Pover propa explo ring t ty ganda he my ths Tracy Shild rick POVERTY PROPAGANDA Exploring the myths Tracy Shildrick First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Policy Press North America office: University of Bristol Policy Press 1-9 Old Park Hill c/o The University of Chicago Press Bristol 1427 East 60th Street BS2 8BB Chicago, IL 60637, USA UK t: +1 773 702 7700 t: +44 (0)117 954 5940 f: +1 773-702-9756 pp-info@bristol.ac.uk sales@press.uchicago.edu www.policypress.co.uk www.press.uchicago.edu © Policy Press 2018 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 978-1-4473-2398-3 paperback ISBN 978-1-4473-2397-6 hardcover ISBN 978-1-4473-2401-0 ePub ISBN 978-1-4473-2402-7 Mobi ISBN 978-1-4473-2400-3 ePdf The right of Tracy Shildrick to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Policy Press The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author and not of the University of Bristol or Policy Press The University of Bristol and Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality Cover design by Lyn Davies Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Policy Press uses environmentally responsible print partners Contents List of abbreviations iv Acknowledgements v one Introduction two Poverty propaganda 21 three Poverty and lived experiences 43 four Poverty, labour markets and ‘poor work’ 65 five Poverty, social class and social immobility 87 six Poverty: discrimination, stigma and shame 113 seven Poverty propaganda and reproduction of poverty, power and inequality 131 eight Conclusions 151 References 159 Index 181 iii Poverty propaganda List of abbreviations CPAG DfE DWP EHRC EU IFS JRF JSA NHS ONS TUC Child Poverty Action Group Department for Education Department for Work and Pensions Equality and Human Rights Commission European Union Institute for Fiscal Studies Joseph Rowntree Foundation Jobseeker’s Allowance National Health Service Office for National Statistics Trades Union Congress iv Acknowledgements In writing this book I owe various debts of gratitude to family, friends and colleagues who have all been supportive in different ways Robert MacDonald, the late Andy Furlong, Colin Webster, Kayleigh Garthwaite, Johann Roden and Robert Crow were all co-researchers on the various research projects referred to in the book The research participants in all of those projects deserve a special mention for sharing their lives with such honesty and generosity Particular thanks go to Anqi Shen and also to Ruth Patrick, Pauline Ramshaw, Louise Wattis, Anthony Ruddy and Georgios Papanicoloau The occasional meet-ups really helped but we really ought to try and it more often! Robert Crow at Teesside remained a loyal and reliable supporter of the work and his ability to find sometimes obscure material never ceased to amaze me Sharon Elley at Leeds was generous with her careful proof-reading skills Adrian Sinfield has provided no end of valuable source material as well as commenting on various ideas and drafts of the book He and his wife, Dorothy, have supported the research in lots of different ways over recent years and I feel incredibly privileged to have benefited from their immense knowledge, kindness and hospitality Policy Press has been endlessly patient and tolerant and particular thanks go to Ali Shaw who continued to believe in me and in the value of the book, even when I occasionally didn’t! The ideas benefited enormously from the debates I had with my level three Leeds SSP undergraduate students studying the ‘Class in Everyday Life’ module in early 2017 Most importantly, my family have continued to support and believe in me Looking back, it is hard to believe that my daughters, Jessica and Chelsea, were just babies when I embarked on my undergraduate degree as a mature student at Teesside University They have grown into two exceptional young women who continue to indulge my ‘poverty passion’ with both patience and grace, and I will forever be enormously proud of them both Finally, my husband Steve never stopped believing in my ability to complete the book and he has generously tolerated my (very) many evening and weekend absences with love and little complaint I owe a lot to people who have supported me, but of course, the book and any flaws in it are all my own v ONE Introduction The issue of people moving repeatedly between work and unemployment is an endemic problem in the UK and has risen by 60 per cent since 2006, mostly as a result of the recession Entering work cannot provide a sustainable route out of poverty if job security, low pay and lack of progression are not also addressed (Goulden, 2010, p 1) Evidence shows that poverty, and the insecurity that inevitably accompanies it, is affecting the lives of more and more ordinary working-age people and families, not just in Britain and the UK more broadly but also across the globe (Standing, 2010; 2014; 2016) Poverty has become a normalised aspect of day-to-day life for millions of individuals and families in Britain today, yet it occupies a peculiar and contradictory position in both popular and political debates Poverty is widespread in Britain, as well as in the UK more broadly, and all indications show that its incidence, particularly for children and working-age households, will continue to rise under the current direction of policy (Hood and Waters, 2017) Poverty in Britain is most often caused by ‘poor work’ (Byrne, 2005) – that is, work that fails to take people away from poverty either for long enough or far enough to make a difference to their lives – and by inadequate ‘welfare’, particularly for those forced to rely on out-of-work benefits (JRF, 2016) More and more people find themselves trapped between the two as they cycle in and out of short-term, low-paid work and on and off inadequate (and increasingly difficult to access) ‘welfare’ payments Yet the low-pay, no-pay cycle, as it is often referred to, still remains a relative blind spot in political and policy debates Since 2010, cuts forced through in the name of austerity have also added to the problem, although the general trends towards increasing inequality and diminishing opportunities for those who are economically marginalised go back much further than the recession of 2008 and the subsequent imposition of numerous cuts Yet, despite the widespread existence of poverty in Britain, it is all too frequently ignored, increasingly demonised and, when it is discussed, almost always presented in ways that are misleading and inaccurate As a result, poverty both as Poverty propaganda a concept and as a condition, is generally misunderstood and it is this misunderstanding and misrepresentation that this book aims to address This book argues that poverty propaganda – deliberately and often very carefully crafted myths and misrepresentations about poverty and those who experience the condition – has the biggest influence on how poverty is understood in the contemporary context Poverty propaganda works to ensure that myths and false pronouncements about poverty and its causes and consequences are disseminated widely: thus poverty is at one and the same time both increasingly a normalised condition in contemporary Britain and also one that is demonised to such as degree that its real causes and consequences are barely discussed Such is the strength of stigma and shame that comes from this misrepresentation that even those experiencing deep poverty and related disadvantages everything they can to distance themselves from the condition (Shildrick and MacDonald, 2013) One of the reasons why poverty propaganda is so successful is not simply its ability to disguise poverty but its capacity to stigmatise not just those people who are experiencing poverty, but whole swathes of often very loosely defined segments of society who are in some way disadvantaged It is precisely this woolliness in the target populations of poverty propaganda that makes its messages so powerful and that ensures that poverty as a condition can continue to be largely overlooked Neoliberal regimes, such as that which has dominated in Britain since the mid-1970s, provide fertile ground for poverty propaganda to flourish as life chances are increasingly presented as – and largely understood to be – the sole responsibility of individuals (Beck, 2002) Neoliberal capitalist regimes are predicated on the promotion of widespread improvements in living conditions and the increasing availability of opportunities for personal and economic advancement The language of the day might change, but the British equivalent of the ‘American dream’, whether it be in the form of the ‘the opportunity society’ (Major, 1991) or the latest incarnation in the form of ‘The Great Meritocracy’ (May, 2017), holds a special place in the British public’s psyche and does much to help overshadow the gross and growing inequalities in access to opportunities that blight the lives and potential of increasing numbers of people Poverty propaganda not only hides the structural causes of poverty but also feeds negative, stigmatising and discriminatory attitudes towards those who are experiencing the condition It allows punitive and sometimes downright cruel policies to be enacted towards those experiencing the condition, and for those policies to be largely tolerated by a public that buys into the rhetoric of poverty propaganda Introduction and thus accepts – and sometimes demands – that those believed to be underserving are punished It has long been known that people experiencing poverty tend to be powerless and voiceless (Lister, 2004) Yet, what is so effective and powerful about poverty propaganda is that it works to stigmatise the disadvantaged with such vigour and venom that even those experiencing deep poverty and other disadvantages go to great lengths to distance themselves and their own lives from the condition Alongside this proliferation of rhetoric and propaganda about poverty we see charities, campaigners and a growing number of academics continuing to raise concerns about the existence of poverty in Britain and its growth, particularly since 2010, under recent government policy decisions In the UK official measures of poverty tend to use relative definitions of poverty and Peter Townsend’s understanding of relative poverty has been widely influential: Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong (Townsend, 1979, p 31) Thus, poverty can be understood as having ‘resources that are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are, in effect, excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities’ (Townsend, 1979, p 31) In 2016 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) released its anti-poverty strategy and estimated that 13.5 million people in the UK were living in poverty, with the figure predicted to rise under current government policies (JRF, 2016) The strategy was ground breaking in both its breadth and its ambition The JRF argues that: The level of poverty in the UK is shameful This should be a place where everyone can achieve a decent, secure standard of living 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World 118, 127, 140 Atkinson, W 13, 14, 90, 137 austerity background to 15–16 early austerity 137–8 and food banks 62–3 framing of 25, 136, 138, 139, 147 impacts of 25, 53–61, 136–40, 154–5 later austerity 138 and mental health 53–5 and social harm 138–9 winners 147–9, 156 stigma and shame 116–17 and welfare reforms 56–61, 126, 137–8, 139 and Work Capability Assessment 55 see also ‘welfare’ Benefits Street (TV programme) 24, 30, 142 Bennett, F 45 Biressi, A 95 Bivand, P 69 Blanden, J 94, 102–3 Bloodworth, J 103, 148 Bradshaw, J 95 Brexit 84 Bright, G 83 British Social Attitudes Survey 10, 90, 133, 142 Brown, P 156 Buckley, S 80 Bunker, D 143 Burchardt, T 147, 148 Burnett, J 154 Butler, P 47, 54 Byrne, D 85 B C A Back, L 121 Bambra, C 53 Barnes, M.C 53 Barr, B 55 Bauman, Z 119 Baumberg, B 106, 116 BBC documentary 143–4 Beatty, C 56–7, 77–8, 85 Beatty, T 48 Beck, U 50 bedroom tax 126 Bell, F 78–9 benefit fraud 29, 154 benefit sanctions 54, 56–61, 140 benefit stigma 116–17 benefits and conditionality 54, 56–61, 140 and disabled people 37, 52, 55, 58–9, 139 fraud 29, 154 housing benefit 146–7 Jobseeker’s Allowance 58 sickness benefits 126 Cameron, David 29, 32–3, 37, 97, 136 care work 109 Casey, L 33 Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) 145 Centre for Social Justice 134, 135, 136 Chandola, T 69 Chase, E 46 ‘chav’ 120 Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) 8, 34 children, experience of poverty 50, 143–4 choice, reduction of 46, 119 Christmas light displays 121, 122–3 Church Action on Poverty 58 Claimant Commitment 57 Clapson, David 54 Clarke, Kenneth 37 class see social class cleaning jobs 73–4, 75 clothing brands 121–2, 123 181 Poverty propaganda Coalition government (2010–15) 15, 31–2, 56–7, 63, 134–6, 138 coalmining industry 80, 83 Cobb, J 115–6 Collard, S 49 collective bargaining 72 communities, and poverty 36 conditionality 56–61, 134, 138, 140 Connor, S 148 consumer behaviour 118–24, 128, 153 Cooper, N 45 Cooper, V 15, 25, 145 Corlett, A 71 Cote, J 72 Crawford, C 101 credit 49–50 crime, and poverty 29, 34–6 Crossley, S 61, 120 cultures of worklessness 7, 27–9, 33, 127–8, 153–4 cycle of deprivation 93–8 and health 52–3 industrial decline 77–84 Jobseeker’s Allowance 58 Jobcentre Plus 59–60 and neoliberalism 14 regional aspects of 77–85 and social class 106–9 and social networks 105–6 and trade unions 69–70, 72, 77, 155 and ‘welfare dependency’ 11–12, 23–4, 28–9, 133–4, 153, 154 Work Capability Assessment 55 working classes 14, 77–85, 91–3, 106–9 working conditions 67–79, 155 employment rights 67–79, 155 Engels, F 131 Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) 73–4, 76 European Social Charter 139 Evans, G 91–2 experience of poverty 16–18, 43–64 cumulative effects 50–1 debt 48–50 and employment 107–9 everyday experience of 44–51 food poverty 45–6, 61–3 fuel poverty 47–8 housing 46–7 and ill health 51–5 and welfare reform 53–61 D Daily Mail 21, 26, 29, 139–40 Daly, M 48 D’Arcy, C 68 de-industrialisation 77–84 debt 48–50 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 23, 32, 47, 54, 58 Devine, F 90, 102 disabled people 37, 52, 55, 58–9, 139 discrimination 124–9 Dorling, D 17, 35, 52, 128, 156 drug dealing 35–6 Duffy, S 55 Duncan Smith, Iain 21, 31–2, 54, 66, 135, 139 Dwyer, P 57–8, 59 F E Edensor, T 121, 122–3 education private education 103–4 and social mobility 98–104 embourgeoisement thesis 90 employment 65–86 commitment to work 6, 27–8 and conditionality 56–61 and cultures of worklessness 7, 27–30, 33, 127–8, 153–4 deregulation of labour market 67, 68 experiencing low-paid work 73–7, 107–9 Fairy Job Mother (TV programme) 30–1 and free market capitalism 85–6 graduates 104 growth of low-paid work 66–73, 155 Fairy Job Mother (TV programme) 30–1 Fell, B 53 Finch, D 68 flawed ideologies 25 Fletcher, D 126 food banks 10, 43, 62–3 food poverty 12, 45–6, 61–3 free school meals 50 Fothergill, S 56, 77–8, 85 Frazer, N 67 free school meals 50 Freud, D 95 fuel poverty 47–8 G Gaffney, D 28, 106 Gamble, A 138 Gardiner, L 71 Gardner, L 69 Garnham, A 34 Garthwaite, K 63 Geiger, B Baumberg 142 Gibbons, S 94, 102–3 gig-economy 70 Gillies, V 102 182 Index Goulden, C 1, 34 Gove, Michael 62 graduate labour market 104 Graham, H 52 Great British Class Survey 8–9, 89, 93 Great Recession 15–16 see also austerity Green, F 67, 69, 77 Gregg, P 69 Grenfell Tower fire 16, 39–40 Gunter, A 35 H Hall, S 14 Hamilton, K 123 Hancock, L 34, 35 Hanley, L 39 Harris, A 101 Hartfree, Y 49 Harvey, D 14 Hastings, A 125, 137–8 Hay, C 73 Haylett, C 91 health and geography 53 mental health 53–5, 63 and low-paid work 69 and poverty 51–5 Heath, O 103 Herden, E 60 Herod, A 75 Hewstone, M 53 higher education 100, 104 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) 104 Hills, J 18–19, 47 Hodge, Margaret 148 Hoggart, R 87 Holloway, E 50 Holman, B 40, 134–5 Hood, A 96 House of Commons Public Accounts Committee 148 House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility 106 housing and fuel poverty 47–8 and housing benefit cap 146–7 limited options 46 in London 47 rent arrears 46–7 and social class 90–1 housing benefit 146–7 Hudson, J 141–2 human rights 61, 139, 140–1 I ill health see health in-work poverty see low-paid and insecure work industrial decline 77–84 inequality, perpetuation of 145–9 inherited wealth 96–8 Innes, D 79–80 insecure work see low-paid and insecure work Irwin, S 142 J Jenkins, Lady 12 Jensen, T 28–9, 30 Jeremy Kyle (TV programme) 30 job seeking, and conditionality 56–61 Jobcentre Plus 59–60 jobs see employment Jobseeker’s Allowance 58 Jones, O 71, 120 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) 3, 8, 34, 44–5, 73 Joseph, Sir Keith 93 Joyce, R 96 K Kalleberg, A.L 14 Kelly, G 48 Kelly, P 61 Kingston, S 34–5 Kirby, J 102 L labour markets see employment Lalor, D 46 Lambie-Mumford, H 46 Lansley, S 65 Levitas, R 15, 136 Lister, R 17–18, 40–1, 50, 118 lived experiences see experience of poverty Loach, Ken 157 London Grenfell Tower fire 16, 39–40 housing 47 low-paid and insecure work 79 Loopstra, R 46 low-paid and insecure work experiencing 73–7, 107–9 geographical distribution of 77–85 growth of 66–73, 155 and social class 106–10 see also employment low-pay, no-pay cycle 1, 6, 68–70 183 Poverty propaganda M P Mack, J 65 MacShane, Denis 103 Manchester Citizens Advice 57 May, Theresa 43, 98–100, 105, 145 McKendrick, J 30 Mckenzie, L 17, 18, 36, 39, 128–9 Mead, L 27 media newspapers 21, 24, 26, 29, 34, 37, 139–40 television programmes 12–13, 24, 29–31, 142–4 and troubled families 33 Melville, D 69 mental health 53–5, 63 see also stigma and shame meritocracy 98–111 ‘messy middle’ 9, 88–93 Meueleman, B 142 middle classes 9–10, 90, 96, 101–2, 119 ‘messy middle’ 9, 88–93 see also social class; working classes Middlesbrough 81–3 Milburn, A 100 Miliband, R 157 Millington, S 121, 122–3 Mills, C 54 mining industry 80, 83 Minton, A 47 Mirror 34 Mooney, G 34, 35 MPs, and social class 103–4 Murray, C 38 Patrick, R 45, 117, 125 Payne, G 92, 104, 109, 110 Pemberton, S 138–9, 147 Pike, K 61 policy documents, and poverty propaganda 133–7 Poor Kids (TV programme) 143–4 ‘poor work’ see low-paid and insecure work poverty causes of 1, 8–9, 12, 14, 18, 21–2, 23–4, 28–9, 134–7, 155–6 definition of 3, 18 denial of 10–11 impact of 6–7 misunderstanding of 8–13 myths of 152–7 persistence of 93–8 ‘poverty porn’ 12–13, 24, 29–31 ‘poverty premium’ 48–50 poverty propaganda 21–41 and addiction 32–3, 33–4 concept of 22–5 the myths of poverty 152–7 and neoliberalism power of 22 success of 2, 152–3 troubled families 31–6 and underclass narrative 37–40 and welfare 25–31, 153 poverty propaganda, consequences of 2–3, 131–49 and power 145–9 and public opinion 141–5 punitive and discriminatory policies 133–41 reproduction of inequality 145–9 povertyism 124–9 Power, E 125 power, and poverty propaganda 145–9 Pring, J 54, 139 private education 103–4 private sector 147–8 public opinion 141–5 Pykett, J 141 N National Living Wage (NLW) 71–2 neoliberalism 2, 14–16, 37–8, 133, 145–6 see also low-paid work New Labour 56–7, 137 New Zealand 71 newspapers 21, 24, 26, 29, 34, 37, 139–40 Nunn, A 153 Nunn, H 95 O Obolenskaya, P 147, 148 O’Connell, R 46 O’Grady, F 70 O’Hara, M 59–60, 85 Osborne, George 29, 65–6 othering 17–18, 118 out-of-work benefits see benefits; ‘welfare’ R Ranson, S 101 Rawls, J 31 Reay, D 101–2, 124, 138 Redcar 80–1 Rees-Mogg, Jacob 10 Reutter, L.I 116–17 Riches, G 62, 63 Ridge, T 43 riots 37, 38 184 Index Roberts, K 90, 92, 96 Rogaly, B 40 Rowlingson, K 70, 148 Runnymede Trust 145 S sanctions 56–61, 140 Savage, M 8–9, 89, 93, 106 Save the Children 49–50 Sayer, A 124 Schmuecker, K 50 Seabrook, J 11, 17 Sennett, R 115–16 Sentamu, J 63 shame see stigma and shame Shavitt, S 118–19 sickness benefits 126 Sinfield, A 157 Skeggs, B 109, 113, 117–18 Slater, T 134, 135–6 social class 87–111 blurred boundaries 92 class structure 8–10, 92–3 concept of 87–9 and consumer behaviour 118–24, 128 and discrimination 124–9 dividing of the working class 144–5 and education 100–4 and employment opportunities 77–85, 91–3 impact of 110–11 and individualisation 88–93, 110–11 and inheritance/persistence of poverty 93–8 meritocracy 98–111 ‘messy middle’ 9, 88–93 middle classes 9–10, 90, 96, 101–2, 119 myths of 110–11 and neoliberalism 14 and social mobility 98–111, 156 social networks 105–6 stereotyping and prejudice 91–2, 128–9 and stigmatisation 18, 88, 117–18, 124–9 and underclass narrative 37–40 see also working classes social housing 47 social justice 31–2 Social Justice: Transforming lives 31–2 social mobility 98–111, 156 Social Mobility Commission 100 social networks 105–6 Soubry, Anna 113 Sports Direct 75–6, 77 Standing, G 82–3 Stanley, J 25 Stanley, L 138 steel industry 78–9, 80–2, 84 Steward, Chris 62 stigma and shame 113–29 and claiming benefits 116–17 and consumer behaviour 118–24, 128, 153 and discrimination 124–9 international perspective 114–15, 118 and othering 118 and poverty 113–18 and practitioners/stakeholders 125–6, 127–8 Strelitz, J 50 suicides 53–5 Sun 37 T Taylor, B 40 Taylor-Gooby, P 15 television programmes 12–13, 24, 29–31, 142–4 Tepe-Belfrage, T 153 Thatcher, Margaret 11, 84, 90, 105 Thompson, S 68 Tilley, J 91–2 Todd, S 39, 92 Townsend, P 3, 51, 87, 95 Trade Union Bill 2016 155 trade unions 69–70, 72, 77, 155 ‘troubled families’ 24, 31–6, 38, 153 Tunstall, R 46 Tyler, I 13, 28–9, 30, 145–6 U under-employment 72 underclass narrative 37–40 unemployment and conditionality 56–61 cultures of worklessness 7, 27–9, 33, 127–8, 153–4 welfare-to-work agencies 146, 147–8 see also employment United Nations 58–9, 61, 139–40, 140–1 United States, welfare 26–7 Universal Credit 46–7, 58 Unwin, J 17 W Walker, R 46, 113, 114–15, 141 Walkerdine, V 90 Watt, P 5, 47 wealth redistribution 156–7 Webster, C 34–5, 58, 83 ‘welfare’ contentious concept 18–19 and poverty propaganda 153 and public opinion 141–2 185 Poverty propaganda supporting and driving poverty 25–31 see also benefits; welfare reforms welfare broods 28–9 ‘welfare dependency’ 11–12, 23–4, 28–9, 133–4, 153, 154 ‘welfare queens’ 26–7 welfare reforms conditionality 56–61 framing of 139–40 impacts of 25, 53–61, 136–40, 154–5 legal challenges 126–7 and mental health 53–5 welfare-to-work agencies 146, 147–8 Welshman, J 93–4 Whyte, D 15, 25, 145 Wicks, M 15 Wiggan, J 134 work see employment Work Capability Assessment 55 Work Programme 146 workers’ rights 67–79, 155 working classes and class structure 9–10 and consumer behaviour 118–24, 128 dividing of 144–5 and education 100–4 embourgeoisement thesis 90 employment opportunities 14, 77–85, 91–3, 106–9 narratives of 91–2 and neoliberalism 14 and stigmatisation 18, 88, 117–18 and underclass narrative 37–40 see also social class working conditions 67–79, 155 Wright, S 57–8, 59 Wright, E.O 88–9, 110 Wright, I 75–6 Y Young, H 105 Z zero hours contracts 70, 71 Zhang, N 69 Zipfel, T 51 186 “Exposes the falsehood of stigmatising through treating people as ‘undeserving’ at a time when a privileged minority is receiving a lot of ‘something for nothing’.” Guy Standing, SOAS University of London “Sets out to debunk many of the myths around poverty and benefits in the UK A timely and important book from one of the leading thinkers on poverty in the UK.” Ruth Patrick, University of Liverpool Does ‘real’ poverty still exist in Britain? How people differentiate between the supposed ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor? Is there a culture of worklessness passed down from generation to generation? Poverty propaganda: Confronting the myths sheds new light on how poverty is understood in contemporary Britain The book debunks many popular myths about poverty and its prevalence, causes and consequences In particular, it highlights the role of ‘poverty propaganda’ in sustaining class divides and in perpetuating disadvantage in contemporary Britain Tracy Shildrick is Professor of Sociology at the University of Newcastle She is co-author of Poverty and insecurity (Policy Press, 2012), which won the Peter Townsend 2013 prize Her research interests span youth transitions, worklessness, poverty and social exclusion ISBN 978-1-4473-2398-3 www.policypress.co.uk PolicyPress @policypress 781447 323983 Poverty propaganda Tracy Shildrick “An essential guide to poverty in 21st-century Britain Examines how the truth about poverty continues to be hidden behind headlines, stories and images of the feckless undeserving poor.” Imogen Tyler, University of Lancaster Pover propa explo rIng t ty ganda HE my tHs TRACY SHILD RICK ... referring to these discourses as poverty propaganda I aim to highlight key myths about poverty and challenge them with evidence around the realities of poverty There are no ‘deserving poor’ in the contemporary... develops these themes, drawing on the idea of poverty propaganda as a means to try to unravel the relationship between popular ideas, policy developments and the realities of poverty in the current... advancement The language of the day might change, but the British equivalent of the ‘American dream’, whether it be in the form of the the opportunity society’ (Major, 1991) or the latest incarnation