50
50 POVERTY TODAY
Life on the breadline :
Preaching the Gospel in an age of austerity
by Chris Shannahan
The ongoing growth of debilitating poverty represents an urgent spiritual crisis for all who follow Jesus in breadline Britain . In 2022 almost 14.5 million people are living in poverty . Between April 2021 and March 2022 , the Trussell Trust distributed 2.1 million food parcels . There are currently 6.3 million people living in fuel poverty and 1 million working people get by on zero hours contracts .
Between 2018 and 2021 our small team of researchers explored the human stories behind these statistics in our Life on the Breadline project , which analysed the nature , impact and scope of Christian engagement with poverty in the UK since the 2008 financial crash .
After collecting his Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 , Martin Luther King compared poverty to an octopus – its tentacles reaching into every corner of our lives . 2 In order to understand contemporary poverty we need to recognise the complexity and plurality of our experience . Food poverty , low pay , high fuel bills , poor housing , insecure employment , benefits freezes and cuts to essential public services converge in a perfect storm . Only when the church grasps this complexity can it force advancing poverty into retreat .
The church has been at the forefront of caring for people in poverty during the Age of Austerity , a period that began in October 2009 with the UK government policy of large scale public funding cuts . Focusing on the needs of individuals represents a strength in Christian engagement with poverty . However , an emphasis on servanthood , feeding the hungry and clothing the naked , can sideline the church ’ s commitment within the Marks of Mission to ‘ transform structural injustice ’. 3 Over the last decade , successive governments have implied that poverty results from a lack of hard work . In 2012 former Chancellor of the Exchequer , George Osborne , suggested that some people were hardworking ‘ strivers ’, whereas others were work-shy ‘ skivers ’. 4 Such flawed perceptions ignore the systemic causes of poverty and inequality . If the church is serious about its commitment to the common good it needs to translate assertions about God ’ s ‘ preferential option for the poor ’ into sustained action for structural change .
I wince when the media refers to the ‘ cost of living crisis ’ and politicians suggest we dig into our savings to get by . Such soundbites ignore the multidimensional damage wrought by a decade of deliberate austerity . 5 Following his 2018 visit to the UK , the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights noted that , ‘ the poor , women , Black and Brown Britons , children , single parents and people with disabilities ’ had been hit hardest by austerity policies . 6 Young