Lived experience of poverty stigma will inform new policies for public services

The voices of people who experienced the stigma surrounding poverty have been key to a new set of recommendations and solutions aimed at improving support.

The Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) based at Cardiff University has worked closely with community researchers in Swansea to investigate the impact of poverty stigma, a debilitating dimension of poverty that can affect mental health and prevent individuals from accessing vital services, including financial help.

Its report for the project, Voices of Swansea - Challenging Poverty Stigma Together, will inform Swansea Council’s Tacking Poverty strategy.

Dr Tarh Martha Ako Mfortem, one of the community researchers who worked on the projectsaid: “Our findings point to failing policies, not people. It is imperative to involve everyone in shaping policies that seek to address their needs. We now know that early help and intervention can prevent stigma and its long-term effects.”

The community research, which explored how people in Swansea experience poverty stigma, found that:

• Early experiences of poverty stigma can shape how individuals perceive themselves throughout their lives, despite parents striving to shield their children from their family situation.
• Traditional and social media can reinforce poverty stigma, by creating pressure for families to display a lifestyle they can’t afford, especially around special occasions such as Christmas.
• Accessing services can feel demoralising. Food banks, benefits assessments and other support systems can be stigmatising for individuals in poverty, especially when they are asked to repeat personal experiences across different services.
• Poverty stigma intensifies when people feel blamed or labelled as lazy for choices shaped by poverty and the systems surrounding them such as work incentive traps.
• Poverty stigma can interact with other forms of discrimination, including that experienced by people with disabilities or from other countries.
• Unwelcoming buildings, including the presence of security guards, can create a perception that people needing to access to services aren’t welcome or valued.

Voices of Swansea - Challenging Poverty Stigma Together recommends priority actions that public services could take on board to challenge and reduce stigma.

These focus on three key themes:

• Removing stigma from access to support;
• Delivering services with dignity and respect and;
• Changing language, culture and systems around the way public services are designed and delivered.

Practical recommendations for change include:

Removing stigma from access to support, such as:

• eliminating repetitive assessments;
• offering multiple services under one roof; and
• streamlining support processes across local authority departments.

Delivering services with dignity and respect by:

• ensuring that services are convenient for the people who need to access them, such as by maintaining physical access options to avoid digital exclusion;
• providing poverty stigma training for professionals to address stigma in service design and delivery;
• and exploring ways of better supporting groups most likely to experience poverty stigma, such as asylum seekers and refugees, who often face worklessness.

Changing culture, language and systems by:

• increasing the involvement of people with lived experience in the design, delivery and evaluation of services; and
• simplifying and reframing language such as forms and letters.

Jane Whitmore, Swansea Council’s Interim Chief Officer for Commissioning and Resources, said: “We’re pleased to see this valuable work come together. This research will directly feed into Swansea Council's upcoming Tackling Poverty Strategy. The fact that it was co-produced by community researchers who have gathered crucial insights into how poverty stigma affects people’s lives in Swansea and what actions can be taken to address this, adds considerably more meaning and significance to its findings.”

WCPP Director of Policy and Practice (Public Services), Amanda Hill-Dixon said: “The fact that we were able to co-produce ‘Voices of Swansea - Challenging Poverty Stigma Together’ with a team of Swansea-based Community Researchers has made a huge difference to finding practical, local policy solutions to this debilitating aspect of poverty. Combined with the results of a pan-Wales survey we commissioned on the scale and nature of poverty stigma in Wales, and academic evidence on what works to address it, we now have a bank of knowledge to help public services to shift the dial on this important issue.”

As part of the Voices of Swansea project, WCPP also commissioned a series of photographs of people and places around Swansea that illustrate inclusive and supportive practice in line with the key recommendations of the research. The series was co-designed with the team of community researchers who co-produced the research and the images were made by photographer Sukhy Hullait.

The photo series features Townhill’s Phoenix Centre, Y Storfa, Swansea Council’s multi-use, city centre hub, Crisis Skylight homelessness charity, Cwtch Mawr, Wales’ first multi-bank and Your Voice Advocacy Group, based at the Dylan Thomas Centre.

Community Researcher Michelle Hopkins added: “The most important thing is that people know what frontline services are available and how to access them. When places are welcoming and there is a ‘no wrong door’ policy, it makes such a difference to people’s mental health when they are already in crisis. The people and places photographed in this series are great examples of that.”

Leanne Dower, Phoenix Centre CEO said: “We see ourselves as an integral part of a very proud and positive community. Our success is down to the people of Townhill and our strength comes from listening to our residents and adapting constantly to their needs. For example, the decision to run a community shop rather than a food bank came from feedback from our community and aims to remove the stigma that is linked to food banks.”