The Poverty Truth Movement: Fostering Communities of Care and Solidarity, a Participative Action Research Project

2018年，联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿（Philip Alston）访问了英国，进行实况调查，以确定十年来紧缩政策对英国福利国家的影响。根据采访数据、证词和来自慈善机构和第三部门组织的报告，以及定性和定量的社会科学数据，奥尔斯顿报告说，五分之一的英国人口（1400万人）生活在贫困中，目前有150万英国公民处于贫困状态。根据美国职业学院（Institute and Faculty of factuaries）（2019年）的数据，自官方长寿报告开始以来，预期寿命首次下降了6个月。新冠肺炎疫情进一步加剧了英国的贫困，对经济产生了严重影响，死亡率上升，这些地区和社区已经受到紧缩政策影响最严重。例如，《英国医学杂志》的数据显示，贫困社区的人死于该病毒的可能性是其他社区的两倍（《英国医学杂志》，2020年）。

In 2018, Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, visitedthe UK on a fact-finding operation to establish the impact of a decade of austerity cuts to theBritish welfare state. Drawing on interview data, testimonies and reports from charitable andthird sector organisations, and both qualitative and quantitative social scientific data, Alstonreported that one fifth of the UK population (14 million people) were living in poverty, with 1.5million British citizens currently experiencing destitution. According to the Institute and Faculty ofActuaries (2019), life expectancy has fallen by six months for the first time since official longevityreports began. The Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated poverty in the UK, with severeeconomic impacts, and higher death rates concentrated in those regions and communities alreadymost impacted by austerity cuts. For example, data from the British Medical Journal reveals thatpeople from poor neighbourhoods are twice as likely to die from the virus (BMJ, 2020).