Poverty in Greater Manchester has been rising over the years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Its government has devised several solutions to address the issue.
COVID-19 Impacts on Greater Manchester
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a collapse of the Greater Manchester economy as more than 4,000 businesses failed. The unemployment resulting from such business closures caused the number of people relying on Universal Credit to rise from 65,820 to 240,460, “a 38% increase from March 2020” to April 2020. It is because of these struggles and poverty in Greater Manchester that people have connected to form community awareness groups such as The Elephant’s Trail.
Homelessness and Poverty
A video produced in the town of Bury by The Elephant’s Trail titled “Made in Bury: Elephant in the Room” included interviews with the locals facing the pandemic’s impacts. Issues, such as homelessness and the inability to afford food, afflicted many people throughout the Greater Manchester area.
According to a Poverty Monitor that Greater Manchester Poverty Action managed, a nonprofit organization that focuses on reducing and preventing poverty in the county, in 2022, 144,770 children (one in four) are living in poverty and the number of food banks needed has increased twofold in the last five years.
Also, 15% of all households are facing fuel poverty, and “195,000 workers earn less than the Real Living Wage of £9.90 an hour,” the Poverty Monitor said. In terms of homelessness, the number of homelessness duties in Greater Manchester increased from 5,366 in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 6,015 in the third quarter of 2021.
Response and Solutions
Leaders have introduced several solutions to poverty in Greater Manchester, including digital solutions. Amid the pandemic, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority developed the Greater Manchester Digital Platform, which includes an app that helps those in need connect to volunteers and support systems to assist them in tasks such as obtaining necessary food and medicine. It aims to reach all 2.8 million citizens of Greater Manchester.
In response to food poverty, in October 2021, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, launched the Food Security Action Network. The Food Security Action Network addressed food poverty by distributing more than “7,000 emergency food cards” for youth and “funding grassroots organizations” to provide support to those not eligible for other support. In October 2020, The No Child Should Go Hungry campaign launched. It provided free school meals to those not eligible and more than “13,000 Emergency Food Cards” for youth to use at grocery stores.
The Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network (GMHAN), which originated in 2017, is a network working with leaders to help the homeless. It provided funds to homeless shelters across towns in Greater Manchester. GMHAN also co-produced the Rough Sleeping Action Plan, a long-term strategy that addresses homelessness and makes plans to partner with agencies, businesses and communities to ensure support for those experiencing hardship. So far, Greater Manchester notes a reduction in “rough sleeping” of 29% from 2020 to 2021 and 67% since 2017.
The Elephant’s Trail
The Elephant’s Trail is a group of people from Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and Salford. The members aim to be the voice for others suffering from poverty by documenting real-life experiences through film. Their goal is to bring awareness of poverty in Greater Manchester to the area’s leaders.
The Elephant’s Trail has partnered with other local and regional organizations such as Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Petrus Community and Unlimited Potential to aid the people of Greater Manchester. People who have worked with The Elephant’s Trail have said that the work has changed their lives because of its focus on co-production, or people with lived experience and professionals working together to develop solutions to common issues.
“Made in Bury: Elephant in the Room,” a video that a “reporting team from The Elephant’s Trail and video journalists at The Guardian” created, interviews residents of Bury about their personal experiences and how local group efforts help, such as housing and food that the Manna House provided. This kind of personal reporting helps top leaders make important decisions about poverty-reducing legislation and funding. In the video, Melanie Humphrey of The Elephant’s Trail stated, “How amazing to have a group of people with lived experience able to advise those people that really are at the top.”
The Future of Poverty in Greater Manchester
Poverty in Greater Manchester has seen some slight improvements due to the efforts of its leaders. The impacts of the pandemic still linger all across the nation, increasing the number of people experiencing mental disorders, malnutrition and homelessness. Efforts and successes like The Elephant’s Trail, which brings poverty in Greater Manchester right before the eyes of the government, inspire others to take action. With consistent efforts, the government of Greater Manchester can reduce both poverty and homelessness.
– Tara Boehringer
Photo: Flickr
Early School Dropouts in Developing Nations
Education is one of the most fundamental rights a child must have, no matter where they live. A free, equitable and good-quality education is also one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations designed. Education allows a student to be literate and articulate, and gain proper knowledge of various subjects. Unfortunately, many students experience early school dropouts drop out of school due to financial, social and political reasons.
Rates and Statistics
According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics, more than 64 million primary school students dropped out of their education in 2020. The rates are even more extensive in low and middle-income countries. For example, in Ethiopia, more than 2 million students dropped out of primary school whereas, in India, more than 6 million left primary schools. The dropout ratio between female and male students differs in countries. Boys in India abandoned school nearly two times more than girls in 2020, while female students were two times more likely to leave school in Ethiopia in the same year.
Reasons Why Students Drop Out
There are several reasons for early school dropouts in developing countries. The most common causes are:
Addressing Early School Dropouts
Many organizations, charities and institutes are raising funds and implementing strategies to prevent and end the global education crisis. UNICEF, UNESCO, Education International and The Global Partnership for Education are some organizations that serve and support this cause. UNICEF is currently working with various partners and officials to remove current barriers along girls’ education paths. UNICEF’s priority is to enable girls to complete their secondary education.
Keeping Girls in School Act
Keeping Girls in School Act is a bipartisan (H.R.4134 / S.2276) to employ and direct the U.S. government to create solutions to address the global education crisis and barriers in the way of female students. The Keeping Girls in School Act empowers girls around the globe by increasing educational opportunities and economic security.
Conclusion
– Hasti Mighati
Photo: Flickr
Reducing Child Mortality in Nepal with Chlorhexidine
According to a 2018 USAID article, annually, 2.6 million infants “die within their first month of life.” In addition, about 15% of these deaths come about through complications stemming from “severe infections.” Many of these infections-induced deaths are easily preventable through one simple solution: chlorhexidine. In Nepal, the government of Nepal and USAID piloted a chlorhexidine initiative in 2009. In 2011, Nepal introduced the antiseptic into “routine care nationwide.” The introduction of the antiseptic has safeguarded the lives of more than 1.3 million newborns in Nepal, decreasing levels of child mortality in Nepal. Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also introduced the solution to reduce child mortality rates.
Facts About Child Mortality
Child Mortality in Nepal
Nepal stands out in particular within the region of South Asia when it comes to child mortality rates. According to World Bank data, in 1960, Nepal recorded 325 under-5 deaths per 1,000 live births, whereas, in 2020, this number significantly reduced to 28 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is a significant improvement, especially in comparison to other countries. For instance, Pakistan reports 65 deaths per 1,000 live births and Afghanistan reports 58 deaths per 1,000 live births as of 2020.
The reasons for child mortality rates continuing to persist in Nepal are multifold. Lack of preventative measures against infectious diseases like malaria and pneumonia plays a major role in many babies not surviving. Many times, complications at birth occur, which are easily preventable with adequate medical care. Lastly, unhygienic medical conditions result in infections that claim the lives of babies. The adoption of simple and cost-effective solutions, one of which is chlorhexidine, can easily prevent unhygienic conditions and infections.
How Chlorhexidine Helps
Chlorhexidine, an antiseptic that hospitals widely use to disinfect skin and sterilize surgical equipment, comes in both liquid and gel form and is generally affordable. A study in Nepal showed that the use of chlorhexidine significantly reduced the risk of infection by 68% and minimized child deaths by 23%, USAID reported. The study led to the start of the 2009 USAID-led chlorhexidine program, supported by the Government of Nepal. Following the successful results visible in the program, chlorhexidine became a part of the entire nation’s medical care in 2011. In regions where people prefer home birth and use risky methods of birthing, chlorhexidine has helped save the lives of numerous children.
The application of this solution has decreased child mortality in Nepal and could impact the entire region’s child mortality rate. Chlorhexidine could also benefit regions like sub-Saharan Africa where infant deaths remain a concern.
– Umaima Munir
Photo: Flickr
The Work of Architect and Humanitarian Yasmeen Lari
The 2022 summer floods in Pakistan have impacted 33 million people, killed more than 1,600 and left one-third of the country temporarily underwater. Half a million Pakistanis ended up without a home. Fortunately, kind souls such as architect and humanitarian Yasmeen Lari have intervened. Pakistan’s first female architect, after decades of civil and humanitarian service, designed and disseminated sustainable bamboo shelters that can be easily assembled and transported to higher ground during floods. Architect and humanitarian Yasmeen Lari has been full of assistance. She has a long track record of working to ease Pakistani plight. Focusing on environmental well-being, the settlement of Pakistanis and the need for a redesign of foreign aid, Yasmeen has built a legacy for herself that is both admirable and enlightening.
Sustainability
Education
Foreign Aid
Life of Service
– Jacob Lawhern
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
4 Poverty-Fighting Charities in Algeria
4 Poverty-Fighting Charities in Algeria
These charities in Algeria are not only helping to eradicate poverty, but they are also changing the overall landscape of the country for the better.
– Luke Sherrill
Photo: Flickr
UN-Funded Cooperatives Empowering Lebanese Women
The Beirut explosion in August 2020 underlined the symptoms of poor governance and political polarization embedded within Lebanese politics. The explosion resulted in eminent human and material costs amid economic deterioration and social unrest, which the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated. The ramifications of hurting stalemate and a global pandemic particularly impact women amid increased inequality pertinent to income and opportunity. For this reason, empowering Lebanese women is critical.
Issues Lebanese Women Face
Unemployment during the pandemic disproportionately affected Lebanese women as women experienced layoffs at a greater rate than men and faced greater wage cuts, further reinforcing discriminatory practices and income disparities. According to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap report of 2021, Lebanon ranked 132 among 158 countries in terms of gender inequities.
Period poverty is one of many manifestations of the economic conditions impacting Lebanese women. The local non-governmental organization Fe-male projected that by December 2020, more than 50% of women in Lebanon experienced period poverty as a result of the price of sanitary products surging by 500%, highlighting the primacy of empowering Lebanese women and promoting income equality.
Empowering Lebanese Women on a National Level
To empower Lebanese women and support women-led cooperatives and income equality, U.N Lebanon, through the support of partners, mobilized around $4.4 million worth of funding. Through this effort, U.N. Lebanon delivered support to 94 different cooperatives across varying Lebanese villages, including Deir Al Ahmar and Qana. The project supplies such cooperatives with the necessary equipment, raw material and cash to sustain their operations, especially in light of the pandemic and multiple other crises in the country.
The project has reinforced the financial resilience of a minimum of 6,000 individuals, further strengthening income equality and inclusive growth. Such projects empower Lebanese women as these efforts establish job opportunities in a country where many women struggle to access employment. This is evident in World Bank data from 2019 where 14.3% of the female labor force endured unemployment in comparison to 10.2% of males.
A Specific Outlook on Al Atayeb Cooperative
Al Atayeb, “a Lebanese women-led cooperative based in Kfardebian town, north of Beirut,” produces traditional Lebanese food, such as fruit jam and the traditional Lebanese makdous. Samira Zoughaib Akiki is the chairperson of Al Atayeb cooperative and has about 20 years of experience in the food industry.
During her career, Akiki ran “food processing workshops and training sessions for women,” U.N. News reported. This inspired her to launch the Al Atayeb cooperative to create employment opportunities for other women. She tells U.N. News, “Teaching food processing skills was my way of empowering women.”
Today, the cooperative consists of 13 women whose primary responsibilities entail processing and preparing food. These women receive both salaries and profit shares as financial compensation for their work. The cooperative purchases its ingredients from local farmers as another way to uplift communities.
With the emergence of COVID-19, Akiki sought support from the U.N. to maintain financial capacity. “This addressed our financial needs, replenishing our capital and compensated our losses: we were able to resume our activities at a time when many businesses were shutting down,” Akiki told U.N. News.
Empowering Lebanese women in these ways contributes to greater income equality and equal employment opportunities. In times of political and economic struggle, it is important to sustain support and efforts such as U.N. funding can go a long way in promoting economic security for women.
– Noor Al-Zubi
Photo: Flickr
WHO and MSF Mobilize Volunteers in Ukraine
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, Ukraine’s health system has been operating under severe pressure. It has become increasingly crucial for international organizations to collaborate with local groups in order to respond to the health crises that the war posed. Two organizations that have done this are the World Health Organization (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders/Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF). Additionally, volunteers in Ukraine are proving crucial.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Ukraine
Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, WHO has provided medical supplies and cooperated with neighboring countries that welcome and host Ukrainian refugees. The war has sapped Ukraine of resources to devote to health care, and there have been deliberate attacks on health facilities. In collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, WHO plans to remain involved in Ukraine for the foreseeable future, giving support to the country’s overwhelmed medical professionals and facilities. It is doing so in several ways. It is building ‘healthcare hubs’ in heavily conflicted areas to treat patients suffering from war-related trauma.
Additionally, WHO successfully appealed for $147.5 million to foster humanitarian efforts, ensure emergency health care and help the country rebuild its health care system. Part of the funding will go to Ukraine directly, while the rest will go to surrounding countries with Ukrainian refugees, such as Moldova, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic. Through this funding, health care facilities within Ukraine can increase their staff and have access to critical medical supplies such as ventilators, electric generators and ambulances. Between February and June of 2022, more than 1,300 new medical staff received training and the funding helped form more than 40 emergency response teams.
More funding will provide supplies to treat burns and chemical injuries and to handle mass casualties. The war has also led to an increase in psychological illness and distress – symptoms of these medical problems manifest in various forms, including sleeplessness, anxiety, grief and psychological pain. In collaboration with Olena Zolenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, WHO hopes to create a national mental health program.
Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Ukraine
The work of WHO alone is not enough to combat this crisis. Local organizations are proving essential in providing emergency humanitarian care, and MSF is helping mobilize local relief efforts. When investigating Ukraine’s needs, MSF noted how swiftly Ukraine’s population mobilized to create volunteer networks, NGOs and civil society groups. These quickly formed, efficient, local organizations are the main providers of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. MSF contributes to these groups by helping them with supplies and logistics to deliver food boxes and medications to remote areas, as well as by helping them coordinate emergency evacuations.
Coordinating Volunteers in Ukraine
One such local volunteer is Dmitry Zakharov, owner of a barbeque restaurant and car wash in Kharkiv, who was interviewed by MSF. Soon after the war broke out, Zakharov transformed his business into a hub for humanitarian aid. He began by distributing free water, and when a nearby meat factory stopped its operations, he gathered up what was left and distributed it to those who needed food. He turned his restaurant into a free medical clinic, and he coordinates volunteer efforts to serve free daily lunches to the community. Another volunteer is Yana Biletskaya, who has coordinated food and medical supply distribution from a massive storehouse near her home.
The need to provide mental health services has dramatically increased. Children and adults suffer from extreme anxiety. In coordination with MSF, volunteer teams provide mental health support in shelters, clinics and metro stations. They conduct individual and group mental health sessions to address issues of fear, stress, worry, hopelessness and panic attacks. While this is a good start, there is still a lot of work to do.
Other Organizations
Many other organizations are aiding these efforts. Team Rubicon coordinates volunteers in over 15 locations in Ukraine, Hungary and Poland. They treat wounds and chronic diseases no matter the condition – whether in a school or community center where hundreds of refugees sleep and live. Medical schools at Yale and Stanford have coordinated donations of medical supplies. Volunteers from the Global Surgical and Medical Support Group, a nonprofit, are training Ukrainian civilians on coping with wounds and fear.
There is a lot that still needs to occur. However, it is encouraging to see so many communities, organizations and volunteers working together, whether on the ground or from a distance, to help Ukraine in this time of need.
– Shiloh Harrill
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
4 Methods Used to Solve Israel’s Water Crisis
Many parts of the Middle East struggle to acquire adequate freshwater for household, agricultural and industrial use. Many factors have compounded the problem including a growing population, rising standards of living and more frequent drought, desertification and salinization, and all of these put a strain on water resources in an already parched region. However, since 2007, Israel has implemented numerous technological and organizational measures to increase its water security, to great success. Around the end of the 2000s, decades of drought in the Fertile Crescent and record low levels in the Sea of Galilee – Israel’s largest body of freshwater – prompted the government to focus on Israel’s water crisis and build resilience for the future.
4 Methods Used to Solve Israel’s Water Crisis
The techniques used to solve Israel’s water crisis show what the future may look like for arid regions, especially coastal ones. Hopefully, with the increasing adoption and affordability of techniques such as desalination, more countries can improve their water security.
– Emilie Zhang
Photo: Unsplash
The Links Between Poverty and Imprisonment in the UK
While many can acknowledge that criminal justice is inseparable from social justice, there is an underrepresented community at the center of this overlap, in need of support. As an individual loses their liberty through imprisonment, the family members relying on them become more susceptible to financial insecurity and economic burdens. These families face new expenses in relation to visits and contact costs, often with decreased income. The England and Wales prison population saw an increase of four times from 1900 to 2020 from about 17,400 prisoners to around 80,000. Contrastingly, crime rates in England and Wales have decreased by more than half from 1981 to 2021. With poverty and imprisonment so interconnected, one may consider whether imprisonment is pushing more families below the poverty line.
The Families Behind the Data
As the British approach to crime and punishment concentrates on retributive justice, such as imprisonment, working-class families are suffering the consequences. The threat to financial stability is partially attributed to income reduction and families unable to rely on relatives’ earnings following imprisonment. Many family members find themselves leaving employment to take on full childcare responsibilities despite increased financial strain.
Research finds that some individuals who do not have children leave work due to the detrimental impact of the criminal justice system’s procedures on their mental health. Outgoings will also often increase for families, in the form of traveling costs for prison visits and phone calls. According to Action for Prisoners’ Families, in 2006, U.K. prisons charged prisoners a phone call rate “five times higher than the standard payphone rate.”
Further costs stem from financial support to the prisoner to make prison time more bearable, especially considering that almost 40% of young offenders aged 18-21 are in their cells for more than 22 hours a day, often in unsanitary conditions.
Impact on Women
Research shows that female family members primarily suffer the strain of poverty and imprisonment, regardless of the gender of their incarcerated loved ones. These women sacrifice both money and time to ensure the well-being of their relatives in prison.
Simultaneously, female caregivers tend to take on childcare responsibilities that are usually abundant, morally expected and heavily gendered, but with a significant lack of support and available resources. Furthermore, female relatives face an increased likelihood of negative stigma and tarnished identity. Many women are even condemned for the crimes of their imprisoned family members.
Impact on Children
Financial and emotional strain for families with an incarcerated co-parent can be even higher than when children experience separation from this parent due to loss or divorce. This links to a tendency for parental mental health to deteriorate in these circumstances, which can lead to lower-quality parenting, a lack of support and neglect.
Studies continuously show a strong association between family dysfunction and legal misconduct tendencies. As financial strain heightens and living conditions become more difficult, a cycle of crime may develop. Crime can also become generational, with children being more likely to offend when their parent has a criminal record. This pattern is intensified by frequent parental reoffending.
The Discrimination That Ethnic Minorities are Facing
The disproportionate impact of poverty on those from ethnic minority backgrounds exacerbates inequality in the U.K. Those who are white British are less likely to live below the poverty line than other ethnic groups. According to a study, in 2018, “50% of all Bangladeshis and 46% of all Pakistanis [fell into] the most deprived fifth of the population.”
The impact of imprisonment can intensify this vulnerability due to the multifaceted financial strain placed on families with incarcerated individuals. According to the Institute of Race Relations, law enforcement authorities are more inclined to subject racial minority groups to search and arrest procedures due to the discrimination and stereotypes entrenched in societies. Furthermore, law enforcement authorities are more likely to arrest racial minority groups for drug-related offenses in comparison to white people. These patterns, particularly over-policing and over-imprisonment, are due to institutional racism.
Moving Forward
In 2017, the U.K. Ministry of Justice vowed to raise the standard of prisons and support the relationships between prisoners and their families while redistributing “funding for delivery of family services” in an even and appropriate manner. This involves prison reforms adopting a holistic focus that will help to prevent reoffending alongside wealth inequality.
Pact (Prison Advice and Care Trust) is a U.K.-based charity committed to helping prisoners and their families. In 1898, two Catholic legal professionals initially established the organization as the Catholic Prisoners Aid Society. Renamed Pact in 2001, the organization has helped more than 100,000 families maintain contact with relatives in prison over the last year. Pact also gave “relationship and parenting education” to 661 incarcerated individuals and their families, among other initiatives. Through the befriending project, trained volunteers knowledgeable about the imprisonment process and experience provide support to individuals with imprisoned relatives.
Efforts like these address the links between poverty and imprisonment, enabling prisoners and their families to access the resources for a better future.
– Lydia Tyler
Photo: Unsplash
How Malala Yousafzai is Fighting for Women’s Education
Former First Lady Michelle Obama, while speaking on the importance of women’s education in Senegal, stated, “When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.” Her speech, titled ‘You Are Role Models,’ sought to encourage females around the world to continue to fight for their education – not only because it was an inherent right, but because it also led to more opportunities. One cannot overstate the importance of women’s education. As Michelle Obama described, educated women can change the lives of millions. They can serve as role models for the world and encourage the expansion of quality education. Malala Yousafzai is a notable woman who is fighting for women’s education to end poverty.
About Malala
Malala Yousafzai is one of the few individuals brave enough to carry the responsibility of women’s education. Malala was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. As a child, Yousafazi attended the school her father established – Khushal Girls High School and College – and quickly developed a reputation for dedication to her studies. Malala’s commitment to learning, however, did not only exist in her school building. When reflecting on her childhood, Malala recalled that “From an early age, I was interested in politics and sat on my father’s knee listening to everything he and his friends discussed.”
The Arrival of the Taliban
Malala’s love for education, however, came to a complete stop in 2008, when the Taliban arrived. The Taliban is a radicalized, religious and political group that emerged in 1978, after the Afghan War. Since the early 2000s, the Taliban developed a reputation for asserting strict interpretations of law and order, heavily determined by religious ideology. Using the conservative Pashtun social code, the Taliban created a brutally repressive regime.
Once they arrived in Pakistan, the Taliban implemented strict rules and punishments – especially targeting women. They ordered various rules, but one was particularly crushing to Malala. The Taliban ordered that women were to experience exclusion from public life – essentially, the Taliban banned women from attaining an education.
Malala Becomes an Advocate
In 2012, Malala began to speak out against the Taliban. Using the pseudonym Gul Makai, Malala began writing for the BBC online. Her blogs contained advocacy and a peek into the daily life of living under Taliban rule.
However, as Malala’s popularity increased, so did the threat of the Taliban. After several months of writing, The New York Times revealed that Malala was really “Gul Makai,” resulting in the Taliban naming her one of its main targets.
On October 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman shot Malala as she rode home on a bus after school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. She was 15 years old at the time.
How Malala Yousafzai is Fighting for Women’s Education Through The Malala Fund
Despite the trauma of the event and the partial loss of brain function, Malala never quit advocating for women’s education. Today, she runs a nonprofit organization called the Malala Fund. The Malala Fund invests in education and activists who are challenging the policies and practices that prevent women from receiving an education. Over the years, the Malala Fund has helped expand access to education for girls and women, improve the quality and relevance of education and strengthen government policy to ensure safe learning environments. Today, Malala focuses on women’s education and politics. She holds a childhood dream of becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and she hopes to ensure the right to education for all children.
Malala’s persistent advocacy truly displays the importance of women’s education. Education has the ability to break the constraints of gender inequality, thus allowing females to acquire more opportunities and responsibilities. Education allows an individual to become economically, socially and politically independent; they are able to support themselves and take on various positions in government, business and civil society. As women rise above gender inequality, they are able to support their families, develop leadership skills and achieve more representation in their government.
Overall, Malala Yousafzai is fighting for women’s education, having risked her life multiple times. Through her efforts, gender inequality is decreasing, thus allowing females around the world to dig themselves out of poverty and avoid the abuse that accompanies the setting.
– Sania Patel
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Addressing Disadvantages and Poverty in Greater Manchester
Poverty in Greater Manchester has been rising over the years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Its government has devised several solutions to address the issue.
COVID-19 Impacts on Greater Manchester
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a collapse of the Greater Manchester economy as more than 4,000 businesses failed. The unemployment resulting from such business closures caused the number of people relying on Universal Credit to rise from 65,820 to 240,460, “a 38% increase from March 2020” to April 2020. It is because of these struggles and poverty in Greater Manchester that people have connected to form community awareness groups such as The Elephant’s Trail.
Homelessness and Poverty
A video produced in the town of Bury by The Elephant’s Trail titled “Made in Bury: Elephant in the Room” included interviews with the locals facing the pandemic’s impacts. Issues, such as homelessness and the inability to afford food, afflicted many people throughout the Greater Manchester area.
According to a Poverty Monitor that Greater Manchester Poverty Action managed, a nonprofit organization that focuses on reducing and preventing poverty in the county, in 2022, 144,770 children (one in four) are living in poverty and the number of food banks needed has increased twofold in the last five years.
Also, 15% of all households are facing fuel poverty, and “195,000 workers earn less than the Real Living Wage of £9.90 an hour,” the Poverty Monitor said. In terms of homelessness, the number of homelessness duties in Greater Manchester increased from 5,366 in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 6,015 in the third quarter of 2021.
Response and Solutions
Leaders have introduced several solutions to poverty in Greater Manchester, including digital solutions. Amid the pandemic, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority developed the Greater Manchester Digital Platform, which includes an app that helps those in need connect to volunteers and support systems to assist them in tasks such as obtaining necessary food and medicine. It aims to reach all 2.8 million citizens of Greater Manchester.
In response to food poverty, in October 2021, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, launched the Food Security Action Network. The Food Security Action Network addressed food poverty by distributing more than “7,000 emergency food cards” for youth and “funding grassroots organizations” to provide support to those not eligible for other support. In October 2020, The No Child Should Go Hungry campaign launched. It provided free school meals to those not eligible and more than “13,000 Emergency Food Cards” for youth to use at grocery stores.
The Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network (GMHAN), which originated in 2017, is a network working with leaders to help the homeless. It provided funds to homeless shelters across towns in Greater Manchester. GMHAN also co-produced the Rough Sleeping Action Plan, a long-term strategy that addresses homelessness and makes plans to partner with agencies, businesses and communities to ensure support for those experiencing hardship. So far, Greater Manchester notes a reduction in “rough sleeping” of 29% from 2020 to 2021 and 67% since 2017.
The Elephant’s Trail
The Elephant’s Trail is a group of people from Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and Salford. The members aim to be the voice for others suffering from poverty by documenting real-life experiences through film. Their goal is to bring awareness of poverty in Greater Manchester to the area’s leaders.
The Elephant’s Trail has partnered with other local and regional organizations such as Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Petrus Community and Unlimited Potential to aid the people of Greater Manchester. People who have worked with The Elephant’s Trail have said that the work has changed their lives because of its focus on co-production, or people with lived experience and professionals working together to develop solutions to common issues.
“Made in Bury: Elephant in the Room,” a video that a “reporting team from The Elephant’s Trail and video journalists at The Guardian” created, interviews residents of Bury about their personal experiences and how local group efforts help, such as housing and food that the Manna House provided. This kind of personal reporting helps top leaders make important decisions about poverty-reducing legislation and funding. In the video, Melanie Humphrey of The Elephant’s Trail stated, “How amazing to have a group of people with lived experience able to advise those people that really are at the top.”
The Future of Poverty in Greater Manchester
Poverty in Greater Manchester has seen some slight improvements due to the efforts of its leaders. The impacts of the pandemic still linger all across the nation, increasing the number of people experiencing mental disorders, malnutrition and homelessness. Efforts and successes like The Elephant’s Trail, which brings poverty in Greater Manchester right before the eyes of the government, inspire others to take action. With consistent efforts, the government of Greater Manchester can reduce both poverty and homelessness.
– Tara Boehringer
Photo: Flickr