“Poverty proofing” and a national strategy for the cost-of-living crisis

A meeting of medical experts and academics on poverty and the cost-of-living crisis, which took place this May, agreed that the government should urgently reform Universal Credit and begin building safe, affordable social housing to curb the effects of economic inequality on people’s health. One academic at the Royal Society of Medicine’s event warned that the long term effect of ongoing economic inequality on life expectancy was worse than six unmitigated covid pandemics.Some 157 attendees voted on 10 proposed solutions to the medical impact of growing poverty rates, caused by a combination of prolonged austerity and the current cost-of-living crisis. The three that received the most support were a national strategy to tackle poverty; the nationwide delivery of “more affordable, quality, secure social and rental housing”; and urgently increasing the rate of Universal Credit as well as removing the restrictions related to total benefits and multiple children (box 1).Box1Universal Credit…
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