How comfortable are you with poverty in the UK?
Poverty exists in the UK The UK is a rich nation – yet nearly one person in five doesn’t have enough to live on.1 Many people can’t afford essential clothing – or to heat their homes. Children go to school hungry, or to bed without enough food. 3.8 million children in the UK are living in families experiencing poverty.2 It’s no coincidence that poor communities are in poorer health – and have a shorter life-expectancy. It’s not just outrageous. It’s unnecessary. With enough public pressure for change – and enough political will – our politicians can put this right. Poverty can happen to anyone
Photo: Chris Worrall/Oxfam
Just ask Margaret, from Thornaby, Teesside (pictured left). Like so many women, her comfortable lifestyle plunged into one of hardship after her marriage ended. While waiting for any money from her divorce settlement to come through, she struggled to survive on a very low income. She frequently went without electricity and gas and faced the threat of losing her home
completely. “You feel isolated and vulnerable,” she says. Margaret has worked with poor people in Romania; “Now, I’ve seen the same thing happening right here in Thornaby... to me, as well as to many others. After four years of ever-increasing debts, and finding it hard to meet my everyday needs, I know what it’s like to be trapped in poverty.”
1. Source: DWP’s revised Household Income Survey 2005/6 (latest figures), based on 60% of median income after housing costs – where housing costs include rents, mortgage interest, buildings insurance and water charges. This is a measure of relative poverty used by most researchers, the EU and the UK government 2. Source: End Child Poverty, www.endchildpoverty.org.uk
People don’t choose to be poor In the UK, people are trapped in poverty by low pay, caring responsibilities, their gender, nationality, or because of where they live. Seventy per cent of children from the Bangladeshi community in the UK grow up in poverty – that’s not a choice.1 Nor do women working part-time choose to earn nearly forty per cent less than men.2 Asylum-seekers do not choose to be the poorest people in the UK.3 Oxfam is working to change attitudes in the UK. Poverty isn’t the fault of the individual. And, whatever their background or circumstances, every individual has a right to be treated with dignity and respect. Mrs Mushaka and her four children came to the UK after they were forced to flee from their homeland. In the UK, harsh restrictions and racist attitudes added to her family’s vulnerability. Asylum-seekers are not allowed to work – it’s the law. Her family has to survive on very little, and sometimes has been made to feel uncomfortable and resented. “People don’t always understand that ‘asylum’ is protection for civilians who are fleeing from persecution and torture,” she explains.
Mrs Mushaka is now an active member of the Oxfam-funded Asylum Positive Images Network. It supports asylum-seekers and refugees in Scotland to share their experiences with their communities, the media, and policy-makers. Attitudes towards asylum are now more positive in Scotland than they are in many other parts of the UK. Pictured right: two young asylum-seekers use video to explore their classmates’ views of them.
1. Poverty and Ethnicity in the UK, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2007 2. Gender Equality Index GB, Equal Opportunities Commission, 2007 3. poverty.org.uk, New Economics Foundation, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Photo: Gareth Harper/media co-op
Home truths
Positive paths… A few years ago, most residents of Gellideg, near Merthyr Tydfil, used to say that the best thing about their estate was “the road out”. In an area with one of the highest rates of unemployment and deprivation in the UK, people lacked inspiration and hope for the future. Things have started to change. Oxfam asked the residents to identify their most pressing needs, and used their answers to help the community apply for a £500,000 grant from the European Union. With the money, the new community group restored the community centre, opened a communal café and crèche, and now provides job training and life-skills workshops for young people (pictured left). Gellideg is a success story that’s inspiring anti-poverty projects in other parts of the UK. It has influenced the Welsh Assembly’s approach to tackling poverty – and the European Union cites it as a model for helping deprived communities to develop their own solutions.
Photo: Karen Robinson/Oxfam
...and making in-roads Throughout the UK, Oxfam is developing projects that will help to improve poor people’s lives for the long-term. We show people how to have the confidence to speak out and be part of decision-making in their neighbourhood. We raise public awareness of
poverty in the UK, and challenge intolerant attitudes. We work with (and call for) the UK’s policy-makers to tackle the causes of poverty and discrimination. And, above all else, we advocate for an adequate and secure income for every individual, regardless of gender, race or nationality.
The right way forward Heard the one about the home-worker who gets paid as little as 70p per hour? We have. All too often. Some people work from home. Most of them are women. Often working from home is the only job they can do because they have a disability or they care for relatives. These workers assemble or pack goods that you’ll buy on the high street. Yet they don’t get the minimum wage. It’s disgraceful. We’ve also heard about skilled migrant workers, who are often promised the minimum wage – only to find that unofficial ‘deductions’ have been taken out of their pay packet by those who hired them, forcing them deeper into poverty. Oxfam is calling for better rights for low-paid workers and we’re making sure that workers know how to claim their rights at work. We’re also calling for reform of the benefits system, to meet our vision of everyone in the UK having enough to live on – whether they are in or out of work. “My employer has not paid me all I am owed. And many of my friends have not been paid for weeks.” Oxfam believes that helping migrant workers to know their rights is the first step making sure they are treated fairly.
Photo: Crispin Hughes/Oxfam
Knowing your rights Migrant workers talked to Oxfam about their experiences at a Rights Information evening in Manchester (June 2007). “It’s a very good idea to have these events,” said Ondred Suha (pictured left) and Josef (who asked for his name to be changed) explained the problem:
Whatever it takes… How comfortable are you with what we’ve shown you? We’ve only scratched the surface. But, we hope we’ve told you enough to make you think differently about daily life for many in the UK – where one person in five doesn’t have enough money to live on. Oxfam exists to bring an end to poverty around the world. In the UK, no one need live in poverty. We’re a rich country. Attitudes and laws can be changed. We’re doing whatever it takes to end poverty in the UK – and you can help us. Tell friends, family, work colleagues that one person in five lives in poverty – and it’s time this shocking statistic is changed. And whenever you hear anyone stigmatise people who are on low incomes, please put them right. For more information, visit our website. There you can download our myth-busting factsheet, view our video produced by young asylum-seekers, and find out what else you can do to help Oxfam tackle poverty in the UK. www.oxfam.org.uk/uk
Photo: Chris Worrall/Oxfam
Looking forward Mo Hagan and her grandson JJ (pictured left), look from the bedroom window in Mo’s Teesside home. Mo is an
active member of the Thrive community group which works to tackle poverty and social exclusion in the local area.
Robert (surname witheld), Care Worker, Glasgow
For more information about Oxfam’s work to overcome poverty in the UK visit www.oxfam.org.uk/uk, or contact us: Oxfam, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Oxford OX4 2JY Tel: 0870 333 2700 or email: enquiries@oxfam.org.uk
Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International. Registered charity No. 202918. Inhouse Job No. 3435 Cover/back photo: Chris Worrall/Oxfam
“Poverty is not having enough money to see the week out – and being shunted aside by other people.”