Talk by Dr Simon Duffy for Citizen Advice Derbyshire Districts, June 7th 2017. He explores the reality poverty is mitigated and created by the political system and particularly examines tax-benefit changes between 1997 and 2014.

1. and what we can do about it
The Politics of Poverty
Talk by Dr Simon Duffy of the Centre for Welfare Reform
for Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts - 7th June

2. • Centre for Welfare Reform is an independent
think tank seeking to promote social justice and
citizenship for all. We are independent of
Government, big business and political parties.
• Thanks to Les Monaghan for photographs.
Information about his work can be found at
www.relativepoverty.org
• Most of the data shared comes from the Office for
National Statistics

4. • Nature can provides us the means by which we live
and flourish, if we work with it; but drought, floods or
natural disasters can also create famine and poverty.
• Technology improves how we work with nature to
provide the goods we want or need; but
technological development can also impoverish
those who are not part of the new order.
• Politics enables us to work together to build a social
order where we can share out our responsibilities,
rights and the benefits of our work; but we can also
use power to push people into poverty.

5. What is poverty?

6. • Is poverty just about the resources you control?
If so cavemen were poor, medieval serf were less
poor and a modern victim of human trafficking is
relatively well off. WRONG
• Is poverty just about inequality? If so any
inequality creates poverty, so Richard Branson is
poor relative to Rockefeller. WRONG

7. Poverty is the lack of resources
necessary to participate as an
equal in the community.

8. "I neither say nor maintain that kings should be
called rich any more than the common folk who go
through the streets on foot, for sufficiency equals
wealth, and covetousness equals poverty."
Enough, really is enough
The Romance of the Rose

9. • Poverty is an absolutely real and objective feature of
society and it can be high or it can be eliminated.
• Poverty is relative to the society in which we actually
live and a fair society would have no poverty.
• It is not just about money…
• …but money’s still very important

11. • Politics can reduce poverty directly through
redistribution - tax, benefits and public services
• Politics can reduce poverty through economic
policy - minimum wage, investment, financial and
fiscal policy and monopoly and regulatory control
• Politics can reduce poverty through social and
political changes - union power, stigma, political
and community organisation, charity law,
constitutional measures

12. Poverty UK

13. • Inequality in the UK was very low in the post-war
years and has been growing ever since
• A combination of technological, economic and
policy changes has increased inequality and
poverty
• Public understanding of the reality of poverty in
modern Britain is very low

14. • 1913 - top 0.1% had over 11% of national income
• 1978 - top 0.1% had to 1.2% of national income
• 2010 - top 0.1% had 4% of national income
• 1919 - top 10% had around 39% of national income
• 1979 - below 30%
• 1979 - percentage started to increase
• 2011 - reached 39% again
• 1978-1991 - Inequality rose by 42% (Gini measure)
Sources: www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com/inequality-by-country/united-
kingdom/ www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working-papers/iser/2015-01.pdf
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7484/CBP-7484.pdf

16. Myth 1 Inequality is good for the economy
High inequality High inequality
Low inequality

17. Myth 2 Growth is good for everyone
In relative terms 80% of families are worse off than they would have been in 1977

18. Myth 3 The welfare state benefits the poorest
Comparing the impact of tax and benefit policy in 1977 to 2014 we can see
that the positive impact has been targeted almost entirely on middle-income
groups, not the poorest. Effectively government policy has been compensating
middle income groups for the relative decline in their incomes since 1977.

21. Myth 4 The rich pay the highest taxes

23. Myth 5 Only the poor are on benefits

24. Myth 6 Benefit fraud is a problem

26. Cui bono?
Who benefits from the
benefits rhetoric?

27. Myth 7 Benefits are expensive

28. Myth 8 Austerity has protected the most vulnerable

31. Annual loss per
working age adult by
2021
Annual loss per
authority (mn.)
Population of local
authority
Annual loss per head of
population in local
authority
Blackpool £1270 £111 142,065 £781
Birmingham £960 £680 1,073,045 £634
Barnsley £860 £129 231,221 £558
Bolton £870 £153 276,786 £553
Bolsover £820 £40 75,866 £527
Barnet £670 £163 356,386 £457
Bromley £530 £107 309,392 £346
Bath £480 £56 182,021 £308
Basingstoke £460 £51 167,799 £304

32. The Committee is seriously concerned about the
disproportionate adverse impact that austerity measures,
introduced since 2010, are having on the enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights by disadvantaged and
marginalised individuals and groups. The Committee is
concerned that the State party has not undertaken a
comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of such
measures on the realisation of economic, social and cultural
rights, in a way that is recognised by civil society and national
independent monitoring mechanisms (art. 2, para. 1).
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:
Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
24 June 2016
UN declares UK Government fails to respect human rights

33. Myth 9 There is no real poverty in the UK

34. And all the other injustices we’ve not got time for
• Rising cost of basic goods e.g. utilities
• Relative cost of debt (payday loans vs. mortgages)
• Welfare Reform: sanctions, WCA, ESA, PIP etc.
• Lack of affordable housing
• Collapse of local services and supports
• Highest marginal tax rates hit poorest

35. The harmfulness of poverty

36. • 2,000 foodbanks in UK
• Mortality rate has risen for first time since 1945
• You’ll die 8 years earlier if you live in the poorest
parts of UK
• Inequality is bad for happiness, mental and physical
health, education, crime and trust
• Disability community has seen increased suicide rate
• And many other negative impacts

37. If there’s one thing we can learn from looking at the
data from the last 40 years it is that poverty reduction
is not the objective of the UK welfare system.
Rationality will not be enough

38. It seems likely that these factors are important
• Decline of trade unionism
• End of communist threat
• Progressive electoral focus on median earners
• Global economic development
• Increasing social atomism, decline of community
organisations, church etc.
• Technological and meritocratic assumptions

39. What can we do?

41. • Educate each other - Positive change will not
happen in the dark or by encouraging people to
swap one lie for another.
• Organise things locally - Positive change will not
happen by waiting for Whitehall to care about
Bolsover.
• Get political - Positive change will not happen by
by waiting for politicians to change their minds.
• Demand constitutional reform - Positive change
will not happen without fundamental democratic
and political reform.

45. www.cforwr.org
@citizen_network
@CforWR
@simonjduffy
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