Persistent Poverty in the Netherlands : A sociological study

Abstract

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. PERSISTENT 3.Conversion strategies to conquer labor market positions 55 Appendice 201 Appendix A 201References 207 Summary in Dutch 226Index 233 9 List of tables PrefaceThis manuscript is about poverty in the Netherlands during the late 1990s. I made use of the "Landscapes of Poverty"-project database (1997)(1998)(1999) . Despite the fact that the economy increased most significantly during the second half of the 1990s, (when the information and communication technology boosted industrial sectors, the state introduced new labor market policies, so that more jobs became available) the number of the long-term poor did not change (SCP, 2001; p. 40). In spite of this, these conditions did not result in fewer people in poverty (SCP, 2001; p. 46): in 1990 14,8% and 14,3% of the households were considered poor (De Beer, 2000; p. 210-2). These numbers confirm the impression that there is a stable population of socially and economically excluded people.Dutch social scientists -interested in persistent poverty -asked how this could happen while the economy was growing (cf. Engbersen, 1997). This led to a large-scale research project on poverty. This undertaking, the "Landscapes of Poverty"-project (1997Poverty"-project ( -1999 was funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), and aimed at describing and explaining the situation of people in poverty -those who did not (start to) profit from the boosting economy (the long-term unemployed, single parents, the elderly, and migrants). This project explored the life-world of people in poverty, demonstrating and describing the daily struggles of people in poverty. The incidence of poverty was already described in other reports; for example, the Annual Poverty Monitors contain 12 poverty statistics. The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) writes these reports, reporting on the number of people in poverty, poverty trends, spells, and dynamics, poverty measurement, and spatial distribution of poverty (cf. SCP, 1997SCP, , 1998SCP, , 1999SCP, , 2000SCP, , 2001SCP, , 2003SCP, , 2005. The "Landscapes of Poverty"-project aimed, instead, at collecting the personal stories behind these numbers to complement the existing statistical research with qualitative observations. This research proceeds from poverty definitions used by the SCP and the CBS (Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics). Commonly, two income definitions are used in the Netherlands. The first definition is the social policy minimum, which is based on the statutory minimum income as adopted by the government in its social legislation (SCP, 2004; 9-10). Because the social policy minimum is 5% more than the statutory minimum ...

Social Exclusion and Poverty: Translating Social Capital into Accessible Resources

“…One of the few detailed empirical studies of the mechanisms behind social capital in relation to poverty is Noordhoff (2008). In his analysis of the strength of the connection to bridging social capital that people living in poverty have access to, he provides a clear picture of the social complexity that surrounds the borrowing of money, food and child‐care from family, friends and neighbours.…”

“…In his analysis of the strength of the connection to bridging social capital that people living in poverty have access to, he provides a clear picture of the social complexity that surrounds the borrowing of money, food and child‐care from family, friends and neighbours. Put briefly, Noordhoff (2008) finds that the challenges of honour and status, expectations around reciprocity and the assessment of risk serve to undermine the accessibility of these resources. This is in spite of the fact that they involve bonding type social exchanges with closely tied networks.…”

“…These mechanisms are then ‘copied on to’ social exchanges with more distant weakly tied networks, or bridging social capital. The result is a disconnection betweensocial contact and resource accessibility as well as a general ‘weakness of weak ties’ (Noordhoff 2008: 150).…”

“…As Noordhoff's (2008) work illustrates, it is important to remember that the relationship captured within the concept of social capital only creates the possibility of access to resources, not the certainty. We suggest that Woolcock and Narayan's (2000) earlier statement needs to be modified slightly to read: it can be the social relationships we have as well as those we do not have, that deny us access to the resources we need.…”

Conference proceedings

“…However the concept of well-being is not clearly measurable because it is not so simple to evaluate the level of living (Noordhoff F., 2008). Well-being indicators could be divided in two -the subjective and objective ones.…”