Poverty is a political issue, let's not pretend otherwise.
Some of you will know that I find myself in the unique position of holding two roles, I am the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Gateshead and the Strategic Lead for Poverty and Inequality for Gateshead Council. Two roles that complement each other perfectly, the outputs and outcomes are similar, the meetings I attend are often the same and the problems I am asked to tackle all come back to the issue of poverty and inequality.
As a Council Officer I find myself, for the first time in my career, subject to this thing called ‘purdah’. Purdah is the period in the run-up to an election when specific restrictions on communications activity are applied: particularly those that might be viewed as affecting support for a political party or candidate, such as press releases with quotes or photos from councillors or members of parliament. However, poverty and inequality are very political things – and my job is to tackle poverty and inequality, so I am finding it incredibly difficult to be silent on these issues as I hear the politicians slugging it out for the moral high-ground.
Poverty and inequality are concepts very much related to one another in that they refer to a situation in which people do not have the ability to fulfil all their needs and wants. People in poverty may not even have the very basic necessities in life, including food, clothing and shelter. 1 in 4 children in my Borough live in poverty, in the most deprived wards this can rise to 1 in 2 and last week in the Citizens Advice I lead, we were over-run with people who needed a referral to the foodbank, twice as many as we could cope with.
While poverty refers to a lack of funds where people are merely trying to survive, inequality is a situation in which some members of the society have more resources and high ability to fulfil their needs than some others, more access to material goods and better financial ability to acquire goods and services to meet their needs in comparison to others. Tackling inequality is hugely difficult. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development tells us that the income of the richest 10% of the population is about nine times that of the poorest 10%, up from seven times what it was 25 years ago.
The OECD says, “widening disparities weaken the structures that hold our societies together and threaten our ability to move forward”. I get that this sounds very academic, that it can be easy to think “I’m doing ok, I’m not rich, but I’m surviving, why can’t others do the same?” and if this is you, I would urge you to watch Channel 4 Dispatches document tonight, they are screening an episode entitled “growing up poor, Britain’s breadline kids”. It’s a harrowing but essential watch.
And if that doesn’t grab you, please consider this - “poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings” – Nelson Mandela.
So, whilst I am clear to ensure this message is not party political, make no mistake about it, poverty and inequality are political issues. The OECD states “In general, there are three main ways to tackle inequality, promoting employment for all; enhancing access and performance in education and training at every level by investing in people’s skills; and reforming the tax and benefit systems to help a fair distribution of income while fostering growth”. I accept none of this is easy, but I defy you to watch the Dispatches documentary tonight without the thought crossing your mind that something must change.