<P> In 1964 in a joint committee economic President's report in the United States, Republicans endorsed the concept of relative poverty . "No objective definition of poverty exists...The definition varies from place to place and time to time . In America as our standard of living rises, so does our idea of what is substandard ." </P> <P> In 1965 Rose Friedman argued for the use of relative poverty claiming that the definition of poverty changes with general living standards . Those labeled as poor in 1995 would have had "a higher standard of living than many labeled not poor" in 1965 . </P> <P> In 1979, British sociologist, Peter Townsend published his famous definition, "individuals...can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or are at least widely encouraged or approved, in the societies to which they belong (page 31)". This definition and measurement of poverty was profoundly linked to the idea that poverty and societal participation are deeply associated . </P> <P> Peter Townsend transformed the conception of poverty, viewing it not simply as lack of income but as the configuration of the economic conditions that prevent people from being full members of the society (Townsend, 1979; Ferragina et al. 2016). Poverty reduces the ability of people to participate in society, effectively denying them full citizenship (as suggested by T.H. Marshall). Given that there are no universal principles by which to determine the minimum threshold of participation equating to full membership of society, Townsend argued that the appropriate measure would necessarily be relative to any particular cultural context . He suggested that in each society there should be an empirically determinable' breakpoint' within the income distribution below which participation of individuals collapses, providing a scientific basis for fixing a poverty line and determining the extent of poverty (Ferragina et al. 2016). </P>

What is the meaning of poverty in sociology
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