Covid-19: People Living in Poverty

Baroness Stroud Excerpts

Thursday 30th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stroud (Con)]

My Lords, we know that, even before the Covid-19 crisis, families across the UK were struggling to make ends meet, with 14.3 million people living in poverty, around half of whom were living in persistent poverty. We also know that those most likely to be in poverty are disabled families, families in which no one works and families in which those in work are in low-paid, insecure work, or work with relatively few hours.

Research on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis shows that these are the very people who could be hit hardest by the economic crisis that has accompanied the personal and social impacts of coronavirus. For example, overall, more than one in four households say that the coronavirus crisis is impacting their finances. Those on the lowest pay are often the least able to work from home. Compared with high earners, low earners are seven times more likely to have worked in a sector that is now shut down.

Despite the Government’s best efforts through support for businesses, which have been heroic, many hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and begun to claim benefits. That is why I encourage the Government to develop a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy that would of course look at finances but also more broadly at the lived experience. Will my noble friend the Minister comment on whether she believes that a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy would amplify and cement the positive steps forward that could be taken post crisis?