When austerity emerged as government’s response to the 2008 crash, people on low incomes faced cumulative increases in poverty. Cuts to transport, social housing and care, health, welfare benefits, legal aid and public funding of the voluntary sector were among the obvious contributors.

Five years on, and more cumulative impoverishment faces those whose stagnant wages struggle with rising costs and falling public services. Government is emphatic that reductions in the public sector have much further to go (see for example). Continue reading →