Analysis: Britain’s safety nets are being overwhelmed by rapid growth in extreme poverty
For many years the word “destitution” felt like a throwback to some dimly lit Victorian past. No one was destitute in modern Britain, at least those who were eligible for social security. You might be poor, but it was rare to be regularly hungry, cold, ill clothed, and entirely dependent on the kindness of charity.
All that started to change less than a decade ago. While headline relative poverty rates seemed to change very little, researchers noticed that the proportion of those below the breadline experiencing extreme poverty was growing. Food bank volunteers saw people going for days without eating. Debt charities helped people mired in mountains of debt over unpaid rent and utility bills.
