Poverty : a study of town life / by B. Seebohm Rowntree.

  • Seebohm Rowntree
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Poverty : a study of town life / by B. Seebohm Rowntree. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    415/472 (page 379)
    Line, then the proportion which the persons remain- ing below the Poverty Line would bear to the total population of York would be as follows :— In “ Primary ” Poverty. In “Secondary” Poverty. Total in Poverty. Percentage of Percentage of Percentage of Total Population Total Population Total Population of York. of York. of York. Present percentage of total population of York living “in poverty” . 10-34 17-93 27-59 1 Percentage, assuming pension payable at 65 . 9-63 | 16-99 26-59 From this table it will be seen that the payment of Universal Old Age Pensions at 65 years of age would, upon the above assumption, only reduce the proportion which those “ in poverty ” bear to the total population of the city from 27'59 per cent to 26‘59 per cent, or by exactly 1 per cent.2 The writer is aware that these figures constitute no valid argument against Old Age Pensions. They indicate, however, how large is the problem of poverty 1 It will be observed that although 612 persons have, in the present calculations, been added to those living “in poverty,” the 'percentage, of the population “in poverty” is given as 27‘59, whereas on p. 117 it is given as 27 84. The explanation of this apparent discrepancy is, that in arriving at the latter figure, the 2932 persons “in public institutions” were left out of account, Avhereas in the present consideration it is necessary to include these 2932 persons in the calculations. 2 In the tables given above it is assumed that the pensions affect only their direct recipients, but it must be remembered that, in addition to these, a certain number of younger persons would be indirectly affected by Old Age Pensions. For instance, an aged parent may be living with a married son or daughter, and be dependent upon them. In such a case a pension to the parent would relieve the poverty of the whole family, possibly to a sufficient extent to bring it above the Poverty Line. The number of persons who