‘I live off £30 a month’: Nearly 4 million people in UK experienced ‘destitution’ last year

I have been a bus driver, I have driven to Lor's Paul is 57

year

s old and

live

s in Western Supermare, he even went to the local food bank this morning in desperation, today we picked up these cans so you have what baked beans are, bean soup baked. soup tomato soup uh chopped tomatoes are also back there he hasn't had money for days and the little food he has had he has had to eat one meal a day are you hungry? I've been starving. I've been really hungry the

last

three. days, so what did you eat yesterday? I ate fish fingers and beans, what else did you eat?

That's it, all I ate were fish fingers and beans from my dinner. What about lunch? No, no, I just fill myself with tea. He

live

s alone and. in this apartment the apartments are just rooms rooms He keeps the lights off as much as possible vehicle repair diplomas Adorn mostly bare walls due to a career that ended prematurely due to health problems I think I'm just afraid to go out and see other

people

living their lives, you know? It was like walking through a p and everyone sat outside at lunch time having a drink. I don't drink, but it's the fact that how can you afford it?

That was in September. Paul receives £843 a

month

in Universal Credit, he should receive more for health reasons. but right now he is recovering from a recent increase on Rent Now which costs £620 a

month

, leaving him after paying bills and insurance with an average of £30 a month to wash food because I have to use a launderette to wash and That's expensive. no, so 30 yes, I started washing in the sink the amount you currently have in your bank account 11 P that's it Today's report from the Joseph Rantry Foundation estimates that the number of destitute

people

in the UK has increased has more than doubled in The Last 5

year

s of such severe difficulties, they say it is no longer something rare, do you want an extra milk glove?

Oh yes, please, yes, I have a lot of milk. Gareth, 55, finds himself at the same foodbank as Paul, a welder maker, until he says he has a spinal problem. His hands made it too difficult. I need a new pair of boots. Yes, I had a hard time buying a postcard with a pair of boots. Do you know what I mean? It's like I can't afford anything, you know, sometimes I have to sometimes. I have to share a can ofuna with a cat because we are skinless and you get to a point where you just think what's the point, you know this is not living, it's not even surviving everything I've had in the

last

year since that I did it.

We have been approved, really his application for disability benefits, he says, is turning out to be long and arduous. One common theme, says today's report, do you like salami?, another, as this food bank tells us, is that many simply cannot afford essential items on Universal Credit. We sometimes count the income they earn and in a session in which we made 32 packages, 30 people asked for toilet paper, some people the first thing they do is, when you say you know, you ask them for their voucher number and their name, and the first thing they do What I'm saying is that I need toilet paper more than anything else and that is that yes, it says that today's report says that the social security system is now so full of holes that it is up to charities to intervene, but He adds that the task is too big for them and that they are facing a steep increase. in destitute migrant homes matches what Bristol charity Borderlands has seen: there is barely a free seat at its weekly lunch for refugees and asylum seekers, while the number of people queuing for fruit and vegetables grows increasingly. for more food than you can absolutely give them, uh, I think with the food we give each week we can't cover a week for a family and every week there are people asking for different items that we just can't provide, is there always a big Queue like this, yes, absolutely, as if growing every week, warnings are growing about the impact homelessness can have, particularly on children, with up to a

million

affected in the UK last year, the report claims from today.

In the western supermare we meet Jasmine, a single mother of Henry. Good boy, she has a paid job, is a part-time cleaner and receptionist and is training to be a counsellor. He receives universal credit but is in debt, he has needed the food bank and has skipped meals, he says, so Henry has enough toast and is barely managing to avoid what the Joseph Rantry Foundation would define as homelessness, yes, now I know that these The next few months are going to be very difficult because right now I can only pay for gas and electricity and I know that my gas is about to triple, I think last winter.

I think in January it was minus 2, it was freezing like I had it wrapped around everything and they turned off my gas. I had reviewed the emergency credit. How are you feeling in general right now? Honestly. I mean, there are good things. Bad days and days I feel like right now I'm feeling guilty and frustrated because it's their birthday this weekend and I haven't been able to afford to buy them anything. I just covered the bills this month. My mom had to do it. do some grocery shopping for me last week, so I don't feel good as a person.

I feel like I'm not doing enough, even though I'm probably actually turning the tide on homelessness. She said the charity behind today's report is urgent. Moral Mission The circumstances you find yourself in would agree with this report, they would characterize you as destitute, yes, it's not a word I've ever used in my life, I never thought I'd have to use it, but it's scary to think about. that I am homeless even though I have tried not to be well. Channel 4 News asked to speak to someone from the government about this, but no one was available beforehand.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride was speaking to reporters and was asked about the situation. report, so I think we have a strong record on poverty since 20110, we have 1.7 fewer people in absolute poverty, 400,000 of them are our children, but there is always more to do and that is why my department has been disbursing

million

in cost-of-living payments over the past few years. last year to 800 low-income families, exactly the ones you are describing, with Universal Credit. 6 million disabled people also support those receiving pensions and the national living wage increased by 99.7% in April, but most important of all it continues. to put up with inflation because that's really what's been eating people up, people's savings are making the cost of living that much harder.

Well, I'm joined now by Katie Schmucker from the Joseph rry foundation and beex Wilson, who set up a charity here. in Leeds helping to support some of those children with greatest needs, thank you both for joining us, beex Wilson. I mean, we saw Andy ask Paul in the piece Paul, a grown man who had been at work, would you say you've been hungry and him? He stands there and says, "I've been starving." Is there anything in that report that surprises you given what you've seen? It's still shocking to hear him, especially towards the end, say something like I never thought I'd have to use those words to describe myself.

I think that's something we see a lot in our work families who never imagined having to access the support that we offer, but you know, 2017, teaching a little boy saying that he, you know, just didn't have a bed, and then can not. find him a bed without having to go out and do something about it. He shocked me then and I'm still shocked now and I think that's part of our mission to end poverty in bed. Through S, not having a bed, not having. the basics, but many people do not believe in the idea of ​​misery, it is real and it is everywhere, and I would say that, from the messages we receive from the schools, from the professionals who work on the front lines with children day after day day, it is only increasing.

I mean Katie idiot, it's fair to say that the government has probably actually, by their measure of

destitution

, told us that there are 1.7 million people in absolute poverty, we hear Mel Stride l, a whole series of payment policies for cost of living. increasing the national living wage, she says we are trying to tackle inflation and that will improve the situation for all these people. I think the questions he is answering are different. I mean, he's talking about absolute poverty. person in absolute poverty if he has less than 157 per week what we are talking about here is a much more severe form of misery,

destitution

a single person who has less than 95 per week we are talking about people who cannot meet their physical needs The most basic things are to be warm, clean, dry and fed.

This is the most serious form of hardship and deprivation in our country and it has doubled in the space of five years, and that is what we want the government to talk about right then and there. The most acute end of the difficulties and we want to know from both the government and the opposition parties what they are going to do about it. Where is? I mean, the government says that it is focused on tackling inflation and that it will alleviate some of these welfare burdens for people when we look at what has happened over time, we have seen between 2017 and 2019, homelessness increased in that period and has also risen again since then, yes definitely, the cost of living, very steep increases in food and energy have played a role here, but actually the roots of this go much deeper and go to the health system. very frayed social security that we have now, the cuts and freezes of Universal Social Security Credit, which is a big driver of what we're seeing here, I mean, there often seems to be a disconnect between what the government says and what people see on the ground, what we see on the ground when we report on these issues.

I mean, do you see that disconnect absolutely? We've been um We've been asking for a while now for a response from central government on what we're going to do to address bed poverty. We know that it is a problem that affects hundreds of thousands of children. Their only opportunity to receive education is being limited. His attempt to escape poverty. through education they are being limited by not having a bed, not coming to school with their basic needs met and ready to learn, so what are we going to do to address that? We believe there is a thirst on the part of the bedding industry to do something. and to help, but that must be coordinated from above.

I mean, your report today talks about how you know Social Security needs to be more generous, you know it's an incredibly controversial policy idea that neither side can be considering. I don't think it's such a controversial idea when we talk to the public when we do opinion polls when we go out and talk to people what we find is that people are very supportive of the idea that our social security system should be there for us when we fall. in tough times any life can come to you quickly sometimes any of us can lose our jobs we can get sick get sick i need to care for a disabled family member you know things happen in life and when they do social security should be there to help let's get back on track Let's stand up and get on with our lives and our system currently fails to do so.

I mean, the government's stated aim with Universal Credit is that it will provide a basic income for people that covers a range of needs for both. Do you think that is true? No, I mean seven to ten people who are experiencing destitution were receiving Social Security payments, so Universal Credit or other benefits clearly do not help people meet their needs and that is why we have been advocating for a The essentials guarantee will be built into Universal Credit so that it will always be enough for people to meet the Basic Essentials of life, but do you think you know what is that idea of ​​what is enough and that the government with can the benefits system have an idea of ​​what is enough? but this homelessness report suggests that is not right, it is never our social security system, the basic Universal Credit National Insurance rate is £85 a week to cover bills for food, utilities, clothing, travel, all sorts of things that are clearly not enough and never have been.

It's actually been linked to a basket, a cost Essentials basket, it's just kind of a historical accident and a series of decisions about how to operate it, so it's completely disconnected from the reality of what it costs to meet your needs and, through my experience as an assistant principal of a large elementary school and also working with professionals who work in schools across the country, um through zarak, parents don't choose for their children to not have a bed, they don't choose for the chaos in your house when there can't be a bedtime routine where you worry about how to put food on the table,Wherever they are, they live in houses without carpets, without curtains, and without knowing when they will be able to wash their clothes next or, you know, their electricity will be recharged and their utility bills will be paid.

They don't choose to live with that pressure, that Str and that chaos that they find themselves in. However, it is a very important point because the choice here lies with the government. The government can I choose to leave to end there and I am very sorry that there is much more to talk about, but thank you both for coming.