Millions of people in the UK struggle to make ends meet, day to day. People we work with tell us that living without enough money means:

• Not having enough to pay for the things you need, for yourself and your family. Things like a winter coat for your child, or healthy food.
• Missing out on simple things that most people take for granted – a meal out with friends, paying for a school trip, presents at Christmas.
• Finding it hard to cope with unexpected events, like the boiler failing or the car breaking down.

We’re a rich nation. Everyone should have a basic income that’s enough to live a dignified and secure life. Yet, for more than one-fifth of the population – particularly for women and people from ethnic minority communities – this just isn’t the case.

Why don’t people have enough to live on?

• Work doesn’t pay enough. The National Minimum Wage is too low to lift people out of poverty.
• Benefits are set too low. People on benefits, whether they’re unable to work or are looking for a job, are living in poverty.
• The benefits system is inflexible and slow to respond. People have to wait weeks, even months, for the system to catch up with their changing needs. Weeks during which they are getting into debt, or struggling to afford food, making recovery even harder. It means you can’t risk short term or insecure work – if things go wrong you might end up even worse off.

What we're doing

In Scotland, we’re working with advice centres and community groups to make people aware of their rights, and ensure they receive everything they’re entitled to.

We’re also working with partners in Cardiff, Teeside, and the Peak District, exploring a new way of thinking about poverty in the UK, and using what we find to change policies. The sustainable livelihoods approach, borrowed from international development work overseas, has three key elements:

• Exploring a person’s whole experience of poverty, not just their income. Looking at other factors – health or caring responsibilities for example – and treating low income as a symptom, not a cause, of poverty.
• Looking at men and women differently. Highlighting their different experiences of poverty, so that policy can be tailored accordingly.
• Looking at what people already have, and asking how this could best be harnessed, rather than focussing on their needs. For example, skills or education, family support, community links, or access to credit and savings.

Now we’re telling the government what we have found. By looking at everything that keeps people in poverty, they could design better policies. Policies which take account of childcare needs and the importance of caring, for example.

We are calling on the government to significantly increase the National Minimum Wage, and are part of the Fair Pay Network, campaigning for business and local authorities to pay their employees a fair wage.

We campaign for the benefits system to be more flexible and better adapted to the way people actually live their lives, and for benefit levels to be raised.

We support the End Child Poverty campaign, and as part of the Keeping Mum campaign, believe that addressing women’s poverty is vital to ending child poverty. We are also exploring the impact climate change is having on poor people in the UK, and looking at solutions which address climate change and poverty together.

What we're calling for

• The tax and benefits system should be rethought, and benefits raised substantially, to reflect the reality of people’s lives and the modern labour market.
• The government should invest in child tax credits and benefits to keep its promise to halve child poverty by 2010, as demanded by the End Child Poverty campaign.
• Increases in the National Minimum Wage should compensate for the fact that, in real terms, previous rises have been less than inflation.
• An earnings disregard should be built into the benefits system, so people can begin earning without jeopardising their benefits – helping smooth the transition into work.
• Caring should be recognised and valued as a vital form of work.