Updated March 2021by Paul Morrison “Poverty is not only about shortage of money. It is about rights and relationships; about how people are treated and how they regard themselves; about powerlessness; exclusion and loss of equity.” Participant at local poverty hearing held in …
poverty
Bad news for the poor? Why the abolition of DFID matters
JPIT’s Simeon Mitchell, who worked in the international development sector for 20 years, offers a personal perspective. It might sound a harmless, even sensible, change. Bringing together the UK’s Department for International Development with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to create a …
Understanding the changes to Universal Credit
Universal Credit (UC) is a benefit paid to people who are not working due to unemployment, caring responsibilities, illness or disability, as well as to working families with a low income. It is expected that the COVID-19 crisis will mean many more families will rely on Universal Credit. I …
How to help foodbanks under pressure
The Coronavirus pandemic is placing pressure across society. This is increasingly affecting the most vulnerable in our communities, who are finding it harder to access the support they need. Already, more families need help from foodbanks. For some people work has dried up and the benefit system …
How many children are “Growing up Poor”?
There are a number of measures of child poverty and all agree that child poverty is rising. Tonight’s Channel 4’s Dispatches programme “Growing up Poor” gives some of the children affected by poverty the chance to tell their own stories – and is incredibly powerful as a result. It is great …
Week One: Unlikely Messengers
Jackie's Story "In my teens, estranged from my family, I lived in a flat for young homeless people. The heating system was inadequate, the flat was damp and in the winter sheets of ice would form on the inside of the metal framed windows. I had so little money I often skipped meals and I …
Universal Credit: what you won’t read in the DWP’s “Myth Busting” advertorials
Today there is a good news story about Universal Credit on the front page of newspapers. It is called “Universal Credit Uncovered” and despite the lack of branding it is advertising payed for by the Government to “Bust Myths” about Universal Credit. If you wish to feel happy and delude yourself that …
One week poverty rises: The next we cut benefits
Announcements you may have missed: Wednesday 27 March: Government announces that life expectancy falls for the poorest women in the UK. Dropping life expectancy in peacetime is extraordinary. The gap in life expectancy between rich and poor is also increasing, as is the gap in healthy …
Measuring Hunger – a big win for campaigners, and it’s only the beginning…
On Wednesday the news broke that the Government was going to measure the level of hunger in the UK. This is a major victory for supporters of the End Hunger UK campaign, including the four Churches which work together in the Joint Public Issues Team. More importantly the scale of hunger in the UK …
UK Poverty is a choice: UN Rapporteur on Poverty
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights recently undertook a 12-day tour of some of the poorest areas of the UK as part of an investigation into poverty in Britain. Professor Philip Alston is one of the legal global experts in the field of economic and social …