ABSTRACT
In the previous three chapters we have examined, respectively, the economic, state and social underpinnings of poverty. We have seen many connections between each of these. Some of these connections constitute vicious circles, where (variously) poor jobs and unemployment, administration of state benefits, poor treatment by public and private service providers, consumption of low quality housing and other commodities, and social relations in poor areas compound each other. These can be vicious circles for an individual or a household: sudden adversity-loss of a job, a cut in benefit, ill health, a major house repair-can set off a spiral into poverty which then becomes very hard to escape.
