Steve Quinn
Living without a safety net
Steve Quinn has been working with the project Powerlines, a community focussed creative writing project in Salford for Manchester Literature Festival led by David Gaffney and Church Action on Poverty
I spend most of my working (and some of my nonworking) days in a state of insecurity. Like juggling plates, except this isn’t entertainment, it's real people's lives.
One crisis after another, seemingly never ending.
This is a ‘reflected’ insecurity. I work as a debt adviser, mainly with people on low incomes, including welfare benefits. My insecurity is a mere taste of that being
experienced by my clients.
Welfare benefits can be one of the most insecure forms of income. By definition it should be one of the most secure (after all it’s called social security for a reason). That’s why it was known as the safety net of the welfare state. That net feels like it’s getting lower and lower, with holes appearing in a number of places.
In the last few years particularly, welfare benefits have been subject to constant change. It’s been bewildering for me and even more so for my clients. The real value of many benefits have fallen dramatically because of cuts and ‘freezes’. For example Child Benefit is now worth £6.35pw less than it was in 2011[1]. The replacement of Disability Living Allowance by Personal Independence Payment did away with a whole category of disability. The reductions in the allowance threshold for in-work benefits will dramatically reduce the income of many working households. Benefit caps (a further 450 - 599 families in Salford will be affected), Bedroom Tax, Child Tax Credit being limited to two children, withdrawal of Housing Benefit for those below the age of 21...the ‘savings’ go on and on.
In total billions of pounds of ‘savings’ have been ‘achieved’. Money taken out of my client’s pockets. Money they no longer have in order to meet their essential needs. Nationally advisers have seen significant rises in priority debts such as rent, fuel and council tax. This puts people’s homes, fuel and liberty at risk. It’s scary stuff. Increasingly I advise people where homelessness appears inevitable. With a shrinking social rented sector, a private rented sector they cannot afford and often cannot access (rent arrears; credit reference checks) where will they go. That keeps me awake at night. What does it do to them?
In some cases even the reduced benefits are put at risk because of a sanction regime that has affected many of the most vulnerable. MIND research in Nov 2015 of DWP data revealed that sanctions against those with mental health needs had risen by 668% in last 4 years. Research by Salford City Council and others has shown how this impacts on the health and well being, skills, training and employability and offending of local people.[2]
On top of this too many of those unfit for work have found themselves ...found fit for work! Whilst the success rate of appeals is high, people are still left on a reduced income and at risk of sanctions and deterioration in their health. Fractured lives - social security into social insecurity.
As an example of the times we are living through, the Fabian Society and Landman Economics estimate the number of children living in poverty will rise from 2.5 million (19%) to 4.4 million (28%) by 2030.[3] Much of this can be attributed to welfare ‘reform’.
It is no surprise that an increasing part of my work is helping people to apply for charitable assistance. This is no longer a one off to meet an exceptional event but ongoing in order to meet essential needs. We all know about the rise in food banks. These provide an important lifeline, but should we celebrate the provision or question the causes that make them necessary?
So stress, fear, confusion, desperation. A relentless squeeze. A series of never ending crises. This affects not just those out of work - approximately 60% of those in poverty live in working households. Anyone can enter this world. In my darkest moments I often ask how I would cope. I’m not sure I could.
Steve Quinn
Salford Welfare Rights and Debt Service
Salford City Council
Read more about Powerlines here
Steve Quinn has been working with the project Powerlines, a community focussed creative writing project in Salford for Manchester Literature Festival led by David Gaffney and Church Action on Poverty
I spend most of my working (and some of my nonworking) days in a state of insecurity. Like juggling plates, except this isn’t entertainment, it's real people's lives.
One crisis after another, seemingly never ending.
This is a ‘reflected’ insecurity. I work as a debt adviser, mainly with people on low incomes, including welfare benefits. My insecurity is a mere taste of that being
experienced by my clients.
Welfare benefits can be one of the most insecure forms of income. By definition it should be one of the most secure (after all it’s called social security for a reason). That’s why it was known as the safety net of the welfare state. That net feels like it’s getting lower and lower, with holes appearing in a number of places.
In the last few years particularly, welfare benefits have been subject to constant change. It’s been bewildering for me and even more so for my clients. The real value of many benefits have fallen dramatically because of cuts and ‘freezes’. For example Child Benefit is now worth £6.35pw less than it was in 2011[1]. The replacement of Disability Living Allowance by Personal Independence Payment did away with a whole category of disability. The reductions in the allowance threshold for in-work benefits will dramatically reduce the income of many working households. Benefit caps (a further 450 - 599 families in Salford will be affected), Bedroom Tax, Child Tax Credit being limited to two children, withdrawal of Housing Benefit for those below the age of 21...the ‘savings’ go on and on.
In total billions of pounds of ‘savings’ have been ‘achieved’. Money taken out of my client’s pockets. Money they no longer have in order to meet their essential needs. Nationally advisers have seen significant rises in priority debts such as rent, fuel and council tax. This puts people’s homes, fuel and liberty at risk. It’s scary stuff. Increasingly I advise people where homelessness appears inevitable. With a shrinking social rented sector, a private rented sector they cannot afford and often cannot access (rent arrears; credit reference checks) where will they go. That keeps me awake at night. What does it do to them?
In some cases even the reduced benefits are put at risk because of a sanction regime that has affected many of the most vulnerable. MIND research in Nov 2015 of DWP data revealed that sanctions against those with mental health needs had risen by 668% in last 4 years. Research by Salford City Council and others has shown how this impacts on the health and well being, skills, training and employability and offending of local people.[2]
On top of this too many of those unfit for work have found themselves ...found fit for work! Whilst the success rate of appeals is high, people are still left on a reduced income and at risk of sanctions and deterioration in their health. Fractured lives - social security into social insecurity.
As an example of the times we are living through, the Fabian Society and Landman Economics estimate the number of children living in poverty will rise from 2.5 million (19%) to 4.4 million (28%) by 2030.[3] Much of this can be attributed to welfare ‘reform’.
It is no surprise that an increasing part of my work is helping people to apply for charitable assistance. This is no longer a one off to meet an exceptional event but ongoing in order to meet essential needs. We all know about the rise in food banks. These provide an important lifeline, but should we celebrate the provision or question the causes that make them necessary?
So stress, fear, confusion, desperation. A relentless squeeze. A series of never ending crises. This affects not just those out of work - approximately 60% of those in poverty live in working households. Anyone can enter this world. In my darkest moments I often ask how I would cope. I’m not sure I could.
Steve Quinn
Salford Welfare Rights and Debt Service
Salford City Council
Read more about Powerlines here