Five Doodles

Question 1

Deeply held beliefs and divisive cultural and political narratives mean that…

Answer 1

…messages about poverty can get lost in translation

Question 2

Poverty is a problem that can be solved, if…

Answer 2

…we all work together and build support for action and change.

Question 3

We can’t just publish some stats or reports and…

Answer 3

…assume everyone views them in the same way.

Question 4

We use ‘currents’ as a metaphor for how poverty works because…

Answer 4

…it helps to explain how poverty reduces options and makes it extremely hard for people to simply change their situations.

Question 5

Redesigning the social security system is one way of…

Answer 5

…helping people to stay afloat when they’re struggling.

Question 6

Poverty works like a current…

Answer 6

…circumstances like losing a job or a relationship break-up can pull people into poverty.

Question 7

Circumstances like losing a job or a relationship break-up can pull people into poverty but…

Answer 7

…the social security system can be redesigned to help people stay afloat when they are struggling.

Question 8

The idea of people being ‘locked in’ poverty by circumstances outside of their control is another powerful metaphor as…

Answer 8

…it shows some of the main factors that combine to restrict and restrain people, locking them in poverty

Question 9

Things that can drag/push people into poverty include…

Answer 9

low-paid insecure work

housing costs

benefits freeze

rising cost of living

relationship break-up

bereavement

mental/physical health

Question 10

Low-paid, insecure work, housing costs, the benefits freeze and the rising cost of living combine to…

Answer 10

…lock people in poverty.

Question 11

Loosening poverty’s grip…

Answer 11

…a social security system that’s functioning well can support people when they hit hard times.

…benefits are a key that can unlock poverty’s constraints.

Question 12

Benefits can be…

Answer 12

…a key that can unlock poverty’s constraints.

Question 13

Benefits can help…

Answer 13

…unlock poverty’s constraints.

Question 14

Benefits are part of the solution…

Answer 14

…When we talk about benefits, it’s common to start thinking about who is deserving or undeserving. Benefits can then be seen as a problem – not part of the solution to solving poverty.

…Benefits are part of a wider system of public services that we all rely on, to ensure that everyone in our country has a decent standard of living.

Question 15

We all rely on publicly-funded services. Benefits are a vital public service when we’re struggling…

Answer 15

…police, railways, education, NHS, benefits.

Question 16

The economy can be redesigned…

Answer 16

…poverty can seem like a huge, unsolvable problem. Similarly, the economy is seen as big, unmovable, inevitable and complicated.

as a society, we believe in compassion and justice, but the way the economy has been designed is not benefiting everyone.

systems like the economy can be changed – they can be redesigned to work for everyone.