SOSC 103D Social Inequality in HK Lecture 16: Causes of Poverty

L16: Poor people in Hong Kong  Unemployed people (long-term)  Aged people, Single parents, and Those who suffer from chronic illness  The working poor  Unskilled labour, Contract workers  Offspring of the existing poor

L16: Causes of Poverty (I) Individual side of poverty  Unfortunate group Chronic illness: losing ability to work Old age: losing job and lacking family support Social isolation: e.g. single parents  Unemployment especially long-term unemployment

L16: Causes of Poverty (II) Culture of Poverty  Intergenerational continuities  Transferring deprivation within families  E.g. poor parenting; ‘bad’ personalities (e.g. laziness, low aspirations and ambitions)  Criticism: blaming the victims

L16: Causes of Poverty (III) Institutional side of poverty  Structure of employment One ’ s class situation in the occupational structure determine the probability of becoming poor Income, job security, contract  Social and economic changes Deindustrialization Market value of the skills acquired

L16: Causes of Poverty (III) Institutional side of poverty (cont ’ )  Structure of inequality - Power relations between the rich and the poor - The role of laws and legislations  Social membership - Inequalities in social resources (e.g. social support network and access to information) - Discrimination and exclusion

L16: Social attitudes in Hong Kong

L16: Perception of the poor The importance of both individual and institutional factors of poverty Individual factors of poverty are not purely individual, but underpinned by social change Clear idea on/ fine distinction in the effects of “institutional” side of poverty in HK The inadequacies of social welfare in HK

L16:  Causes of Long-term Poverty  Solution to Poverty (welfare?)  Ways to avoid Long-term and Intergenerational Poverty There are two main perspectives: conservative view & liberal view

L16: Conservative view Poor people and their children are trapped by welfare Welfare programs create dependency Passing on the ‘wrong’ attitudes to successive generations Welfare = the cause of long-term poverty/ dependency

L16: Liberal view Poor people and their children are trapped by poverty (lack of employment) Education and training programs Creation of work Reunite the poor with the rest of society Welfare = transitional financial support

L16: Readings: Gottschalk, P., et al. (2001) “The Dynamics and Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty and Welfare Participation,” in David Grusky (ed.) Social Stratification: Class, Race and Gender in Sociological Perspective (2/e)