More than 2 million UK families reach poverty scale amid Coronavirus crisis

Photo Credits: PTI file photo

As the novel Coronavirus pandemic induced lockdown has hit the United Kingdom, it has added further recession and financial crisis to the already more than one million UK families includes over 2.4 million people who have experienced destitution, according to the study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) stated on Wednesday.

The JRF Research stated, “This study, the third in the Destitution in the UK series, reveals that even before the COVID-19 outbreak destitution was rapidly growing in scale and intensity. Since 2017, many more households, including families with children have been pushed to the brink.”

The foundation has estimated destitution’s condition as inability for a household to afford over two or more of the essentials need to live, which includes shelter, food, heating and clothing.

Based on the statistics revealed by the report, from 2.4 million people, as many as 550,000 were children experiencing destitution. It further states that one in five of them are homeless or have alcohol or dug problems, and around 54 per cent of them have severe health-related issues.

In a video posted by JRF director Helen Barnard on Twitter said, “I’m appalled, I’m ashamed and I’m angry. Nearly 2.5 million people experienced destitution in 2019. That’s more than 50 per cent increase since 2017. More than half a million children are growing up with the experience of destitution.” Helen, in her video, has further urged for improvement pertaining to social security, construction of more social homes and building better paid job opportunities. The study iterated on rise in destitution in UK, the most of it has been in northern cities and towns.

• Melukote – Vairamudi Festival – 2022
• Bengaluru metro to function on weekdays, closed on weekends from July 1
• India provides reciprocal exemption of EU Digital COVID Certificate to include Covishield, Covaxin
• PM Modi will address the Digital India beneficiaries at 11 am tomorrow
• Pvt hospitals will obtain Covid vaccine doses via CoWIN starting from July 1