The UK is the SIXTH richest economy in the world. And yet research by the Social Metrics Commission (SMC) has found that 14.2 million people are living in poverty.
Of that total 4.5 million were children and 1.4 million were of pension age. And of the total figure 7.7.million people were found to be in ‘persistent poverty’ meaning they had spent all or most of the last four years or more in poverty, while 6.9 million were living in families with a disabled person.
The SMC said its work over the last two and a half years has given rise to a new measure which makes ‘significant changes to our understanding of who is in poverty’.
The new measure accounts for the negative impact on people’s weekly income of ‘inescapable’ costs such as childcare and the impact that disability has on people’s needs, and includes the positive impacts of being able to access liquid assets such as savings.
The report found that the majority (68 per cent) of people living in workless families are in poverty, compared to 9 per cent for people living in families where all adults work full time.
Baroness Stroud – Chair of the SMC
The report has also taken the first steps to including groups of people previously omitted from poverty statistics, like those living on the streets or in overcrowded housing. There are also 2.5 million people in the UK who are less than 10 per cent above the poverty line, meaning that relatively small changes in their circumstances could mean they fall below it.
Margaret Greenwood – labour Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions Secretary
Ms. Greenwood feels that the government is hiding the problem. She said, “The government’s strategy to tackle poverty consists of trying to mask the deep cuts it has made to social security by disputing the numbers of people in poverty.”
She added, “The new measure importantly shows the impact of debt, housing and child care costs, and the extra costs that disabled people face. The extent of poverty it reveals among disabled people and their families is a major concern given the severe cuts to support them in Universal Credit.”
Sam Royston – Director of Policy & Research at the Children’s Society
Mr. Royston said the report was ‘extremely worrying’ adding, “This important report rightly suggests that inescapable costs like childcare, housing and support for children with a disability should be taken into account when measuring poverty. When these are considered children sadly make up a greater proportion of those in poverty than previously recognised and they can contribute to situations in which families are left struggling to make ends meet and facing impossible choices between essentials like eating and heating.”
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Two facts!!
1) We are the sixth richest nation in the world!
2) And the estimated budget for HS2 is now up to £56bn …. and rising!