The nature and existence of poverty | AQA A-Level Sociology

For Specification 7192

AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes

Estimated study time: 70 minutes

exam questions by topic 👇

The nature and existence of poverty A-Level Sociology revision requires more than simply knowing that some people have fewer economic resources than others. AQA requires students to understand sociological explanations of the nature, existence and persistence of poverty in contemporary society.  This lesson focuses on what sociologists mean by poverty, how different approaches understand it, and why conclusions about whether poverty exists depend partly on the concepts and evidence used. This provides the foundation for why poverty continues [The persistence of poverty] later in the topic.

Learning Objectives 🎯

By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:

• Define poverty and relative poverty in sociological terms.

• Explain how social exclusion can broaden sociological understandings of poverty.

• Compare functionalist, structural and individual or cultural understandings of poverty.

• Analyse how definitions of poverty affect claims about its existence in contemporary society.

• Evaluate competing sociological understandings of poverty.

Revision Notes 📚

The nature and existence of poverty A-Level Sociology revision: what AQA requires

Within Work, Poverty and Welfare, AQA requires knowledge of:

• the nature, existence and persistence of poverty in contemporary society

• the distribution of poverty, wealth and income between social groups

• responses and solutions to poverty

• work, worklessness and people's life chances.

These areas overlap, but they are not identical.

This lesson asks two main questions:

1. What is poverty?

2. In what sense can we say that poverty exists in contemporary society?

The question of why it continues is developed in sociological explanations of continuing poverty [The persistence of poverty], while differences in the groups most exposed to poverty are examined in patterns between social groups [The distribution of poverty].

Poverty as a sociological concept

Poverty describes a condition in which people have insufficient resources to achieve an acceptable standard of living or participation.

Sociologically, however, poverty is not just a description of having less money. The concept raises questions about:

• what counts as an acceptable standard of living

• whether poverty should be judged in comparison with other members of society

• whether income alone is enough to identify poverty

• whether social exclusion should form part of the definition

• whether poverty is an unavoidable feature of society or evidence of social inequality.

This is why sociologists can agree that economic inequality exists but disagree over how poverty should be defined and interpreted.

It is also important to distinguish this issue from economic inequality [Wealth and income inequality]. Inequality means that resources such as wealth and income are unevenly distributed. Poverty refers more specifically to disadvantage at the lower end of this distribution.

Relative poverty

AQA mark schemes explicitly recognise relative poverty as an important concept when answering questions about poverty.

Relative poverty understands poverty in relation to the normal living standards and resources of the society in which a person lives.

The key word is relative. A person's position is assessed in relation to the society around them rather than simply asking whether they possess any resources at all.

This has an important consequence. A society could become more prosperous overall while poverty still exists if some people remain unable to reach the living standards or levels of participation regarded as normal within that society.

Why relative poverty matters

A relative approach recognises that what people need in order to participate in society can be shaped by the society in which they live.

This makes poverty a social as well as an economic concept. It draws attention not only to resources themselves but also to what those resources allow people to do.

For an exam answer, therefore, do not reduce relative poverty to the vague statement that "some people are poorer than others". The sociological point is that the meaning of poverty is connected to socially established standards of living and participation.

Poverty and social exclusion

AQA mark schemes also identify social exclusion as relevant to sociological discussions of poverty.

Social exclusion refers to disadvantage that restricts people's ability to participate fully in areas of social life.

This develops the idea of poverty beyond income alone.

A person may experience disadvantage because limited resources restrict access to opportunities or participation. This helps explain why sociologists may examine poverty in relation to wider life chances, rather than treating it solely as an amount of money.

The relationship can be represented simply:

Limited resources → restricted opportunities and participation → social exclusion

This does not mean poverty and social exclusion are identical. Rather, the concept of social exclusion provides a wider way of thinking about what poverty may mean in people's lives.

This becomes particularly relevant when studying the importance of employment and its absence [Worklessness], because AQA material links worklessness with disadvantage, exclusion from aspects of social life and reduced life chances.

Different sociological understandings of poverty

There is no single sociological explanation of the significance of poverty. AQA assessment material supports contrasting functionalist, conflict, structural and individual or cultural approaches.  

Understanding	Central idea	What it suggests about poverty
Relative poverty	Poverty must be understood in relation to society's living standards	Poverty may exist even where general living standards are relatively high
Social exclusion	Poverty is connected to restricted participation and opportunities	The effects of poverty extend beyond income
Functionalist approach	Some inequality and poverty may perform functions or be regarded as inevitable	Poverty may contribute to motivation and role allocation
Conflict or structural approach	Poverty reflects inequalities built into the organisation of society	Poverty is linked to unequal social structures rather than simply individual behaviour
Individual or cultural approach	Attitudes and behaviour may help explain poverty	Individual behaviour and culture may be given greater explanatory importance

These approaches are useful because they interpret the same social condition differently.

The functionalist understanding of poverty

AQA's 2024 Paper 2 material presented the functionalist argument that poverty may perform functions in society and may be regarded as inevitable. One example given was that the fear of poverty could encourage individuals to work and seek upward social mobility.

The core functionalist idea is that patterns of inequality may contribute to the operation of society.

From this perspective, poverty may be understood in relation to:

• incentives to work

• social mobility

• differences in skills and occupational rewards

• the organisation of positions within society.

Evaluation

Conflict approaches challenge this interpretation. Describing poverty as functional does not necessarily explain why particular groups experience it or whether existing inequalities are fair.

A further issue is the difference between saying that poverty has consequences that benefit some parts of society and saying that poverty is therefore desirable. These are not the same claim.

In an examination, keep the argument tied directly to poverty. Examiner reports have warned that discussion of ideas such as meritocracy or social mobility can lose relevance when students fail to reconnect them explicitly to the poverty question.

Structural and conflict understandings of poverty

A structural explanation argues that poverty results from features of the organisation of society rather than being explained solely by individuals.

AQA's 2022 assessment material contrasts structural explanations with approaches that focus on individual attitudes and behaviour. It identifies concepts including structural constraints, capitalism, discrimination, marginalisation and social exclusion as potentially relevant.

A conflict perspective therefore understands poverty as connected to inequalities between social groups.

For example, Marxist approaches place particular emphasis on the class structure and capitalism. AQA assessment material has contrasted this with the claim that individual behaviour is the main explanation of poverty.

The central debate is therefore:

Is poverty primarily produced by the way society is organised, or by the attitudes and behaviour of individuals?

This debate becomes much more detailed in explanations of continued poverty [The persistence of poverty].

Individual and cultural understandings

Some sociological approaches give greater importance to attitudes, values and behaviour.

AQA material identifies New Right approaches alongside ideas such as the culture of poverty, dependency culture and the underclass in debates about poverty.

The emphasis here is different from structural explanations.

A structural explanation asks:

What features of society place people at risk of poverty?

An individual or cultural explanation asks:

What behaviours or attitudes may contribute to poverty?

These explanations can produce very different interpretations of the same evidence.

Evaluation

A structural sociologist may argue that concentrating on behaviour ignores restrictions on people's opportunities.

An individual or cultural explanation may respond that structural approaches can understate the significance of individual choices or behavioural differences.

A strong evaluation therefore compares the relative importance of structural and cultural factors rather than simply describing each approach in separate paragraphs.

Does poverty exist in contemporary society?

For sociology, this is partly an empirical question and partly a question of definition.

If poverty is understood relatively, improvements in general living standards do not automatically mean that poverty has disappeared. The important question becomes whether some people remain substantially disadvantaged in relation to the society in which they live.

If poverty is understood partly through social exclusion, evidence of restricted participation and reduced life chances also becomes relevant.

Recent AQA assessments themselves repeatedly treat poverty as a contemporary sociological issue. Questions have examined its persistence, its distribution between social groups, its structural causes, welfare responses and whether it is functional or inevitable.

Why definitions affect the evidence

Imagine two sociologists examining the same society.

One focuses only on whether individuals possess some basic material resources. Another examines whether people have sufficient resources to participate in normal social life.

They could reach different conclusions about the extent of poverty because they are using different definitions.

This creates an important evaluative point:

Evidence does not interpret itself. The definition of poverty influences what evidence sociologists collect and how they interpret it.

For example:

• an income-based approach concentrates on economic resources

• a relative approach compares resources with wider social standards

• a social-exclusion approach also examines participation and opportunities

• structural approaches ask how inequalities in society produce disadvantage

• individual or cultural approaches give more attention to behaviour and attitudes.

This is one reason debates over the "existence" of poverty cannot be separated completely from debates over its nature.

Poverty, inequality and distribution

Poverty should not be confused with the broader distribution of resources.

A society may contain substantial differences in income or wealth without every lower-income individual necessarily being classified as living in poverty under every definition.

Equally, a focus solely on average prosperity can hide inequalities between groups.

AQA specifically requires students to examine how poverty, wealth and income are distributed between different social groups.  That issue is developed separately in who is most at risk of poverty [The distribution of poverty].

Poverty and welfare

How poverty is understood also affects proposed solutions.

If poverty is regarded mainly as the result of structural inequalities, sociologists may place greater importance on changing social arrangements or welfare provision.

If poverty is explained largely through behaviour or dependency, different policies may be favoured.

AQA therefore links the study of poverty to government approaches [State responses to poverty] and to non-state welfare provision [Private, voluntary and informal welfare].

This is a useful synoptic connection in extended answers. Definitions and explanations of poverty influence judgements about how society should respond to it.

How to evaluate understandings of poverty

A strong evaluation should not simply announce that one perspective is "wrong".

Instead, ask what each approach explains well and what it may overlook.

Relative poverty

Strength: It recognises that the resources required to participate in society depend partly on the wider social context.

Limitation: Judgements about acceptable living standards depend on how poverty and participation are defined.

Social exclusion

Strength: It recognises that poverty may affect opportunities, participation and life chances as well as income.

Limitation: It broadens poverty considerably, making precise boundaries between poverty and other forms of disadvantage more difficult to establish.

Functionalist explanations

Strength: They encourage analysis of the possible relationship between poverty, incentives and the organisation of society.

Limitation: Conflict approaches argue that they may understate unequal power and structural inequalities.

Structural explanations

Strength: They draw attention to the way class structure and wider inequalities may produce poverty.

Limitation: Cultural and individual approaches argue that social structure alone may not account for all differences.

Individual or cultural explanations

Strength: They direct attention towards behaviour, values and differences between individuals or groups.

Limitation: Structural approaches argue that this may understate restrictions and inequalities outside individual control.

The strongest judgement may therefore be that different explanations illuminate different dimensions of poverty. The key examination task is deciding which explanation is most convincing for the precise question being asked.

Key Words 🔑

Key word	Student-friendly definition	How it may be used in an exam
Poverty	A condition in which people have insufficient resources to achieve an acceptable standard of living or participation	Define the issue before explaining its causes, distribution or persistence
Relative poverty	Poverty understood in relation to the living standards and resources of the surrounding society	Use when discussing whether poverty can exist despite wider prosperity
Social exclusion	Disadvantage that restricts participation in important areas of social life	Use to show that poverty can affect opportunities and life chances as well as income
Structural explanation	An explanation that locates poverty in the organisation and inequalities of society	Apply when contrasting social causes with individual behaviour
Functionalism	A perspective that examines how features of society may contribute to its operation and stability	Apply to arguments that poverty may perform functions or be inevitable
Conflict approach	An approach that emphasises inequality and competing interests between social groups	Use to challenge the idea that poverty benefits society as a whole
New Right	A perspective that gives greater emphasis to individual responsibility, behaviour and dependency in explanations of poverty	Compare with structural approaches
Life chances	People's opportunities and outcomes in areas of social life	Use when explaining the wider consequences of poverty and exclusion

Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡

Examiner hint: Keep every paragraph focused on the exact wording of the question. AQA reports repeatedly warn that students sometimes write everything they know about a term rather than answering the relationship or debate actually asked about.

Examiner hint: Use contemporary examples to support sociological analysis, but do not allow examples to replace concepts and theory. In the 2024 poverty essay, examiners noted effective use of contemporary material such as food banks and homelessness, but weaker responses often lacked detailed conceptual knowledge or theoretical debate.

Examiner hint: For a 10-mark outline and explain question, develop exactly two points. Evaluation is not required. Introductions and conclusions usually waste time.

Examiner hint: For a 10-mark analyse question with an item, use two separate hooks from the item and develop each sociologically. Simply mentioning an item phrase is not enough.

Examiner hint: In a 20-mark essay, use the item as a starting point but add relevant knowledge of your own. AQA advises students to cover a smaller number of arguments in depth rather than listing every theory they know.

Examiner hint: Effective evaluation weighs competing arguments and reaches a reasoned judgement. A learned criticism added to the end of a paragraph is less effective than evaluation that directly addresses the question.

Common Mistakes ⚠️

Mistake: Treating poverty and inequality as identical

Why this is incorrect: Inequality concerns differences in the distribution of resources across society. Poverty is a more specific form of disadvantage.

How to improve: Define the concept in the first few lines of an answer, then keep the discussion focused on those experiencing poverty rather than writing generally about rich and poor people.

Mistake: Defining relative poverty as simply "being poorer than someone else"

Why this is incorrect: Relative poverty is concerned with people's resources and living standards in relation to those regarded as normal within their society. Almost everyone is poorer than someone else, but that does not automatically mean everyone except the richest person is in poverty.

How to improve: Include the idea of socially relative living standards or participation whenever you use the term.

Mistake: Assuming improved living standards prove that poverty has disappeared

Why this is incorrect: A relative understanding means poverty can continue even when overall prosperity rises.

How to improve: Ask, "What definition of poverty is being used?" before evaluating evidence about its existence.

Mistake: Listing theories without comparing them

Why this is incorrect: A sequence of functionalism, Marxism and New Right paragraphs does not automatically constitute evaluation.

How to improve: Make each paragraph answer a debate, for example: "Structural explanations are more convincing than individual explanations because..." and then test that judgement.

Mistake: Drifting into the causes or distribution of poverty

Why this is incorrect: A question on the nature of poverty is primarily about how poverty is understood. A question on its distribution asks who is more likely to experience it.

How to improve: Underline the key wording before planning. Only include causes or groups where they help answer the actual question.

Mistake: Using examples without sociological development

Why this is incorrect: Examiner reports indicate that contemporary examples can strengthen answers, but examples alone do not demonstrate conceptual knowledge or theoretical analysis.

How to improve: Use the pattern concept → explanation → example → link back to question.

Exam-Style Questions ✍️

Question 1

Outline and explain two ways in which sociologists may understand the nature of poverty. [10 marks]

Question 2

Outline and explain two reasons why different definitions of poverty may lead sociologists to reach different conclusions about its existence. [10 marks]

Question 3

Read Item A below and answer the question that follows.

Item A

Some sociologists understand poverty by comparing people's resources with the normal living standards of the society in which they live. Other sociologists emphasise that disadvantage may also prevent individuals from participating fully in social life.

Definitions may affect conclusions about the existence of poverty.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which definitions may affect conclusions about the existence of poverty in contemporary society. [10 marks]

Question 4

Read Item B below and answer the question that follows.

Item B

Some sociologists argue that poverty may perform functions for society, for example by influencing people's behaviour. Other sociologists see poverty as a consequence of inequalities within social structures.

Sociologists therefore disagree about the nature of poverty.

Applying material from Item B, analyse two differences between functionalist and structural understandings of poverty. [10 marks]

Question 5

Read Item C below and answer the question that follows.

Item C

Poverty may be understood as more than a shortage of income. Limited resources may restrict people's opportunities and prevent participation in aspects of social life. However, different approaches disagree about how far these disadvantages are produced by social structures rather than individual behaviour.

Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate the view that poverty is best understood as a form of social exclusion. [20 marks]

Question 6

Read Item D below and answer the question that follows.

Item D

Some sociologists see poverty as an unavoidable feature of the organisation of society and suggest that it may perform useful functions. Conflict sociologists disagree, arguing that poverty reflects inequalities between social groups.

Applying material from Item D and your knowledge, evaluate the view that poverty should be understood mainly as a necessary feature of society rather than as a consequence of inequality. [20 marks]

Mark scheme

Question 1: Outline and explain two ways in which sociologists may understand the nature of poverty. [10 marks]

A strong response should give two clearly separated, developed understandings.

Indicative content may include:

• relative poverty, poverty understood in relation to wider living standards

• social exclusion, poverty as restricted participation and opportunities

• functionalist understandings of poverty

• structural or conflict understandings

• individual or cultural understandings.

For each point:

1. identify the understanding

2. explain its central idea

3. develop how this changes the meaning of poverty.

No evaluation is required.

Question 2: Outline and explain two reasons why different definitions of poverty may lead sociologists to reach different conclusions about its existence. [10 marks]

Indicative content may include:

• a relative definition can identify poverty despite improvements in overall living standards

• a definition incorporating social exclusion considers participation as well as economic resources

• different definitions lead researchers to examine different forms of evidence

• structural and individual approaches may interpret the same evidence differently.

Top responses will develop two, rather than briefly identifying several.

Question 3: Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which definitions may affect conclusions about the existence of poverty. [10 marks]

Students should use both hooks:

• "normal living standards", linking this explicitly to relative poverty

• "participating fully in social life", linking this to social exclusion.

For each hook, the answer should explain how adopting that definition affects the evidence considered and therefore the judgement about whether poverty exists.

High-level responses will contain two developed applications and clear analysis.

Question 4: Applying material from Item B, analyse two differences between functionalist and structural understandings of poverty. [10 marks]

Possible contrasts include:

• functionalism may consider poverty in terms of its functions, while structural approaches see poverty as an outcome of inequality

• functionalism may connect poverty to behaviour, incentives or role allocation, while conflict approaches emphasise unequal social structures and group interests.

Students must use the item rather than write two unrelated accounts of the perspectives.

Question 5: Evaluate the view that poverty is best understood as a form of social exclusion. [20 marks]

Indicative content may include:

• meaning of social exclusion

• relationship between poverty, participation and life chances

• relative poverty

• strengths of looking beyond income

• functionalist understandings

• structural and conflict approaches

• individual or cultural approaches

• problems of deciding how broadly poverty should be defined.

A strong answer will keep returning to the words "best understood" rather than merely describing several theories.

Evaluation should compare explanations directly and lead to a reasoned conclusion about whether social exclusion provides a sufficiently complete understanding of poverty.

Question 6: Evaluate the view that poverty should be understood mainly as a necessary feature of society rather than as a consequence of inequality. [20 marks]

Indicative content may include:

• functionalist arguments concerning poverty, incentives and social organisation

• the idea that poverty may be regarded as inevitable

• conflict and structural interpretations

• class inequality

• Marxist approaches

• individual or cultural explanations

• relative poverty and social exclusion where relevant to assessing the nature of poverty.

Higher-level answers will evaluate throughout. They might argue that functionalism identifies possible consequences or functions of poverty but that this does not prove poverty is necessary. Alternatively, they may question whether structural inequality alone can explain all poverty.

A strong conclusion should answer which understanding is most convincing and why, rather than merely summarising the essay.