Poverty, Deprivation and Social Work

During the 1980s the incomes of the poorest households in Britain fell, in real terms, and the divide between the rich and the poor widened considerably. The government's own statistics confirm this, and there is little evidence to suggest that this trend will not continue. As a result, social workers and members of other caring professions are increasingly faced in their day-to-day work with the manifestations of poverty in the lives of individuals and families who come to them for help. It is important that they should understand this poverty to be a feature of the social and economic landscape which such people inhabit, rather than viewing it principally as a characteristic of the individuals who are poor. This book focuses on certain key aspects of that landscape as well as on the consequences of poverty at a personal level for certain individuals and groups in our society.