Western Poverty

A DISGRACE: 

UNITED NATIONS' REPORT ON POVERTY

U.N. RAPPORTEUR REPORTS HUNGRY TEACHERS AND SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BRITAIN

By Stepen Wilson

Almost thirty years ago, when I was visiting the prisoner Toe Elliot in the Special

Unit in Glasgow as part of a joint community Art Project , I joked with him : "I'm

often hungry and I'm glad you feed us so well here. You feed us better than at

home. I am starving here... Maybe you could open some kind of soup kitchen

for the starving". But Toe, who had been so generous with his sandwiches, did

not get the joke . He took it seriously and to heart . For the next few weeks, when

ever I visited him they were showering us with generous portions of food. At that

time I recall a lawyer, Pamela Ferguson scoffing at me: "There are no starving

people in Britain." Now, almost thirty years later what we both said now seems a

bad joke. For Philip Alston, a rapporteur of the United Nations visited Britain for

two weeks where he strongly condemned the government's ten year austerity

program as inflicting untold misery. The extreme poverty in Britain 'Was not

just a disgrace but a social calamity and an economic disaster even though U.K.

is the world's fifth largest economy '. He describes the poverty as avoidable if

the political will existed to do so. He condemned government austerity policies as

being enforced in a punitive, mean spirit and often callous way. And Alston came

across both school students and teachers who complained of being hungry. One

12 year old Scottish student told him that he was afraid to go where people were

eating as it made him feel hungrier.

Alston found that as many as 14 million people, a fifth of the population live in

poverty and 1.5 million are destitute. Many of those poor people work in low paid

jobs, are single parents, divorced, or people who are severely ill who can't fend for

themselves not to mention refugees who have been forbidden to do any work until

their legal case is resolved. But worst is yet to come. The Institute of Fiscal Studies

and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation predict child poverty could rise by 7% between

2015 - 2022 up to a rate of 40% of children.

Alston articulately explains several reasons for the dramatic rise in poverty. The main

reasons are a government which, through Universal Credit, is drastically cutting

social benefits, carrying out sanctions on people who inadvertently break the rules

or refuse to take dead end low jobs, or fill in the forms in the wrong way. There have

been 50% cuts in council budgets and even the police force have received so many

cuts they can't contain crime. The use of food banks has soared four fold in Scotland.

Alston was taken back by the painful traumatic impact of such poverty. He heard how

a homeless woman had sold sex for a roof over their head, young people joining gangs

as a way out, and abandoned children who could find no safe place to sleep on the

streets. He stated: "I was surprised by the talk of suicide by the people I had met

who considered suicide".  Alston welcomes the fact that at least the British

government have appointed a Minister for Suicide and have at least opened a

government department to tackle loneliness. He welcomes the proposal to introduce

a work allowance which will lift at least over two million workers out of poverty. But

otherwise, the British government are in a state of denial. They entirely disagree

with the report and claim employment is at record levels and that average household

income has increased. The problem is that the Government has no single definition

of poverty but four kinds. So it can 'define' poverty out of existence with a play of

words.

Alston retorts: "Being in work does not magically overcome poverty ... In work

poverty is increasingly common and almost 60% of those in poverty have a family

member working '. Alston met a man who complained : "I know people also working

in 5 jobs who can't make the minimum wage ". Low wages, insecure jobs and

zero contract hours mean that even at almost full employment there are 14

million poor. Alston continues to state in his report 'Jobs are not a guarantee against

people needing food banks. The Trussell Trust told me that one in six people

referred to their food banks is in work and one  pastor said, "The majority of people

using our food bank are in work- nurses and teachers are accessing banks".

People I spoke with told me they have to choose between eating and heating their

home, or eating and feeding their children. One person said " I would rather feed my

kids than pay my rent but that would  get us kicked out ".... Children are showing up

at school with empty stomachs and schools are collecting food on an ad hoc basis

and sending it home because teachers know that their students will otherwise go

hungry.'

He stated that: "It is patently unjust and contrary to British values that so many

people are living in poverty". Indeed, the welfare state has been drastically eroded

to such a degree that one wonders about its imminent demise. Many people

have difficulty claiming benefits because they lack digital skills, English or are

daunted by the complexity of the forms. For instance, some people can only

claim benefits on line. Yet an estimated 21% of the population don't have the 5

basic digital skills , and 16% can't fill in a digital on-line application form. There is

little or no face to face communication with officials only an anonymous decision

maker with no name. This prompts Alston to make the memorial phrase, 'We are

witnessing the gradual disappearance of the post war-British welfare state behind

a web page and an algorithm in its place. A digital welfare state is emerging'. This

digital system discriminates and denigrates the worst off of citizens.

I personally have heard reports from friends in Machrihanish in Kintyre, Scotland

that " The only available jobs are Zero contract hour shop assistants at

supermarkets ... There is work in the community but this is often treacherous

such as on fishing boats. Only a few months ago some fishermen perished in a

storm. .. My friend was struck by how many mentally distressed and lonely

people she had encountered outside her home. Alston noted that Scotland has

the worst suicide rate in Britain as well as life expectancy.

In regard to the limits of this new digital state Ralston states: "A machine learning

system may be able to beat a human at chess, but it may be less adapt at solving

complicated social ills such as poverty".

But Alston's report is not all bleak news . He reflects 'I have also seen tremendous

resilience, strength and generosity, with neighbors supporting one another, councils

seeking creative solutions, and charities stepping in to fill holes in government

services. I also heard stories of deeply compassionate work coaches and of a

regional job center director who had transformed the ethos in the relevant offices.'

Perhaps the last word should go to a Scottish school boy who answered Alston's

Question, "What should be done to help the poor?" The boy answered that, "It is

unfair that people should go hungry  while a few make billion of pounds. The rich

should share their money." Few would disagree!