Experiencing poverty
Statistics do not convey the situation for people experiencing poverty. Difficult decisions have to be made on a daily basis.
Poverty implies not being able to afford to buy things most people consider essential nowadays or to participate in activities which, similarly, are thought to be a minimum requirement of everyday life. Even though someone might have a sufficient income for basic food, clothing and rent, they may not be able to afford much else. They may be stuck in a rundown area, unable to move because they don't have access to credit, let alone a comfortable income.
The consequences are not purely financial. They may feel humiliated. They may be afraid to leave their home at night. Their children may become trapped in a cycle not just of poverty but of apparent failure and despair. But some people in poverty do not even have enough for some basics. Research shows that more than a million children live in families unable to buy them new clothes when they need them.
"People who have low skills and are working long hours for a low income are struggling to survive. We feel left out. We work very hard, but we still cannot afford to buy new clothes or go to the cinema or even go on holiday to visit our families."
Participant in the Get Heard project, set up by the Social Policy Task Force to enable people experiencing poverty to have their views heard by the UK Government.
A particularly telling example of how people have to cope is Denise's story (PDF, 15KB), taken from 'Women's and children's poverty: making the links' (Women's Budget Group, 2005). It may seem extreme, but it is just one true example of the daily complications and humiliations that people in poverty face today.
"Emily misses out on a lot of things. I can't take her swimming or to playgroups as I can't afford it."
Mother quoted It doesn't happen here: the reality of child poverty in the UK (2007).
Daily decisions
What will the family cut back on? Food? Heating? Clothes for the children? Repairing household items? Transport? Childcare costs? The family might have to leave out toiletries, school trips, holidays, birthday parties, insurance, days out, a TV licence or even meals.
Specific needs
Many people move in and out of poverty. Certain times can make people more vulnerable. For instance, when children go to school, there are associated expenses for families. The average cost of a school uniform and PE kit is £224.69 - the average local authority grant for school uniform is just £51.27, if there is a grant at all. Another example is the often substantial drop in income when people move from employment to retirement.
Homelessness
A smaller number of people are in much deeper poverty. Homeless people are among those at the most extreme end in the UK. It is not just those sleeping on the streets but people who lack a proper, secure home, those who live in a hostel or bed and breakfast, in very overcrowded conditions or at risk of violence or abuse.
Rural poverty
This is another serious issue. The number of people affected is smaller than in urban areas but they face particular difficulties. Isolation is perhaps the most serious, with limited – and declining – public transport services, which they are reliant on for shopping: retail services in rural areas are also declining.
"Poor families do not have any choice about where they live or the condition of the properties they are allocated. We go where we are put."
Kathy Kelly, ATD Fourth World
The British are remarkably effective in disguising their poverty, says David Seymour in Reporting poverty in the UK: A practical guide for journalists. He tells of two examples given by journalists from stories they covered:
- a mother who lived on virtually nothing but bread so her children could eat well and have a few little luxuries;
- a children's bedroom with the latest electronic games, so the kids didn't feel ashamed at school, but with a mattress on the floor being the only piece of furniture.
Poverty is not simply about not having enough money or going without luxuries, he continues. It is about struggling to get through each day. About constantly making sacrifices. About living in a state of worry verging on perpetual fear. About never knowing how you will survive the week. About never having a few days away, let alone a holiday. It is about your children being haunted by the prospect of being stigmatised, humiliated and bullied. About pensioners not knowing how they can carry on living yet dreading imposing a burden on relatives when they die.
Further content
- Chapter 1 of Reporting poverty in the UK contains more information about the experience of those living in poverty.
- The Wrong Trainers - The children's TV programme Newsround featured a series of short animated films on the theme of child poverty in 2007. Watch them on the Newsround site.
- Telling your own story - Swaffham Wellbeing Group, a rural group in Norfolk with experience of rural poverty, were asked what stories they wanted other people to know. This films documents that process.
- Stigma and stereotypes (6:45) - a film that explores some of the stereotypes and stigma media coverage
can reinforce, from the perspective of those with experience of poverty.
Image courtesy of Anna Kari, Save the Children