According to the national official statistics, in the year of 2014, approximatively 6.5% of individuals were affected by poverty in the United Kingdom. In over a year, the figures increased to 0.8%, which states there is an equivalent of 4.6 million people living in poverty. (Ons.gov.uk, 2018) This paper analyses the implications of poverty and social exclusion affecting lone parents in the UK. Lone parents can be significantly affected by poverty due to areas such as employment and education which may affect the quality of childbearing. This paper also discusses the argument of poverty and social exclusion as a structural or pathological cause.
Structural theories suggest individuals within the society, are vulnerable to poverty due to capitalism. This point of view is influenced by Marist theorist, who state the underclass within society are marginalised as the poor and products of means of labour production known as the ‘reserve army of labour'. (dave) On the other hand, the upper class inherit ownership of the wealth, having power over owning land, factories and machinery. Dave Thus, the poor are affected by government systems, which challenges these people of having a good standard of living.
Pathological theories illustrate the cause of poverty is simply due to people actions and behaviours. Examples of this can be poor budgeting and having no or barely any qualification due to dropping out of school. As a result, the underclass is stigmatised for due to ‘perverse choice' and are to blame for the consequences of poverty which is stated by Joseph, 1972, the cycle of deprivation theory.
Poverty is a growing social issue within the society, which impacts people's welfare in multiple of ways. The definition of poverty can be seen as ambiguous as there is no single definition of distinguishing the poor from the rich. It is stated by the house of commons, that poverty in the UK can be described in two ways: when a person has relative low income – below 60% median household income in over a year and absolute low income – below 60% median in the year 2010/2011. (House of Commons) on the other hand, poverty can simply be defined when an individual finance fails below the ‘minimum level' to meet basic needs. The minimum level is defined as the ‘Poverty line (The world bank organisation – BBC)' which highlights the margins between having all the necessities of having a good quality of life in relation to the absence of material needs to support individual in their daily life.
Social exclusion is one of many consequences of poverty. It involves social deprivation amongst those individuals within poverty to lack the ability to participate in ‘social, economic, political and cultural life' amongst others in the society. (Poverty.ac.uk, 2018)
This is a form of social discrimination which may mean the individual could struggle to gain the necessary cultural capital of the society, to influence their lives for the better. The poverty and social exclusion survey in 1999, states 14% of people in the UK, are too poor to attend weddings, funerals, visiting families and celebrate occasions such as Christmas. This cause could be one of the factors affecting the ‘love and belonging needs' of a person, represented by Maslow hierarchy of needs. Consequently, it could suggest a person being socially excluded amongst other individuals which may potentially affect the ‘esteem needs' also illustrated by Maslow, which may affect a person desire for reputation or their dignity could be damaged. (simply psychology)
Lone parents are one of the social groups within society, who are at risk of poverty and the process of social exclusion. This social group makes up for approximately a quarter of families with dependent children of an estimate of 2 million single parents in the UK. (Gingerbread, 2015) Lone parents can be susceptible to being poor, based on issues such unemployment, low levels of educational attainment or simply due to the less stigmatisation of filling a divorce. It is stated that within the month of becoming a lone parent 58% were married. (Benefits.org) Whether the divorce is an issue of poverty for lone parents is debatable, as it is highly dependent on their social class. Although this can have been viewed as a pathological cause of poverty, it is vital to clarify that divorce may be an implication of unhealthy relationships and due to issues, such as poor economic background. Consequently, the transitions to lone parenting are seen to be inevitable to high risk of poverty, especially for mothers who in 2015, who accounted for 90% of lone parents with dependent children in the UK. (national official statistics)
68% single parents are taking over three of the lowest paid occupation in the market. (gingerbread, 2015) Unemployment could a structural cause of poverty for lone parents, especially with dependent children. As a result, it can be highly challenging for those in such social group, to find employment suitable for themselves and their children. It is evident due to lack working flexibility in the working sector, lone parents are stuck in part-time jobs which are often low paid in order to support work and family life. (gingerbread) This a clear demonstration social exclusion, it is not highly considered that's single mothers within the underclass do not have the suitable income to equip themselves with the necessary childcare support, in assisting them to participate in full-time jobs. Additionally, when in employment, lone parents are required to pay 30% towards private childcare. (barnobous) Thus, making it difficult to break from ‘that vicious circle – be it crime, addiction, debt' to reduce people's vulnerability to poverty. (Christina Pantanzis) Radical Feminist suggest that Single mothers are negatively influenced by this as they have the burden of a ‘triple shift' which requires responsibility for domestic labour, work and emotional work. Although childcare plays an important part of a single mother responsibility, it could potentially be the cause of why single mothers choose not to go to work. The poverty and social exclusion org states ‘The level of unemployment among lone parents can partly be attributed to when they have children.' Some single parents perceive parenting as a job, therefore are less likely to work in the next 12 months after transitioning to a lone parent. (natcen) Lack of Education attainment has a significant correlation between employment, thus reflects upon their income. 54% of lone parents left education without any qualifications above GCSE level, and 26% left with no qualifications. (poverty and social exclusion), this can be argued as a pathological cause of poverty. This suggests why this social group are limited to the number of jobs they can apply.
Predominately lone parents may be scrutinized of being highly dependent on the welfare state. They earn double the amount of benefit support compared to two-parent households in order to support them in their living standards. Charles Murray a new right sociologist, argued that lone parent is heavily dependent on the welfare state, who are lazy and just does not want to work. (sociology twyham) However, this does not justify why there are individuals experiencing the "poverty trap" which makes it financially difficult to move from welfare to work. Levitas (2012) states cuts on welfare spending is aimed at the underclass making difficult to manage work-related activity. For instance, a majority of single parent does not receive child maintenance payments (gingerbread), As a consequence, it heightens levels of persistent poverty by reducing the only finances some individuals are highly dependent on to survive thus leaving them and their children material deprived. Parrott (2014) states that issues of work and' poverty is a highly complex', single parents willing to find employment may experience the financial cost of shifting from welfare dependency into work. This may mean a reduction of benefits such as the housing income which they may not be prepared for. (combat poverty) Additionally, the welfare reform act in 2012, states 124,000 lone parents were forced onto jobseeker's allowance when the child hit 5-6 years of age (poverty and social exclusion). The controversy spirals conspiracies which stated lone parents will be pushed into the labour market with limited amount of chance of getting a variety of job choices, affordable childcare and low-paid work. Childcare and housing are two of the costs that take the biggest toll on families' budgets. (cpag) This effect lone parents as this may put them in the position of being incapable of providing basic necessities such as food, clothing and social activates. This is perceived as a structural cause of poverty as lone parents are vulnerable to margination due to how they are perceived by the government welfare state as a burden of higher cost. On the other hand, it is stated the social policy have applied interventions to combat poverty amongst lone parents. Incentives by the conservative party have allowed tax credits for part-time work, increase available childcare for support. However, there still remains the issue of ‘is working poverty on low wages and low hours.' (the independent) This suggest there still remains persistent poverty amongst lone parents, which initiates the experience of an endless cycle of managing low disposable income, with no reality of financial growth only with the chance of attaining higher education attainment.
Children in single-parent households are twice at risk of relative poverty compared to those who are in coupled families, suggesting there are approximately 47% of children within single-parent households in poverty. (gingerbread) Due to the lack of work and finance stability, a lone parent situates their children the risk of material deprivations, making it difficult to provide simple needs such as new school uniform, the latest gadgets and extra curriculum activities. As a consequence, they may not have the necessary equipment to surpass education effectively compared to others, social classes. It is stated that children on free school meals are more likely to underperform in their GCSE, compared to those who are not on free school meals. There is 32.3% gap between students with and without free school's meals. (The guardian) Lone mothers at relatively low income are provided with this support by the government, however, this is a clear indication that poverty is an underlying issue for underperformance and achieving for those children who have a low financial household background. Thus, is a representation of social exclusions, as these children do not have the relevant access to resources to benefit in succeeding forhigher education attainment. This may leave a child feeling social excluded other children in different social class as growing within poverty means being ‘cold, going hungry, not being able to join in activities' with friends and attending school trips. (CPAG) Consequently, making the parents feel unworthy to provide for their children. Additionally, children in these conditions are often faced with limited social family support, due to the parent working for a living or forced into childcare. Furthermore, the lone parent may not have the necessary cultural capital, to pass on to their children due to backgrounds of low education attainment. This can be interpreted as a pathological cause, illustrated by Dave Backwith who emphasises the cause of poverty is due to inadequate parents, ‘inadequate child ‘rearing practices', ‘failure at schools', ‘unskilled employment' and ‘unsatisfying marriages' and ‘family lives' which is a vicious cycle of deprivation. This suggests that those amongst this social group are more likely to be stuck in persistent poverty.
To conclude, lone parents, are more likely to find themselves in ‘the poverty trap' based on both pathological and structural cause. It is inevitable to narrow the explanation of poverty into one simple definition. The number of people in poverty ‘depends on how we define poverty'. However, it is acknowledged 20% of lone parents are prone to persistent poverty compared to coupled households (gingerbread). The implications of poverty can bring an effect to both parent and children, as they may be forced to limited working hours due their flexibility of being responsible for childcare and domestic labour if a single mother. As a result, this social group do not have limited opportunities to improve their finances, which may potentially affect their self-worth and dignity to provide for their children.
Word count: 2021