Poverty in the UK: Perceptions of people not experiencing it

Poverty in the UK: Perceptions of people not experiencing it Elaine Chase

Overview • Perceived causes of poverty • Responses to poverty • The language of poverty • Why people think what they do

People believe: • Poverty in the UK results from not working /having no work • So....structural causes partly explain it: • The recession (‘double-dip’) • rising unemployment • high cost of living • Wider /growing inequalities • An inept education system

But largely ... Individual attitudes and behaviours account for poverty: • Lack of work ethic • Lack of aspirations • Acceptance of dependency • Poor life choices • Too many children, too young • Borrowing to have what they can’t afford • Not valuing education and learning

Empathy/sympathy • Offered in measured amounts • Linked to particular circumstances • Long-term impact of ‘poverty’ • Has to be earned: • Older people • Those who stand up under scrutiny • Children

At one end of the spectrum ‘Well some people are unemployed and they can’t motivate themselves to go out there and find jobs...they just want to live off the government. Which would you rather do, just work your butt off and get paid just the same amount as if you just sat, sitting at home playing on your Xbox all day ...’? (FGD1- Boy aged 12)

And at the other ‘To actually get benefits you need to prove that you are actually looking for a job... you can’t just sit at home doing nothing... you have to go to the job centre....it’s not like they’re lying, cheating people... that’s like really, really , really offensive’ (FGD1, Boy aged 12)

‘working the system’ ‘culture of dependency’ ‘Deserving’/’ genuine’ Vs ‘undeserving’ ‘sink estate’ ‘vicious circle’ ‘a lifestyle choice’ ‘happy being on benefits’ ‘a social burden’ ‘State-supporting vs self-supporting route’ ‘They vs Us’ ‘Scrounger’ ‘Benefit bum’

‘The reality is, when I hear people talk about poverty to me it just gets a little bit under my skin. I’ve worked with people who are allegedly within the bracket of poverty and I think well I don’t have the gadgets they have. The word poverty really grates with me... when I hear media talk about poverty within the UK. I can understand there are certain areas which are very deprived... but generally, I don’t like the word poverty where the UK is concerned’. P3(M)

‘ I agree, there's something about the word poverty that grates, yes.., exactly as you said. It (poverty) is about making stark choices, do you clothe the kids or do you eat something, and that is the choice... you can't do both’ (FGD3:P2 M)

‘I take home £44 a week because they are taking money back that I owe them from years ago, like crisis loans and budget loans. They are only recouping money that’s theirs so it’s fair enough’. (Tony, single dad with daughter aged 3 living in with him half the week)

‘It is an absolute nightmare... well, I’ll tell you how it is. I live like a rat during the week, well not even a rat any more, I live like a little dormouse now. And then when M (daughter comes) I can treat her and we can do things like I can take her swimming, to the cinema, and we can do things that we both enjoy. Monday to Thursday I’ll just do nothing, I can’t even afford to eat sometimes, that’s how bad it is’.

‘That to me sounds like poverty...’. (FGD3: P1: M) ‘I agree that is poverty if you make the statement “I can't afford to eat sometimes” that's definitely poverty’ (FGD3: P2:M)

‘I think there's something that society has changed in that we expect to get everything now and pay later, And so I don't have sympathies with people who’ve had their toys, you know, years ago and now they're having to pay for them’ (FGD3:P3:M)

‘It's the reason why he maybe had those loans. And so that would have a bearing on the amount of sympathy that we have or would have for him’. (FGD3: P4:F)

‘You are living like a rat but you can still afford to go to the cinema?’ • (FGD 5, P2:F)

Why do people think this? • John Humphreys : ‘The Future State of Welfare’ • They have read it in the papers – • People tell each other and their children it • They don’t like ‘the stereotypes’ – but they seem drawn to them • They have known poverty themselves but found a way out of it – unlike ‘them’ • It has become part of our collective psyche

Fix failing families to end the rot • The SUN – June 13, 2007 poverty of aspiration, of expectation and of the basic knowledge about how to bring up a child who needs nurturing, inspiring and educating in even basic language skills - never mind learning how to tell the time, recognise colours and distinguish shapes

NOW ED GETS TOUGH WITH ONSLAUGHT AGAINST 'EVIL' OF BENEFITS SCROUNGERS MAIL ON SUNDAY January 1, 2012 Sunday Beleaguered Ed Miliband is to make a bold bid to boost his flagging ratings by condemning the 'evil' of scroungers who refuse to work. The Labour leader wants to shrug off his party's 'soft on spongers' image with a major U-turn on his stance on the benefits system.

Some conclusions • Perceived link between poverty and not working determines public views on poverty • People are categorised and stratified around the concept of ‘deserving/ undeserving’. • These findings mirror what people living in poverty described • People in poverty feel shame because society tells them they should • Dominant discourses surrounding poverty are pervasive, powerful and divisive.

Poverty in the UK: Perceptions of people not experiencing it