United Kingdom
In the UK, Oxfam's focus is on ensuring that people have sufficient income to live on, public attitudes to poverty, asylum issues, and gender and race equality.
Poverty in the UK
Nearly 13 million people in the UK live in poverty – that’s one in five of the population.
- 3.8 million children live in poverty in the UK
- Only six of the 27 EU countries have a higher poverty rate than the UK *
How Oxfam is helping
Oxfam believes it is unacceptable that millions of people in the UK don’t have enough to live on. We are working to end poverty in the UK in three ways.
- We develop projects to improve the lives of people living in poverty
- We raise public awareness of poverty in the UK to create a pressure for change
- We work with policy-makers to tackle the causes of poverty
Oxfam has a vision of everyone in the UK having enough to live on, and of all men, women and children being treated with respect and dignity no matter how much money they have.
Kate Wareing, UK Poverty, Oxfam
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Read more examples of our work in the United Kingdom:
* (2005/6 figures. New Policy Institute and Joseph Rowntree Foundation. www.poverty.org.uk)
Ending exploitation at work
Half of all children living in poverty have at least one parent in work. But they may still go to school hungry, or live in an unheated house, because their parents don’t earn enough to live on. Low-paid workers include:
- Homeworkers packing or assembling goods such as clothing, footwear and gifts. They often receive less than the minimum wage – some as little as 70p an hour
- Migrant workers in skilled jobs. They are often promised the minimum wage – but the ‘gangmasters’ who contract them take unfair deductions from their wages
How Oxfam is helping
Oxfam is working with low-paid workers to make sure that they know and claim their rights. And supporting partner organisations in calling for better rights for low-paid workers.
- We're are working with migrant workers to ensure they know they are entitled to the minimum wage and to health and safety protection
- In autumn 2008, we’ll start working with employers in the social care sector to make sure they know – and meet – their legal obligations to their employees
- Working with others, we are campaigning for better employment rights for homeworkers who are denied benefits such as sick pay or maternity leave
Learn more
Pressure for change
At Oxfam, our experience teaches us that poverty is caused by circumstances beyond an individual's control. Things like your gender, your nationality, or even where you live.
70 per cent of Bangladeshi children in the UK grow up in poverty – that’s not a choice;
Nor do women working part-time choose to earn nearly 40 per cent less than men;
Asylum-seekers do not choose to be the poorest people in the UK.
How Oxfam is helping
When the odds are stacked against you like this, it’s easy to see why some people are poor.
That’s why Oxfam is working to increase awareness that poverty is not the fault of the individual and to create public pressure for action to end poverty
And that’s why Oxfam campaigns with others on the issues which affect people living in poverty.
Bonded labour in the UK
Oxfam is campaigning against legal changes which will result in bonded labour in the UK.
Jenny was beaten by her employer in the UK for nearly three years. Eventually, she managed to escape from her employer’s house with the help of a neighbour.
Oxfam believes it is completely unacceptable that people should work in conditions akin to bonded labour in 21st Century Britain.
Kate Wareing, Director, UK Poverty, Oxfam GB
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Flooding in the UK
In June and July 2007, the UK experienced the worst floods it has seen for years, with homes flooded and people displaced in north and central England.
As in any emergency situations overseas, it is the poorest people who have been hardest hit by the recent flooding in the UK. Many of those affected were unable to afford household contents insurance – and will be unable to replace lost or damaged goods.
Kate Wareing, UK Poverty, Oxfam
Many people living on low incomes simply cannot afford insurance once they have paid for food, clothing and heating. Whilst for most people insurance is an 'essential', it is a shock to realise that for those living on the lowest incomes it is actually an impossible luxury.
How Oxfam is helping
Oxfam is not mounting an emergency response to the UK flooding at the moment. They UK government and related authorities are the appropriate bodies to respond to the situation, and have the resources and expertise to do so.
But Oxfam is highlighting in the UK media the fact that the poorest people are those worst-affected by the floods and is calling on the government to ensure that sufficient resources are made available to assist the many thousands of households who will not have savings or insurance to draw on.
