The UK is one of the world's richest nations. We at the
UK Coalition Against Poverty believe it is therefore inexcusable
that one in five people in the UK live in poverty.
Many people living in poverty experience social exclusion
throughout their lives, going without basic necessities
like a warm coat and decent shoes, sufficient food for
a balanced diet and adequate heating and lighting for
their home.
A child born into poverty is more likely to weigh less
at birth, and is twice as likely to die before his or
her first birthday, or to leave school without qualifications,
than one from a more affluent family (2).
Contrary to popular belief, poverty is not just experienced
by the homeless or the unemployed, as the 1 in 5 figure
suggests, it really is all around us. In fact around half
of Britain's families living in poverty today live in
a household where an adult is in work. Lone parent families
are at particular risk of poverty, demonstrated by the
fact that 42 per cent of children living in poverty are
living with a lone parent. It is not just families that
are affected by poverty, the number of single people living
in poverty has increased by 300,000 to 3.9 million since
1996 (3)
People living in poverty often have no access to a bank
account and are forced to budget on a week-to-week basis,
making basic purchases and juggling bills and debts with
cash. The lack of opportunities for people living in poverty
exacerbates the problem further. People living in poverty
are less likely to have access to transport, employment
opportunities or healthy food with physical and mental
health and personal relationships often suffering as a
result.
The UK Coalition Against Poverty One in Five Campaign
aims to put poverty and income adequacy at the heart of
Government policy by raising awareness of this unacceptable
statistic. We are committed to ensure that people experiencing
poverty are involved at all levels in the decision making
process to achieve more effective anti poverty policies.
Sign and send the UKCAP fiver to your MP letting them
know that you believe poverty in Britain is unacceptable
and help lobby for change in the policies that affect
people living in poverty:
Click here
to download your one in fiver and send it to your MP
1. Department for
Work and Pensions (2005) Households Below Average Income
(HBAI) 1994/95 to 2003/04.
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