Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseWhen we think about poverty, we often picture people who can't afford basic necessities like food or shelter. But is that the whole story? Peter Townsend, a British sociologist, argued that poverty is much more complex and should be understood as relative deprivation - a concept that revolutionised how we think about poverty in modern societies.
Key Definitions:
Peter Townsend (1928-2009) was a British sociologist who became one of the most influential researchers on poverty. His work in the 1960s and 1970s challenged traditional views of poverty that focused only on income. He conducted extensive research in the UK, surveying thousands of households to develop a more comprehensive understanding of what it means to be poor in a wealthy society.
Townsend argued that poverty isn't just about having enough money to survive. It's about having enough resources to participate in the normal activities of society. If you can't afford to do what most people in your society consider normal - like celebrating birthdays, having friends over for dinner, or replacing worn-out furniture - then you're experiencing relative deprivation, even if you have enough food to eat.
Before Townsend, many people thought of poverty as simply not having enough money for basic survival needs. This is called absolute poverty. But Townsend showed that in wealthy societies like the UK, poverty is more often about being unable to live a normal life compared to others around you.
Focuses on minimum subsistence - having enough for basic survival needs like food and shelter. This view suggests that poverty can be eliminated by ensuring everyone has these basics. It doesn't consider social context or changing standards of living.
Example: A family that cannot afford three meals a day or basic shelter.
Focuses on what people need to participate fully in society. This changes over time as society changes. What was considered a luxury 50 years ago (like a mobile phone) might be considered a necessity today. Relative poverty recognises that human needs are socially determined.
Example: A family that has basic food and shelter but cannot afford internet access, which prevents children from completing homework.
Townsend didn't just theorise about poverty - he developed practical ways to measure it. In his groundbreaking study "Poverty in the United Kingdom" (1979), he created a deprivation index based on 60 indicators covering various aspects of living standards.
Townsend surveyed over 2,000 households across the UK to identify what most people considered necessities. He then created a list of indicators to measure deprivation. Here are some key categories:
Lack of indoor toilet, no separate bedrooms for children of opposite sex over age 10, damp housing, inadequate heating.
Not having a cooked breakfast, missing meals, unable to have friends/family for a meal or drink at least once a month.
Not celebrating special occasions, children unable to have friends to play/tea, no holidays away from home, no evening out in previous two weeks.
Townsend found that as income decreased, deprivation increased - but not in a straight line. There was a point at which deprivation suddenly increased dramatically. He argued this threshold marked the poverty line - the point at which people couldn't participate in normal society.
Inspired by Townsend's work, researchers conducted the "Breadline Britain" surveys in 1983, 1990 and 1999. These asked the British public what they considered necessities for an acceptable standard of living. The surveys showed how public perceptions of necessities changed over time.
For example, in 1983, 43% of people thought a telephone was a necessity. By 1999, this had risen to 71%. As society changed, so did what was considered essential for participation. This supported Townsend's argument that poverty is relative to societal standards.
While Townsend's work was revolutionary, it wasn't without critics. Understanding these criticisms helps us think more deeply about how we define and measure poverty.
Some critics argued that Townsend's approach relied too much on subjective judgements about what counts as a necessity. What one person sees as essential, another might view as a luxury. For example, is a television a necessity or a luxury?
Some conservatives, like Keith Joseph, argued that relative definitions of poverty mean it can never be eliminated - there will always be people who have less than others. They preferred absolute definitions that focus on meeting basic needs.
Despite these criticisms, Townsend's concept of relative deprivation has had a lasting impact on how we understand and measure poverty, particularly in developed countries like the UK.
Today, Townsend's ideas continue to influence poverty research and policy:
The UK government now uses the Index of Multiple Deprivation, which measures poverty across different domains including income, employment, health, education, housing and access to services.
The European Union defines poverty as having an income below 60% of the median income in your country - a relative measure directly influenced by Townsend's work.
The UK's 2010 Child Poverty Act included relative income measures as key targets, recognising that children need more than just basic survival needs to thrive.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a modern form of relative deprivation: digital exclusion. When schools closed, children without internet access or computers at home couldn't participate in online learning. This wasn't about survival needs, but about being able to participate in what had become a normal and necessary activity.
This perfectly illustrates Townsend's point: poverty isn't just about having enough to eat; it's about having the resources to participate in the normal activities of society. Fifty years ago, internet access wasn't necessary for education. Today, it is.
Townsend's work on relative deprivation transformed how we think about poverty. By showing that poverty is about more than just having enough money to survive, he helped us understand why poverty persists even in wealthy societies.
His approach reminds us that tackling poverty isn't just about ensuring people have enough food and shelter - though these are certainly important. It's also about ensuring everyone can participate fully in society. As societies change and develop, what counts as participation changes too.
This understanding has profound implications for social policy. If we accept Townsend's view, then policies to address poverty need to consider not just basic needs but also social inclusion and participation. This might include ensuring access to the internet, affordable transport and opportunities for social and cultural activities - things that help people feel part of society rather than excluded from it.
Townsend's concept of relative deprivation remains a powerful tool for understanding inequality and social exclusion in the 21st century.