This report looks in detail at food insecurity among benefit claimants using YouGov surveys of the general public (n=2,600) and of claimants (n=6,300), both conducted for the Welfare at a (Social) Distance project in May/June 2021. We look at two measures of food insecurity:
Any food insecurity, where the quality and variety of people’s diets were affected by lack of money (e.g. people couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals in the last 30 days); Severe food insecurity, where the amount of food that people eat has been reduced by lack of money (e.g. cutting the size of/skipping meals in the last 30 days).We come to seven conclusions about benefits and food insecurity:
The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice (JPSJ) is looking for three to five Associate Editors to join the JPSJ editorial team alongside the newly appointed Joanna Mack (Open University, UK) and Marco Pomati (University of Cardiff, UK) who will be officially taking over as Co-Editors from the beginning of September 2021. The application deadline is 30 September, 2021.
We are now delighted to offer you the presentation slides and video recordings of sessions across the three days, featuring formal presentations, interactive Q&As, networking opportunities and much more.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Steering Group on Measuring Poverty and Inequality has been tasked with producing a guide on Measuring Social Exclusion which references a lot of our PSE work.
The latest Joseph Rowntree Foundation annual report finds that those who had been struggling to make ends meet before the pandemic have suffered the most financial damage during the crisis,
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the stark implication os the millions of children across the African continent trapped in poverty. In 'What works for Africa's poorest children', Practical Action bring together cutting edge examples on what can be done.
The final report by UN special rapporteur, Philip Alston, argues that there has been a failure to tackle extreme poverty. Condemning the reliance on the World Bank's line, he calls for its replacement with measures based on an adequate standard of living.
An overview of the various global and regional analysis on the impact of COVID-19 on poverty from the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty finds that millions more will be pushed into extreme poverty worldwide.
The implementation of the consensual method of multi-dimensional poverty measurement is simple and straight forward. It uses a representative sample survey; this can be attached as a module to existing national surveys, if desired. The survey has two main aims. First, to identify a range of socially-perceived necessities - items, activities and services that no-one should have to do without. And second to identify those who have an 'enforced lack' of the item or activity - that is they go without these items because they cannot afford them or do not have access to them. Only those who have an enforced lack of a socially perceived necessity are seen as deprived. The survey therefore has three key questions:
Is an item a necessity? Do you have it? If not, why not? Identifying socially perceived necessitiesThese items and activities cover (as appropriate for the society in which the survey is being conducted):
National proportions of deprived children vary hugely across EU countries, from 5 to 10% in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Slovenia to around 70% in Bulgaria and Romania. Read more about the new European Union child deprivation index - adopted in 2018.