Poverty In Uk

It depends not only on income but also on access to services. (According to a UN declaration from Copenhagen in 1995. Although the Government does help many people by putting them in council houses, providing Shelters especially in Winter, and giving money to those who can not support themselves, it is said that 1 in 5 people in the UK are living in poverty.

In 2006/7 around 13 million peoplein the UK were living in households below the low-income threshold. This is around a fifth (22%) of the population.There has been substantial progress towards the aim of ending rough sleeping: in England ' the total number of people found rough sleeping by local authority street counts has fallen by nearly three quarters - from 1850 in 1998 to 483 in 2008. Over 9000 people have been helped offthe streets of London, so while there remains a constant flow of people onto the streets, most people do not remain on the streets for the long term'. Inequality is worse than at any time since 1961, when records began. Also, the recent huge increases in fuel have left the poor and some of the elderly having to choose between food and heating. The figures on the impact of the recession haveapparently not yet been calculated. I myself would be poor if I didn't have the help I get from my parents.The UK is the fifth most wealthy country in the world but it often seems that the poor, the homeless, the neglected children and the lonely are hidden under a blanket of wealth and power.

Poverty also causes social exclusion and limited access to local services such as leisure activities. Thegovernment has promised to halve poverty by 2010 and end it by 2020. Some 9,000 are permanently excluded from school each year. An additional 10,000 are simply not getting an education.
England has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the industrialised world: more than one in four children live in poverty.That's over 3 million children. Almost one in ten live in severe poverty.
"Thesalary I'm getting is not enough for my children. The housing benefit is not enough to pay my rent and I have to pay council tax on top of that, which is another £89. Since my child was born I haven't been able to buy new clothes for my daughter and she is wearing old clothes my son wore." .


Actually what is poverty?

Poverty is the lack of basic necessities that all human beings must have:food and water, shelter, education, medical care, security, etc. A multi-dimensional issue, poverty exceeds all social, economic, and political boundaries. As such, efforts to alleviate poverty must be
informed of a variety of different factors.


Just under 1 in 4 people in the UK – or nearly 13 million people – live in poverty, in the UK according to the latest figures. This includes nearly 1in 3 children (almost 4 million).


Over 10.5 million people live in financial insecurity: they can’t afford to save, insure their house contents, or spend even small amounts on themselves. About 9.5 million can’t afford adequate housing – heated, free from damp, and in a decent state of decoration. The crucial factor about these findings is that they are based on a survey of what the generalpopulation sees as necessities.

We also know what a dark shadow poverty casts, particularly over children’s lives and their futures. Eighteen per cent of children go without two or more items that the majority of the population says are necessities, such as adequate clothing, toys, or three meals a day.


Children from poor homes are more likely to die as a baby or a child, and have lowerlife expectancy overall. They also have a greater likelihood of bad health, a greater risk of unemployment, and a lower chance of high educational achievement.


One in five non-working families on low or moderate incomes reported being unable to afford some basic food items on most days in 2000.
Poverty is likely to last longer for young children in particular.Overall, a recent survey found...