“They [the benefits tribunal] made me feel like a criminal, but I’ve done nothing wrong.” (Maria)
“My son felt humiliated in public by the lack of respect shown him by the jobcentre.” (Sally)
“My bank called time on my debts and we had to survive on crisp sandwiches. My wage doesn’t keep pace with prices. Most weeks I struggle to make ends meet.” (Margaret)
Life Stories is based on the PSE UK qualitative research into ‘Understanding experiences of low income during recession’. Sixty-two video testimonies were collected during 2012-2013, in Birmingham, Glasgow and Gloucestershire. The report of this qualitative work, Life on a low income in austere times, provides full details of the research and its findings.
This short film by Luciana Berger, Labour & Cooperative MP for Liverpool Wavertree, explores food banks in 21st century Britain.
Poverty and social inequalities in childhood have profound effects on the health of children, and their impact on health continues to reverberate throughout the life course into late adulthood. Globally and historically, poverty has been the major determinant of child and adult health and, even in rich nations such as the UK, it remains a major cause of ill health with huge public health consequences.
The Children's Society believes that child poverty is an intolerable injustice that blights childhoods and severely harms children's chances in life. They know that poverty is pernicious, but do not think it is inevitable. This paper sets out The Children's Society's analysis of the conditions, causes and consequences of child povertyand the principles that inform their approach to tackling it.
The latest figures published by the Trussell Trust show that over 1,000,000 people have received at least three days’ emergency food from the charity’s foodbanks in the last twelve months, more than in any previous year. The data indicates that despite signs of economic recovery, the numbers of people turning to foodbanks continues to grow.
1,084,604 people - including 396,997 - children received three days’ food from the Trussell Trust’s network of over 400 foodbanks in 2014/15, compared with 913,138 in the 2013/14 financial year. This is an increase of 19 percent.
Use of emergency food aid in the UK, particularly in the form of food banks, has dramatically increased over the last decade. This research, jointly conducted by Oxfam, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), the Church of England and The Trussell Trust, examines why people are turning to food banks, how food bank use fits with their wider coping strategies, and what might be done to reduce the need that leads to food bank use.
100 miles - BPS Leicester to BPS London
5 days - 17th to 21st August 2015
3 causes - The benefits system / homelessness / Food poverty
Join us to walk from Leicester to London to raise awareness of social policies that are leading to psychological distress.
We are easy to get hold of!