Understanding Poverty in All its Forms September 2018 'Understanding Poverty in All its Forms' Research Project: Interim report for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights We welcome the visit of Professor Alston to the UK and would like to use this opportunity to share interim research findings from an ongoing participatory assessment of what poverty in all of its dimensions means in the UK today. These findings, reproduced below, use the words of research participants (some of whom have lived experience of poverty and others of whom have experience of poverty gained through their professional work). They are of considerable relevance to the scope of the visit. We would be delighted to discuss these further if this is useful. In line with the call for submissions, we would appreciate these findings being kept confidential as the research project is not yet complete. This is an assessment of how poverty is experienced, rather than about poverty measurement per se. A number of points are already clear: 1. People in poverty are seldom involved in how poverty itself is understood by policy makers in the UK. Genuine participation of people experiencing poverty is an important principle, but it takes time and commitment to be meaningful. 2. This assessment highlights the breadth of poverty in all of its forms in the UK. Money and material resources are central to this; but so too are feelings of a lack of control and the experience of being judged negatively by others. 3. It was very striking that the impacts of poverty on physical health and emotional well-being came through strongly. This included shorter lives and mental ill health. 4. The actions of public institutions were often described in extremely negative ways. Participants looked to public services for support and believed that public institutions should provide this. However, such support was regularly deemed either absent (due to austerity-driven cuts in funding) or, more perversely, delivered in ways which were deemed inappropriate, disempowering, or oppressive. Children’s services and the benefits system came in for particular criticism. This gives considerable pause for thought about how public service delivery ought to be improved. 5. The experience of poverty was described in very negative ways. However, participants noted and strongly rejected media portrayals or political rhetoric where such descriptions of poverty tip over into negative descriptions of people in poverty. Participants highlighted the strengths of those experiencing poverty and of how individuals share and support each other through crisis. It was clear that poverty itself was the fundamental problem; but this was compounded by the scant visibility in public debate of how hard people in poverty strive. 1 Understanding Poverty in All its Forms September 2018 Background to the study The study aim has been to use participatory research methods at scale to assess what poverty in all its forms means in the UK. To do so, thirteen peer groups have been created (each with around 6-8 participants), with research sites in two regions of England and one in Scotland. This design was intended to capture the diversity and detail of people’s experiences of poverty rather than provide representative survey data. The design places the views of those living in poverty at centre stage. It is also structured to bring these views together with the knowledge of others (such as public sector workers) who deal with the consequences of poverty. The entire project, including the analysis phase, has been guided by a group of co-researchers (some with lived experience of poverty and others coming from a range of professional backgrounds). Six of the thirteen peer groups involved participants with a lived experience of poverty; six were for participants with a professional experience of poverty; and one group, used to 'triangulate' results, was drawn from the general public. The study has focused on working-age adults only, mostly in urban or peri-urban places, and did not involve children. This UK research study, carried out under the auspices of ATD Fourth World–UK, is part of a wider assessment taking place in Bangladesh, France, Tanzania, and the USA, using similar methods to address the same question of what poverty in all its forms means in the country concerned. The overall study is led by ATD Fourth World International and researchers from the University of Oxford. Interim findings: A multi-dimensional understanding of UK poverty in all its forms These dimensions have been agreed upon by a group of co-researchers drawn from very different backgrounds (including with lived experience of poverty and with experience drawn from their work). Having reviewed the evidence from the thirteen peer groups, our co-researchers thought that these dimensions summarise the 'pillars' that make up poverty in all of its forms. Dimension 1 - Negative judgement, stigma, and blame A lack of understanding of UK poverty leads to negative judgement, stigma and blame, [which] destroys individuals and families; [resulting in] being treated as a lesser human being. Dimension 2 - The impact of poverty on health and well-being Poverty is bad for health. It has a negative impact on health and well-being: physical, emotional, mental, and social. 2 Understanding Poverty in All its Forms September 2018 Dimension 3 - Lack of control – no escape Lack of control over choices and opportunities leads to increased risk, [the] limiting of potential, [and to] being trapped in a repetitive cycle of poverty. Poverty is dehumanising. Dimension 4 - Financial insecurity, [financial] exclusion, and debt Financial insecurity means not being able to satisfy your basic needs. Worrying about money all the time causes huge stress and misery. Dimension 5 - Coping mechanisms Finding ways to live — not just survive — through overcoming a multitude of hurdles, [developing] coping mechanisms, survival reactions, and resilience. Dimension 6 - Systems, structures, and policies Economic, political, and social structures (including community and charity organisations) can sometimes cause poverty. Policy is operated in a way that disempowers. Systems designed to support people are not working in ways that people want. Systemic cuts in funds for needed services have created greater inequality. Note: One further preliminary dimension titled “Children and families” was ultimately rejected by the majority of the co-researchers as its content was judged to overlap with the other identified dimensions listed above. The inclusion of a descriptive paragraph in the final report explaining this decision and providing a wider recognition of individuals from diverse groups affected by poverty was proposed. We have therefore reassigned the aspects associated with “Children and families” to other dimensions according to observations on their content made during the co-researchers’ discussions. 3 Understanding Poverty in All its Forms September 2018 Annex: Further detail on the dimensions and associated aspects of poverty The roots of the dimensions of poverty noted above lie in aspects suggested by research participants from the thirteen focus peer groups in response to questions about what poverty meant to them. Our group of co-researchers has made sense of these aspects by grouping them into the six dimensions reported above with some description of each. For further detail, below, we have reproduced the full lists of aspects that the co- researchers included in each dimension. Because they come from the unedited words exactly as used in the peer groups, outside readers may have trouble interpreting some aspects (e.g. single words), but we include them here for both fidelity and depth. Dimension 1 - Negative judgement, stigma, and blame A lack of understanding of UK poverty leads to negative judgement, stigma, and blame, [which] destroys individuals and families; [resulting in] being treated as a lesser human being. Associated aspects of poverty: 1. Stigma 2. Stereotypes 3. You look and feel different to everybody else and you don’t want anybody to know 4. Being conditioned to suffer in silence and not ask for help and to just get up, shut up, and get on with it until you take a decision to break the cycle 5. Shutting the door on life 6. Being judged without knowing your story (without walking in my shoes) 7. Poverty means that we are forgotten 8. Children from low-income communities are not deemed as cultured as middle-class children 9. Perception of poverty is distorted 10. Poverty means being judged unfairly 11. Poverty means you will be scorned 12. Poorer people are judged on lifestyle choices – not allowed to have choices 13. You are made to feel worthless because people are judged by their bank balances 14. Social Services taking young children away instead of helping them at home 15. Social Services blocking the return of a child to their parents 16. Social Services constantly looking over your shoulder especially when you have been in care yourself 4 Understanding Poverty in All its Forms September 2018 17. Children being wrongly adopted 18. [Poverty means having] contact visits with your children [in foster care] 19. Limiting the fulfilling of potential [of parents when] others tell them they are not worthy [of being parents]” 20. Disenfranchisement by distance from elite powers: decision makers, politicians, councillors, service providers 21. Tending to blame people in poverty: “You don’t’ need to be poor” 22. Poverty means being subject to scrutiny 23. Poverty is not always obvious; appearances can be deceptive 24. Poverty means being bulldozed, being bullied, and pushed away, and not wanted 25. Poverty means complex and individual stories 26. People in poverty are not only isolated but used as a warning 27. Poverty exists in so many different forms: Views should not be restricted, we need to stay open-minded and keep learning in order to understand adequately 28.