It’s July 2022 and households are being hammered by the highest rate of inflation in 40 years—a rate the Bank of England is predicting will rise above 11 per cent in the autumn. This is placing immense pressure on millions of households across the country. It’s in this context that social worker and anti-poverty campaigner, Dominic Watters, joins Andy McClenaghan to discuss his living experience of poverty and his campaign to highlight and address the issue of food insecurity.

They discuss the alienating impacts of poverty, Dominic’s route into social work, and the importance of ensuring social workers are trained to recognise the many negative impacts of poverty on life opportunities for children and families. The conversation also examines the extent to which politicians are aware of the effects of poverty and the need for the social work profession to challenge the factors which lead to hardship.

Dominic’s book, Social Distance in Social Work: COVID Capsule One, can be purchased at https://amzn.eu/d/2RR7lEN

Institute of Fiscal Studies figures on the relative poverty rate for children of lone parents is available at https://ifs.org.uk/publications/16115

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report Not heating, eating or meeting bills: managing a cost of living crisis on a low income is available at https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/not-heating-eating-or-meeting-bills-managing-cost-living-crisis-low-income

The Food Foundation statistics on food insecurity referenced in the episode can be downloaded from https://foodfoundation.org.uk/press-release/new-data-shows-food-insecurity-major-challenge-levelling-agenda

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