Hundreds of charities push for hardship to be top of Prime Minister’s priorities from day one
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Over 200 organisations committed to ending poverty have called on
the people most likely to be the next Prime Minister to put
tackling hardship at the top of their agenda from day one.
Frustrated by the "stark lack of focus" from Rishi Sunak and
Keir Starmer during the campaign, the diverse network of
organisations placed their message that hardship must be at the top
of the Prime Minister's to-do list in national newspapers with one
week to go until the...Request free
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Over 200 organisations committed to
ending poverty have called on the people most likely to be the
next Prime Minister to put tackling hardship at the top of their
agenda from day one. The leaders of UK's political parties have faced questions from the public on the campaign trail about levels of hardship in the UK, as JRF reveals the relentless reality of years-long hardship. Our latest research found:
The latest JRF cost of living tracker, completed in the same month the election was called, also found over a third of low-income families – 4.3m households -are in arrears with at least one household bill or credit commitment. 1.2 million low-income households are in arrears with four or more bills. In the past year, food banks in the Trussell Trust network distributed a record 3.1m emergency food parcels.
Over the past five years, the number
of people experiencing destitution more than doubled. Four
million experienced destitution in 2022 including one million
children.
The letter signed by organisations
including the Trussell Trust, Citizens Advice, Crisis, Age UK,
Barnardo's, Mencap, Scope, Mental Health Foundation and many
more, says, "it is clear [the public] want to see action and
commitments to turn this situation around so that no one is
forced to go without the essentials or need a food bank to
survive."
Helen Barnard, Director of Policy, Research and Impact at the Trussell Trust said: “For too many years now, food bank need has risen because people on the lowest incomes simply do not have the money to afford the essentials. Ensuring the UK's social security system is fit for purpose and provides enough support for people to afford the essentials is vital for building a future without the need for food banks.
“We know that hardship is an issue the public are deeply concerned about and the next Government has a responsibility to lead us into a more hopeful future, one where people are supported and food banks can close their doors for good.” Tom MacInnes, Interim Director of Policy at Citizens Advice, said: “Citizens Advice is helping 6,000 people every day with cost-of-living issues. They can't pay rent. They can't buy food. Millions are just about surviving. “Politicians have been skirting around the issue but have failed to offer real solutions. People want to know what will actually be done to help them. Party leaders still haven't shown what they'd do for households who have more going out than coming in. “This is the living standards election and that's what voters will judge the next government on.” James Taylor, Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “Life has always cost more for disabled people. Buying essentials is swallowing up ever more cash, and prices – particularly of the basics - continue to rise. “Our politicians need to hear this message loud and clear. We're hearing from disabled people who are rationing how often they shower and use their powered wheelchair to get them to the toilet. “The next government must tackle the unfair extra costs disabled people face, and break the link between disability and poverty.”
Mark Rowland, CEO of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “Poverty and financial hardship are key drivers of poor mental health. Our research has shown that many people across the UK are feeling anxious, stressed, and hopeless due to increasing cost pressures and uncertainty surrounding their financial situation.”
“We need any future government to take more action to lessen the financial pressure people are experiencing, which is key to preventing poor mental health. This must involve a comprehensive plan to reduce poverty and economic inequality as well as taking a trauma-informed approach to reduce the poverty stigma associated with accessing public services. We need government to make sure all their decisions take into account the mental health impact on those affected, especially those most at risk of financial difficulty.”
Lynn Perry, Barnardo's chief executive, said: “Millions of families across the UK are struggling to afford basic necessities – be that food, toiletries or for many, even a bed to sleep in. Children growing up in poverty go to school hungry, they miss out on opportunities to learn and struggle with poor health long into adulthood.
“We call on the next UK government to tackle this issue head-on, including ending the two-child benefit cap – which would immediately lift 300,000 children out of poverty - and committing to an essentials guarantee in Universal Credit. This would be an investment in the health and future prospects of millions of children.” Notes to Editors
The letter in full Dear Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer,
We are writing to you as a diverse
network of organisations united by our shared desire to see an
end to poverty and hardship in the UK. Yours Sincerely, The Trussell Trust The Joseph Rowntree Foundation 38 Degrees Acts 435 Advice NI AdviceUK AdvoCard Age UK Alexandra Rose Charity Amnesty International UK APLE Collective Asylum Matters Aylesham Community Trust Baptists Together Barnardo's Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre Bevan Foundation Big Issue Black Country Foodbank Borders Community Action Brandon Trust British Association of Social Workers British Psychological Society Buttle UK Cambridge Housing Society Carers Trust Carers UK Caritas Diocese of Northampton Caritas Diocese of Salford Caritas Shrewsbury Carnegie UK Catch22 Catholics for AIDS Prevention & Support (CAPS) C.I.O. Centre for Mental Health Centre for Progressive Policy Charity Finance Group Children in Northern Ireland (CiNI) Children North East Children1st Christians Against Poverty Citizens Advice Clarion Housing Group Coeliac UK Communities that Work Community Advice Lisburn & Castlereagh Community Housing Cymru Community Money Advice Community Ventures Middlesbrough Ltd Compassion in Politics County Durham Community Foundation Crisis Diabetes UK Difference NE Directory of Social Change Disability Action Disability Benefits Consortium Disability North Durham Christian Partnership East Belfast Community Development Agency East Durham Trust Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church Elicit Theatre Company End Fuel Poverty Coalition End Furniture Poverty Fair by Design Falls Community Council Families Outside Family Fund Feeding Families Food Plymouth CIC Foothold, The Institution of Engineering & Technology Benevolent Fund Gingerbread Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector Glass Door Homeless Charity Good Things Foundation Greater Manchester Poverty Action Green Alliance Growing Rights Instead of Poverty Partnership (GRIPP) Happy Days UK Hartlepool Baby Bank Hastings Food Network Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) Homeless Link Hospitality and Hope Humanists UK In Kind Direct Includem Inclusion Barnet Independent Food Aid Network Inspire Wellbeing Jubilee+ Just Fair Kidney Care UK Law Centre NI LIFE CHANGE CHANGES LIVES Little Village Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales Locality Love, Amelia Macc Macmillan Cancer Support Marie Curie Mencap Mental Health Foundation Methodist Central Hall Manchester Mind Money Advice Trust Motor Neurone Disease Association MS Society Mums On a mission Nacro National AIDS Trust National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) National Education Union National Housing Federation National Justice and Peace Network NCVO NE Youth Neighbourly New Economics Foundation NewstrAid Benevolent Fund NICVA North East Child Poverty Commission North Western Synod of the United Reformed Church Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA) Northern Ireland Women's Budget Group Northern Synod of the United Reformed Church Nourish Scotland One Parent Families Scotland Oxfam GB Parenting across Scotland Parenting Focus Parkinson's UK PlaceShapers Poverty Truth Network Q&D Productions Quaker Social Action Reclaim the Agenda NI Refuge Rethink Mental Illness Reuse Network Riverside Community Health Project Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Royal Society for Public Health UK RSPH Rural Community Network Save the Children UK Scope Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) Scottish Out of School Care Network Scottish Refugee Council Scottish Women's Budget Group Share The World's Resources (STWR) Single Parent Rights Society of St Vincent de Paul North Region (NI) Southern Synod of the United Reformed Church St Andrew's Community Network St John of God Hospitaller Services (SJOG) St Vincent de Paul Society St. John's-Renfield Church Support and Grow North East Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming The Association of Charitable Organisations (ACO) The Cherry Tree Project The Children's Society The Dandelion Community, Wythenshawe The Equality Trust The Food Foundation The Hygiene Bank The Larder Belfast The Methodist Church in Britain The Mighty Creatives The Parish of St Cuthbert's and St Joseph's North Shields The Poverty Alliance The Poverty Truth Community The Printing Charity The Resource Centre Derry The Robertson Trust The Rope Trust The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland The Stockport Food Network The Teesside Charity The United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church National Synod of Wales Trinity Centre Trowbridge Pantry Turn2us UCL Institute of Health Equity United Reformed Church East Midlands Synod United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland USPCA VOICES ADFOCAD |