Poverty is still an increasing challenge across the UK

Poverty is not a new problem in the UK and has been recognised for centuries as having a negative impact on public health. As DsPH we deal with the issues at a local level everyday but often without the necessary resources to tackle the problems effectively. 

The £56.6 million funding boost for the Start for Life programme for 2025/26 and setting up of the Child Poverty Task Force last year were very welcome. We met with the Task Force earlier this year and agreed a set of questions to help understand the local picture of child poverty as well as any good practice initiatives. Based on this and working with support from our Children and Young People Policy Advisory Group we are developing a policy position statement on child poverty, which we hope to publish later this year. 

It’s important that the Government provides more support to give local areas the policy levers, resources, and funding they need to develop and maintain effective schemes tailored to local needs. We await the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy later this year with interest. 

It can’t come soon enough. The situation continues to be challenging with ten million adults and 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK, with people in the least deprived areas of the country living around 19 more years in good health compared with those living in the most deprived. With increasing numbers of people too sick to work, affecting productivity and increasing demand on health and social care, the impact is felt by individuals and the economy. 

It is essential that communities have access to affordable, healthy food, access to active transport options and adequate green spaces and clean air. Regulations should be in place to help protect them from industry influence and harmful products. Houses should be built with health in mind, we should have jobs that help us to thrive and our children should receive good education and nutritious meals. 

Sadly, this is not the reality for those living in poverty and people are still having to make impossible choices that directly impact their health. Should we feed ourselves so we can work, or feed our children? Should we buy cheap, but unhealthy food, so we can afford to heat our homes, or spend three times more on healthier options? 

Unless we make significant national policy changes, people will continue to get sick from avoidable illnesses caused by living in poverty. 

At a local level there are programmes and strategies that are genuinely helping to alleviate some of these problems. Public health teams work with partners to make that happen. For example, in Sheffield we have established a Cost of Living Hub and 300 Welcome Places, where people can receive a warm welcome and advice in a safe environment and we set up the Policy Truth Commission to work with people with lived experience. Earlier this year we also held a Taking Action on Poverty Summit with partners from across the community. Other areas of the country, such as Tameside have substantive strategies to help tackle poverty and in London, the Challenge LDN Poverty Prevention Challenge is using AI to help families at risk of falling into food poverty maximise their food budget.  

A recent report from Resolve Poverty has outlined how LAs can help to reduce poverty by embedding poverty reduction and prevention as a priority across all their services, including education, health and economic regeneration.   

We, alongside other organisations including the LGA, continue to advocate for a dedicated national health inequalities strategy as set out in our Manifesto for a Healthier Nation. We are also calling for a new Child Poverty Act which commits to ending child poverty by 2030, so all children have a secure start, as so much of future health is determined by our childhoods.  

Next month, we are partnering with the Royal Society for Public Health, the Faculty of Public Health and the Royal Society of Medicine on an event to explore how public health professionals and practitioners can take meaningful local action to address poverty. 

The current Government has made it clear that it is committed to prevention and it must recognise that adequate long-term funding and a health in all policies approach, whether related to transport, education, housing, the environment, the economy or anything else, are required to have the necessary impact on our health and reduce health inequalities. 

Ultimately, introducing evidence-based measures that tackle poverty and protect and promote good health will not only improve and save lives, but also save money by reducing demand on health and social care, and improving productivity. That’s definitely a win.