From Gordys link
So is there any poverty here?
Peter Townsend, the sociologist who did so much to advance our understanding of poverty and its relationship to wider society, and was also one of CPAG?s founders, certainly thought so. In 1979 Townsend defined poverty as follows:
"Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack 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 and approved, in the societies in which they belong.
Townsend?s definition also highlights that poverty is about a lack of resources. Poor people lack capital (both income and wealth). But they can also be resource-poor in other ways: they may lack human capital (such as education or good health), or social capital (such as positive and trustful communities). Yet it is money that, to a large extent, determines whether people are able to compensate for other shortfalls in their lives. That is why a lack of adequate financial resources is the decisive characteristic of poverty"
Poverty pushes people to the margins of society, that is why quite often real poverty is hidden, that is why it has such detrimental long term impacts on the life chances of children. Poverty in childhood leads to lower attainment, poverty in adulthood, lower life expectancy etc,... it also means that children are bullied, sidelined and discriminated against by their peers, have no access to activities and resources that would widen their own experiences and often leads to a situation of no hope, no ambition and low expectation.
Drug use, goats, tvs, fags, poor diet, poor educational achievement, neglect, hopelessness.......it starts with poverty of financial resources.