Do you think people in the UK live in real povety and is it their own fault? Why?

Answer 1

No, I think that people in the US live in real povety and its not their fault.

"Poverty in America has grown persistently throughout the twentieth century. Once a condition confined to immigrants, women and children, by the 1930s poverty became tied to the geographic development of the nation. Historically, poverty policy has emphasized individual moral responsibility while ignoring its geographic and structural origins. A weak attempt to address the deeper origins of poverty in the 1960s imploded with the economic crisis of the 1980s and the slide into conservative politics. By 1997 more than 700 counties in the USA were in economic distress. Few new initiatives have been offered to resolve this decades-old problem".

One nation, pulling apart: the basis of
persistent poverty in the USA1
http://faculty.washington.edu/dmercer/readings/glasmeier%20persistent%20poverty.pdf
Amy K. Glasmeier
Department of Geography, Penn State University, 308 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA

POVERT IN THE UK

2005 Report:
Monitoring poverty and social exclusion in the UK 2005

The New Policy Institute has produced its seventh annual report of indicators of poverty and social exclusion. Whilst comprehensive in its analysis, a particular theme this year relates to issues concerning disabled people.

The most authoritative UK site for statistics on poverty and social exclusion.
http://www.poverty.org.uk/reports/mpse%202005%20findings.pdf

Answer 2

Remembering there are always exceptions to every rule and generalizations are often dangerous! After spending much of last summer in Africa i can honestly say. There is no such thing as real poverty in the UK. The people who come closest are the illegal immigrants that share a room with several others. i witnessed true poverty in Africa were people were collapsing and dying of starvation as they only had enough food to feed there children or even less than that!
People in the UK that live with real poverty no however there are plenty that live in squalor? yes that's there own fault. I deliver food of an evening and often go onto some of the roughest housing estates in Liverpool. Some people order food almost every night yet when you get to there homes the smell that hits you when they open there front doors takes your breath away. They come to their door in the latest designer yet it smells like they haven't clean there home for years the carpets are worn to the tread and the wallpaper is pealing off.

Answer 3

hmm good question what do you mean by real poverty if your comparing us to say somewere like Pakistan then no none lives in that kind of poverty only the seriousley homless who live that way because they have problems, drink, drugs, mental illness etc or have reason to hide or are a white male. although one of your other answerers stated that the UK has a full and fair benefit system this is not true if you were a single black lesbian disabled single mother you would be loaded down with cash and benefits but if you are a single white male you will get bugger all help from the system no money and if your homeless you have to fend for yourself..

Answer 4

When living in South Africa I was once told by a farm worker that I was rich because I had a washing machine. He was lucky to have work and earn the equivalent of £100 a month.
My daughter who is a British Citizen can not bring her family out to U.K unless she is earning at least £900 per month (That is what they would be entitled to should they have to claim unemployment benefits) her husband in South Africa earns the equivalent of £350 per month
I think that people in UK don't know what the word poverty means.

Answer 5

Some children in the UK live in real poverty and this is very much the fault of the choices their parents make on their expenditure. Nobody needs fitted kitchens; techno gizmos et al; but they do require quality food warmth and decent housing. It isn't fair for the children but as we don't live in a police state I don't know what the answer is.

Answer 6

I expect there are very very few people in the UK living in real poverty (i define this as not having enough to eat and not having basic human rights such as shelter, clothing and comfort)and those who do should be able to help themselves through various government schemes and funding.
I have watched a few of these documentaries about Britains poorest families and people who are "living on the breadline" and fail to see how they can be classed as such when they are living in houses with televisions, computers, nice furniture, enough to eat and they are also wearing designer sports clothes. How can this be living in poverty?

Answer 7

I think People in the UK Don't know what poverty is. Your lowest Economic groups would be be better of than middle class groups in most countries . I think Standard of living in the UK would be many times better at all levels be it lower, middle and Upper middle class than 90 % of the countries of the world

Answer 8

We do not know the meaning of the word poverty in Britain. Just look at 3rd world countries like Brazil and India. We don't know just how well off we are in this country. Most of us would not last a week in these "Survival of the fittest only" countries. If s#it happens and we are unable to (or don't want to) work in this country we have access to VERY generous free hand outs. In third world countries you work for money (NO IFS OR BUTS) or you starve to death.

Answer 9

Like any country there are poor people but UK has many more social programs than the USA. There is a better distribution of wealth in the UK than in the USA.

Answer 10

Poverty is a very subjective thing. In a developed country like this, someone would consider themselves to be in poverty if they lacked things that other cultures would consider luxuries - TV, videos etc.
That is not to say they are not in poverty of a kind. If you are materially worse off than most of your peers, and lack things that the average citizen takes for granted, this is worrying. But looking at it globally, poverty can mean a complete lack of material possessions - the essentials rather than the comforts - no housing, clothing, sufficient food, clean water, access to health and education.
It is hard to imagine this absolute poverty in a developed country. Where it exists, it is wrong.