The fight against global poverty can be a discouraging one. The number of people suffering is hard to imagine for most middle-class families. While there is a multitude of poverty-stricken individuals, things are not entirely bleak. Poverty rates have been falling in recent years, and the word is getting out. People can make a difference in this fight with the right approach.
There are answers on how to solve poverty, and time is showing us just how effective they are. While the questions revolving around how to solve poverty are complex and face dead ends at times, there are solutions to the problem. Making sure that a solution is not only effective but sustainable is a priority that always needs to be met.
The fight continues and will continue to be fought until all necessary steps are taken. They understand that the quality of local jobs, the cost of housing, and welfare reforms matter too. They do acknowledge that people in poverty are not somehow different. Poverty is seldom the result of a single factor. In the UK today there are five key causes that need priority action: unemployment, low wages and insecure jobs; lack of skills; family problems; an inadequate benefits system; and high costs.
These result from an overlapping and shifting series of influences that include market opportunities, state support and individual decisions. People with less money and skills are generally in weaker positions in relation to markets. The result can be low pay and insecurity, unemployment, discrimination and paying more for essentials, like energy and credit. The housing and childcare markets have also failed people in poverty.
The consequences are lower earnings and spending power, insecurity for workers, lower productivity and under-used skills. A key role for the state is to remedy market failures and promote public wellbeing. But this can be missed through an ineffective benefits system, poor-quality education and discrimination against certain groups. Governments also have a role in fostering a prosperous economy with opportunities for all.
High levels of poverty deprive the state of tax revenues, and of income, so it needs to spend on health, education and other services, and on countering uneven economic growth, civic decline and a lack of democratic engagement. Unemployment and low skills may keep individuals in poverty and can lead to long-term hardship.
High stress is a major outcome of poverty for individuals and can contribute to family breakdown. Poverty affects mental resources and decision-making processes, and the impact of focusing constantly on scarcity has been measured as being more detrimental than going one full night without sleep. Poverty can also result in poor educational outcomes for children, bring shame and stigma, and lead to crime and disorder, health problems, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, and family breakdown.
These risks can be passed down through the generations in a vicious cycle. While it is individuals in the end who get themselves out of poverty, they need the state, markets and society to act together to enable them to achieve a decent standard of living. Even myself, I think can I afford to have the heating on? I work, you know what I mean?
JRF research has looked at the causes of — and solutions to — poverty in childhood, working age, later life, and among those with complex needs. It has also covered how the high costs of essential goods and services to low-income consumers — particularly housing and childcare — can be tackled. See the second half of this document for detailed recommendations on how we can do this.
For most of us, our family provides our most important relationship and defence against material and emotional hardship. Those raised in secure families have more chance to flourish and better future prospects, and very many parents in poverty provide stability and security in spite of the overwhelming challenges they face. Poverty puts considerable strain on family budgets and relationships. Children who grow up in low-income households have poorer mental and physical health, on average, than those who grow up in better-off families.
Families of children with disabilities face additional challenges of both cost and income, and policy and practice does not always account for this. From an early age, children in poverty are more likely to score worse in tests of cognitive, social and behavioural development. At age five, children who have had high-quality childcare for two to three years are nearly eight months ahead in their literacy development than children who have not been in pre-school.
Living in a low-income family greatly increases the likelihood of children leaving school with lower educational attainment. High-quality teaching is the most important school-level factor affecting the attainment of children from low income backgrounds, so governments should continue to evaluate and expand successful initiatives to attract high-quality teachers and leaders to schools where they are most needed. Governments should also boost careers advice and quality apprenticeships for young people so that they leave school to start their working life well.
It having no money may cause arguments between the parents over how they going to pay for everything, which might affect the children who are hearing this. You should be able to go to work and say that I can feed my children. Paid employment, caring responsibilities and the social security system are key determinants of poverty. Work should offer a route out, but a combination of low wages, not enough hours, insecurity, the high cost of housing and childcare, poor health, discrimination and low-level skills all present considerable barriers.
The lack of well-paid jobs is a particular problem for those trying to balance working and caring. There has been a significant rise in the number of working households in poverty over the past decade, with many low-paid workers in insecure jobs where they are less likely to receive the training needed to progress on to higher earnings.
An estimated five million adults in the UK lack core literacy or numeracy skills; Our social security system is also failing to adequately support people on low incomes. People are almost always better off in work, but sometimes incentives are weak or wiped out by high housing and childcare costs.
For those with health problems or with caring responsibilities that mean they are unable to work full time, the system is failing to provide an adequate safety net, and spending is poorly targeted.
Welfare-to-work services need to be more focused on reducing poverty through high employment and high earnings. Raising pay, such as through the introduction of the National Living Wage, is crucial to creating an economy with less in-work poverty. But reducing poverty also requires higher skills combined with higher productivity, particularly in the sectors with the largest proportions of low pay, to create more jobs that offer better pay, greater security, more hours, and more opportunities to progress.
This is a long-term undertaking, but there are promising policy foundations and initiatives upon which to build. The challenge is for business and industry leaders — above all, in low-wage sectors like retail, care and hospitality — to explore how this might be achieved. We also need to focus on creating a social security system that meets the challenges of a 21st century labour market, technological change, and a changing and ageing population, along with health and fluctuating conditions.
A sustainable approach needs to tackle the underlying causes of poverty. I am always open to opportunity… but it is very difficult because the job I am in, there is no training I can do to get any higher up the scale. There is no job there. We just have to accept it… We did feel we missed out because we were part-time. My partner only knew one skill, labouring, for him to find something when he was made redundant, it was devastating.
After 23 years with the same company, the struggle since has been hard. Pensioner income poverty has reduced considerably in recent years, yet a substantial number of pensioners still have a low standard of living, especially if they are disabled or in ill health. Poor access to public transport restricts some older people from getting around, reducing their autonomy and increasing exclusion from social networks, sometimes leading to loneliness and isolation.
Disabled older people face additional challenges, since the extra costs associated with disability are currently not fully taken into account in benefit levels. Furthermore, stigma and lack of awareness mean that take-up of state support is often low. At the other end of the spectrum, the low level of pension savings and National Insurance contributions by some people of working age, especially among the growing number of self-employed, has worrying implications for the security of current younger generations in later life.
As more of us are living longer, targeted action will need to be taken to maintain progress in reducing pensioner poverty. We need a combined approach which increases the cash in the pockets of older people at most risk of poverty, improves the prospects of future generations by bolstering the assets of those of working age, and prevents people from falling into poverty as they grow older.
It is also important that policies that have delivered lower pensioner poverty are not undone in the longer term, and are balanced against the needs of younger generations.
The important impact of high costs on poverty has too often been ignored. Reducing poverty through action on costs involves harnessing market power but also recognising and compensating for its limits. The high cost of housing and childcare in many parts of the UK creates the biggest squeeze on people in poverty.
High rents and evictions from private tenancies are a major driver of homelessness in some areas. Increasing the supply of genuinely affordable housing to bring down costs across tenures has become central to solving poverty in much of the UK.
Another important challenge is to end the iniquity of poverty premiums, where people in poverty pay more for the same goods and services. For example, many on low incomes use pre-payment meters for gas and electricity, at greater cost, and are less likely to switch their energy supplier to get a better deal. Households in poverty are four times more likely to be behind with at least one household bill, and they are more exposed when the price of essentials rises rapidly.
Many people in debt struggle to get by, choosing what they and their families are going to go without, having to turn to family, friends or charity to help them out. Businesses providing essential goods and services can play a key role by proactively identifying consumers at risk of debt, offering advice and support.
Alongside the voluntary sector, state agencies and regulators, they can help to empower consumers to search for and negotiate better deals. In some industries, such as energy and water, consumer bills carry part of the burden for additional costs arising from public policy choices or investments in new infrastructure.
There is a strong case for firms to design, in conjunction with government, fairer ways of sharing these additional policy costs. Regulators have an important role in increasing competition and innovation, attending to the impact on vulnerable people and sometimes setting prices. These are all functions within their existing mandates which have a direct impact on the lives and prospects of poorer households. So I just try to avoid it if I can, you know, getting into debt.
Sheffield Money was developed as a council-funded broking service working with community lending partners to provide loans and other financial services to local residents. It provides a website, city-centre store and phone application, offering a range of services and quick access to loans in as little as 15 minutes.
Debt advice is embedded in the scheme, with a debt adviser available at the store. Almost anyone can experience poverty, but some groups face higher risks. This is because they face greater barriers to increasing their income, or have higher costs, or both. Racism and discrimination can hold back ethnic minority groups from progressing in work, and illness or fluctuating health conditions can make training and work difficult to manage in the absence of flexibility and good support from employers.
Lone parents, and parents of children with disabilities, may struggle to find quality part-time work and affordable childcare. Disabled people often face extra disability-related costs, which are only partly compensated through benefits. They also face barriers in employment. A relatively small group of people in poverty face additional, complex challenges. This includes people with experience of mental health conditions, homelessness, experiences of violence, substance misuse or involvement in the criminal justice system.
When these are long-lasting or overlap, they can present significant barriers to escaping poverty. The prospects for young people leaving local authority care should be an overarching priority for government. Despite positive policy and legal developments, they continue to face unacceptably high risks of destitution and poverty, homelessness, offending and substance misuse.
These make it easier to improve their long-term prospects. For women with complex needs, there is a huge lack of appropriate housing. A Housing First model to break that revolving door, that would be very interesting. Housing First is a model of supporting people to make a direct move from street homelessness into ordinary permanent housing, with personalised support to address wider issues.
Housing First England is a new project to create and support a national movement of Housing First services. The project is led by Homeless Link, a national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who become homeless in England, and is funded by Lankelly Chase Foundation and Comic Relief, and works in partnership with others to build change.
The geography of poverty must be addressed in any strategy to solve poverty. Some places have been deeply affected by de-industrialisation, and have not recovered. Others are characterised by low housing supply and high costs, which are driving up poverty. Lack of jobs and poor digital and transport connectivity, reduced services and poor environments are other place-based factors driving up poverty.
Place-based approaches to solving poverty have always been important but they are gathering momentum. Poverty is real in the UK.
It is time for governments, business and communities to work together to solve poverty once and for all. The aim of this strategy is to create a vision for the country where, no matter where people live, everyone has the chance of a decent and secure life. To do this, we need a consensus that poverty in the UK is real, causes harm and is a solvable problem. However, the concerning reality is that the COVID pandemic and associated economic fallout obliterated those gains, putting individuals and families at a greater risk of being pushed into poverty.
As of May , more than 9 million Americans were unemployed, 19 million adults and up to 8 million children had experienced food insecurity, and more than 10 million renters were behind on rental payments.
Communities of color and other underserved families have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn: Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities have seen higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death as well as unemployment.
Likewise, the disability community has been disproportionately affected by high rates of mortality at congregate facilities , inequitable vaccine rollouts , and delayed stimulus payouts to individuals on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income.
Navigating through the current crisis and rebuilding better and stronger requires policymakers to take immediate action to provide equitable economic relief to all. Equitable rebuilding not only addresses systemic and institutional racism of past policy decisions but also focuses on inclusive economic transformation that can strengthen the U. The good news is that policymakers already have a range of tools that can prevent further increases in poverty and put all people on a pathway to economic mobility and resilience.
Congress must support sustained, bold public investments in programs that support people living in—and on the edge of—poverty. Take Action. This column outlines 12 policy solutions that Congress can use to cut poverty and boost economic security for all in an equitable way. Safety net programs can help people weather a variety of economic crises by meeting basic needs and providing stability.
For example, before the pandemic, state unemployment insurance UI did not cover monthly expenses anywhere in the country and excluded millions of others due to their work classification, previous earnings, length of employment, or immigration status. Unfortunately, this supplement and the other temporary federal UI expansions are set to expire nationally on September 6, To make matters worse, at least 26 governors have pledged to end some or all of these programs even sooner, cutting benefits for 4.
Similarly, programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP , intended for those with the lowest incomes, have not done enough to prevent hunger and food insecurity in America.
Even before COVID hit, the inadequate benefit amounts forced 45 percent of SNAP recipients to limit the food they ate or skip meals just to make it through the month; and nearly a third of SNAP recipients had to visit a food pantry to keep themselves fed.
From December to December , the demand for charitable food assistance rose by nearly 50 percent. This was especially prevalent for households of color, households with children, and people with disabilities. Fortunately, the American Rescue Plan contained significant expansions in food assistance programs to help mitigate the high levels of hunger seen throughout the crisis.
But more must be done. Lawmakers must expand eligibility for SNAP, ensuring that currently excluded groups—including undocumented immigrants and many college students—are able to receive necessary food assistance.
Burdensome work requirements that only serve to push people away from assistance, rather than encourage work , should also be eliminated. Temporary expansions of the safety net are not enough to help the millions of Americans who are still struggling with the economic and health fallout from the pandemic. Congress must continue to invest in and modernize safety net programs, ensuring that benefit levels are expanded and more accessible than they were before the crisis.
It should also consider implementing automatic triggers that would expand benefits during future economic shocks, such as recessions, without the need for legislative intervention.
Not only would this prevent people from falling into poverty while Congress argues over how much relief is necessary, having a system that automatically triggers expanded benefits would also help soften the blow of future recessions and stimulate the economy by giving money to people who desperately need it in a timely fashion. Rebuilding the economy in an equitable way requires the creation of millions of new, good-paying jobs in key industries, with significant worker protections to ease the burden on working families.
Before the pandemic shut down much of the country, unemployment stood at 3. A year later, hiring is on an upward trajectory, but unemployment is at 5.
While the uptick in employment is a good sign, the same people who struggled before the crisis are still being left behind: The unemployment rates for Black and Hispanic individuals stand at 9. Similarly, the disability community continues to experience difficulty regaining employment, with It is not the first time these communities have seen large unemployment gaps compared with their white and nondisabled peers, as such gaps were consistently present even in the months leading up to the pandemic, when unemployment was low.
Women have particularly borne the brunt of job loss because they are overrepresented in the hardest-hit service sector jobs. From February to May , women lost a net of 4. Furthermore, since April , the labor force participation rate for women has hovered between Even though pandemic-related stimulus packages have helped bolster the economy, labor market growth is sluggish , as many Americans are still unable to come back to work due to caregiving challenges or are taking more time to find safe and decent jobs that support their basic needs.
Creating the jobs needed to build an equitable U. If passed, the American Jobs Plan could reform and rebuild the economy by significantly shrinking the gap of 7.
It is time for Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to meaningfully improve living standards for millions of Americans. Through our work, Plan International gives children, families and communities the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty, these include:.
Access to quality education which provides children with the knowledge and life skills they need to realize their full potential. Plan International helps by training teachers, building new schools and breaking down barriers that prevent many children — and girls in particular — from attending school and staying in school.
Access to health is essential. Plan International helps communities build health clinics, train health care workers and invest in equipment and medicine, so children can grow up healthy and strong.
0コメント