Get Heard! People Living in Poverty in The UK Give Their Views On Government Policy
Get Heard! People Living in Poverty in The UK Give Their Views On Government Policy
Get Heard! People Living in Poverty in The UK Give Their Views On Government Policy
Central Liverpool one of the cities where Get Heard workshops took place
One in five people in the UK lives in poverty. They suffer not just
from low incomes, but from discrimination and prejudice. Their
voices are rarely heard, especially by those in power. This paper
describes a unique experiment to bring the voices of those living in
poverty to the attention of the UK government as part of the
National Action Plan for Social Inclusion. Get Heard was one of
the largest projects of its kind ever undertaken in the UK and is
viewed as a model of good practice within the European Union. The
paper explains how the project worked, and draws out the lessons
learned for the future.
Introduction
The United Kingdom (UK) may be part of the rich world, but one in
five people lives in poverty. 1 Many are unable to afford the essentials
they need to live a dignified life, such as adequate clothing, sufficient
food for their children, or heating for their homes. The UK has the
sixth largest economy in the world, 2 and currently ranks 16th on the
United Nations Human Development Index, but it is the least equal
society in the European Union (EU). 3
The word poverty has become increasingly used in tandem with the
term social exclusion. 4 This helps to focus on how people are
affected by low incomes, rather than solely concentrating on the
incomes themselves. Social exclusion is used to emphasise the
processes which push people to the edge of society, limit their access
to resources and opportunities, and curtail their participation in
normal social and cultural life.
Each country, influenced by its specific history and culture, creates a
structure that puts some citizens at a significant disadvantage. Within
the UK, as in other countries, this results in communities or sectors of
society who are more vulnerable to the challenges of life. These
people include many women, elderly people, migrants, black and
minority ethnic people, those who are disabled, and children. For
example, one in three children 3.8 million are currently living in
poverty in the UK, one of the highest rates in the industrialised
world. 5 Women are 14 per cent more likely than men to live in
households with incomes that are below 60 per cent of the national
average. 6 Evidence from the programme indicates that people living
in poverty found it difficult, if not impossible, to voice their opinions
about what caused and what maintains their poverty. They lack the
opportunities, contacts, and links to have a say about the issues
affecting their lives. As these people pointed out:
Being poor and not being able to provide for the child you love can
cause depression.
We [disabled people] are fed up with the sit in the corner and be
quietsyndrome.
Being in receipt of benefits or on a low wage breeds high-interest
debt, isolation, loneliness, low self-esteem.
So many people just dont have the confidence, they have no self-
worth. Much of poverty has to do with finance, but there are routes
out of poverty that come with confidence. 7
In order to reduce poverty and social exclusion, those in power need
to listen to people from groups who are socially excluded. In June
2001, EU member states published their first National Action Plans
on Social Inclusion (NAPs), opening up a space to let people in
poverty have their say about their governments anti-poverty policy
Findings
The participants in the Get Heard project were able to choose
whatever issues they wanted to cover. The following five were those
most frequently discussed, demonstrating the greatest concerns of
workshop participants:
1 Perceptions of people experiencing poverty must change.
2 The benefits system must be reformed to really help people
experiencing poverty.
3 Parents must be appreciated and better understood.
4 Services must be reformed so that they really work for people
experiencing poverty.
5 People experiencing poverty must be involved and listened to. 10
The majority of these concerns (1, 3, and 5) refer to issues of dignity
and power within society. The findings of the project show that
people in poverty want more than just more money to spend. They
want to be visible, respected members of society.
Of course, economic concerns were also important the most popular
topics were issues relating to work, welfare, benefits, and training.
Once in poverty it is incredibly hard to pull yourself out of it, due to
the structure of the benefit system. For example, unemployment
benefits often end the day before someone starts a new job, but that
person will not receive his or her wages until the end of the next
month. For someone in poverty it is impossible for them to find the
means to live on during that intervening time, which makes it safer to
stay on benefits rather than find work. Get Heard showed that people
living in poverty must be listened to, not just because it is fair, but
because it is the only way to get accurate information on how to best
improve policies on reducing poverty.
Regional variations
The workshops were not evenly distributed throughout the UK. For
example, 30 per cent took place in Scotland, while only 4 per cent
were in Wales. The variations reflected where anti-poverty networks
were strong and where they were weak; there is a well-established
Poverty Alliance in Scotland that enabled Get Heard to be influential
there.
Recommendations
The Get Heard project had many successful elements; below are some
ideas to help improve similar projects in future, including
participants views.
Increase the lobbying elements of such projects and build this in
from the start, so the findings can have a greater influence on
policy. This can be done by deepening working relationships and
expanding opportunities for dialogue between civil-society
organisations (including both community-based organisations
and larger NGOs), and government.
Fund anti-poverty groups in advance to prepare proposals and
ensure that they are adequately resourced throughout the
process. This is especially important for smaller, grassroots
organisations.
Identify specific hard-to-reach groups, such as women and men
from minority ethnic communities, at the beginning of the project.
Put in place strategies to reach them through other existing
community-based organisations, or through other local-
government channels.
Identify the barriers to working with local government, and the
priorities of local authorities, in order to be able to work
effectively with them and to use their processes and structures as
channels for outreach to low-income community members.
Ensure that regional variations in the strength of anti-poverty
networks are taken into account at the start of a project. Countries
with weaker networks could be allocated specific resources to
build them up.
Ensure that there is support and co-ordination between
organisations in the network. This is crucial to the success of the
project.
Monitor and evaluate the extent to which bringing policy makers
face-to-face with those who are affected influences those policies,
and what else has an influence.
1
Oxfam GB, UK poverty: how comfortable are you with poverty in the UK?,
www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/ukpoverty/index.html (last accessed
September 2008). The poverty refered to in this paper is relative poverty,
not absolute poverty. Relative poverty equates to people living on incomes
which are below 60 per cent of the contemporary median.
2
In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).
3
According to the EU Gini Index, www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/
qualityoflife/eurlife/index.php?template=3&radioindic=158&idDomain=3 (last
accessed September 2008).
4
The Poverty Site, Relative poverty, absolute poverty, and social exclusion,
www.poverty.org.uk/summary/social%20exclusion.shtml (last accessed
September 2008).
5
See www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/ (last accessed September 2008).
6
Women more likely than men to live in poverty, The Guardian, 17
September 2003, www.guardian.co.uk/money/2003/sep/17/
womenandmoney.socialexclusion (last accessed September 2008).
7
Participants in Get Heard workshops. Get Heard (2006) People
Experiencing Poverty Speak Out on Social Exclusion: National Action Plan
on Social Inclusion 2006, www.ukcap.org/getheard/pdf/Get%20
Heard%20report%202nd%20print.pdf (last accessed September 2008).
8
Including the European Anti-Poverty Network, England; Poverty Alliance,
Scotland; Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network; Anti-Poverty Network
Cymru, Wales; Oxfams UK Poverty Programme; the UK Coalition Against
Poverty; and Age Concern.
9
Interview with Kim Rowe, Oxfam GB, December 2005.
10
Get Heard (2006) op.cit., p. 4.
11
Ibid., p. 30.
12
Taken from interview with Clare Cochrane.
13
Migrants Resource Centre (2006) A Stronger Voice,
www.migrantsresourcecentre.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=
article&id=56&Itemid=70 (last accessed September 2008).
14
Get Heard (2006) op.cit., p. 31.
15
Department for Work and Pensions (2006) UK National Report on
Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion: 20062008, p.19,
www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2006/socialprotection/ (last accessed
September 2008).
16
Since the Get Heard project, Oxfam GB has set up a Race Programme,
which has established links with these previously excluded groupings.
17
Get Heard (2006) op.cit., p. 39.
Oxfam GB
Oxfam GB is a development, relief, and campaigning organisation that
works with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the
world. Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International.
Oxfam House
John Smith Drive
Cowley
Oxford
OX4 2JY
Tel: +44.(0)1865.473727
E-mail: [email protected]
www.oxfam.org.uk