and the exploited classes) and agents (managers and bosses). It also investigates class, gender, race, ethnicity, and other social identities in the context of labour, work, and employment.

Poverty, work and welfare are all interconnected.

It can be a constant cycle for many families who are unable to escape the grips of poverty. Let's explore each individual element of work, poverty and welfare to understand it more.

Work and worklessness

First, let's understand what we mean by work.

Some definitions only refer to work as a economically valuable activity, while others acknowledge that work includes both paid employment and unpaid labour (e.g. housework), which some might consider non-work.

Worklessness refers to unemployment, underemployment, retirement and being unable to work. In the UK, people between the ages of 16-64 that are not actively involved in the labour market are said to be economically inactive. They are neither employed nor unemployed.

Disabled and chronically-ill people make up a large percentage of economically inactive people, as do students and retired individuals.

Fig. 1 - Work is difficult to define, but it is one of the most significant aspects of a person's life.

Poverty as a social issue

Now, let's look at the definition of poverty before we consider how it is a social issue.

Poverty presents itself in many different ways. Individuals who cannot work are often more at risk of experiencing poverty. Governments and sociologists use poverty lines to measure the level of poverty in society and amongst social groups.

They generally recognise two definitions of poverty:

• Absolute poverty: when people do not have enough income to sustain a basic acceptable standard of living.

• Subjective poverty is sometimes referred to as relative poverty, when people feel that they are poor compared to someone who is wealthier.

The concept of absolute poverty relies on the idea that there is a minimum standard of living, and those who fall below it are poor. This standard is usually set by states and governments.

Subjective or relative poverty refers to the standard of living in a particular society or culture. Different cultures and societies have different standards of living, and different governments have different views on what constitutes basic necessities. Thus, defining poverty in a diverse, globalised world can be difficult.

The role of the welfare state

To understand work and poverty, we must also be aware of welfare.

The UK's welfare state was created based on the 1942 Beveridge Report. States and organisations assume basic responsibility for the welfare of individuals and/or households by providing them with material and economic support to help them meet the minimum standard of living.

Voluntary groups also provide welfare services. Individuals and households may turn to voluntary groups because:

• They are less bureaucratic, and so waiting times are usually shorter than through governmental organisations.

• They can provide specialist services, for example for people with specific disabilities and illnesses.

• They can act as representatives for the service users. For example, support workers from charities help individuals and households secure housing by liaising with local councils.

Voluntary groups are not the only alternatives to state welfare. The private sector also provides material and economic support to individuals and households. Family and friends also offer support and can provide more personalised care. It can be anything from letting a homeless family member stay in your house to offering them financial support.

These alternatives exist because governments cannot always meet the needs of individuals and households. Further, some people do not qualify for government assistance, so they must look elsewhere.

Welfare Reform and Work Act (2016)

The Welfare Reform and Work Act (2016) was introduced by the UK government in 2016. The legislation aimed to ensure that people were in a better financial situation when they were employed rather than on benefits. At the time of publishing, the UK government stated that:

The overall aim of this act was to get more of those on benefits to enter full employment, to provide a better state of welfare for each individual and boost the economy. Additionally, the aim was to Aid the most vulnerable and focus on providing welfare for them.

Child Poverty Measures in the Welfare Reform and Work Act

Within the Welfare Reform and Work Act (2016) there was specific legislation put in place in relation to child poverty. The 2016 act revoked large sections of the Child Poverty Act (2010), effectively removing the requirement for the UK government to reduce child poverty.

The legal targets set by the 2010 act were removed, and it eliminated the requirement for local authorities to construct plans to tackle child poverty.

The act also introduced a shift in focus by renaming the Child Poverty and Social Mobility Commission to the Social Mobility Commission. This changed the group's priority to concentrate on promoting social mobility rather than stopping child poverty.

Many in the public eye disagreed with this legislation. They expressed the importance of interventions between poverty and children. If the government had no legal protection in place to tackle child poverty, then the welfare of children was at risk.

Welfare-to-work policies and lone-parent poverty

Welfare-to-work policies are policies that help people to get into a job after receiving welfare help. Lone parents refer to families where there is only one parent.

In the 1990s, there was a lot of child poverty in the UK, and half the children in lone-parent families lived in poverty. Lone-parent families used to get a bad reputation by the government and by The Media, with many thinking that they didn't want to work and were happy to just receive welfare.

The employment rate of those in lone-parent families has increased since the early 2000s. When New Labour came into power in 1997, they focused their attention on unemployment and welfare-to-work policies. This shift helped to reduce child poverty by 20 percent and increase the employment rate in lone-parent families from 44 percent to 60 percent.

Factors affecting equal access to work

Sociologists study the conditions and dimensions of work, and how it relates to globalisation, labour, worklessness, social exclusion, technological changes, poverty, and welfare.

Globalisation affecting equal access to work

Globalisation is the increased interconnectedness of societies worldwide.

With more people wanting to work online and from home without having to commute or relocate, employers can create a diverse globalised workforce.

However, not everyone has the same equal opportunities in receiving these roles. Those in poverty may not have the resources to work online due to a lack of finances. This limits their access to work and liaising with a globalised workforce.

Fig. 2 - Globalisation means we are more connected around the world.

Labour affecting equal access to work

This refers to the different roles and responsibilities needed to complete tasks. Labour can be differentiated by skills and qualifications (divisions of labour), which creates hierarchies. Entry-level jobs usually require less experience and fewer skills than senior roles.

• Labour processes determine how work is organised and also create hierarchies and divisions in society. According to labour process theory, this is how workers’ (employees and the exploited classes) labour-power is acquired by the capitalist ruling class and then transformed into actual labour, creating a co-dependency between workers and capitalists.

• Management oversees the process and exists to control workers. If managers were not given the authority or power they have, they would simply be like other exploited workers.

However, some individuals may lack the experience to access even entry-level roles. This could be due to an absence of education, knowledge or due to health issues. This puts those members of society at higher risk of poverty if they cannot access a suitable role. In these instances, the welfare state is more likely to be involved to help them find work.

Social exclusion affecting equal access to labour

This refers to situations where individuals are denied full access to areas of social activity such as politics, employment, education, cultural activities, and health care. Individuals may experience social exclusion due to discrimination.

• Pay gaps increase the chances of social exclusion. In May 2020, an NHS report revealed that Black women were paid 93p for every £1 paid to White women. A 2021 report from The Inclusion Initiative (TII) showed that, while all women are paid unfairly, Black women have the lowest probability of being top earners.

• Low wage is usually associated with social exclusion because of its relationship to poverty (discussed below), particularly in-work poverty.

• Those on low wages have limited access to resources such as childcare and mental health care. They also tend to have lower life satisfaction.

Technological changes affecting equal access to labour

The sociology of work and employment in the twenty-first century has focused mainly on the development and application of computer technology. Sociologists are particularly interested in how technological change relates to inequality and the shifting nature of employment.

Let's look at a particular case study to see how modern technological change has affected work, poverty and welfare in a local community.

Barking and Dagenham: a case study of unemployment

In 2002, Ford closed its factories in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. This led to many White, working-class residents being unemployed and pushed out of the borough.

According to Owen Jones (2012), the British National Party (BNP) used this event to exploit the fears and economic anxieties of the white working-class in Barking and Dagenham. They portrayed white working-class people as an oppressed minority.

Consequently, they stated that multiculturalism was the main cause for the high rates of unemployment, not the changing nature of work and employment itself. This was for their own political agenda.

Fig. 3 - A BNP card in a window makes the resident's politics very clear.

Many of the borough's original residents required retraining (reskilling and upskilling) because of technological change, which also changed the job market in the area.

It was thought that the local council and employers prioritised Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Groups (BAME) over white working-class communities. What residents experienced was deskilling as a result of technological change.

The new arrivals to the borough brought new skills and quickly integrated themselves into the job market. Many white working-class residents felt alienated, and the new residents were met with racist and xenophobic abuse and accused of 'stealing' jobs.

This case study is an example of how quickly a state of worklessness can change in a community. It also shows how the job market can shift quickly, requiring deskilling and reskilling for members of society to fit in.