Most social workers do not believe practitioners can meaningfully address poverty with the people they support, despite the longstanding link between deprivation and involvement with social services, a poll has found.
A 2024 Social Workers Union (SWU) survey of 2,248 members found that 88% had seen a rise in the number of people they supported who were in poverty or facing serious financial hardship over the past three years.
Meanwhile, recent Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) research showed that rising poverty and homelessness were key drivers of demand for children’s social care.
In contrast, 28% fully agreed practitioners could address poverty meaningfully, while 15% said they “somewhat” agreed.
'No access to resources'
Commentators under a related article doubted whether meaningful interventions were possible, given the limited resources available to social workers.“Most social workers do not have access to resources that address poverty in a meaningful, sustainable way,” said one practitioner.
They contrasted poverty with issues such as domestic abuse or mental health, where there clearer steps for social workers to take.
“[With] poverty, what can you do? Get knocked back when you ask a manager for s17 money [payments to families under section 17 of the Children Act 1989], [who will] probably only sign off £20? Check a parent is receiving all their benefits, then have nowhere else to go when that doesn’t cover [living] costs? Scour for local charities and groups that are rapidly declining in number and in what they can offer?”
Poverty has been turned into a ‘you’ problem
They were echoed by Sophia, who argued that while poverty was always considered in assessments, support on the ground was lacking.“Successive governments have failed to fund the services that [can] tackle the need at source,” she added.
“The erosion of local services [and] voluntary organisations and the centralising of existing services has moved social work away from the local communities it was created to support. Poverty has been turned into a ‘you’ problem to resolve rather than the state addressing the root of the issue.”
‘The problem is structural’
Nigel added that social workers often lacked understanding of the realities of inadequate housing, educational disadvantage, insecure work and benefits dependence, while Ruth Cartwright admitted that, in some cases, £50 was more useful to those she supported than visits.“The problem of people living in poverty, the causes of which are built into our social structures, is very broad and deep," she said. "Use your vote wisely, build links with organisations, [and] be honest about the [impact of] poverty when [case] recording.”
Celebrate those who've inspired you
Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can't help but gush about?
Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.
Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com
