How comfortable are you with poverty in the UK?

I find this video fascinating. Oxfam have a campaign at the moment focusing on poverty in the UK. 'How comfortable are you with poverty in the UK?' highlights the fact that 1 in 5 people in the UK are living in poverty - 3.8 million of whom are children. This video highlights many of the misconceptions and prejudices people have concerning UK poverty and the blame game. Worth watching if you have 9 minutes to spare. It brings up a lot of very worthwhile issues:

Am I bothered?


How is poverty calculated?

Poverty is calculated as 60% of median income after housing costs. This is a measure of poverty used by most researchers, the EU and the UK government. In 2005/6, the 60% threshold was worth:

• £108 per week for single adult with no dependent children;

• £186 per week for a couple with no dependent children;

• £223 per week for a single adult with two dependent children;

• £301 per week for a couple with two dependent children.

Material poverty

Poverty means not having enough money to pay for the things you need. From Oxfam’s experience of working with people living in poverty we know that this may involve families and individuals not having enough to eat, being unable to heat their homes, not having adequate warm clothing, and not having enough money to cope with unforeseen events, such as the need to repair a broken washing machince.

The 2004/5 Family Resources Survey, published by the Department for Work and Pension, reports that: 60% of people on low incomes say they are unable to make savings of £10 a month;10% cannot afford two pairs of all-weather shoes for each adult in the family; 30% cannot afford household contents insurance; and nearly 30% are unable to have friends or family round for a meal once a months.

Powerlessness

Another feature of poverty in the UK is a feeling of powerlessness and not having a say in the decisions that affect your life. The everyday experience of many of those on low incomes is frequently one of disrespect – being treated as invisible by decision-makers and not having their views taken into account.

Inequality

One of the key features of poverty in the UK is that it exists alongside high economic prosperity in a wealthy country. This leads to large disparities in income and wealth, which in themselves have a negative impact on people living on low-incomes. Poorer countries, with fairer wealth distribution are healthier, and happier, than richer more unequal countries.

Needless to say, the task at hand is huge, but thankfully so is our God