As the leading publisher in Social and Public Policy, we publish in the core social sciences to highlight social issues, advance debate and positively influence policy and practice.
Our list leads the way on conversations around inequality and social injustice featuring authors such as Peter Townsend, Kayleigh Garthwaite, Danny Dorling, Pete Alcock, John Hills and Bob Jessop. Series including the International Library of Policy Analysis and Research in Comparative and Global Social Policy bring international, high-quality scholarship together in order to address globally shared challenges.
Our key journals in this field are the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, an internationally unique forum for leading research on the themes of poverty and social justice, Policy & Politics, a world-leading journal that is committed to advancing our understanding of the dynamics of policy making and implementation, and Evidence & Policy, dedicated to comprehensive and critical assessment of the relationship between researchers and the evidence they produce and the concerns of policy makers and practitioners.
Social and Public Policy
The short concluding chapter stresses the scale of poverty and the urgency of the challenge to end inter-generational perpetuation of poverty. It insists that there is no excuse for the perpetuation of these vicious cycles of disadvantage, as we know the range of policies and actions that are needed to break them. It denounces the myths and stereotyping of people in poverty that impede action. It emphasises the need to put tackling inequality and tackling child poverty at the heart of the escape from poverty. It ends by stating that, given the damage that poverty does to people’s lives, to social cohesion, to the economy and to environmental sustainability, we can imagine no objective more urgent or worthwhile pursuing.
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The perpetuation of poverty across generations damages lives. It weakens social cohesion and the economy and undermines environmental sustainability. This book examines why poverty is carried on from one generation to the next and what needs to be done to eradicate it.
This book draws on a wide variety of sources and academic disciplines (social sciences, economics, law, community development, neuroscience and developmental psychology) along with the lived experience of people in poverty. Challenging the myths and prejudices about poverty that hinder progress, it calls for a comprehensive approach based on ensuring real equality of opportunity for all. It stresses the need to intervene early to combat child poverty and break the vicious cycles that perpetuate poverty and disadvantage.
This chapter examines the factors that perpetuate poverty across generations. It focuses on ten key factors: (i) poor health and poor access to health services; (ii) malnutrition; (iii) inadequate housing and disadvantaged neighbourhoods; (iv) insufficient access to good-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) and primary and secondary education; (v) limited access to sport, culture and leisure activities; (vi) poor access to decent employment; (vii) discrimination, stereotyping and prejudice; (viii) gender inequality, intra-household dynamics and sacrifice; (ix) environmental shocks and climate change; and (x) poverty-related stress and the undermining of people’s aspirations, self-confidence and hope. It stresses that these factors often work in combination, reinforcing one another, creating the conditions for systemic forms of exclusion.
Why, in a world of plenty, are we failing to eradicate poverty? This collective failure is: (i) because we only rarely move beyond the symptoms to address the root causes of the inter-generational perpetuation of poverty (IGPP); (ii) because of the efforts of governments being obstructed, in particular as a result of mistaken beliefs concerning ‘merit’ and ‘incentives’; (iii) because of the self-interest of and exploitation by some who control excessive wealth and resources; and (iv) because of a failure to properly assess the costs to society of poverty and inequalities. This book seeks to achieve three objectives. The first objective is to describe the reality of IGPP. The second objective is to put will above fate; to pit hope against complacency. The vicious cycles that perpetuate poverty can be broken. Finally, the third objective is to identify some examples of anti-poverty strategies that have worked and, with humility, to propose some guidance to policy makers – or at least, to contribute to some form of collective learning.
This chapter highlights the challenge of making the necessary changes happen to end inter-generational perpetuation of poverty (IGPP). It suggests eleven things that could help to bring about change: (i) invest in raising public and political awareness of and commitment to combating IGPP; (ii) develop comprehensive, multidimensional strategies that combine employment policies, cash support and access to quality services; (iii) promote integrated and holistic delivery of policies and programmes at local level; (iv) combine universal and targeted policies (promote progressive universalism); (v) count every child and leave no one behind; (vi) put children’s rights at the heart of strategies; (vii) promote child mainstreaming; (viii) improve research and data collection; (ix) enhance monitoring and reporting and increase accountability; (x) ensure adequate participation of children and families experiencing poverty and social exclusion; and (xi) foster stronger links between the poverty and environment agendas.
In looking at what is needed to break the vicious cycles that perpetuate poverty, this chapter explores the potential of classic tax-and-transfer policies on which the welfare state was built. Such policies remain essential, in combination with other measures (including the gradual transformation of the welfare state in order to reduce its dependence on growth), in the short term. This chapter identifies two priorities in this regard. First, mobilising increased resources to combat poverty through widening the tax base and implementing progressive tax policies. Second, strengthening the social investment state through strengthening social protection. This can be done by developing social protection and protecting basic income security; investing in early childhood; promoting inclusive education; investing in inclusive health services; investing in decent houses and safe living environments; and investing in access to sport, culture and leisure activities.
This chapter explains what inter-generational perpetuation of poverty (IGPP) is. It stresses the strong link between IGPP and child poverty. Children who grow up in poverty not only have limited opportunities to reach their full potential; they also have a much higher risk of being poor as adults and thus of raising their own children in poverty. It is therefore important to consider the impact of poverty at all stages of childhood, including adolescence and giving particular attention to transitions. The chapter also stresses the link between IGPP and inequality, showing how those countries with high levels of inequality are more likely to have low social mobility and perpetuate the vicious cycle. In reviewing the available evidence, this chapter provides an initial diagnosis of the extent of the challenge.
In looking at what is needed to break the vicious cycles that perpetuate poverty, this chapter explores how to move towards an inclusive economy. It stresses that, in addition to designing progressive taxation schemes and strengthening social protection and access to essential services, there is a need to move towards a more inclusive form of economy, one that ensures real opportunities for all. It questions over-dependence on economic growth as a solution and highlights the need to encourage a regenerative and inclusive economy rather than an extractive and exclusive economy. The chapter then sets out how to achieve a jobs-rich model of development which makes the right to work a reality. It argues for the introduction of a basic income for young adults. It advocates the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of socioeconomic disadvantage.
The perpetuation of poverty from one generation to the next damages lives. It weakens social cohesion and the economy, and undermines environmental sustainability. This book examines why poverty is carried across generations and what needs to be done to eradicate this vicious cycle. It debunks the myths and excuses that impede action. In particular, it denounces the fallacious discourse that blames poverty on dysfunctional families or, even worse, on a culture within certain sub-groups of society which is opposed to work – a discourse which stigmatises people in poverty and leads them to be ashamed of being poor. Instead, it insists that structural factors at the level of society explain such perpetuation. The authors draw on a wide variety of sources and academic disciplines (social sciences, economics, law, community development, neuroscience and developmental psychology) along with the lived experience of people in poverty. While challenging the myths and prejudices about poverty that hinder progress, the authors also insist that the solutions are known and the resources are available to break this vicious cycle. They set out a comprehensive suite of measures to break it which are based on ensuring real equality of opportunity for all. They highlight how to move towards an inclusive economy that can support their implementation and they set out what is needed to make the necessary changes happen. They particularly stress the need to intervene early to combat child poverty and break the vicious cycles that perpetuate disadvantage.
The perpetuation of poverty from one generation to the next damages lives. It weakens social cohesion and the economy, and undermines environmental sustainability. This book examines why poverty is carried across generations and what needs to be done to eradicate this vicious cycle. It debunks the myths and excuses that impede action. In particular, it denounces the fallacious discourse that blames poverty on dysfunctional families or, even worse, on a culture within certain sub-groups of society which is opposed to work – a discourse which stigmatises people in poverty and leads them to be ashamed of being poor. Instead, it insists that structural factors at the level of society explain such perpetuation. The authors draw on a wide variety of sources and academic disciplines (social sciences, economics, law, community development, neuroscience and developmental psychology) along with the lived experience of people in poverty. While challenging the myths and prejudices about poverty that hinder progress, the authors also insist that the solutions are known and the resources are available to break this vicious cycle. They set out a comprehensive suite of measures to break it which are based on ensuring real equality of opportunity for all. They highlight how to move towards an inclusive economy that can support their implementation and they set out what is needed to make the necessary changes happen. They particularly stress the need to intervene early to combat child poverty and break the vicious cycles that perpetuate disadvantage.
