🏖️ Causes in the wider world
Unfair trade (farmers paid very little for what they grow), debt that poorer countries must repay, conflict, natural disasters and climate change that wreck crops and homes.
Rights, Equality and Social Justice: Key Ideas » Rich and Poor: Charity, Justice and Compassion
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 4.5
- The gap between rich and poor, and some of its causes
- Whether wealthy people and countries have a responsibility to help, and why people disagree
- Charity, justice and compassion, and the three kinds of aid
- Practical examples of generosity, and non-religious reasons for helping
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Unlock This CourseThe gap between rich and poor
Some people have far more money than they could ever spend. Others cannot afford a meal. This gap exists within countries, where one street can be very rich and the next very poor, and between countries, where some have strong economies and others struggle to feed their people.
Key terms:
- Absolute poverty: not having enough to meet basic needs such as food, clean water, shelter and basic health care.
- Relative poverty: having much less than most people in the same society, so that you cannot take part in normal life, even if you are not starving.
📚 Causes close to home
Lack of education and health care, and unemployment. These often work together: a person without skills finds it hard to get work, and a person who is ill cannot work.
Poverty usually has several causes at once. Greed can play a part too, but that was covered in Why Do People Do Wrong? Selfishness, Greed and Sin, and the economic causes of war are in Why Conflicts and Wars Happen, so here we just recall them.
Do the wealthy have a responsibility?
The spec asks about the responsibility of wealthy individuals and wealthy countries towards the poor. People hold different attitudes:
- A duty of justice: the rich have a duty to help, because the world's wealth is not shared fairly.
- An act of kindness: helping is good and generous, but it is a free choice, not a duty.
- 'Charity begins at home': look after people near you first, before sending help abroad.
- Worries about dependency: help may make people rely on gifts instead of building their own future, or the money may not reach those who need it.
Many religions teach that the better off should help the poor, but believers differ on how much to give and who should give it. Their own teachings are covered in each religion's lessons.
Charity, justice and compassion
The spec says the poor should be treated in line with three ideals.
🎁 Charity
Giving help freely, such as money, food or time, with nothing expected back.
⚖️ Justice
Changing what keeps people poor: fair pay, fair trade and fair laws.
❤️ Compassion
Feeling with those who suffer and acting on it. It is the feeling that moves people to give.
Why the difference matters
Charity treats the problem today: a meal for a hungry person. Justice treats the cause: fair wages so that person can buy their own meals. An old saying captures it: give someone a fish and they eat today; teach them to fish and they eat for life.
Three kinds of aid
- Emergency aid: quick help after a disaster such as an earthquake or flood: food, clean water, tents, medicine.
- Long-term development aid: help that builds a better future, such as digging wells, building schools and clinics, and training farmers and teachers.
- Government aid: money and support that one government gives to another country, or to people in need at home through benefits and public services. It can be emergency or long-term.
Practical generosity
Help happens in every community, religious or not:
- Food banks give parcels of food to people who cannot afford enough.
- Shelters give homeless people a bed and a warm meal.
- Debt advice centres help people sort out money problems.
- Fair trade products, such as those with the Fairtrade label, are sold on terms that give farmers a fairer price.
- International charities: Oxfam fights poverty and responds to emergencies around the world, and Comic Relief raises money through events such as Red Nose Day.
Many religious communities run or support projects like these. For an exam, have a local example ready. To find one, search the name of your town plus 'food bank' or 'homeless shelter', and look at who runs it and why.
Non-religious reasons for helping
You do not need a religion to help the poor. Humanists believe each person has worth and that we have one life, so we should make the world fairer now. Their reasons include empathy (understanding how others feel), the idea that everyone deserves human dignity, and the 'golden rule': treat others as you would like to be treated. They often support justice as well as charity, for example by backing fair trade and campaigning to change unfair laws.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up absolute poverty (cannot meet basic needs) and relative poverty (poor compared with others nearby).
- Saying justice and charity are the same. Charity gives help; justice changes the cause.
- Writing about only one side. Examiners want both 'they should help' and 'charity begins at home'.
- Assuming only religious people give to the poor.
Exam-style question
(a) Identify three causes of poverty. [3 marks] (Paper 1, AO1)
(b) Outline two ways in which communities help people in poverty. [4 marks] (Paper 1, AO1)
(c) Explain why there are different attitudes to the responsibility of wealthy countries towards the poor. [6 marks] (Paper 1, AO1 and AO2)
(d) 'Rich countries have a duty to help poor countries.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks] (Paper 1, AO1 and AO2)
Model answer
(a) 1. Unfair trade (1). 2. Debt (1). 3. Natural disasters (1).
(b) Food banks give food parcels (1) to people who cannot afford enough to eat (1). Fair trade schemes pay farmers a fairer price (1), which helps them earn a living from their work (1).
(c) People disagree for several reasons. Some believe wealthy countries have a duty of justice, because world trade and wealth are shared unfairly, so those who gain most should help most. Others see aid as an act of kindness, a generous choice rather than a duty, so a country is not wrong if it gives less. Some think charity begins at home, because a government's first job is to help its own people who are in need, so money should stay in the country. Others worry about dependency, because aid may make countries rely on gifts or may be wasted before it reaches those who need it, so they prefer help that builds up local businesses and schools. (6)
(d) Plan. For: justice (wealth is unfairly shared, so the better off should put it right); compassion (we can feel with people who suffer and can afford to act); long-term development aid can end poverty, not just ease it; humanists and religious people both give reasons to help. Against: 'duty' is too strong, because help may be a free act of kindness; charity begins at home; aid can create dependency; countries must also help themselves. Add teachings from your own religion on helping the poor, and say whether believers agree on how much to give. Conclusion: pick a side with a deciding reason, such as that rich countries have a duty to help but the best help is long-term and fair, not just gifts.
Exam tip
For a 12-mark answer on a statement with 'duty', test that word: ask whether helping is a duty or a kindness, and say which you think is stronger, and why.