Britain’s hidden poor report. A project for Elizabeth Finn Trust

Publication type

Report

Publication date

July 1, 2004

Abstract:

The Future Foundation have found through new analysis of the British Household Panel Survey combined with Office of National Statistics data on the proportion of adults in theUK who are British and Irish nationals, that 14% of the EFT professional classes - 3.8 million adults in the UK - are below the poverty line.1 These make up the potential EFT client group.
How do people with the advantage of good careers or a good background get in this position? Downward social mobility can occur when one or a combination of the followingfactors pushes an individual into a vicious cycle of decline: a lack of educationalqualifications; financial constraints; a lack of work; marital breakdown or death of spouse; poor health: lack of social capital - e.g. lack of social support networks in times of crisis and a lack of cultural capital - e.g. a lack of knowledge of the culture enjoyed and discussed by their peers.
The EFT potential client group are more likely than British and Irish nationals in adult UK population as a whole to experience these triggers.
The Elizabeth Finn Trust (EFT), founded as the Distressed Gentlefolk’s Aid Association in 1897, is a charity that offers ‘Support and Care for British or Irish Professional People and Their Families’. Assistance is provided in the form of financial grants or allowances, primary care in residential homes and day-to-day practical advice. The EFT aims to help its clients deal with the difficulties associated with old age, infirmity, disability, social isolation and/or financial need. The majority of beneficiaries are means tested and live on state benefits or very low incomes.
The charity commissioned a research project to look more closely at the vulnerability of their client group.

Subject

Notes

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