Poverty: The Forgotten Englishmen [Paperback]

Most people will have heard of Nottingham and know that it is a county steeped in history and legends. Robin Hood along with his merry men is the most legendary of all those which have called Nottingham their home. The lace and hosiery industries, tobacco manufacturer, Ericsson's telephones and Boots the Chemist all add to the wealthy and prosperous image of this famous city. The multitude of bars, clubs and restaurants coupled with the present property boom accommodate the cosmopolitan urbanites who are attracted to this affluent metropolis.

Undeniably the Nottingham that is presented and known to the world is a desirable one. Yet, like all cities Nottingham has pockets of less well-off communities. Sections of society are often ignored and, "Not only do people not know how the other half lives; they scarcely know that the other half exists." This quote taken from Poverty: The Forgotten Englishmen, written in the 1970's is just as applicable today. During the mid-late 1960's the authors of this book, Ken Coates and Richard Silburn plus a group of students from the Nottingham University Department of Adult Education and some undergraduates from the Social Sciences department of the same University, conducted an investigation into the `conditions in Nottingham'. And the result of this social survey is what comprises a large section of the book.

The social survey concentrated its focus on the inner city area of St Ann's. Then, as now, places only a few minutes walk from the prosperous city centre presented a dichotomy with this affluence, that was blindingly obvious. The investigation undertaken concentrated on the "poor people in Nottingham", and St Anns' reputation as `a slum' was the perfect location to conduct their study.

In the section entitled `How the Poor Live: The case of St Ann's' the social survey began. How many people were poor by modern standards and what percentage of the population did they comprise? And are there any remedies more appropriate than another for this `group' of people? These questions are answered throughout the course of the book with a flair that renders the theories contained within the answers easily comprehended. The results are interesting and eye opening. Within the area of St Ann's old people formed the largest group of poor people, followed by those households wherein the breadwinner's income is slightly too much to receive help but not enough to live on. Large families and those who are out of work due to sickness or incapacity form two further groups. However, the findings show that poverty in life is not just monetary, "poverty is not so much a simple lack of wealth as a more basic lack of power."

The authors ask `What is poverty and how can it be defined'. There is an ambiguity about the meaning of the word `poverty' and the `lack' of things, which defines a group as poor, is relative and forever shifting. Poverty could be a lack of numerous things; power, freedom, morale or a loss of equality within society. Causes of poverty, such as low wages, death of the wage earner, sickness, irregular work and the size of a family combine with external causes, such as inadequate housing, poor amenities and facilities, to provide the overall face of poverty.

This is the description of St Ann's given with Poverty; "At first sight this, then, is St Ann's; a large deteriorated district, geographically distinct, with a certain sense of identity." However, as Coates and Silburn correctly point out, the poor live their lives distinct from their category and when asked by the authors most did not consider themselves as poor in all the ways defined above. A move toward a solution, then, to causes of poverty could be a simple shift in perception. As the book here reviewed points out, the poor, "must be seen not simply as isolated individuals, abstracted from society, but as human beings formed in the very society from which they are to a greater or lesser extent excluded."

This book encompasses a multitude of questions, answers and problems concerning poverty. It's socio-historical basis causes it be appealing to all and in particular those interested in local history and general sociological concerns. It is a, "valuable and important work, any serious student of modern society will require this sort of detailed knowledge and no intelligent discussion of remedies is possible without it."