Practice question · Multiple choice
Rowntree distinguished primary from secondary poverty in his classic York study. Why does this distinction matter for policy interventions designed to reduce material hardship?
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- What distinguishes a household lacking minimum survival resources from one whose income is absorbed before essentials are met?
- Would increasing cash transfers alone guarantee that secondary poverty disappears?
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C. Secondary poverty cannot be resolved purely by raising household income
Why
Primary poverty stems from a strict deficit of resources, whereas secondary poverty occurs when adequate resources are diverted elsewhere. Conflating the two leads policymakers to treat all deprivation as a shortfall in cash transfers rather than addressing structural pressures on household expenditure.
Practise Inequality, Poverty and Social Exclusion
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