UK (Commonwealth Union) – The post pandemic economic crisis coupled with the recent war and sanctions, has caused a severe economic strain on scores of populations across the world. Many charities and religious institutions providing food and supplies to the needy have seen people who have never depended on charitable handouts before.
A new Cardiff University study has indicated that sustained and coordinated action is required to bring solutions to poverty in Wales. A prominent 18-report review from the Wales Centre for Public Policy which was conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the New Policy Institute, provides a considerable set of proof for policymakers looking into ways to assist those struggling to survive. The study was authorized by the Welsh Government.
The study indicates how the current cost-of-living crisis, with recent increases in inflation and energy rates, that has deepened long-standing issues in Wales, where poverty has hit approximately 1 in 4 people. The situation has hardly changed in the last couple of decades.
According to researchers an entire public sector response is a must, with the Welsh Governments need for a critical role in assisting and challenging partners to deliver. An evaluation on focus groups addressing poverty in Wales, with a review indicating 4 significant areas for the Welsh Government to focus and mobilize a response across Wales including finding effective methods of lowering costs and raising income to guarantee consistency of basic need for households, as well as assisting longer-term ‘pathways’ out of poverty via access to higher paid work, flexible and affordable childcare and transport together with broader socio-economic engagement.
Forming an enabling an environment by handling barriers like low quality housing, appropriate infrastructure, and green spaces that enhance quality of life, was the third recommendation, while the fourth was the handling of the psychological load and mental health consequences of poverty by tackling the emotional and psychological strain on those existing in poverty and social exclusion via challenging stigma and promoting respect and dignity for everyone.
