A couple of weeks ago going to a meeting at One Smithfield, the large and locally controversial office complex built by the council in my home town of Stoke-on-Trent, I met a man our society pretends isn’t there.
He was one of the 1.5million people in the UK who are, according to a report published recently by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, classed as destitute. This means that at some point in the past year they have been unable to afford the basics necessary to have food, clothing and shelter.
The number of people in the UK classed as being destitute fell between 2015 and 2017 thanks to changes to the way benefit sanctions are enforced. It is feared that the introduction of Universal Credit will drive levels back up again.
Destitution is most prevalent in North and the Midlands in cities like Stoke-on-Trent that have been hit hard by the loss of their traditional industries, and the poorer London boroughs. Almost all the people experiencing destitution live in rented, temporary or shared accommodation and single men under 35 face the highest risk.
The causes are complex and multiple, they include delays to benefit payments, high housing and utility costs and harsh debt collection practices on the part of public agencies including councils.
Despite the last point in this instance it wasn’t a government agency that was the villain of the piece. In fact, a woman employed by the local health authority was going above and beyond her role to find him a bed for the night.
The story this man bent out of shape by hardship and bad luck told was one of falling through the widening cracks in our society. Raised by alcoholic parents and abused in the care system he had followed the well trodden route to the streets via prison.
For two years since being released he had made determined, if not entirely successful, efforts to stay clean whilst living on the streets. In the worst of the past winter, he told us, he had had to cycle around the streets to keep from freezing, despite having painfully swollen legs.
A significant proportion of the 1.5million destitute people in the UK, some 364,000, are children, potentially setting up more stories where misery us handed on from one generation to the next.
Research carried out in 2017 for the Child Poverty Action Group found that GPs felt child poverty was a growing cause of I’ll health amongst their parents, with poor diet and inadequate housing being major contributors.
A further survey carried out by the charity in conjunction with the National Education Union found that 87%of the teachers questioned said living in a low-income home affects children’s ability to learn.
In their report the Joseph Rowntree Foundation call for an end to the freeze on working age benefits and changes to how sanctions are imposed under Universal Credit. They also call for reforms to how councils and the DWP collect debts.
In an article written for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website earlier this year Claire Ainsley said the ‘nature’ of poverty had changed and so the means by which it is challenged ‘must change too'.
Adding that the current approaches to the problem placed too much reliance on the ability of the market to provide a solution and were, as a result, ‘running out of steam'.
She used her article to advocate for the creation of a more inclusive economy, a ‘living rent' linked to local earnings and for social security and employment services to work harder to get claimants into good jobs rather than just any job.
She also called for more people with ‘lived experience’ of poverty to be involved in making policy.
People like the lost man made old before his time I met outside Smithfield, where he went I do not know. Although she made superhuman efforts the woman from the health authority was unable to find him a bed for the night, he wandered away to another night on the streets followed by a day that would surely bring fresh troubles.
That a million and a half people live lives of similar hardship in a rich country with pretensions to status as a world power should shame policy makers and everyone else.
Monday 25 June 2018
Thursday 14 June 2018
Gender and geography dictate how politically powerful we feel.
Reports published by the Hansard Society and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Sex Equality claim that gender and where they live influence how much political power individuals feel they are able to exert.
Research conducted by Lawrence McKay of Manchester University using data from the Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement shows the influence geography had on how people relate to politics, particularly how much influence they feel themselves to have over decision making.
McKay found that people living in London felt they had most influence, whilst those living in Wales and Scotland felt they had the least. Out of the English regions people in the North East felt they had the least influence over the political process.
Where voters live, McKay suggests, nay have a greater influence on how people engage with politics than factors such as income or education.
This distancing of people outside London from the political process could, he suggests, by their physical distance from the seat of power and the fact that people living in the regions seldom see people who are like them represented as members of the political class.
Gender and health, both physical and mental, are also powerful indicators of how influential individuals are likely to feel. A point made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sex Equality in the report ‘Invisible Women’ written in partnership with the Fawcett Society and the Young Women’s Trust.
Launching the report Chair of the group Jess Phillips MP said, ‘millions of women are invisible in Westminster’s evidence and thinking', adding that ‘unless we see women in all their diversity, we will make the wrong decisions and will not achieve equality'.
The report shows that women and particularly women of colour are often overlooked by policy makers and those responsible for designing services. This is especially evident in relation to employment support and mental health services, creating what the group describe as a climate of ‘multiple discrimination’.
The report calls for improved data collection to allow policy makers to understand the experience of diverse groups of women and for a review of how services respond to the needs of women and members of other protected groups. It also recommends that it be made easier for individuals to bring claims of bring discriminated against on the grounds of more than one characteristic.
At the launch of the report Fawcett Society chief executive Sam Smithers said that policy makers ‘repeatedly overlook the women who are in the most need and who experience the greatest disadvantage; that has to change’.
Dr Carole Easton, chief executive of the Young Women’s Trust, said that ‘more needs to be done to improve young women’s prospects,’ particularly those from groups that face disadvantage if they are not to face ‘a lifetime of inequality’.
The aim of the report was, Jess Phillips said to work towards a situation where the UK has ‘data, policy, the law and services’ capable of recognising ‘women’s diverse experiences’ and furthering their interests.
Research conducted by Lawrence McKay of Manchester University using data from the Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement shows the influence geography had on how people relate to politics, particularly how much influence they feel themselves to have over decision making.
McKay found that people living in London felt they had most influence, whilst those living in Wales and Scotland felt they had the least. Out of the English regions people in the North East felt they had the least influence over the political process.
Where voters live, McKay suggests, nay have a greater influence on how people engage with politics than factors such as income or education.
This distancing of people outside London from the political process could, he suggests, by their physical distance from the seat of power and the fact that people living in the regions seldom see people who are like them represented as members of the political class.
Gender and health, both physical and mental, are also powerful indicators of how influential individuals are likely to feel. A point made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sex Equality in the report ‘Invisible Women’ written in partnership with the Fawcett Society and the Young Women’s Trust.
Launching the report Chair of the group Jess Phillips MP said, ‘millions of women are invisible in Westminster’s evidence and thinking', adding that ‘unless we see women in all their diversity, we will make the wrong decisions and will not achieve equality'.
The report shows that women and particularly women of colour are often overlooked by policy makers and those responsible for designing services. This is especially evident in relation to employment support and mental health services, creating what the group describe as a climate of ‘multiple discrimination’.
The report calls for improved data collection to allow policy makers to understand the experience of diverse groups of women and for a review of how services respond to the needs of women and members of other protected groups. It also recommends that it be made easier for individuals to bring claims of bring discriminated against on the grounds of more than one characteristic.
At the launch of the report Fawcett Society chief executive Sam Smithers said that policy makers ‘repeatedly overlook the women who are in the most need and who experience the greatest disadvantage; that has to change’.
Dr Carole Easton, chief executive of the Young Women’s Trust, said that ‘more needs to be done to improve young women’s prospects,’ particularly those from groups that face disadvantage if they are not to face ‘a lifetime of inequality’.
The aim of the report was, Jess Phillips said to work towards a situation where the UK has ‘data, policy, the law and services’ capable of recognising ‘women’s diverse experiences’ and furthering their interests.
Monday 11 June 2018
Walking our way back to health.
Walking is good for us, walking briskly for just ten minutes every day can bring about dramatic improvements in physical and mental health.
Globally the World Health Organisation cites being physically inactive as the fourth greatest risk factor for early mortality. People with active lifestyles have a 25% to 35% lower risk of heart disease, they also have a lower risk of obesity, cancer and diabetes.
Being physically active is also something that helps to promotes mental wellbeing.
Figures published by Public Health England show that 4 in 10 adults aged between 40 and 60, 40% of the people surveyed said they walked briskly less than once a month.
This is matched by figures for the number of people who reported being physically inactive, meaning they do less than thirty minutes moderately intense activity a week.
Three million adults in the 40 to 60 age group reported being physically inactive, with proportionally more living in the West Midlands (23%), compared to the South East and South West (15%).
Professor Paul Cosford Managing Director of Public Health England said in a statement to the media 'managing all the pressures of everyday life can mean that exercise takes a back seat, building a brisk walk into your daily routine is a simple way to get more active.'
The NHS Choices website recommends building walking more into what you do every day by getting off the bus one stop earlier and using the stairs instead of taking the lift.
We all know being more active is good for our health, but the sofa exerts a magnetic pull, never mind, if you are of the generation most in need of moving more, having been put off exercise for life by Kes style games lessons at school.
Walking, perhaps, offers a gentler and less competitive alternative requiring no expensive kit and unflattering Lycra outfits. At least it would if it were made a bit easier to do.
Advising people to walk briskly for ten minutes a day and giving them a whizzy app with which to track their progress is all well and good; but creating an environment where that isn't a chore would be even better.
That means spending money on making public spaces safe and welcoming and creating a working culture where people can go for a, not so gentle, stroll at lunchtime without feeling they are at risk of being judged as slackers.
Tasks that put the ball firmly back in the court of local and national government, with employers and the NHS warming up on the side-lines.
Globally the World Health Organisation cites being physically inactive as the fourth greatest risk factor for early mortality. People with active lifestyles have a 25% to 35% lower risk of heart disease, they also have a lower risk of obesity, cancer and diabetes.
Being physically active is also something that helps to promotes mental wellbeing.
Figures published by Public Health England show that 4 in 10 adults aged between 40 and 60, 40% of the people surveyed said they walked briskly less than once a month.
This is matched by figures for the number of people who reported being physically inactive, meaning they do less than thirty minutes moderately intense activity a week.
Three million adults in the 40 to 60 age group reported being physically inactive, with proportionally more living in the West Midlands (23%), compared to the South East and South West (15%).
Professor Paul Cosford Managing Director of Public Health England said in a statement to the media 'managing all the pressures of everyday life can mean that exercise takes a back seat, building a brisk walk into your daily routine is a simple way to get more active.'
The NHS Choices website recommends building walking more into what you do every day by getting off the bus one stop earlier and using the stairs instead of taking the lift.
We all know being more active is good for our health, but the sofa exerts a magnetic pull, never mind, if you are of the generation most in need of moving more, having been put off exercise for life by Kes style games lessons at school.
Walking, perhaps, offers a gentler and less competitive alternative requiring no expensive kit and unflattering Lycra outfits. At least it would if it were made a bit easier to do.
Advising people to walk briskly for ten minutes a day and giving them a whizzy app with which to track their progress is all well and good; but creating an environment where that isn't a chore would be even better.
That means spending money on making public spaces safe and welcoming and creating a working culture where people can go for a, not so gentle, stroll at lunchtime without feeling they are at risk of being judged as slackers.
Tasks that put the ball firmly back in the court of local and national government, with employers and the NHS warming up on the side-lines.
Wednesday 6 June 2018
The poverty gap for working families is turning into a chasm.
Families with children where one or both parents work are living further below the poverty line than they were in 2008 with those employed in the public- sector faring worst.
Using data from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics produced by the Department of Work and Pensions Professor Jonathan Bradshaw and Dr Antonia Keung of the Department of Social Policy at the University of York have identified an increase in the median poverty gap.
In 2007/08 the gap before housing costs stood at £41.60 per week, after housing costs were added this rose to £50.40. The 2016/17 HBAI data shows a respective rise to £57.40 and £63.00.
Further pressures are added to squeezed family budgets by in work benefits failing to keep pace with rises in the cost of living. The harsh conditionality of the welfare system has, according the University of York's WELCOND project, resulted in poor health and financial outcomes for many claimants and may have driven some to commit crime to survive.
Writing in the report Bradshaw and Keung say ' the UK has tended in the past to have had comparatively high poverty rates, but low poverty gaps. This has been thanks to a fairly comprehensive but quite low minimum income scheme'.
They go on to say that since the recession this has been undermined by the government's austerity policies, leading to a situation where poverty rates may be falling, but the number of children living in poverty is increasing and they are further below the poverty line than ever before.
Figures produced by Landman Economics for the TUC show there will be a million more working households with children living in poverty this year, a rise of 50% since 2010, taking the total to 3.1million. The factors driving this increase, the research claims, include weak wage growth and the rising number of people in insecure work.
Public sector workers have been hit hardest with their average income falling by £83.00 a week since 2010, workers in the private sector have seen their wages fall by £32.00 a week over the same period.
The rise in child poverty has been highest in the East Midlands (76%), with the West Midlands (66%) and Northern Ireland (60%) close behind.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said the government was 'in denial over how many working families can't make ends meet '.
She concluded that the government needs to ' boost the minimum wage now and use the social security system to make sure no child grows up in a family struggling to get by'.
Using data from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics produced by the Department of Work and Pensions Professor Jonathan Bradshaw and Dr Antonia Keung of the Department of Social Policy at the University of York have identified an increase in the median poverty gap.
In 2007/08 the gap before housing costs stood at £41.60 per week, after housing costs were added this rose to £50.40. The 2016/17 HBAI data shows a respective rise to £57.40 and £63.00.
Further pressures are added to squeezed family budgets by in work benefits failing to keep pace with rises in the cost of living. The harsh conditionality of the welfare system has, according the University of York's WELCOND project, resulted in poor health and financial outcomes for many claimants and may have driven some to commit crime to survive.
Writing in the report Bradshaw and Keung say ' the UK has tended in the past to have had comparatively high poverty rates, but low poverty gaps. This has been thanks to a fairly comprehensive but quite low minimum income scheme'.
They go on to say that since the recession this has been undermined by the government's austerity policies, leading to a situation where poverty rates may be falling, but the number of children living in poverty is increasing and they are further below the poverty line than ever before.
Figures produced by Landman Economics for the TUC show there will be a million more working households with children living in poverty this year, a rise of 50% since 2010, taking the total to 3.1million. The factors driving this increase, the research claims, include weak wage growth and the rising number of people in insecure work.
Public sector workers have been hit hardest with their average income falling by £83.00 a week since 2010, workers in the private sector have seen their wages fall by £32.00 a week over the same period.
The rise in child poverty has been highest in the East Midlands (76%), with the West Midlands (66%) and Northern Ireland (60%) close behind.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said the government was 'in denial over how many working families can't make ends meet '.
She concluded that the government needs to ' boost the minimum wage now and use the social security system to make sure no child grows up in a family struggling to get by'.
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