Exploring the relevance of Townsend’s ideas in the 21st century. Key points
Abbreviated/picked over by Mark Aldiss
About the study
The research is mainly based on analysis of the first wave of the ESRC Understanding Society
household panel survey. The data relate to almost 100,000 individuals in nearly 40,000 households that are representative of the UK population. The interviews were conducted in 2009 and 2010.
The analysis of children’s participation utilises the separate Millennium Cohort Study; interviews were conducted with children and their parents or carers when the 19,000 sampled children were aged 8 in 2008. The findings are based on analysis using modern statistical tools.
Poverty, participation and choice
- • Participation in society can be measured in terms of social relationships, membership of organisations, trust in other people, ownership of possessions and purchase of services. All are lower among people with low incomes.
- • However, while participation generally drops as income declines, participation stops falling among the 30 per cent or so of people with the lowest incomes creating a participation ‘floor’; among this group, those with higher incomes do not have measurably increased living standards, greater social participation or higher levels of trust.
- • The 30 per cent of people with the lowest incomes are also forced to choose between the basic necessities of modern life; they must decide which needs to neglect.
- • For people affected by the floor, additional income may well be spent on upgrading the quality of necessary goods and services rather than adding to them.
- • Averages mask important variation. The participation floor for benefit recipients is lower than for other groups on the same income.
- • Most minority ethnic groups experience greater material deprivation than the white majority but social participation is, on average, higher.
- • Children’s engagement in school life and friends is not directly affected by household income.
- • However, parents on low incomes, on average, play less often with their children and spend less on activities. This is associated with poorer educational outcomes as judged by teachers.
- • Low income parents frequently spend more time than affluent ones assisting children with their school work because they have fallen behind their classmates.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
This summary is part of JRF’s research and development programme. The views are those of the authors and not necessarily those
of the JRF.
This is a summary of a larger report Poverty, Participation and Choice: The Legacy of Peter Townsend by Emanuele Ferragina,
Mark Tomlinson and Robert Walker published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Read more summaries at www.jrf.org.uk
Other formats available
ISSN 0958–3084
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Homestead
40 Water End
York YO30 6WP
Tel: 01904 615905
email: publications@jrf.org.uk
