Sep 2, 2026 05:49 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142409
EXCERPTS: People with different political beliefs do not only disagree about how much poverty exists in Britain but they also differ over whether the same material circumstances should be defined as poverty, according to new research from the University of Bath School of Management.
Published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, the study found that people with more right-leaning or welfare-sceptical political views were consistently less likely to classify certain material circumstances as poverty, while those with more left-leaning or welfare-sympathetic views were more likely to do so.
“This helps explain why public debates about poverty remain so divisive. Statistics can tell us how many people fall below a specified threshold. They cannot decide for us where that threshold should be drawn,” said Dr Joanna Syrda, author of the research paper Political ideology and poverty boundaries: Definitional mediation in perceptions of poverty in Britain.
“These ‘poverty boundary judgments’ play an important role in shaping perceptions of social inequality. People start with different assumptions about where the poverty line should be drawn and there is often confusion about whether we are talking about relative poverty, minimum standards of living, or absolute deprivation,” Dr Syrda said.
[...] The research found that people's opinions about poverty were linked to their broader political beliefs, such as whether they leaned left or right politically and how much they supported welfare, independently of the specific political party they voted for. Their attitudes to poverty reflected deeper political values than just party politics, Dr Syrda said.
The research also found that the poverty boundaries people adopt are closely linked to how they view the scale of poverty in Britain today, whether they believe it is rising or falling.
Left-leaning and welfare-sympathetic people applied broader definitions of poverty and were significantly more likely to say there is a lot of poverty in Britain. They also said it has increased and will continue to increase. Right-leaning and welfare-sceptical individuals adopted narrower definitions and consequently perceived less poverty... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
EXCERPTS: People with different political beliefs do not only disagree about how much poverty exists in Britain but they also differ over whether the same material circumstances should be defined as poverty, according to new research from the University of Bath School of Management.
Published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, the study found that people with more right-leaning or welfare-sceptical political views were consistently less likely to classify certain material circumstances as poverty, while those with more left-leaning or welfare-sympathetic views were more likely to do so.
“This helps explain why public debates about poverty remain so divisive. Statistics can tell us how many people fall below a specified threshold. They cannot decide for us where that threshold should be drawn,” said Dr Joanna Syrda, author of the research paper Political ideology and poverty boundaries: Definitional mediation in perceptions of poverty in Britain.
“These ‘poverty boundary judgments’ play an important role in shaping perceptions of social inequality. People start with different assumptions about where the poverty line should be drawn and there is often confusion about whether we are talking about relative poverty, minimum standards of living, or absolute deprivation,” Dr Syrda said.
[...] The research found that people's opinions about poverty were linked to their broader political beliefs, such as whether they leaned left or right politically and how much they supported welfare, independently of the specific political party they voted for. Their attitudes to poverty reflected deeper political values than just party politics, Dr Syrda said.
The research also found that the poverty boundaries people adopt are closely linked to how they view the scale of poverty in Britain today, whether they believe it is rising or falling.
Left-leaning and welfare-sympathetic people applied broader definitions of poverty and were significantly more likely to say there is a lot of poverty in Britain. They also said it has increased and will continue to increase. Right-leaning and welfare-sceptical individuals adopted narrower definitions and consequently perceived less poverty... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
