Do your duty for equality and support our campaign to put lived experience at the heart of policy making.
The voice of lived experience is the missing piece in policy making. For far too long policy making is something that is done to people, meaning many communities feel forgotten and have no control on the decisions that most effect their daily lives. No-one feels this as strongly as those left behind by the last few decades of economic growth, people living in poverty.
Poverty2Solutions seek to drive forward and be part of a cultural shift so that policy is not done to, but rather with communities who have lived experience. We endorse a legal requirement to put lived experience at the heart of policy making as well as guidance and good practice on how to involve people with lived experience, particularly those living in poverty.
We believe has the power to produce better policies, services and - ultimately - a fairer, prosperous society. We are looking to work with all sections of our society, from politicians to community groups, to help us make our vision a reality.
“‘Too often people are portrayed as numbers on paper, or as stats and percentages. It is very easy for policy makers to dismiss who they represent when they aren’t considered as individuals. Having someone describe their lived experience is not only brave but essential if we want positive and long-lasting change. They can show us our failings, our lack of compassion and humanity. If a policy affects someone why shouldn’t they have the right to be involved in it’s making?’”
Do your duty for equality….
Poverty 2 Solutions are working tirelessly to campaign for the voices of people experiencing poverty to be heard, and to begin the process of transformative change that this would represent. We believe this would enliven democracy, give voice to those with lived experience of socio-economic disadvantage, and improve social and economic futures for us all.
Campaigning at the Labour Party Conference
“taking our project to the LPC was great, I really liked it. I had never been to such an event, meeting MPs and public figures was something special, I felt some of the people really listened to us. We really need to keep meeting people and getting the message out there.”
Publications
Do your duty for equality briefing
BRIEFING
Making the case for addressing rising levels of inequality in partnership with people with lived experiences of poverty.
Do your duty for equality summary
2 PAGE SUMMARY
Making the case for addressing rising levels of inequality in partnership with people with lived experiences of poverty.
Enact the Socio-economic Duty
BRIEFING
Putting forward the case for enacting the socio-economic duty as a way of reducing the inequalities caused by socio-economic disadvantage.
Core principles
Drawing on their own experiences, Poverty2Solutions have developed some core principles that should inform partnership work on developing better policy. These include:
Recognise that key knowledge about poverty and inequality is held by those in communities who have lived experience of socio-economic disadvantage.
Understand that meaningful involvement includes involving people from the offset, committing to processes of engagement (rather than single events) and exploring how diverse forms of expertise are best incorporated into policymaking.
Accept that real success comes when there is a bringing together of different types of expertise (lived experience and other expertise such as e.g. statistical analysis or policy knowledge) through collaboration and co-production. This is a radical process of reimagining expertise, and recalibrating working processes.
“‘Lived experiences provides a holistic approach when addressing a problem. We are also bigger than our lived experiences. We bring additional expertise; insight and knowledge. So why are we ignored? Our expertise should be valued. It is this expertise that could make the change that we all need’”
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If you have personal experience of living in poverty we’d like to hear from you - please share your story with us on Twitter.
Or just get in touch
To get involved with the project or find out more you can get in touch at info@poverty2solutions.org.
