| Unit name | Poverty, Social Exclusion and Social Policy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOL30019 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Pantazis |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit focuses on poverty, deprivation and exclusion, and income maintenance policy. Thus we look at the distribution of poverty and consider whether state income maintenance policies resolve poverty, or even intend to. The unit begins with a consideration of the role of policy in providing social security. We then look in detail at poverty, deprivation and social exclusion, focusing on definitions and measurements of poverty, deprivation and exclusion, and highlighting issues of age, gender, ethnicity, poverty amongst children and disability. We also explore theories which attempt to explain the persistence of poverty in modern welfare states. The unit then explores income maintenance policies and the ways in which the objectives and outcomes of social security systems have changed in recent years as the balance between using the social security system to reduce inequalities between income groups and different household types, and using it to encourage particular behaviour has altered.
