By Guest
The UK Coalition Against Poverty have begun an excellent programme working with student journalists, introducing them to the realities of poverty in the UK and how to report on it. Eileen Devaney, UKCAP national coordinator, reflects on the experience so far…
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently produced a guide for journalists on reporting poverty, as part of their public attitudes to poverty project. We were commissioned to promote the resource to journalism educators and support them to cover the subject of poverty in the classroom.
We have done presentations and workshops with journalism post graduate and M.A. students, and the lack of awareness of poverty in the UK shown by the students was quite shocking.
The students were polite, interested, but had very little knowledge of poverty issues. In fact more questions were asked by the presenters of the students’ courses than by the students themselves.
We asked students if any of the different courses they were taking covered poverty or social issues in general, but although they were available none had covered these areas, as they were optional rather than mandatory subjects.
When pushed for input the students asked a couple of questions. One thought that people living on benefits received subsidised bus and rail travel and one thought that benefits included having gas, electricity and water bills paid. A further student informed the group that he had claimed job seekers allowance and that he felt embarrassed at first, however, once some of his friends had lost their jobs and “joined him on the dole, it wasn’t so bad”.
From my point of view I am not surprised that the level of reporting poverty is so poor, as the students had such little awareness of the depth of poverty in the UK, the deep harm that poverty causes society and the desperation people feel when living in grinding poverty.
They also ignore the support that people living in poverty give to each other in communities which are reported as ’sink estates’, and don’t necessarily realise that language such as deprived, poor, worklessness, etc is offensive and demeaning.
This project aims to help journalism students understand what poverty is like in the fourth richest nation in the world. That trying to live on benefits in 21st century Britain is near impossible. That people living in poverty in the UK certainly don’t choose to exist on extremely low incomes. And that aspirations are high despite the inequality and discrimination suffered by those living in poverty.
UKCAP has a short time to complete this project and therefore I see this blog as a wonderful opportunity for people to voice their views on the media. However, I also believe it is a great opportunity for us to help the media understand and find a better way of reporting life in poverty in the UK.
It really is divide and rule, isn’t it? You are all trapped in poverty, yet turn on, and look down on each other, when you should be demonstrating solidarity.
Even in the UK people on benefits are better off than expatriot pensioners who need to shop in the uk just to survive.
People who have retired to another EEC country on a basic state pension (which we worked all our lives for)get £96, in real terms allowing for devaluation and the exchange rate along with transfer fees that is approx £80wk, to pay everything, the only way to survive is to grow as much food as we possibly can and use the money for bills. we eat nettle soup, vegetables,and salads, fruit and nuts from the trees, apple pie is a real treat. we keep warm by cutting wood for the fire, even for a young person this is hard work. The one thing we still have that people in the uk don’t is our freedom, and that is why we stay.
[...] agreement on why this distortion occurs. Some focussed on the role of journalists, highlighting how little many journalists know about the lives of those they report on, and how they often don’t take the trouble to find [...]
Single people who are not disabled (i.e they do not receive Disability Living Allowance) face a challenge on Jobseekers Allowance as although they get their rent and council tax paid, they have just £64.30 a week to live on.
People with children do very much better. A single parent on JSA, with 3 children, would receive £250.00 per week-AFTER their rent and council tax has been paid.
I dont understand why a person could not manage on that amount.
I know about the benefit rates as i am a benefit adviser. I know about living on a low income as i can only work part time due to illness.
After i have paid my rent and council tax i have £119.00 PW left to pay all my bills, food etc PLUS the costs associated with work i.e bus fares (which set me back £17.00 per week)
Of course people on JSA could go and find a job-there are jobs available, but i find that people are far too choosy. I have worked in a chicken processing factory, cleaned up after dogs and cats, served tea in an old folks home and have worked in several call centres (amongst others)
They were not great jobs (especially working in call centres) but who ever said that we have to like or enjoy our jobs?
Personally, i am sick to death of hearing people say-oh i couldnt do a job like that, i couldnt get up that early, i dont like getting on buses-they smell, its not worth my while to get out of bed every day just for an extra £50/£60 per week- etc etc
It has become too easy in this country for people to avoid work-its not good for the country and its not good for people.
How interesting Piper! Mostly that so many people contacted you directly with their personal experiences! that proves that people are willing to talk about these things but its finding the right way to reach them and without the judgment – fits into the discussion going on in the previous blog- http://www.community-links.org/linksuk/?p=1416#comments Eileen, project sounds fascinating, hopefully there will be a noticeable difference in the future generations of reporting on poverty- not just on people on benefits! It would be great to have some comments from the students on their thoughts!!
Wow – this is really horrifying but from my experiences on my frugal living blog I can’t say I’m surprised. I have undertaken various challenges on the blog to live on the equivalent of different benefits, like Jobseeker’s and Incapacity Benefit etc. to try to get a tiny insight into what life is like (obviously I can’t get a 100 per cent insight as it’s not real and only for a few weeks), plus talking to real people receiving these benefits. I’m not rich and I have experienced redundancy but I am lucky and never gone without. So it was a big shock to me to find out how difficult life is and what a struggle it is to survive on benefits – both financially and emotionally.
Hundreds of blog users have been in touch to tell me their own stories of life on benefits – and that taught me more than anything else. Many of them are living in abject poverty and misery – every day is a struggle for them. But I was also shocked by the attitudes of some people who left messages on the blog during my challenges. Some really believe that all benefits recipients are scum and that everything that has happened to them is their own fault. There is little compassion and appreciation that any of us could be just a few pay packets or mortgage repayments away from the street. And I think that prejudice saddens me more than anything. I agree that a lot of the media reporting that goes on perpetuates the prejudices and ignorance out there. It can’t go on. What you’re doing is so important, so please keep up the good work.