2015 The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission Luke Cozens
[THE TWO POVERTIES] Salvation Army Perspectives on Poverty – A Way of Viewing the Problem
The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission 221 East 52nd Street New York City NY 10022 USA http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/
The Two Poverties Salvation Army Perspectives on Poverty: A Way of Viewing the Problem Luke Cozens 22 January 2016 New York
Unless otherwise mentioned all Bible quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright Š 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible verses were sourced through https://www.biblegateway.com
Unless otherwise mentioned all song references are taken from The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 2015
Luke Cozens
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20 December 2015
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Executive Summary
William Booth and The Salvation Army recognise that while their primary aim is “saving souls” this aim is not exclusive of meeting earthly needs and may in fact include doing so. Their work to meet such earthly needs is focussed on two fronts which this paper names “holistic poverty” and “material poverty”. Holistic poverty can be defined as a lack of fullness of life including material possessions, physical health, relationship, society, nature, dignity and education and “material poverty” focusses on lack of material resources, particularly food and shelter. The United Nations follows the World Bank’s definition of extreme poverty, which is living on less resources than equivalent to what $1.90 a day can buy in the United States. This aims to define the amount necessary for subsistence living. It is an absolute definition as it is based on a fixed level. National poverty lines for “developed countries” UK, Latvia, Norway; Japan and “developing” countries Kenya, India, Kuwait; Mexico are explored reaching four key types of definition: Absolute definitions as with extreme poverty defined above. Relative definitions which count as poor those a defined level below a national average. Minimum Budget Standards which measure access to actual products and services. The poverty gap which measures the depth of poverty – how far under poverty lines people are. The theological exploration of poverty focusses on three biblical principles. Sufficiency (Exodus 16:4, Acts 2:45) says each should have enough to fulfil God’s purpose for themselves regardless of where they stand relative to a poverty line, including survival and dignity. Justice (Amos 5:11, Matthew 23:4) works against unjust levels of inequality, which includes relative poverty measures, notes that many are unjustly rich and recognizes the injustice of those who have less than they should regardless of how much they actually have. Wholeness (Matthew 4:3f, James 2:15f) recognizes that all aspects of full human life are important including material needs but not only material needs. Material poverty is as valid and separate an aspect holistic poverty as education and should not be confused with it. Various other social issues are linked with poverty. Decent job opportunities are needed so “the materially poor” can work their way out of material poverty, education can transform individuals and environments to end material poverty, water and sanitation are needed to lift people into situations where they can escape material poverty, healthcare must be effective and affordable to sustain freedom from material poverty, inequality can steal the work aimed at helping “the materially poor”, climate change disproportionally hurts those with least material resources, and poor relationships with God and others can trap people in material poverty as well as causing it. Both of the two poverties can be measured within the Unifying Framework for Measurement through the contextual outcomes of Protection/Safety, Well-Being/Health, Formation/Education; Service/Work. Thus, while appreciating the independence of material poverty as a concept, a holistic approach is necessary to achieve not only Sustainable Development Goal 1, but also the biblical vision of a world transformed as seen by William Booth. “there need be no poor people among you” (Deuteronomy 15:4b, NRSV) 1
References and citations can be found in the main body of the text.
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Contents Executive Summary
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Introduction
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Section 1 – Preliminaries: The Booths, The Salvation Army and Poverty
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– 1A William Booth, Salvation, and Earthly Misery – 1B The Salvation Army and “Poverty” – 1C William Booth, The Salvation Army, and Holistic Poverty – 1D William Booth, The Salvation Army, and Material Poverty Section 2 – The Wider World: International and National Governmental Definitions of Poverty
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2A 2B 2C 2D o o
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2E o o
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2F
Poverty in Sustainable Development Goal 1 The United Nations and a definition of Extreme Poverty Methodology for National Definitions Definitions of Poverty in “Developed” Countries 2Di Countries’ Definitions (UK, Latvia, Norway, Japan) 2Dii Analysis of Definitions Definitions of Poverty in “Developing” Countries 2Di Countries’ Definitions (Kenya, India, Kuwait, Mexico) 2Dii Analysis of Definitions Summary of Definitions and Intermediate Conclusion
Section 3 – The Salvation Army and Poverty: Theology, Practice, and Measurement –
3A o o
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3B o
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3C o o o o o o o o
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3D
A Salvation Army “Poverty Line” 3Ai Biblical Principle of Sufficiency 3Aii Biblical Principle of Justice Material Poverty in the Context of Holistic Poverty 3Ai Biblical Principle of Wholeness Material Poverty and Other Social Issues in the Holistic Framework 3Ci Poverty and Decent Job Opportunities 3Cii Poverty and Education 3Ciii Poverty and Water and Sanitation 3Civ Poverty and Health Status 3Cv Poverty and Inequality Within Countries 3Cvi Poverty and Climate Change 3Cvii Poverty and Relationships 3Cviii Poverty and Spiritual Intimacy Measuring Poverty – The Unifying Framework for Measurement
15 16 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 27 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33
Conclusion
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Bibliography
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Introduction On the 25th September 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals which will set the programme for global development until 2030. Their first goal is to “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”.2 150 years before this agreement William Booth founded the Christian Mission. According to Woodall3 “[i]t would be the dialectic of his evangelism and the poverty of the East End that would, in time, create The Salvation Army”. When he later came to write “In Darkest England”4, Booth would refer to the cause of ending poverty as “an impelling force which has never ceased to make itself felt”. In the century and a half in between The Salvation Army has never ceased the fight against poverty and to date5 it has 446 hostels for the homeless, 24 homes for street children, 367 addiction dependency programmes, 100 disaster rehabilitation schemes, and 1053 feeding centres. It seems The Salvation Army and the 193 member states of the United Nations are agreed that poverty should end. But what do they mean by poverty? This paper will argue that there is not one thing meant by the word ‘poverty’ but two poverties - holistic poverty with deprivations in every area of human life and material poverty which deprives persons of physical resources. It will be shown that these two poverties were both under attack by William Booth’s vision for reformation and are still both fought by the contemporary Salvation Army. The definitions of poverty included in Sustainable Development Goal 1 will be analysed to see how the poverties may be defined and the paper will return to The Salvation Army for a biblical reflection of how it approaches poverty in comparison with these definitions and a summary of how ten other aspects of holistic poverty are integrated with the issue of material poverty and how the poverties may be measured. By seeing two poverties and drawing definitions clearly it is hoped that Salvation Army programmes may be able to have a more deliberate and measurable impact on poverty that works along other Salvation Army programmes. This is particularly important to reach The Salvation Army’s international vision of emphasising integrated ministry and encouraging innovation in mission.6
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https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics accessed 0958 EST 22 September 2015, see also http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E accessed 14 December 2015 3 Ann M. Woodall, What Price “the poor”? William Booth, Karl Marx and the London Residuum. Ashgate Publishing, Wiltshire, 2005, quote from p87 4 General William Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out, The Salvation Army Supplies and Purchasing Department, Atlanta, 1966, quote form page i of the Preface 5 Statistics taken from The Salvation Army Year Book 2015, Salvation Books, London, 2014, p 20, addiction dependency programmes figure is the sum of figures for “Non-residential programmes” 74, “Residential programmes” 234, “Harbour Light programmes” 27, and “Other services for those with addictions” 32. 6 Taken from The Salvation Army’s vision statement at http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/vision accessed 1000 EST 22 September 2015
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[Section 1 – Preliminaries] The Booths, The Salvation Army and Poverty
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1A – William Booth, Salvation, and Earthly Misery The Salvation Army is ultimately about salvation. As Woodall writes of the Founder’s years in the Christian Mission, “[w]hile Booth seems always to have had in mind the very poor when he spoke of the masses, he saw their greatest need as being for salvation, meaning an end to their estrangement from God”7. Jesus, the one who meets this estrangement, is the only solution to the world’s problems. In 1889 Booth wrote that alongside fixing someone’s estrangement with God “[a]ny temporal modification of his lot appeared trivial …What were any of the sorrows of earth when compared with everlasting damnation? …And what were any joys of time when contrasted with the felicities that endure forever?”8 However, by the time of writing “In Darkest England”9 the Founder had become convinced that, while reconciliation with God must always be the ultimate end of The Salvation Army, “[y]ou can’t tell a man about the love of God if he has an empty stomach!”10. In “Darkest England”11 he writes: My only hope for the permanent deliverance of mankind from misery, either in this world or the next, is the regeneration or remaking of the individual by the power of the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ. But in providing for the relief of temporary misery I reckon that I am only making it easy where it is now difficult, and possible where it is all but impossible, for men and women to find their way to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
His message in that book then proceeds to set out a great vision for this process of “making it easy”. His plans included the provision of work12, the reconciliation of families13, the regeneration of criminals14 and the facilitation of marriage15. On his realization that heavenly reconciliation was impeded by earthly misery Booth cared for every aspect of a person and their life in line with Catherine Booth’s more developed Wesleyan theology that God’s plan was not simply for “spiritual” salvation but also for restoration of “brain, heart, soul, spirit, [and] body”16. This theology continues in the contemporary Salvation Army: as The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine states17 [t]he Gospels reveal that Jesus cared about every dimension of human life and how sin has distorted it, and that his ministry demonstrated a healing response to human suffering and disease in all its forms… [t]he restoration of the covenant required the restoration of health in every relationship of human life: spiritual, emotional, social, physical… 7
Ann M. Woodall, What Price “the poor”? William Booth, Karl Marx and the London Residuum. Ashgate Publishing, Wiltshire, 2005, quote from p70 8 Quote of Booth, ‘Salvation for Both Worlds’ in All the World, Vol. V, No. 1, January 1889, from Woodall as above 9 W. Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out, The Salvation Army Supplies & Purchasing Dept., Atlanta, 1966 10 Quote attributed to William Booth in Lessons From The Founders, The Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory 2012, available at http://salvos.org.au/scribe/sites/more/files/downloads/life/LIFE__Lessons_from_the_Founders.pdf accessed 1208 EST 3 November 2015 11 As above, page iv of the Preface 12 See Part 1 ch IV “The Out-of-works” and Part 2 ch II.2 “Work for the Out-of-Works. – The Factory” 13 See Part 1 ch VIII “The Children of the Lost” and Part 2 chV.7 “Inquiry Office for Lost People” 14 See Part 1 chVII “The Criminals” and Part 2 ChV.3 “Regeneration of our Criminals. – The Prison Gate Brigade” 15 See Part 2 ChVI.7 “Matrimonial Bureau” 16 D. Pallant, Keeping Faith in Faith-Based Organisations: A Practical Theology of Salvation Army Health Ministry, Wipf & Stock, Eugene, OR, 2012, p102 quoting C. Booth, Godliness: Addresses on holiness, Exeter Hall. London: The Salvation Army, 1881, 165. 17 The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine, Salvation Books, London, 2010 page 197
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1B – The Salvation Army and “Poverty” Thus, in Darkest England William Booth set out a comprehensive vision for the reformation of society in line with Jesus’ holistic concern for people. The Salvation Army has not moved from this commitment to comprehensive reformation, it provides worship, counselling, fellowship, exercise and a whole host of other services that impact almost every area of human life. Within this background, however, it interesting to note that on the very first page of his preface Booth highlights one particular aspect of this work as a particular source of his thankfulness – that he was able “to bring not only heavenly hopes and earthly gladness to the hearts of multitudes of these wretched crowds, but also many material blessings, including such commonplace things as food, raiment, home, and work, the parent of so many other temporal benefits.”18 A lack of these “material blessings” can be called poverty. A lack of simple commonplace things that causes lack in physical strength, social connection, emotional health and, ultimately, which makes it difficult to near impossible for people to find Jesus and spiritual reconciliation. To move closer to a precise definition, The Salvation Army Australia Southern states that “[p]overty is described as the state of being without means or resources. In effect, poverty is about the deprivation of essential goods and services that are generally as accepted the standard of living enjoyed by the broader community.”19 However, this is not the only thing that can be called poverty. Just as the Handbook of Doctrine shows that Jesus “cared about every dimension of human life”20 so The Salvation Army cares about all forms of deprivation not just lack of “material blessings”. In line with this, in 2012 The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) defined poverty as “a multi-dimensional concept, with poverty entailing deprivation of factors such as food and water, education, health, security, or basic freedoms and opportunities.”21 This is particularly important because defining poverty simply as a lack of material resources could suggest that giving people money will solve all of their problems. This focus on provision often ignores systematic injustices or more complex needs. As the ISJC said in 2012 “Provision is not justice. In the worst case, provision can on the contrary perpetuate relationships of dependency and disempowerment. This insight is vital, and has in recent years been foundational for the development of The Salvation Army’s poverty alleviation work, reflected in holistic community development projects, microfinance, advocacy training, and initiatives such as the Sally Ann fair trade project.”22 Still, this concept does not eliminate the need for the earlier definition. Firstly, if this definition of poverty is taken as a purely descriptive concept and not a normative concept the problem of a focus on provision can be avoided. If poverty is a descriptive state then it can be acknowledged that giving 18
Booth, as above, preface page i, my italics Perceptions of Poverty: An Insight into the Nature and Impact of Poverty in Australia, Wilma Gallet for the Australia Southern Territory Corps Programme Department & Australian Eastern Territory, 2010 20 Ibid. 21 A Social Justice Perspective on Poverty, Released 24 July 2012 at http://www1.salvationarmy.org/IHQ/www_ihq_isjc.nsf/vwnews/B88D3F164E8D7A5180257A45003C881F?opendocument accessed 0908 4 November 2015 22 Ibid. 19
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someone various “material blessings” may solve some of their problems without solving others. Thus it can be said that if a Ghanaian subsistence farmer is given a million dollars he will cease to be poor; without making the normative claim that he will also now have no more problems. This is useful to be able to say as this gift obviously changes the farmer’s situation in some way and simply saying that the farmer is still poor ignores this change and, importantly, the corresponding changes needed to work with them in that new situation. Keeping this descriptive definition allows such important distinctions to be made. Firstly, there are times when it is necessary to say that a person who is poor in the wider sense is not poor in material blessings. Consider an entrepreneur with millions of dollars in the bank but who does not know God, cares only for their work, has no friends and a poor understanding of self, compared with a beggar24 who is a mature Christian, has a good sense of stewardship, lives in community with other beggars, has a strong but humble self-understanding but has no material possessions. Saying that the entrepreneur is poor because they suffer from various deprivations but the beggar is rich because their only need is material is true in some sense but can also be very confusing. It is useful to also be able to say that beggar is poor and the entrepreneur is not in order to distinguish their particular needs while recognising that both need help and support. Furthermore, the interrelations between different needs can only be explained with the narrower definition. It is useful to be able to say that “the poor” have worse access to health care or that lack of education often leads to poverty but this has no meaning when poverty includes access to health care and education as it does in the wider sense. Thus it can be derived that there are “two poverties”. Two uses or definitions of the word ‘poverty’, both of which are useful: a narrow, descriptive definition of “material poverty” which is useful for analysing situations and drawing connections and a broader, normative definition of “holistic poverty” which is needed to focus attention on the whole person and the dangers of a focus on provision. William Booth and subsequent Salvationists have used both definitions as will be explored below.
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Which is interestingly different to the idea of just “throwing money” at a situation. A material definition need not be only about money. 24 The example of a beggar is used here merely to represent someone in complete destitution with extremely little or no material resources. There is not space here to explore the additional question of the effects of begging itself on the full life; the example is merely meant to draw the distinction between someone who is materially poor while being rich in many other ways, and someone who is materially rich while being poor in many other ways.
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1C – William Booth, The Salvation Army, and Holistic Poverty Having seen that Booth and subsequent salvationists see poverty in two ways – which have been defined in this paper as “holistic poverty” and “material poverty” it becomes important to explore how they approached both types, beginning with the wider definition – holistic poverty. Booth’s approach to the holistic needs of a person is perhaps most clearly seen in his comments on children. He deplores the disadvantage of the child in the town (who here can be seen to represent the holistically poor) compared with the child in the country who …if he has nothing but skim milk and only a little of that, has at least plenty of exercise in the fresh air. He has healthy human relations with his neighbors. He is looked after, and in some sort of fashion brought into contact with the life of the hall, the vicarage, and the farm. He lives a natural life amid the birds and trees and growing crops and the animals of the fields. He is not a mere human ant, crawling no the granite pavement of great urban ants nest, with an unnaturally developed nervous system and a sickly 25 constitution.
This, then, is Booths illustration of what holistic richness would be like. Compared with this, he says, the child in the town “is at a thousand disadvantages”26. From this illustration we can draw out several aspects of a full life as Booth sees it, a lack of these things would constitute an understanding of holistic poverty.27 Material Possessions
“nothing but skim milk and only a little of that”
Material goods form part of holistic poverty but need not be in huge supply for a reasonably full life.
Physical Health
“plenty of exercise” “not… an unnaturally developed nervous system and a sickly constitution”
Human bodies, as well as human souls, need to be looked after. There is a “natural” order to the body as created by God and a full life requires support for physical health.28
Relationship
“healthy human relations with his neighbors.”
A full life must be shared with others but these relationships must be healthy ones that lead us towards virtue and Christ-likeness. Later29 Booth describes other relationships that are unhealthy.
Society
“brought into contact
As well as individual relationships a full life requires integration into a wider society. Humans need to see themselves as part of a whole.
with the life of the hall, the vicarage, and the farm”
25
In Darkest England, as above, pp70-71 Ibid. 27 Quotes below taken from the passage above. 28 This is not to suggest that those who have permanent injuries to their health cannot live full lives, or that they are less than human. Rather it suggests that such people have the right to proper healthcare. 29 Ibid, p71, Booth describes children whose parents are “habitually drunk” and “whose ideas of merriment are gained from the familiar spectacle of the nightly debauch by which their mothers earn the family bread” 26
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Nature
“a natural life amid the birds and trees and growing crops and the animals of the fields”
Dignity
“not a mere human ant”
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A full life recognizes its place not only within human society but within all of God’s creation. God placed man within creation to work it and take care of it.30
A full life has a sense of self-worth. Humans should be treated as individual bearers of God’s image.31 Holistically, then, someone is poor if they lack sufficient material possessions, physical health, good relationships, position in society (which Booth identifies with good employment), connection to nature and basic human dignity. To this we can also add education which Booth explores later in page 71 of “Darkest England” and the spiritual dimension explored in the earlier section on “William Booth, Heavenly Salvation, and Earthly Misery”. The Salvation Army has since seen poverty in light of all of these basic human needs as can be demonstrated by a number of songs in The Salvation Army songbook. Through these songs the songbook asks the “God of the poor” for “bread for the children” (Material Possessions), “work for the craftsmen” (Society) and “rest for the ravaged earth” (Nature)32, it asks “when I needed a neighbour, were you there?” (Relationship) “when I needed a healer, were you there?” (Physical Health)33, offers “safety for my trembling soul, power to lift my head when drooping”34 (Dignity), asks God to “train thou my mind, I would be ever learning”35 (Education) and begs “all that kills abundant living, let it from the earth be banned”36 (A Full Life). Similarly, while there is no current International Positional Statement on Poverty the current statements contain within themselves indications that The Salvation Army cares about each aspect of holistic poverty described above. As holistic poverty is defined as lacking a full life, each statement on impediments to abundant life highlights a different aspect of holistic poverty:
A lack of material possessions hurts the poor disproportionately when “[t]oo often gambling leads to financial ruin”.37 Abstaining from alcohol contributes “to [physical] health and wellbeing for people” and can transform the lives of “[p]eople once lost in a cycle of poverty and drunkenness”.38
30
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15, NRSV 31 This includes not only how someone in poverty treats themselves but also the “social bases of self-respect” by which society enables people to see their worth. A society that treats a human as a commodity is responsible for robbing them of their dignity. See the political theorist John Rawls who claims “social bases of self-respect” as a primary social good - Freeman, Samuel, "Original Position", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), permanent URL http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2014/entries/originalposition dynamic entry accessed 1148 EST 05 November 2015 32 Beauty for brokenness, SASB (2015) 998, Graham Kendrick 33 When I needed a neighbour, SASB (2015) 1013, Sydney Bertram Carter (1915-2004) 34 Blessèd Lord, in thee is refuge, SASB (2015) 244, Herbert Howard Booth 35 Thou Art The Way None Other Dare I Follow, SASB (2015) 628, Archibald Raymond Wiggins 36 For the healing of the nations, SASB (2015) 1000, Fred Kaan (1929-2009) 37 International Positional Statement on Gambling, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipsgambling accessed 1326 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis
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“The Salvation Army… affirms the sanctity of the human body and relationships... Pornography is seen as a violation of these”.39 “Human beings exist in social relationships”40 and suicide is “more likely to occur during periods of socioeconomic … crisis situations (e.g. unemployment”). 41 “The Salvation Army believes people… have been entrusted with the care of the Earth [nature] and everything in it.”42 In cases of human trafficking The Salvation Army seeks “to exercise care in restoring the freedom and dignity of those affected.”43 “The Salvation Army seeks to help people discover, develop and enjoy their God-given capacities for abundant living… an outcome sought, for example, through… schools offering education opportunities for children…”44
This vision of the contemporary Salvation Army of a full life, with the associated deprivations of holistic poverty, is summarised in The Salvation Army International Development Policy on Child Development which states that “[c]hildren should have the opportunity to develop physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially, intellectually and spiritually”.45 Therefore, William Booth, subsequent Salvationists, and the present day Salvation Army sees holistic poverty as a lack of fullness of life including material possessions, physical health, relationship, society, nature, dignity and education. Within this, as explored below, both William Booth and The Salvation Army give special emphasis to the role of material poverty, not, perhaps, because it is the most important factor in itself, but because it affects all the other factors.
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International Positional Statement on Alcohol in Society, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipsalcoholinsociety accessed 0329 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis 39 International Positional Statement on Pornography, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipspornography accessed 1330 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis 40 International Positional Statement on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipseuthanasia accessed 1335 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis 41 International Positional Statement on Suicide Prevention, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipssuicide accessed 1338 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis 42 International Positional Statement on Caring For The Environment, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipsenvironment accessed 1340 05 November 2015, my emphasis 43 International Positional Statement on Human Trafficking, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipstrafficking accessed 1342 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis 44 International Positional Statement on The Use of Power, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipspower accessed 1345 EST 05 November 2015, my emphasis. 45 International Development Policy on Child Development http://issuu.com/isjc/docs/child_development/1?e=18664572/15220271 accessed 1217 EST 14 December 2015. The document also provides further details on each aspect of development which may be of interest to the reader.
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1D – William Booth, The Salvation Army, and Material Poverty When Booth sets out his Scheme in Darkest England his first aim is to give a certain section of society an ““urgency” which gives their case priority over that of all other sections of their countrymen and countrywomen.” Rather than aiming at the reformation of society as a whole he turns his focus instead to two groups of people: (1) those who, having no capital or income of their own, would in a month be dead from sheer starvation were they exclusively dependent upon the money earned by their own work; and (2) those who by their utmost exertions are unable to attain the regulation allowance of food which the 46 law prescribes as indispensable even for the worst criminals in our jails.
This can only be a definition of material poverty as it focusses solely on the access to food – which is the most basic of humans’ material needs. Booth says that these people, whom he calls the submerged tenth, are materially poor because they have less access to resources47 than necessary to a) survive over a month or b) to attain a “jail-standard” of food. From this Booth draws out the standard of the Cab Horse which has the basic material resources of food and shelter and the basic means to keep these resources – work and a helping hand when fallen. 48 This image is further developed by Booth’s description of three circles within the lost: The outer and wider circle is inhabited by the staving and the homeless, but honest, Poor. The second by those who live by Vice; and the third and innermost region at the center is peopled by those who exist by 49 Crime.
It is worth noting here that only one of these circles is described as poverty – the first circle containing “the staving and the homeless, but honest”. This seems to be in recognition that those who “live by Vice” or “exist by Crime” are not in fact materially poor50 - their vice or crime is successful in keeping them out of such poverty, but Booth wants that they need not go to these lengths.51 To these categories we should add those “on the verge of the abyss”52 who manage to keep the basic levels of food and shelter but “[i]f at any time work fails or sickness comes they are liable to drop helplessly into the ranks of the homeless”53. This brings quite a clear picture of material poverty for Booth – those who do not have the basic food and shelter due to a cab horse are poor and additional concern should be brought to those who, while not poor, escape it only by vice, crime, or chance.
46
In Darkest England, as above, p25, my conversion into numbered points Access to resources is referred to here because Booth includes not only earnings from work but any food that could be obtained by “their utmost exertions”. It may see that this presents an overly consumerist perception of poverty, but note firstly that this does not affect the definition of holistic poverty – which is the only normative concept discussed, and secondly that, particularly in the case of food, consumption is precisely the use for material resources to benefit human life. This is not to claim that the primary role of humans is consumption but that consumption is necessary for them to achieve that purpose. 48 See Ibid., pp26-27 49 Ibid., p32 50 Despite being holistically poor by their Vice and Crime 51 Note that this provides another reason to keep a definition of material poverty – those who turn to vice and crime often do so to escape a type of poverty yet they remain in holistic poverty. If we wish to define what they escape we need a definition based on material resources. 52 Ibid., Part I chV 53 Ibid., p48 47
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The Salvation Army has caught this urgent vision as much as the wider holistic calling. In the songbook Philip Coutts focusses on material need when he writes: God of all nations and Lord of all lands, Who placed the world’s wealth in the palm of our hands, We pray for your guidance to guard against greed. Though great the resources, still great is the need. God of compassion and Lord of all life, We pray for your people in conflict and strife. The earth you created a vast treasure store, Yet hunger still thrives while men fight to gain more. (SASB (2015) 18, Philip Coutts)
Here the focus is on “wealth”, “resources” and “treasure”54 and the need to use them wisely for God’s purposes. The needs these resources can serve are shown clearly by Sydney Bertram Carter, with a clear parallel to Matthew 25:31-46: I was hungry and thirsty, Were you there, were you there? I was hungry and thirsty, were you there? I was cold, I was naked, Were you there, were you there? I was cold, I was naked, were you there? When I needed a shelter, Were you there, were you there? When I needed a shelter, were you there? (SASB (2015) 1013, Sydney Bertram Carter (1915-2004))
The specific focus here on hunger and shelter, to which thirst, cold, and clothing are rightly added, is particularly reflective of Booth’s Cab Horse Standard. This focus can be seen particularly when The Salvation Army responds to emergency situations. In these situations The Salvation Army rightly follows the normative strength of a holistic vision of poverty55, but its actions also recognize the urgency of basic material poverty. Of the 16 current emergency responses listed for 201556 only the 3 where the type of support is not defined do not contain specific reference to provision of food, water or shelter. This dynamic is perfectly captured by the response in Malawi where “The Salvation Army is responding… to ensure that the most urgent needs are met and that any
54
Of course this song and the one below also reference other needs – care for the environment, health, conflict, need for neighbour etc. but that is to be expected as holistic poverty is the normative concept and it is the normative rather than the descriptive which we tend to deal with in songs – songs tend not to be sociological explorations. The important thing here is that the songbook retains Booth’s focus on these particularly urgent needs within the vision of holistic poverty. 55 The mission of The Salvation Army’s International Emergency Services includes a “Holistic (body, mind and spirit) approach” http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/iesmission accessed 1017 EST 06 November 2015 56 http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/iesresponses accessed 1018 EST 06 November 2015
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response is carried out in the most efficient way possible.� The focus is first on meeting the most urgent needs then on carrying out holistic work. This focus reaches across the entire work of The Salvation Army as it internationally has 1546 residential homes providing shelter58 and 1053 feeding centres59. The Salvation Army, therefore, follows William Booth in recognising the normative force of holistic poverty, but within this sees the particular urgency of material poverty and is capable of distinguishing cases of material poverty from those of holistic poverty when necessary to see key areas of need. Having thus seen the importance of fighting poverty within The Salvation Army attention can now turn to how the poverty reduction strategies of the United Nations and its various member states may fit into this vision. In the following section this is explored through the lens of Sustainable Development Goal 1.
57
http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/news/inr290115 accessed 1023 EST 06 November 2015 From The Salvation Army Year Book 2015, Salvation Books, London, 2014, p 20, figure derived by summing the various categories, there is a possibility that some categories overlap so this figure should be taken purely illustratively. 59 Ibid. 58
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[Section 2 – The Wider World] International and National Governmental Definitions of Poverty
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2A – Poverty in Sustainable Development Goal 1 The best way to explore the poverty reduction strategies of the wider world is perhaps through Sustainable Development Goal 1 – “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”, the goal set by the United Nations and agreed to by all 193 of its member states. By exploration of this goal insight can be found into how The Salvation Army’s fight against poverty fits with national and international definitions and measures of poverty. This goal is made more specific by splitting it into the following sub-goals: 1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day 1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions 1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable 1.4 By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance 1.5 By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters 1.a Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions 1.b Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions60
To give a brief overview, here 1.1 and 1.2 outline targets for actually reducing levels of poverty, 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5 are targets to ensure that proper systems and rights are in place to sustain low poverty levels, and 1.a and 1.b concern the methods by which the other targets may be reached. It is worth noting that 1.4 speaks additionally about property rights, bringing the concept of ownership into play. It is one thing for someone to be “rescued from poverty” because they receive a constant stream of aid, but the UN seeks to empower those who are currently poor to own and sustain ownership of their own resources. In looking to see how poverty is defined and measured the main concern is with sub-goals 1.1 and 1.2, which focus on levels of poverty. 1.1 follows an international definition of extreme poverty which is analysed in the next section, and 1.2 refers to the various national definitions of poverty which is explored in the following sections.
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https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics accessed 1015 EST Monday 28 September 2015
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2B –The United Nations and a definition of Extreme Poverty In its international calculations the United Nations follows the World Bank’s definition of “extreme poverty”. 61 This level is an attempt to define the amount of resources necessary for basic subsistence – to stay alive. According to the BBC62 this figure was originally determined at $1 a day based on individual countries’ estimates of a subsistence level but was then revised to $1.25 in 2008 as a result of a more thorough investigation into global prices and levels of consumption. It is this figure which is referred to as the “current measurement”63 in Sustainable Development Goal 1. However, since the publication of the Sustainable Development Goals the World Bank has defined the figure as $1.90. This review attempts to stay equal on real terms with $1.25 in 2005 given new information on international prices.64 As inflation increases, the numerical figure will continue to rise in order to represent the same amount of resources in real terms. The $1.90 is adjusted for purchasing power parity65 and thus refers to an amount of material resources equivalent to that which can be purchased for $1.90 in the USA.66 Thus, someone is “extremely poor” if they have access to less material resources than that amount. Such a person is unable to survive over a long period. This is an absolute definition of poverty67 because the line it draws is fixed68 at a certain level. This can be compared to the relative definitions which will be discussed in the sections below – these tend to place the line at some percentage of the median income, which varies over time. The advantage of such an absolute poverty line is that progress can be made in lifting people over it. The UN can, and does, say that extreme poverty has halved since 200069 - with a relative measure something like this is much harder to say. However, it can be argued that such a definition is purely an arbitrary line and thus has no 61
Although they have a cooperative agreement, the World Bank is an independent organisation from the UN. It is the World Bank that calculates the actual figure of extreme poverty. The United Nations then follows this figure in official documentation although it may occasionally also use its own definitions. See http://www.un.org/en/development/other/aboutUN.shtml accessed 1021 EST 13 November 2015 62 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17312819 accessed 1119 EST Monday 28 September 2015 63 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg1 accessed 1557 EST 22 January 2016 64 See http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/10/04/world-bank-forecasts-global-poverty-tofall-below-10-for-first-time-major-hurdles-remain-in-goal-to-end-poverty-by-2030 accessed 0831 EST 05 October 2015 65 See http://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/playing-and-understanding-purchasing-power-parities for a fuller explanation of purchasing power parity (PPP). In effect if a dollar bill could buy three times as much in Ghana than it could in the USA, a PPP-adjusted dollar is equivalent to 33.3̇ cents in Ghana. (accessed 1015 EST Monday 28 September 2015) 66 See http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm?0,2 as well as http://www.worldbank.org/ and the blog post referenced above. All accessed 1105 EST Monday 28 September 2015. 67 Explanations of absolute and relative poverty, their comparative advantages and disadvantages and other points of analysis in this paragraph are taken from Wayne J. Villemez, ‘Poverty’ in The Encyclopaedia of Sociology, Borgatta, E and Montgomery,R (ed.), USA, 2000 68 Note that while purchasing power parity may mean that the actual amount of currency to which the poverty line corresponds varies depending on the strength of such currencies (see above) the line is still fixed in that these varying amounts of currency reflect the same value of resources. 69 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml accessed 1545 EST Thursday October 2015
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meaning, although the attempt to construct the figure around the cost of subsistence perhaps works against this claim. Additionally, the figure is based on people “living on” this amount and thus does not have the problem of looking only at income - resources gained from assets and gifts are included. Still, this means it makes no distinction between someone being given food by a third party and someone living a self-sustaining life. The definition also makes no social distinctions – between the deserving and undeserving poor for example. This distinction is left for others to make which allows it to be said that both types of people are poor regardless of whether someone thinks they deserve to be.70 This then is the definition of extreme poverty which the UN seeks to eradicate by 2030. However, as seen above, it also seeks to halve all national poverty levels. These levels will be explored for “developed” and “developing” countries in the next two sections.
70
Although a Christian responding with grace may overlook such questions of desert.
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2C – Methodology for National Definitions The section above defines what is meant by poverty in Sustainable Development Goal 1.1 and discussion can now turn to what it means in 1.2: “By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions”.71 To do this consideration must be given to the national definitions. The phrase “all its dimensions” highlights that each nation will define various types and levels of poverty and thus have more than one definition. For example, the UK measures “child poverty”72, “persistent poverty”73, “households below average income”74 and “at-risk-of-poverty rates”.75 However for the sake of simplicity and brevity and in line with the clarifications above, here focus is only placed on how each state defines poverty as such ignoring definitions of particular types or levels of poverty. States are also split into “developed” and “developing” countries so that a comparison may be made of how poverty is defined in countries with different economic situations. This distinction will be made in line with the United Nations’ Country Classification in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 201576 and the sample will be selected following their strata.77 The following table shows the selection: Developed Countries/Economies Sample Countries UK Latvia Strata EU-1578 New EU member states Developing Countries/Economies Sample Countries Kenya India Strata Africa South Asia (East Asia not represented)
Norway Other Europe
Japan Other Countries
Kuwait Western Asia
Mexico Latin America and the Caribbean
The following sections explore the definitions of poverty as such in the four “developed” countries and then the four “developing countries”.
71
As above, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics accessed 1015 EST Monday 28 September 2015 HM Government, Measuring Child Poverty: A consultation on better measures of child poverty, crown copyright, 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228829/8483.pdf accessed 0910 EST 02 October 2015) 73 Office for National Statistics (ONS), Persistent Poverty in the UK and EU: 2008-2013, Crown Copyright, 2015 (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_403629.pdf accessed 0911 EST 02 October 2015) 74 Department for Work and Pensions, Households Below Average Income: An analysis of the income distribution 1994/95 – 2013/14 June2015 (United Kingdom), Crown Copyright, 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437246/households-belowaverage-income-1994-95-to-2013-14.pdf accessed 0914 EST 02 October 2015) 75 ONS, Comparison of UK and EU at-risk-of-poverty rates, 2005-2010, Crown Copyright, 2012 76 UN/DESA, UNCTAD, ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015, United Nations New York, 2015. (Website accessed 0938 EST 02 October 2015: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_archive/2015wesp_full_en.pdf) 77 Within these strata a representative country is chosen based on variety (i.e. The UK, USA, Australia and Canada will not be chosen together), and relevance to The Salvation Army context. Relevance to Salvation Army context derived from the 2015 yearbook see above. 78 “The EU-15 refers to the 15 countries that were members of the European Union (EU) prior to its enlargement on 1 May 2004.” According to World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015, as above, footnote 1 p99 72
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To begin with, then, the way poverty is defined in “developing” countries should be explored. Firstly, the definitions themselves must be outlined: UK: “An individual is considered to be in poverty if they live in a household with an equivalised disposable income below 60% of the national median. This is the poverty threshold most commonly used in official UK and EU statistics.”80 Latvia: Latvia follows the same EU poverty measure as the UK for its at-risk-of-poverty rate but also lists “Material Deprivation” as an indicator with the following definition “Share of persons facing severe financial constraints, defined as the proportion of people lacking at least three items of the nine following: the household could not afford: 1) to pay for arrears (mortgage or rent, utility bills or hire purchase instalments), 2) financially afford to keep home adequately warm, 3) to face unexpected expenses from own resources, 4) to have a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day, 5) to spend one week annual holiday away from home, 6) to use a car for private needs, 7) to use a washing machine for private needs, 8) to use a colour TV for private needs, 9) to use a telephone for private needs.”81 Norway: Norway also uses the EU definition used by the countries above.82 Japan: Japan defines “the poverty threshold [as]… 50％ of median or standard income” but also measures income at 60%, 50%, 40%, and 30% of the median income as well as a ““Standard income” of “absolute poverty” [which is the]… median of yearly disposable income in 1984 (in real terms), that is, 1,199,316 yen (with equivalence elasticity = 1) and 2,403,070 yen (with equivalence elasticity = 0.5).”83 Thus it appears three key definitions of poverty in the developed world can be derived:
79
Note that USA definitions are not included here. Full exploration of these definition can be found at https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/measure.html accessed 1223 EST 02 October 2015 and a critical analysis in Villemez’ exploration of Measures of poverty in the Encyclopaedia of Sociology as above 80 Office for National Statistics, Persistent Poverty in the UK and EU: 2008-2013, Crown Copyright, 2015 (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_403629.pdf accessed 1036 EST 02 October 2015) 81 Centrālā statistikas pārvalde, Income And Living Conditions In Latvia, 2014: Collection Of Statistical Data, Riga, 2015 (http://www.csb.gov.lv/sites/default/files/nr_14_ienakumi_un_dzives_apstakli_latvija_2014_15_00_lv_en_0.pdf accessed 1051 EST 2015) and http://www.csb.gov.lv/en/statistikas-temas/metodologija/monetary-poverty-and-income-inequalityindicators-37111.html accessed 1052 EST 02 October 2015 82 Ranjit Kaur (ed.), Økonomi og levekår for ulike lavinntektsgrupper 2013, Statistisk sentralbyrå, 2013 83 Statistics Bureau, A018 Table 24. Absolute and Relative Poverty Rate by Family Composition, Age Group of Household Head, Number of Earners, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, undated
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Income below 60% of the national median which is defined by household and in Europe “equivalised” by weighting household size giving “a weight of 1.0 to the first adult, 0.5 to any other household member aged 14 and over and 0.3 to each child under 14”84 to account for different effects on income on single person households and family households. In Japan this varies as they sometimes base their level on a standardized income derived from disposable income levels in 1984 and otherwise they focus primarily on a 50% level. This is a relative definition of poverty (as opposed to extreme poverty above which is an absolute definition) as it varies depending on the median income.85 Thus in the UK this means that while a single person household is currently considered to be in poverty if they earn under £139 a week, in 2000 that line would have been drawn at £89 a week86; it is possible to have come out of poverty in 2000 and return to it by 2015 without any change in earnings. Such definitions escape the attack of arbitrariness put against absolute definitions but do suffer from being called vague and being difficult to use in international comparison.87 Within nations, however, this provides a useful tool for measuring poverty that does not allow rich countries to say they have no poverty because of a high GDP. Even though few in the UK live in extreme poverty many live under the national poverty line. Material Deprivation in Latvia is defined not based on numerical income levels but on a list of activities which people not in poverty are able to afford. This gets to the root of the issue with poverty in that it is based directly on the things people are using their resources for and attaches more closely to quality of life, which, as discussed above, is what is ultimately cared about. However, it does create some confusion as budgeting skill, cost of living in local area, and other factors can affect this measure. This is a version of what the “Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom research project”88 call a “Minimum Budget Standard” and is comparable to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Minimum income standard for the UK89 based on public conceptions of what is needed “to live to an adequate level”90 or the Living Wage which is based on allowing “someone who works an ordinary 40 hour per week job […] to afford shelter, food, health care, and other basic necessities of life.”91 Standard Income in Japan is an absolute measure of poverty like the international extreme poverty level. The reasoning behind this level is unclear, so it may suffer from being called arbitrary in a way the UN definition does not. However, it would allow Japan to measure its progress in absolute and real terms since 1984.
84
Definition of “equivalised” taken from Income And Living Conditions In Latvia, 2014 as above Although note that if Japan uses its standard income this becomes an absolute measure based on what is considered “standard” as this level does not change across time. 86 Figure made using calculator at http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-and-blogs/our-blog/use-our-newcalculator-track-shifting-poverty-line accessed 1200 EST 02 October 2015 87 Encyclopedia of Sociology as above 88 http://www.poverty.ac.uk/definitions-poverty/minimum-budget-standards accessed 1207 EST 02 October 2015 89 poverty.ac.uk as above and https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/minimum-income-standard-uk-2014 accessed 1209 02 October 2015 90 JRF as above 91 http://www.livingwagenyc.org/pagedetail.php?id=3 accessed 1212 EST 02 October 2015 although note that this campaign uses a budget allocation to create an absolute figure. 85
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2E –Definitions of Poverty in “Developing” Countries Having explored the way poverty is defined in “developed” countries, attention can now turn to definitions in a selection of “developing” countries, noting that their definitions are more diverse and harder to find: Kenya: At a regional level Kenya measures the “poverty gap”, “poverty gap ratio”, “poverty incidence”, “proportion of people living below absolute poverty line” and the “share of poorest quintile in national income or consumption”.92 However, its office of statistics93 does not make definitions of these indicators available. India: “Official poverty estimates, patterns and trends are determined on the basis of analysis of data on household consumption expenditure, against which poverty lines are juxtaposed to separate the poor from the non-poor and to determine the extent of poverty”.94 Alternatively a “person is destitute when they have no money at all, no food, and no place to live in. Total poverty making a person go without food or shelter makes a person destitute.”95 Kuwait: The Kuwait office of statistics makes no explicit mention of a poverty line.96 However, the Kuwaiti government does give social benefits for a variety of reasons including “poverty”.97 Such services are accessed through a doctor and social worker and require reports on salary, rent, marital status and monthly commitments.98 Mexico: “[A p]opulation [is] in poverty when… [it has] at least one social deprivation (in the six indicators of educational gap, access to health services , access to social security , quality and living spaces , basic services in housing and access to food ) and its income is insufficient to acquire the goods and services required to meet their food and non-food needs.”99 The information that can be found on “developing” countries is thus much less accessible than that of “developed” countries however some interesting definitions can be derived:
92
http://kenya.africadata.org/en accessed 0942 06 October 2015 http://www.knbs.or.ke/ accessed 0944 06 October 2015 94 Aasha Kapur Mehta and Dolly Arora, Base Paper on Availability of Data and Data Gaps for Situation Analysis of Well-being of Children and Women, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, 2015 http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/base_paper_on_data_gaps_child_women11mar15.pdf accessed EST 0934 05 October 2015 95 Government of India Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Central Statistics Office Social Statistics Division, Report on Basic Statistics for Local Level Development (BSLLD) Pilot Study in Urban Area, Central Statistics Office, New Delhi, undated 96 As far as can be seen from http://www.csb.gov.kw/Default_EN.aspx accessed 0926 06 October 2015 97 Social Statistics report 2001, called “financial difficulty” in 2013 93
98
http://www.e.gov.kw/MOH_en/Pages/ServiceContent/Moh00247AccessServicesSocialFinancialPsychological.aspx # accessed 0928 06 October 2015 which refers to “receiving (Social – Financial – Psychological) services” 99 http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/biinegi/?ind=6300000269 accessed 1515 EST 02 October 2015 translated with google translate
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The poverty gap is defined by The World Bank as "mean shortfall in income or consumption from the poverty line $1.90 a day (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line”.100 In other words it measures how much less than $1.90101 “the poor” have on average. A 5% poverty gap would thus mean that on average “the poor” have $1.805 a day, while a 50% gap would mean on average they have $0.95. As the World Bank notes, “[t]his measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence”. When this measure is called the poverty gap ratio the poverty gap is considered the actual difference between the amount had and the poverty line (i.e. someone with $1 a day would have an actual poverty gap of $0.90) and the ratio is then this amount averaged across the entire population.102 The share of the poorest quintile in national income or consumption is a relative measure of poverty or rather a measure of inequality. Each quintile represents a fifth of the population and thus in a totally egalitarian society the share of the poorest quintile would be 20%, as would that of the richest quintile. The World Bank measures at a variety of quintiles and deciles (tenths).103 Household consumption expenditure as used to determine some poverty lines by India and Kenya “is the market value of all goods and services, including durable products (such as cars, washing machines, and home computers), purchased by households. It excludes purchases of dwellings but includes imputed rent for owner-occupied dwellings. It also includes payments and fees to governments to obtain permits and licenses.”104 Such a measure is significantly different from definitions of poverty based on income; it allows wealthy households with little income (i.e. those living off savings or inheritance) to be excluded from “the poor” but includes those who have much income but do not spend it. This latter group may be relevantly poor if they cannot effectively convert their income into expenditure (their movements are restricted, there is nothing to buy etc.) but perhaps not if they are simply choosing not to spend. A measure of expenditure cannot distinguish within this group, but the effect of those choosing not to spend on any figures produced is feasibly negligible.105 Measures based on access to services such as destitution in India, social deprivations in Mexico and the apparent requirements for benefits in Kuwait106 are similar to the Minimum Budget Standards discussed above. The Indian definition of destitution provides an alternative definition of the subsistence line to the international extreme poverty and the Mexican social deprivations put a noteworthy emphasis on systematic concerns across a population such as access to health, social, and housing services. 100
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GAPS accessed 1229 EST 14 December 2015 following the international extreme poverty line, Kenya may use a different poverty line nationally from which to derive the poverty gap. 102 information on poverty gap ratio from http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Metadata.aspx?IndicatorId=0&SeriesId=584 accessed 1002 06 October 2015, the poverty ratio as an indicator in the Millennium Development Goals is calculated as follows: “where the poverty gap (Gn) is the difference between the poverty line (z) and income or consumption for those who are poor (the non-poor have a poverty gap of zero). I(.) is an indicator function that equals 1 if the bracketed expression is true, and 0 otherwise. N is the total population.” 103 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.DST.FRST.20 accessed 1010 06 October 2015 104 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.CD accessed 1013 06 October 2015 referring to “Household final consumption expenditure (current US$)” 105 See Encyclopedia of Sociology as above 106 some combination of poor health, low wage, lack of marital support and high rent 101
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2F –Summary of Definitions and Intermediate Conclusion Thus there are four overarching types of definition to consider:
Absolute definitions including the UN “extreme poverty” line and Japan’s “standard income”, which give a monetary value to the actual amount of material resources needed to not be poor. Relative definitions including the European measure and Kenya’s use of quintiles, which effectively measure inequality and count “the poor” as those with significantly less than average. Minimum Budget Standards including Latvia’s “material deprivation”, India’s “destitution” and Mexico’s “social deprivations”, which measure access to actual products and services rather than money. The poverty gap as used by Kenya and The World Bank, which measures the depth of poverty – i.e. how poor “the poor” are based on a given monetary poverty line.
It is also worth considering the difference between measures based on income and those based on expenditure. Income discounts the importance of savings and in-kind transfers but emphasizes the importance of having resources rather than spending them in determining who is poor. Expenditure emphasizes the importance of actually accessing services and products but discounts the importance of an ability to purchase when no actual purchase is made. To return to the exploration of “material poverty” section at the beginning this is where the language of access to resources becomes useful.107 The resource to which someone has access includes all of their relevant income as well as all other resources that could go into their expenditure (such as savings and in-kind transfers) while not calling those who choose not to spend their many resources poor. This seems to be what Booth means by speaking of what people are able to attain by their utmost exertions. 108 In general, with Mexico being a notable exception, the definitions of poverty above follow material poverty and work by defining some level of resources which forms a “poverty line”. Those under the line (with less resources than the defined level) are then considered “poor” and those above it not. This is not to say that such lines are all that the UN or member states care about; most have separate policies on the other elements included in holistic poverty, particularly health and education. However, it raises two important questions for The Salvation Army: 1) Where should The Salvation Army draw its “poverty line”? 2) How important is this material poverty line for The Salvation Army in the context of holistic poverty? These questions will be explored in the next section.
107
See footnote 47
108
In Darkest England, as above, p25, as quoted in section 1D above.
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[Section 3 – The Salvation Army and Poverty] Theology, Practice, and Measurement
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3A –A Salvation Army “Poverty Line” The exploration above has led to the definition of poverty as having access to less material resources than a certain defined standard. Such a standard is often referred to as a “poverty line” as poverty is defined as having less than the defined standard of being below the line. The various levels of poverty defined by the United Nations and a sample of developing and developed countries have been explored, but the question remains as to where The Salvation Army should draw its line. A full answer to this question could only be determined by an in depth theological study of human needs and relation to the material world. However, for the sake of this exploration, a preliminary answer can be given in reference to two biblical principles regarding the use of resources sufficiency and justice. Sufficiency “Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.” (Exodus 16:4, NRSV) “they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:45, NRSV) The biblical principle of sufficiency is that God always provides enough for human needs but that they should not aim for lives of decadence and luxury. Undeniably, God also offers extravagant generosity, offering a cup that overflows (Psalm 23:5, NRSV), but this is grace rather than desert and those with merely enough are not considered poor.109 Following this principle then, someone is poor if they do not have access to enough material resources to fulfil God’s purposes for them.110 This would certainly cover the extreme poverty line – in as far as it measures the material resources necessary to survive, which can be considered a prerequisite for achieving God’s purpose in one’s life. It may also cover some budget standard definitions, particularly in terms of providing for a basic dignity of persons who are made in God’s image. However, there are also some ways in which this principle subverts common understandings of poverty. If God’s purpose for someone’s life requires that they live in a city such as New York where the cost of living is very high111 they could be considered not to have sufficient if they cannot afford to live in that city, despite being above all national and international poverty lines. Conversely, if God’s purpose for someone’s life is that they take a vow of poverty, fast regularly and live simply they may have sufficient, despite being beneath national and international poverty lines. This suggests The Salvation Army should
109
The biblical principle of abundance is obviously relevant here but for now a distinction can be made between tackling poverty and offering generous hospitality or celebrating the God given life. Also note that a full life is attacked by holistic poverty and a poverty line only measures the material aspect of that poverty. The full life Jesus offers in John 10:10 need not be a wealthy life in terms of material resources. The concept of abundance of life through sufficiency of resources is often referred to as simplicity or the simple life. 110 Fulfilling God’s purpose for someone is often the context in which enough is used is the Bible (i.e. enough for your ministry, enough to survive in the wilderness) and any other purpose (e.g. living life as they wish) seems to fall short of the Christian message. 111 This idea is captured by the Living Wage Campaign mentioned above.
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place beneath its line all those who do not have sufficient, whether it be mothers unable to feed their children, students unable to go to university, or families unable to celebrate Christmas together. Justice “Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.” (Amos 5:11, NRSV) “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4, NRSV) The biblical principle of justice is that all should be treated fairly and no one – particularly the poor and vulnerable – should be cheated or oppressed. In particular God rages against those who live in riches because of such oppression or who do nothing to change it. Following this definition then, someone is poor if they have access to less material resources than they should in a just system. This can be taken to cover the inequality within societies which is challenged in Amos and thus to cover most relative definitions of poverty in as far as they measure an unjust level of inequality. It also focuses on systematic poverty, like the levies of grain in Amos, and may therefore play closely into the Mexican definition of social deprivations which includes such systematic concerns. The poverty line, then, is drawn not only at those who do not have sufficient but also include those who have less than they justly should have. Note the counterintuitive aspects of this principle: less in saying that some people are justly poor- such people would be covered by sufficiency and grace as discussed above – but more in saying that some if not many are unjustly rich. Furthermore, this definition of poverty is not limited to a certain level of resource – one may have large amounts but unjustly not have very large amounts.112 The principle recognizes Justice, not Utilitarianism – wealth is not justified when it made by trampling the poor no matter how good it is for those who possess it. This suggests The Salvation Army should fight not only to give “the poor” what they deserve, but to challenge those who hold or gain wealth through injustice, and to recognize the injustice in those who have less than they ought even if they have more than most.113
112
if there is a just way to accrue very large amounts in a world where many are starving Whether this recognition should involve taking resources from those with the least to help those with less is a separate question. 113
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3B –Material Poverty in the Context of Holistic Poverty The above answers the first of the two arising from an exploration of national and international poverty definitions - where should The Salvation Army draw its “poverty line”? Thus attention can now focus on the second question - how important is this material poverty line for The Salvation Army in the context of holistic poverty? Once again this exploration can only offer a preliminary answer to this question but much can found by exploring the biblical principle of wholeness. Wholeness “The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’””(Matthew 4:3-4, NRSV, cf. Deuteronomy 8:3) “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16, NRSV) The biblical principle of wholeness is that all aspects of full human life are important – no one of them can be singled out and called the whole thing, but neither can any one aspect be ignored or neglected; Jesus’ reaction to the tempter in Matthew shows that material needs, particularly food, are not the only needs and James warns that this does not mean that material needs can simply be ignored. A whole life does not just require the provision of bread, but it does require such provision. A focus solely on material poverty succumbs to the temptation of ignoring “every word that comes from the mouth of God”114 which is a person’s true sustenance. However, a focus only on the word of God, to the extent of ignoring the material needs of our brothers and sisters is just as much yielding to temptation. This principle leads us back to the earlier comment on The Salvation Army and “poverty” that only holistic poverty is properly normative. It is a full life that Christ cares for and part of this, but only part, is not being in material poverty. This principle works exactly the same for other aspects such as education. Each level of education can be defined only descriptively – e.g. primary education is defined as “[e]ducation which provides the rudiments of knowledge; early or elementary schooling”115, it is another step to say whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary education that is required for a full life for a specific person. Nevertheless, education is an important thing in itself and it is important to be able to say that 89% of school age children received primary education in 2013116 without saying that none of those 89% were holistically poor. Similarly material poverty is a thing in itself and the level of material resources required for a full life is a question based on holistic poverty, yet it is useful to be able to say that 87.3% of people were not in extreme poverty in 2012117 without saying that none of those 87.3% were holistically poor. This suggests The Salvation Army should act on material poverty, but not only material poverty – all aspects of holistic poverty should be included.
114
Matthew 4:4, NRSV Oxford English Dictionary, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/primaryeducation?q=primary+education accessed 1153 EST 09 November 2015 116 World Bank, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.NENR/countries/1W?display=graph accessed 1159 EST 09 November 2015 117 World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview accessed 1202 EST 09 November 2015 115
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3C – Material Poverty and other Social Issues in the Holistic Framework The Salvation Army rightly cares about material poverty, but as established above it is only one of variety of social issues that come under holistic poverty. To understand both types of poverty it is thus necessary to show how material poverty links to these other issues. The social issues discussed below are therefore in themselves injustices, threats to quality of life and aspects of holistic poverty. However, here the concern is not with such issues in themselves but only as they relate to material poverty118. Additionally, for the sake of brevity there is no attempt at a comprehensive in-depth study of each issue; rather a brief illustration of how each social issue is linked to poverty is provided. Thus, the links between poverty and the following social issues are briefly explored:
decent job opportunities education water and sanitation health status inequality within countries human trafficking hunger climate change relationships spiritual intimacy
118
The various aspects of a full life, of which holistic poverty is the deprivation, were explored above. This section is not an attempt to draw out more aspects of holistic poverty as we drawn out material poverty, but rather to place material poverty in proper context and understanding and to draw out the integrated structure of holistic poverty.
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Poverty and Decent Job Opportunities A lack of decent job opportunities is one of the principle drivers of poverty as the only way for someone without wealth to accumulate it is to trade their labour for material resources. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs argues in particular that the effects of economic growth on poverty depend on "the ability of the poor to respond to the increasing demand for labour in the more productive categories of employment.” If The Salvation Army wishes to respond to these findings it could continue work towards supporting “the poor” to find work - including ensuring there is work, as well as making sure that such work provides adequate “social protection or rights”.119 For example, where it does not already do so, The Salvation Army could set up more career development programs, start ventures aimed at creating employment opportunities and campaign for strong protections for employees while maintaining such values itself. Poverty and Education According to a UN report on education120 “one extra year of schooling increases a person’s earnings by up to 10% …[and] 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills.” Education works against poverty not only by increasing individual earnings but also by enabling people to change the “poor environmental and socio-economic conditions”121 which keep them and their communities in poverty. If The Salvation Army further targeted this connection between poverty and education it could work towards a universal122 provision of education that is targeted not only at the intrinsic benefits of education but at teaching people how to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty. For example, where it does not already do so, Building on its International Schools Strategy,123 The Salvation Army could ensure that community development becomes a focus of school curricula at the international and nation levels as well as in its own schools so that what is taught helps students to impact their communities and become global citizens.
119
UN DESA http://undesadspd.org/Poverty/PovertyandEmployment.aspx accessed 1513 07 October 2015, informing this whole paragraph 120 UN http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/efa/ accessed 1517 07 October 2015 121 UNESCO http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-forsustainable-development/poverty-reduction/ accessed 1520 07 October 2015 122 Sustainable Development Goal 4 123 Salvation Army Schools: International Strategy, http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/schoolsstrategy accessed 1240 EST 14 December 2015
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Poverty and Water and Sanitation Lack of water and sanitation not only creates poverty through death and disease but also through the time spent collecting water that could otherwise be spend on education. Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon stated that ““Living in these conditions increases the likelihood of disease and death,”… [and] “[a]ccess to clean water and sanitation will free up time and enable mothers to provide their children with a healthy start in life,” adding that girls are also more likely to attend school where there are proper sanitation facilities.”124 By continuing to provide water and sanitation that frees up time, protects from disease, and encourages female access to services such as education, The Salvation Army can work against these problems. For example, where it does not already do so, it could focus its development of sanitation facilities around schools, or integrate sanitation provision into its health work programs, through partnership with other NGOs where possible. Poverty and Health Status Ill Health both causes poverty and is caused by poverty creating a vicious cycle. “Poverty creates illhealth because it forces people to live in environments that make them sick, without decent shelter, clean water or adequate sanitation.”125 Additionally, the World Bank126 states that “[t]his relationship is financial: “the poor” cannot afford to purchase… quality food and health care [etc.]. But, the relationship is also related to… lack of information… or lack of voice needed to make social services work for them [etc.].” The Salvation Army could continue to tackle these issues by ensuring that its health care is holistic – including environment, sanitation, and lifestyle, as well as properly understood, affordable, and relevant to communities by, for example, strengthening the link between hospitals, clinics, and local corps or, where it does not already do so, creating community health units to advise local leaders.
124
UN News Centre http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36050#.VhVxfvlVhHw accessed 1529 07 October 2015 125 World Health Organization http://www.who.int/hdp/poverty/en/ accessed 1531 07 October 2015 126 http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/brief/poverty-health accessed 1535 07 October 2015
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Poverty and Inequality Within Countries Inequality within countries is measured by relative poverty, which counts the gap between the lowest earnings and the median wage. However absolute poverty can also be affected if all or most of the benefits of economic growth and other methods of tackling poverty benefit the richest.127 According to the UN “Evidence shows that, beyond a certain threshold, inequality harms growth and poverty reduction… [and is] potentially a threat to long-term social and economic development”. To work against inequality The Salvation Army could continue to seek to reduce it, particularly as it relates to injustice, by supporting the economic growth of those with the least as well as working to remove discriminatory practices and systems.128 For example it could work with private companies to ensure that profits gained benefit everyone in the company and campaign nationally for a distribution of resources and taxation that works towards equality. Poverty and Climate Change “The poor” are the worst effected by climate change and such effects can work to keep people in poverty and destroy efforts to escape poverty.129 The World Bank gives an example of “The herder who loses one or two cows to famine amid a drought may feel he has little choice but to sell other livestock at very low prices – the only prices he can get – to keep his family fed...The children lose the advantage of an education, the herder has lost an economic base to build from, and he becomes less likely to take risks that could increase his income.”130 If The Salvation Army wishes to address such situations, it could continue to seek to protect the poor from the effects of climate change and to build their resilience to such situations131 as well as working to halt climate change and making sure it does not contribute to further ecological damage. For example, it could focus development work on areas at risk of environmental disasters, campaign for faster implementation and development of “green” technologies, and set up an international commission on climate impact to develop policies on procurement, energy use and recycling within the international Salvation Army.
127
UN SDGs http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/inequality/ accessed 1543 07 October 2015 see also https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk accessed 1549 07 October 2015 128 following the goal ten targets explained in the UN SDG link above 129 World Bank http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/02/06/climate-change-complicates-efforts-endpoverty accessed 1556 07 October 2015 130 Ibid 131 SDG 1.5 “By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters” https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300 accessed 1602 07 October 2015
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Poverty and Relationships Societies have a tendency to be built around the assumption that people have a certain level of resources, meaning that those who do not have that level of resources can often feel excluded from social interaction. The United Nations notes that “[e]ven in democratic and relatively well-governed countries, poor people have to accept daily humiliations without protest. Often, they cannot provide for their children and have a strong sense of shame and failure.”132 Additionally poor social relationships can also be a cause of poverty. According to The Guardian133 “Poor social bonds damage people's employment prospects, their living standards and their wellbeing… Without support from family and friends, people are more likely to struggle in – or, worse, drop out of – the labour market.” The Church and The Salvation Army in particular has always sought to include those marginalised by the rest of society. In response to the connection between poverty and relationships The Salvation Army could work to ensure its communities are open to those of all economic backgrounds, seek to give those without strong social bonds surrogate family relationships134 and ensure that its social centres and corps communities are connected and mutually supporting. Poverty and Spiritual Intimacy A proper relationship with God is the fundamental need of all humanity. Brokenness in this area creates brokenness in all other areas. An example of this, provided by Corbett and Fikkert135, is the situation of Mary whose lack of intimacy with the true God leads her to make an expensive sacrifice to ancestral spirits forcing her further into poverty. The need for spiritual intimacy is felt by all and many, including the Church historically, will charge for services designed to fulfil this need. As recognised by William Booth136 the desperate need caused by a lack of resources can often prevent people from hearing the gospel. The Salvation Army has a great history of bringing God’s message to the poor. As it moves forward it must ensure that the gospel it preaches is true and without exploitative economic additions.137 The Salvation Army could reflect on its services and membership to ensure they are accessible to those with little resources and continue work to eradicate those forms of poverty that prevent people from hearing the gospel.
132
Rethinking Poverty: Report on the World Social Situation 2010, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations New York, 2009 Citing Singer, Peter (2009). The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. New York: Random House 133 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/26/loneliness-signal-poverty-britain-iain-duncan-smith accessed 11 December 2015 134 A good example of such relationships, mentioned in the Guardia article above, is informal childcare. Those with strong social ties are often able to have friends or family provide free childcare – The Salvation Army could seek to provide similar support both through formal programmes (e.g. after school clubs) and creating informal selfsacrificial friendships. 135 Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, When helping hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor, Moody Publishers, Chicago, 2009 p63, 136 Darkest England, as above, page iv of the Preface, See Section 1A of this paper 137 i.e. charging for spiritual favours of any sort, suggesting that giving a donation will produce spiritual blessings and also varieties of the prosperity gospel. The true gospel does promote generous giving and has other economic consequences but these do not marginalise or exploit the poor. C.f. The Parable of the Widow’s Offering Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4
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3D – Measuring Poverty – The Unifying Framework for Measurement Having now completed a full exploration of what the two poverties are and how they fit into Salvationist, governmental, theological, and practical contexts it is worth pausing a moment to consider how poverty, and the fight against it, may be measured. The Salvation Army has already created The Unifying Framework for Measurement138 which identifies “seven people-focussed outcomes”139:
Contextual – Protection/Safety – Well-Being/Health – Formation/Education – Service/Work Relational – Hope – Love – Trust
Both Holistic Poverty and Material Poverty can be measured within this framework. Holistic Poverty in The Unifying Framework for Measurement Holistic Poverty, as a lack of fullness of life including material possessions, physical health, relationship, society, nature, dignity and education, includes deprivation in all of the areas measured by this framework. Thus the fight against holistic poverty can be measured by any of the contextual outcomes140 which are defined below and have corresponding indicators as part of the framework141:
Safety/Protection: To be free from abuse, discrimination, hunger, homelessness, and fear o Safe and healthy environments in every aspect of life o People’s needs are met without discrimination o Absence of any and all abuse[,] exploitation and persecution Well-Being/Heath: Our holistic understanding of health is a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being in which we are in harmony with God, with each other and all creation o Holistic appreciation of a person o Loving care for the whole person o Using relevant knowledge for healthy living and preventative care o Making healthy choices o Accessing affordable, quality healthcare
138
Compendium of One Army Impact Initiative Documents and Resources, vol 1. , The Salvation Army International Headquarters and Bridgespan Group 139 Journey of Renewal: A Healthy and Sustainable Future for The Salvation Army, The Salvation Army International Headquarters, London, 2015, p 58 140 The relational outcomes also measure the fight against holistic (and material) poverty but they are less defined 141 See the Compendium as above. The following is quoted from section 2.b.ii.
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Service/Work: Whether in the home, the factory, the office, the field, the church or the community, work/service is the central means through which people can use vocations and gifts to contribute to their families, communities and personal fulfilment. – John 9:4-5 o Participation in God’s creation by serving and/or working in all aspects of life to your full potential o Contributing to the common good and taking responsibility in your community o Having a sense of purpose, fulfilment, and human dignity Formation/Education: Children and adults need to develop into compassionate people of integrity and character with the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding to achieve their full God-given potential o Necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to develop your full potential o Ability to understand and manage one’s emotions o Understanding your value and contribution to society or your community
Material Poverty in The Unifying Framework for Measurement Material Poverty is a much more specific concept and thus is not measured by the whole framework in the same way as holistic poverty. Neither is there any measure of Salvation Army participants who fall beneath any sort of poverty line. However, material poverty is measured by some specific indicators within the framework. These indicators fall into two categories – those that measure actual material poverty/wealth and those that measure the effects of material poverty/wealth. These are listed below:
142
Measures of actual material poverty/wealth o % of parents and caregivers with children aged 0-12 years who report that they live in dwelling structures that are safe and durable, based on the condition and location of the dwelling (Protection/Safety) o % of young children receiving a minimum meal frequency within a 24 hour period (Wellbeing/Health) Measure of effects of material poverty/wealth o % of children provided shelter who exit to permanent housing types (Protection/Safety) o % of children who go to sleep at night hungry often (Protection/Safety) o % of households who faced a disaster in the past 12 months, but were unable to recover and now have the same (or better) standard of living as they did before (Protection/Safety) o % of children with BMI-for-age measurements falling within a healthy range (Wellbeing/Health) o % of 9-12 year olds who demonstrate positive early savings behaviour142 (Service/Work)
This may be more a cause of material wealth than an effect, but is still a useful measure of the concept.
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[Conclusion]
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The Salvation Army has always cared about the fight against poverty; from William Booth’s original vision of “making it easy where it is now difficult, and possible where it is all but impossible, for men and women to find their way to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”143 to the International Social Justice Commission’s “multi-dimensional concept, with poverty entailing deprivation of factors such as food and water, education, health, security, or basic freedoms and opportunities.”144 This fight can be separated into work against two distinct but connected forms of poverty: holistic poverty seen as a lack of fullness of life including material possessions, physical health, relationships, society, nature, dignity and education, and the more specifically defined material poverty seen as a lack of access to the simple material things which makes it difficult to near impossible for people to find Jesus and spiritual reconciliation, and which has its own specific urgency. Both forms are justifiably called ‘poverty’ and it should be noted that material poverty as an aspect of holistic poverty is as worthy of individual emphasis as other aspects such as education or health. National and international definitions tend to focus on material poverty as governments explore other aspects of holistic poverty under different names. These definitions are often expressed as “poverty lines”. Within Sustainable Development Goal 1 such “lines” include the international extreme poverty line at $1.90 adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity as well as the various national poverty lines of each member state. These lines fall under four overarching measures: absolute measures, relative measures, budget standards, and the poverty gap (which measures the depths of poverty). The Salvation Army can draw a preliminary version of its own poverty line through the biblical principles of sufficiency and justice, which suggest that everyone should have enough to fulfil God’s purpose for their lives and that no one should have less, or more, than they deserve in a just system. Additionally, the biblical principle of wholeness highlights that all aspects of holistic poverty should be included in The Salvation Army’s mission. An exploration of these other aspects places material poverty in its proper context and reveals the integrated structure of holistic poverty: Decent job opportunities are needed so “the materially poor” can work their way out of material poverty, education can transform individuals and environments to end material poverty, water and sanitation are needed to lift people into situations where they can escape material poverty, healthcare must be effective and affordable to sustain freedom from material poverty, inequality can steal the work aimed at helping “the materially poor”, climate change disproportionally hurts those with least material resources, and poor relationships with God and others can trap people in material poverty as well as causing it. Both of the two poverties can be measured within the Unifying Framework for Measurement. Thus, while appreciating the independence of material poverty as a concept, a holistic approach is necessary to achieve not only Sustainable Development Goal 1, but also the biblical vision of a world transformed as seen by William Booth. “However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today” (Deuteronomy 15:4-5, NRSV)
143 144
Darkest England, as above, page iv of the Preface, as quoted in section 1A above A Social Justice Perspective on Poverty, as above, as quoted in section 1B above
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___, International Positional Statement on Pornography, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipspornography accessed 1330 EST 05 November 2015 ___, International Positional Statement on Suicide Prevention, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipssuicide accessed 1338 EST 05 November 2015 ___, International Positional Statement on The Use of Power, http://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ipspower accessed 1345 EST 05 November 2015 Statistics Bureau, A018 Table 24. Absolute and Relative Poverty Rate by Family Composition, Age Group of Household Head, Number of Earners, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, undated theguardian.com, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/26/loneliness-signal-povertybritain-iain-duncan-smith accessed 11 December 2015 un.org, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E accessed 14 December 2015 ___, http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Metadata.aspx?IndicatorId=0&SeriesId=584 accessed 1002 EST 06 October 2015 ___, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300 accessed 1602 EST 07 October 2015 ___, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg1 accessed 1557 EST 22 January 2016 ___, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics accessed 1015 EST Monday 28 September 2015 ___, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36050#.VhVxfvlVhHw accessed 1529 EST 07 October 2015 ___, http://www.un.org/en/development/other/aboutUN.shtml accessed 1021 EST 13 accessed November 2015 ___, http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/efa/ accessed 1517 EST 07 October 2015 ___, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml accessed 1545 EST Thursday October 2015 ___, http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/inequality/ accessed 1543 EST 07 October 2015 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), Rethinking Poverty: Report on the World Social Situation 2010, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations New York, 2009 UN/DESA, UNCTAD, ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015, United Nations New York, 2015. (Website accessed 0938 EST 02 October 2015: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_archive/2015wesp_full_en.pdf)
The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission
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Luke Cozens
The Two Poverties
20 December 2015
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