Who’s scrounging?
February 9th, 2009 by Clare Cochrane Posted in attitudes
There’s a nasty myth going around (and it’s been going around for ages) that people experiencing poverty in the UK are scroungers, freeloaders, getting away with living off all the hardworking tax payers. But despite what the tabloids would have you believe, with their occasional portrayals of the odd individual or family that has pulled a benefits scam, that’s not generally true.
A Charity Commission report out last week found that almost a third of British adults would be too ashamed to seek help from a charity even if they needed it. Independence and self-sufficiency is a highly prized value – ask anyone who has ever experienced disability and hated every minute of asking others for support. Most people who are on benefits or low incomes want to support themselves, whether they’re starting out on their careers, or just trying to get on with their lives.
As Carol’s story shows, far from simply taking from society, people on low incomes in the UK make valuable contributions. There are currently 109 time banks in the UK with 7714 active volunteers. Studies of timebanks have shown that 58% of their volunteers earn less than £10,000 per year; 72% were not in formal employment. Meanwhile, some of the highest earners in the UK are avoiding paying their economic dues in taxes to the tune of £13 billion.
That seems to disprove the putative link between poverty and scrounging. At a time when economic recession is bringing unemployment ever closer to everyone, I’d suggest that it’s time to think again and start to value the real contributions made by those who struggle every day.
