SCPL2601 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Amartya Sen, Capability Approach, Gini Coefficient
17 May 2018
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WEEK 6: POVERTY IN AUSTRALIA
• What is poverty?
o Any definition of discussion has:
• Ethical Dimensions
▪ Just or unjust distributions of poverty
o Political Dimensions:
• Depending on ethical dimensions researchers and policy makers will look to
different political means and policy instruments.
• Saunders (2004)
o Poverty is a situation In which resources are not adequate to meet basic needs
o Any definition of poverty must embody community perceptions of poverty
• Absolute Poverty:
o Occurs when people do not have sufficient resources to support a minimum of physical
health
• Relative Poverty:
o Defined by the general standards of living in different societies and what is culturally
defined as being poor rather than some absolute level of deprivation
o Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they
lack the resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the
living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged, or
approved, in the societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriously below
those commanded by the average individual or family that they are in effect excluded
from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities. (Townsend, 1979: 31, cited in
Whiteford, 2001: 46)
• Amartya Sen:
o Capabilities Approach:
• Not resource ownership or income levels but 'capabilities' which those goods and
income provide in terms of social functioning
• These are the outcomes we individually or as a result of our cultural values believe
would constitute 'the good life', to enable us to 'flourish' as human beings and
achieve 'personhood'.
• Henderson Poverty Line (HPL):
o Ronald Henderson:
• People in Poverty: A Melbourne Survey (1970)
• National Inquiry into Poverty (1975)
o Establishment of the HPL:
• Basic wage plus child endowment
▪ (Income unit: two adults and two children)
▪ Currently $959.25 per week (March, 2018)
▪ Melbourne Institute Applied Economic and Social Research (p.4)
• Measuring Poverty:
o Recent Debate
• Senate Inquiry (A hand up not a hand out)
▪ Between 2 and 3.5 million people living in poverty in 2000 depending on
how it was measured
• Saunders v Saunders
• Reorientation of the debate away from cause and effect and focusing on
measurement
• Ethical/Political Dimensions of the Debate
• Poverty Lines:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week 6: poverty in australia: what is poverty, any definition of discussion has, ethical dimensions. Just or unjust distributions of poverty: political dimensions, depending on ethical dimensions researchers and policy makers will look to different political means and policy instruments. Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are in effect excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities. (townsend, 1979: 31, cited in. Senate inquiry (a hand up not a hand out: between 2 and 3. 5 million people living in poverty in 2000 depending on how it was measured. Saunders v saunders: reorientation of the debate away from cause and effect and focusing on measurement, ethical/political dimensions of the debate, poverty lines: Indicators: poverty in australia, 2016, the poverty line (50% of median income) for a single adult was . 30 a week. From shame inducing to dignity promoting: participation, knowledge of those who experience poverty.
