What would Wales without poverty be like?

Poverty A woman walking past a shop
ViewsJune 16th, 2014

Fifteen years ago, the same year the Assembly came into being, the then Prime Minister famously committed to end child poverty by 2020. That commitment is now enshrined in Welsh and UK law, but rather than getting closer the target looks increasingly further away as poverty  has proved remarkably stubborn for almost everyone.

So is it time to give up and concede defeat?

Absolutely not.  True, it will take a miracle for the 2020 target to be achieved.  But that shouldn’t stop us from trying to reduce and, eventually, eradicate poverty in Wales.  So, to reinvigorate our thinking, let’s stop and think about what campaigners have been trying to achieve – what would a Wales without poverty be like?

The obvious, and probably least helpful, answer is one where only a tiny minority of households have an income below the relative poverty threshold.  If this was the case, the vast majority of households would have incomes of more than 60% of the median. Their incomes might only be £1 a week more than the poverty threshold, but they’d no longer be in relative poverty, at least technically.

But would this be enough?                                  blog_banner_join

Having a modicum more income than the poverty threshold would be good – and is clearly is better than NOT having it – but it somehow doesn’t seem to tackle the deep-seated problems that we associate with poverty.

So what more would it take for Wales to be truly free from poverty?

We’re working with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation over the next few months to pull together people’s thoughts.  In the next few days I’ll set out some of my own thoughts on what Wales without poverty would be like. We’d love to know what you think too  – you can tell us either by completing our on-line survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Waleswithoutpoverty leaving a comment, or participating in one of the discussion groups we’re organising with our partners.  We’d also welcome blog posts of 5-600 words, that are constructive contributions to debate – email [email protected]

Victoria Winckler is Director of the Bevan Foundation

One Response

  1. Ffion Alun says:

    I work for Conwy Big Community voice, we are thinking about asking the public at Dolwyddelan carnival about ‘Wales without poverty’ – I have just completed the survey monkey questionnaire and am now unable to see the questions again – would you be able to send me the questions by e-mail?
    Diolch
    Ffion

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