It's a disgrace

  Love your neighbour and campaign for systemic change to achieve social justice are the twin pillars of Christian theology in the realm of improving the lives of marginalised, poor and discriminated against individuals.  

It is an uphill struggle as the forces of the state and unempathetic individuals contest the the need for support and systemic change on the scale that is required.

Faith and secular bodies and individuals work very hard to support individuals at point of need, and all credit to them.  But one consequence of this is that said amelioration masks the full extent and effects of deprivation and marginalisation.  

Two reports published this week set out the stark reality of life for many in the United Kingdom.

The country’s most deprived neighbourhoods will have higher crime rates and worse unemployment by the end of the parliament, according to a report written at the request of No 10.

The forecasts from the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon) show crime rates and unemployment will rise until the next election in England’s 613 most deprived neighbourhoods, despite the government’s promises to invest in local communities.

The report’s authors warn the extra money ministers have pumped in is not enough to counteract longer-term trends such as the increase in antisocial behaviour and the problems facing the retail and hospitality sectors.

The Guardian 28.01.2026

Below is a section of the summary of the Joseph  Rowntree Foundation report published on 27.01.2006 entitled:  UK Poverty 2026:  The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK.

On the surface, it might appear that nothing has changed. But persistently high poverty rates lead to worsening real-world outcomes. Just as evidence shows that the longer a family spends in poverty the worse the effects on that family, the longer we tolerate unacceptably high levels of poverty the worse it is for our country. The corrosive impacts of poverty on families — fatigue, hunger, stress and reduced connectivity — hamper both their participation in society and their scope to make a bigger economic contribution. Failure to address poverty can hold back economic growth itself.

Every year, we see the same groups disproportionately trapped in poverty, with disabled people, people from some ethnic minority groups, people in larger families and renters all experiencing elevated rates. We see that being in work vastly reduces the likelihood of being in poverty, but it is far from a guarantee. Part-time workers, self-employed workers and workers in the accommodation and, food services (hospitality) sector, and in the administration and support activities sector, all see comparatively high rates of poverty, while in-work poverty overall has been rising across time. Looking at benefit rates, we see they remain inadequate, with the basic rate close to destitution levels.

Everything’s changed — it’s worse

But scratch below the surface, there are signs of change: a definitive deepening of poverty. The deeper you go, the further away from the poverty line you look, the worse things are. In 2023/24, 6.8 million people — or almost half of those in poverty — were in very deep poverty, with an income far below the standard poverty line, meaning their incomes are at most two thirds of the poverty line. This is both the highest absolute number of people, and the highest proportion, on record, going back to 1994/95.

We will have new information on the extent of the deepest and most damaging form of poverty — destitution, where people cannot afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed — towards the end of this year, but we already know levels more than doubled between 2017 and 2022 (Fitzpatrick et al., 2023). We see further evidence of deepening poverty in the large increases in the number of people who are struggling to access enough nutritious and varied food, with the total number of people who are food insecure increasing by 2.8 million between 2021/22 and 2023/24 (a 60% increase in just 2 years).

 Shocking.  I make no apology for returning to this subject and expressing my dismay and my contempt for governments at their failure to act over many years: failure of the political class and civil service to act.  John Kenneth  Galbraith summarised it well: government has the power and resources to act but choose not to.  Please go to the the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website and download the full report.

The churches really must do more to bring the issue of poverty into the consciousness of the population, the media and politicians.  We need a crusade, but I doubt if we will get beyond handwringing expressions of sorrow and caring.   As Óscar Romero said: “A Church that does not join the poor is not the true Church of Jesus Christ.”