How does poverty in Australia relate to global poverty and inequality? Why does poverty persist in the midst of affluence? Thinking About Poverty addresses this question and others through bridging the three key learning areas of theory, policy and practice.

Invaluable for students of social work, social policy, and community and welfare, this book covers:

• the effects of neo-liberal policies on families and the unemployed;
• the reason why women are the main victims of poverty;
• the individualistic models on which Australian government policies are largely based;
• the failure to address the structural causes of poverty;
• alternative definitions of poverty which are not based solely on economic measurements;
• the disadvantaged situation of Aboriginal people which have resulted from past and current policies;
• the connections between poverty and mental illness; and
• the social policy debates regarding people with a disability.

Not just a critique, it also puts forward a range of anti-poverty strategies and considers alternative economic thinking. With contributions from academics and practitioners, Thinking About Poverty provides a contemporary and accessible contribution to discourse about poverty in Australia.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: Introduction - Klaus Serr
CHAPTER 2: Processes of globalisation: The generation of wealth and poverty - Frank Stilwell
CHAPTER 3: Women and poverty: The application of feminism in overcoming women’s poverty in the global context - Ruth Phillips
CHAPTER 4: Understanding poverty - Eric Porter & Jennie Trezise
CHAPTER 5: Concepts of poverty - Klaus Serr
CHAPTER 6: Governing inequality: Poverty and the Australian welfare state - Karen Crinall
CHAPTER 7: Poverty: The impact of government policy on vulnerable families and older people - Ruth Webber
CHAPTER 8: Unemployment at 29-year low: Why unemployment still matters - Margot Rawsthorne
CHAPTER 9: Poverty and crime - David Rose
CHAPTER 10: The impoverishment of a people: The Aboriginal experience in Australia - Sue Green
CHAPTER 11: Poverty and mental illness - Robert Bland
CHAPTER 12: Poverty and people with a disability - David Sykes
CHAPTER 13: Government and anti-poverty strategies in Australia - Benno Engels and Gavin Dufty
CHAPTER 14: The funding and provision of emergency relief in Australia - Benno Engels
CHAPTER 15: Moving forward: Alternative anti-poverty strategies - Klaus Serr
CHAPTER 16: Conclusion - Klaus Serr
References
Index