The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) (England and Wales) has published a report on in-work poverty, ‘The Hidden Crisis of In-Work Poverty – A Frontline Perspective.’
At its heart, the SVP is a front-line grass roots charity, dedicated to helping individuals and families facing poverty, homelessness, and other hardship. It celebrated its 180th anniversary in England and Wales last year. Over the past 24 months the number of requests for help received by the SVP increased by 143% . Its near 9,000 strong membership made over 309,000 visits to those in need, including supporting families struggling to make ends meet, rough sleepers and isolated older people. Increasingly, those who turn to the SVP for help are in employment—working adults who, despite earning an income, struggle to afford the basics.
Based on the lived experiences of those providing daily support in communities across England and Wales, the report shines a light on the stark and often invisible reality of in-work poverty. Despite holding down one or more jobs, too many individuals and families remain trapped in poverty – a fact reinforced by previous studies showing that more than half of those living in poverty are in households with at least one working adult. The SVP’s report demonstrates the impact of this crisis; 76% of the survey’s SVP frontline respondents witnessed those they support choosing between essential items such as food, household bills and heating.
AT the report’s launch, the SVP’s CEO, Kate Nightingale said, “This report emphasises what our frontline colleagues in our community centres and our volunteers across the country have found – in-work poverty is prevalent and a stain on our society. Our volunteers encounter daily the heartbreak and hardship faced by people doing everything they can to support themselves and their families.”
The report is based on over 200 survey responses from those who supported individuals and families in poverty in the last 12 months.. It shows that in-work poverty can affect anyone, but households with children and those reliant solely on part-time work are most at risk. And it is caused by multiple and inter-related factors: a complex mix of low pay, high childcare and caring costs, health issues, insecure employment, and unaffordable housing drives the crisis. The impact is profound: people face impossible choices between heating, eating and rent.
The SVP continues to provide vital one-to-one and group support to those affected, but the charity stresses that deeper, systemic change is needed. The report calls for evidence-based, long-term policy solutions to address the root causes of in-work poverty. These range from calling for targeted support to help households with rising utility costs to strengthening of the social security system in key areas, including ending the two-child benefit cap and increasing the basic rate of Universal Credit to cover essential living costs.
Kate Nightingale said, “We urgently need a bold, joined up policy response to address this issue which is a blight on communities across the county. The support organisations like the SVP provides in communities is critical, with our services such as foodbanks and debt advice being accessed like never before. The cost to Government of not grasping the nettle of potential policy solutions will be longer term harm to government finances and the very fabric of our communities. We must make work pay – so more can find their own way out of such hardship and dependency’
A copy of the report can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/SVP-In-Work-Poverty-Report