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

2. L16: 30.03.072 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

3. L16: 30.03.073 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

4. L16: 30.03.074 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

5. L16: 30.03.075 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

6. L16: 30.03.076 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

7. L16: 30.03.077 Social attitudes in Hong Kong

8. L16: 30.03.078 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

9. L16: 30.03.079  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

10. L16: 30.03.0710 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

11. L16: 30.03.0711 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

12. L16: 30.03.0712 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)