Poverty isn’t a spectator sport

So, Channel 4 is having something of a  “welfare” festival tonight with a range of programmes about people who are part of the benefits system, the “bedroom tax”, and a debate about Benefits Street is planned for next week.

It’s become fair sport of late to isolate and stigmatise people who are part of the benefits system.

It’s become fair sport of late to isolate and stigmatise people who are part of the benefits system.  With some exceptions, the media seems content to portray claimants as villains and layabouts, without any real insight into the circumstances which led them to this point in their lives. Dubious use of sanctions will be the next instalment in the “let’s vilify the poor” soap opera we are developing in Britain.  In our response to the Department for Work and Pensions review of sanctions, we highlighted the 400% increase in the use of sanctions in one area of Glasgow and the fact that over 100 people with disabilities have received the maximum 3 year sanction.  And it gets worse – sanctions and delays in the benefits system are largely behind increased use of foodbanks. So, bear this in mind as you get your cuppa ready to sit down and empathise with/laugh at/scorn (score out depending on your view) people who have sad and often complex lives, at people whose whose lives have been turned upside down because of ill health or loss of employment. As in work poverty increases, so does family dependency on the benefits system. Low paid, unstable jobs are the result of an economic approach beloved by the UK Government and although sometimes less obvious, the Scottish Government too. This leads to people moving in and out of the benefits system – a life of poverty is not something people choose deliberately. When the Child Poverty Action Group launched its  “People like us” campaign a few months back, I argued that welfare is not about “them and us” – it’s about all of us.  A strong and compassionate welfare state is the mark of a civilised and progressive society. To me, it seems like we're going backwards. Can we claim to be a progressive society whilst simultaneously targeting those we should be protecting?