Poverty and social exclusion In Europe and USA during 1950 and 60s standards of living were going

up but in the 70s poverty problems were reemerging. Today there are various issues related to poverty. In a household two wage earners is a must. At the same time poverty statistics that poverty is increasing for example un employment statistics, youth unemployment etc. the rich are getting richer. Some sociologists like Novak say that neoliberalism is to blame for the rise of poverty. Precarious employment: an example would be job on contract or low paid jobs Women, ethnic minorities, young workers earn less than men. Manual workers are finding it more difficult to find employment. Family makeup has changed, the idea of the nuclear family, the commonly held idea. Plurality of family forms and sometimes it is not possible to be in part of the nuclear family. Some policies seem to favour more the male bread winner. Two main definitions of poverty: absolute and relative Townsend: speaks of relative poverty. How poor somebody is in relation to the average income of a society and how much access you have to item considered as necessary in a particular society. Charles Murray: came up with the term of the underclass. The welfare state actually creates poverty and created welfare dependency. It is harmful to the individual and to society and encourages people not to work. He analysed the American society. Young single mothers and young unemployed males especially black are most likely to be in poverty. The underclass is spreading as welfare dependent individuals are choosing not to work. If you are rational and the welfare state pays you than you are choosing to stay unemployed. He later started writing also on Britain. Novak criticizes Murray as he says he is making crass generalizations and blaming the victims. Novak adopt a more socialist perspective. The issue is structural and the fault is in the neo liberal policies Social exclusion EU the term social exclusion is used therefore it has become mainstream. Third way referred a lot to social exclusion You may be excluded because o fyour race, age, gender, political beliefs, disability. If buses are not accessible to all individuals that is social exclusion. If governments have social policies for certain types of families and not others that is a form of social exclusion. Unemployment is related a lot to social exclusion but this is not the only reason. It seems to that these two groups are homogenous. Novek says that sociaties is much more complex than this and you cant dump people into different categories. The concept of social ex and in has made a contribution to social policy because it is not just about how much income you have. Sexuality, beliefs, lifestyle, race, gender, age are also aspects of this concept. Social ex might lead to poverty. The most extreme case of social exclusion was Germany under the Nazis.

according to novak the underclass and social ex are rather conservative. Assume that society has to be well structured and in order. Both of them are interested in keeping society stable and retaining the same inequalities