Absolute vs relative poverty
Absolute poverty = lacking the income for the basic necessities of life (food, water, shelter, clothing), judged against a fixed line. Relative poverty = being poor compared with others — a living standard well below the country's average. Difference: absolute is about survival (same line everywhere); relative is about inequality and rises with average incomes. A rich country can have little absolute but real relative poverty.
Causes of poverty
Be able to explain why each leads to poverty. Unemployment — no wage, so little income for necessities. Low wages — the "working poor" earn too little for a decent living. Inability to work — the old (no pension), sick or disabled, and carers have little earned income. Also low education/skills (traps people in low-paid jobs), ill health, and, for whole countries, low economic development. Naming a cause is not enough — develop it.
Policies to reduce poverty
Governments reduce poverty by: promoting economic growth (jobs, tax for welfare); reducing unemployment (training); improving education; state benefits (income for necessities); a national minimum wage (raises the lowest pay); and progressive taxation (higher earners pay more, narrowing the gap). Trade-offs — benefits carry an opportunity cost and may cut work incentives; a minimum wage set too high may cause unemployment.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
How is relative poverty measured?
Candidates define absolute poverty well but stumble on relative poverty. Many know it means having less than others, but cannot say how the comparison is made. Anchor it in the country's average living standard — e.g. an income below a set fraction of the median. It is a comparison, not an absolute lack of necessities.
June 2022 Paper 2 (Q5(b)-type material): relative poverty was less understood — most candidates knew it meant having less income than others but could not explain how that relativity is measured.
Identify a point, then develop it
The biggest mark-loser is naming a point without developing it. For "does lower unemployment reduce poverty?", the reverse side was weak — many just said the sick and elderly still cannot get a job, without explaining. Carry every point through its chain, e.g. benefit → income → buy food and shelter → less absolute poverty.
November 2022 Paper 2 (Paper 21, Q3d): the argument that lower unemployment reduces poverty was well made, but the argument that it might not was weak — many just said the sick and elderly would not get a job without development. June 2022 Paper 2 general (d) guidance: weak answers stated one or two points without developing them.
Benefits are not a complete cure
Weaker answers claim state benefits simply solve poverty. Reward balance: the opportunity cost (less for schools and clinics), the risk of demand-pull inflation if spending rises (cutting benefits' real value), and that benefits are often a short-term fix. They cut absolute poverty for recipients but may do little for relative poverty.
June 2023 Paper 2 (Paper 21, Q2d): strong answers raised the opportunity cost of benefits, the demand-pull inflation risk, and that benefits are a short-term solution with some recipients not spending wisely.
Absolute ≠ relative poverty
Do not define both as just "low income". Absolute poverty = lacking the financial means to obtain the commodities needed to sustain life. Relative poverty = a standard of living compared with others in the same society. Absolute uses a fixed survival line; relative is a comparison with the average, so it can exist even where no one is destitute.
November 2022 Paper 2 multiple choice: absolute poverty is lacking the financial means to obtain commodities to sustain life, whereas relative poverty is the standard of living compared with others in the same surroundings — a frequently confused distinction.
State benefits are small, not a windfall
Some candidates assume state benefits are large enough to start a business or fund children's education. In reality they are usually small — enough to help buy basic necessities, not to transform a family's prospects. Judge a benefit by whether it lifts recipients above the absolute poverty line, not by uses it cannot realistically cover.
June 2023 Paper 2 (Paper 21, Q2d): a few candidates wrongly thought the benefits were large enough to start a business or fund children's education, when in fact they are usually small.
Cuts absolute poverty, not relative
A wage rise or minimum wage can reduce absolute poverty (workers afford more necessities) while relative poverty stays. The jobs are often at the low minimum-wage level, so if average incomes rise faster these workers remain far below the average — still relatively poor. Always say which poverty a policy tackles.
November 2022 Paper 2 (Paper 21, Q3d): stronger answers noted wages were often at the low minimum-wage level, so absolute poverty might fall while relative poverty remained.
The Paper 2 (a)–(d) ladder
The 0455 Paper 2 ladder: (a) define (2) — precise meaning only, no causes; (b) explain (4) — one point developed; (c) analyse (6) — a sustained one-sided chain, no evaluation; (d) discuss (8) — both sides plus a supported judgement.
Develop each point to its effect
Marks are lost most often by stating a point without developing it. In every part, carry a cause or policy through to its effect on poverty — e.g. unemployment → no wage → cannot afford necessities → poverty. Depth on a few points beats a long undeveloped list.
Weigh a policy's costs in (d)
In (d) discuss, set each anti-poverty benefit against its costs: opportunity cost, possible inflation, a disincentive to work, or that it cuts absolute but not relative poverty. A supported judgement often says the policy works best combined with others.
Separate absolute from relative
State which type of poverty a point affects. A policy may reduce absolute poverty (people afford necessities) yet leave relative poverty (still below the average). Being explicit about which one you mean lifts an answer into the higher levels.
Poverty means not having enough income or resources to enjoy a decent standard of living. The Cambridge syllabus splits it into two distinct ideas you must be able to tell apart.
| Type | Meaning | How it is judged |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute poverty | A person lacks the income to obtain the basic necessities of life — food, clean water, shelter, clothing, basic healthcare | Against a fixed standard (e.g. living on less than a set amount per day), the same everywhere |
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