Episode #52: Softening poverty with trust – Quiet Netherlands
Trust, solidarity, and rebellious spirit with humour and a smile: these are the ingredients of the Quiet communities that helpContinue Reading
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Episode #51: November chat
Time for another update on news about poverty! First up, UNICEF published the 2025 version of its flagship report, namelyContinue Reading
Episode #50: Shame is no place to live – Cody Hochstenbach
“For the oppressed, housing has always been in crisis. So, for many people, the housing crisis isn’t anything new. ItContinue Reading
Episode #49: September chat
This month’s chat includes updated global child poverty estimates, the increased pressure on parents for tackling early childhood poverty, mismatchContinue Reading
Episode #48: Tackling poverty and disadvantage in schools – Sean Harris
Addressing poverty and hardship in schools requires looking at all aspects of children’s lives and the whole eco-system surrounding childrenContinue Reading
Episode #47: July chat
It’s July – summer in the northern hemisphere! As things have quieted down around us, this month’s chat is aboutContinue Reading
Episode #46: What works to reduce child poverty – Global Coalition to End Child Poverty
Currently, 859 million around the world live in multidimensional poverty and more than 300 million children live in extremely income-poorContinue Reading
Episode #45: Poverty Unpacked – May chat
Time for a new round up of news on all things #poverty! Much to report this month, see full listContinue Reading
Episode #44: Getting organised to fight poverty
Ending poverty requires mass movements. Charitable actions by individuals can make an important difference but are ultimately a drop inContinue Reading
Episode #43: Poverty Unpacked – March chat
Child poverty in the UK is high and on the rise. This month’s chat discusses the latest welfare cuts andContinue Reading
Episode #42: Tackling homelessness without strings attached – Greater Change
Homelessness in the UK is on the rise. This includes people sleeping rough as well as families with children livingContinue Reading
Episode #41: Poverty Unpacked – January chat
Poverty Unpacked chats are back! Three pieces of news for this month. First, publication of The Empathy Fix. Why PovertyContinue Reading
Episode #40: Defensive design and hostile architecture – Cara Chellew
Have you ever tried to sit down at a bus stop only to find that the bench slopes too muchContinue Reading
Episode #39: Crafting for social justice – Sarah Corbett
What does crafting have to do with activism? How can sewing, knitting or crocheting support social justice? What contribution canContinue Reading
Episode #38: Poverty is expensive – Fair by Design
When you have less to spend, life costs more. As perverse as this may sound, the fact that people withContinue Reading
Back with a bang! (well, book…)
by Keetie Roelen It’s been a while, but for good reason. In the past 9 months, I’ve been focusing myContinue Reading
Episode #37: Poverty Unpacked – October chat
October is here! Welcome to another version of our bi-monthly catch up with poverty-related news and resources. First off, aContinue Reading
Episode #36: Giving cash directly – Lydiah Wangechi
What if programmes aiming to improve people’s lives did a simple thing – give people cash, directly? This is theContinue Reading
Episode #35: Poverty Unpacked – August chat
Welcome to another bi-monthly roundup of news, research, events and more about poverty that we think you should know about.Continue Reading
Episode #34: Dignity in development – Tom Wein
How can international development interventions be implemented in a respectful way that enhances its beneficiaries’ dignity? How can social servicesContinue Reading
Episode #33: Poverty Unpacked – June chat
Thanks for tuning into the second version of my bi-monthly chat! This episode, I share my thoughts on a greatContinue Reading
Episode #32: Improving outcomes for children in poverty – Naomi Eisenstadt
Area-based, inclusive and open access services in a welcoming space. Practical support to improve parents’ headspace. Well-funded welfare to reduceContinue Reading
Episode #31: Poverty Unpacked – April chat
Welcome to the first version of my new bi-monthly episode! Instead of publishing a written post in the months thatContinue Reading
Episode #30: Basic income – more than just cash
Regular cash transfers, no strings attached and no questions asked. What is their potential? Can it disrupt the power dynamicContinue Reading
Books about poverty – here you go!
by Keetie Roelen UPDATE FEBRUARY 2025 The original version of this post was published two years ago, and the websiteContinue Reading
Episode #29: Learning from lived experience – Toneva Munroe
Imagine trying to find somewhere to live for yourself and your young daughter when wrongfully evicted. Or applying for supportContinue Reading
2022 was a terrible year for poverty – will 2023 get any better?
by Keetie Roelen 2022 started with hope. It looked like the pandemic was finally easing off, and we were allContinue Reading
Episode #28: Climate change – How can people in poverty be better supported to cope with climate shocks?
People in poverty contribute least to climate change yet also benefit least from policies that either try to mitigate climateContinue Reading
Disrupting poverty in the US: five things I learned
by Keetie Roelen Last week I had the pleasure and privilege to attend the conference ‘Disrupting Poverty’ organised by EMPath,Continue Reading
Episode #27: Graduating out of poverty – can it be done?
Empowering families in poverty to take control and set them on a path towards a better life, this is atContinue Reading
Cost of living crisis: what does it look like around the world?
by Keetie Roelen After almost two years of grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic and all the misery it caused, theContinue Reading
Episode #26: Cost of living crisis: fighting to survive – the Trussell Trust
Rising prices in the face of fuel shortages and war in Ukraine are pushing up the cost of living acrossContinue Reading
Crypto: what can it do for those in poverty?
by Keetie Roelen It’s a warm summer’s evening in June 2021 when my phone pings to tell me I receivedContinue Reading
Episode #25: Can mobile phones help to end poverty? – Rosa Wang
Finding out about prices, checking the balance on your bank account and sending money to others – mobile phones canContinue Reading
Welfare queens and benefit broods: women get the blame
by Keetie Roelen Picture this: You’re a mother of a new-born. It’s only been a few weeks since you gaveContinue Reading
Episode #24: Why are women poorer than men? – Annabelle Williams
Women are paid less than men are for doing the same jobs. They take on more and longer periods ofContinue Reading
Coaching to break the poverty cycle – (how) does it work?
by Keetie Roelen “I crossed the bridge to economic independence” says Haroun about his experience with mobility mentoring. “I’m nowContinue Reading
Episode #23: Mobility mentoring to navigate the trauma of poverty – a brain-science based approach
What would you do if encountered a tiger? Not in zoo behind a fence, but in the wild in frontContinue Reading
2021 Unpacked – what have we learned about poverty?
2021 is almost behind us. It’s been a hectic year for Poverty Unpacked. We published 12 podcast episodes and almostContinue Reading
Episode #22: Trapped in a hole – the reality of life on a low income
Imagine having to choose between turning on the heating, buying food or getting your child a school uniform. These areContinue Reading
Could the Afghan humanitarian crisis been avoided?
by Ritu Mahendru The traumatic events that transpired in recent months have once again placed Afghanistan at the centre ofContinue Reading
Episode #21: A fair chance in life for everyone – UN Special Rapporteur Olivier de Schutter
Children growing up in poverty experience disadvantage in housing, schooling and later on in employment, giving them an unfair chanceContinue Reading
COP26: No climate justice without social justice
With world leaders, civil society and campaigners congregating in Glasgow this week for the global climate conference COP26, climate justiceContinue Reading
Episode #20: Lives built on trash: the story of wastepickers in Mumbai – Saumya Roy
On the outskirts of Mumbai in India lie the Deonar garbage mountains. Like in so many places around the world,Continue Reading
Improving childhood outcomes – is cash enough?
by Madison Little and Keetie Roelen In short: it depends… Providing parents with cash is now common practice across theContinue Reading
Episode #19: The Social Guarantee – meeting the universal need to thrive
Giving people access to the things they need and ensuring there is a basic level of life’s essentials that noContinue Reading
Persistent poverty – what we say matters
by Keetie Roelen With Covid-19 shining a spotlight on persistent and worsening poverty in many places around the world, weContinue Reading
Episode #18: Millennials, a generation of frustrated aspirations – Thomas Rochow
Secure employment and affordable housing: the two most desired goals of many millennials in the UK. Yet so often theyContinue Reading
How negative life events impact aspirations of people in poverty
by Maheshwar Pratap Over 150 million people are expected to fall into poverty in 2021 as a result of theContinue Reading
Episode #17: Aspirations and poverty – a double-edged sword
Aspirations inspire individuals to become more economically and politically involved, but living in poverty often hampers such aspirations. Efforts toContinue Reading
Impatiently waiting for dignity in international development
by Tom Wein When it comes to an ethic of dignity in international development, Western arbiters are playing catch up.Continue Reading
Episode #16: Faith and empathy in community work – coming together to tackle poverty
Interfaith collaboration has enormous potential to mobilise community resources and foster a shared sense of humanity and respect. Working withContinue Reading
Programming to end poverty: insights from a practitioner
by Sudarshan Neupane In the last 10+ years, I had the privilege of working as a development worker in geographicallyContinue Reading
Episode #15: Navigating Japan’s social hierarchies and migrant hostilities – Dreux Richard
Japan is a hard place to be poor, and even more so as an immigrant. Many of the country’s NigerianContinue Reading
‘Leave no one behind’ – a pledge to reduce inequalities
by José Manuel Roche The leave no one behind (LNOB) pledge is central to the 2030 Agenda for the SustainableContinue Reading
Episode #14: Digitising the fight against poverty – poor use of technology?
Social services around the world are rapidly being digitised. It is cheaper and more efficient, and it can improve theContinue Reading
Poverty has a language
by Keetie Roelen A few weeks ago, I asked for your help to identify terms that we use to describeContinue Reading
Episode #13: Tackling child poverty: both urgency and opportunity
Child poverty has life-long adverse consequences, undermines children’s psychosocial wellbeing, and ultimately hurts all of us. Investing in the earlyContinue Reading
The hidden value of social health insurance: breaking the intergenerational poverty trap?
by Christoph Strupat In the last decade, we witnessed a global campaign to extend health care coverage in the developingContinue Reading
Episode #12: Working-class writers – voices to be heard
Working-class writers or from those with disadvantaged backgrounds are underrepresented in the publishing world. Amplifying voices and hearing stories fromContinue Reading
Reducing child labour: good intentions gone wrong
by Keetie Roelen 2021 is the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. According to estimates of the InternationalContinue Reading
Episode #11: Poverty, politics and activism – Tabitha Morton
A dominant narrative within politics and media in the UK and elsewhere is that for one group to gain, anotherContinue Reading
“All I want for Christmas” – moving beyond the blame of poverty
by Keetie Roelen Christmas is almost upon us. In many places around the world, this a time for festive dinners,Continue Reading
Episode #10: Two stories of poverty in the UK – Daniel Edmiston
There is a splintering among those living in poverty with those in ‘deep poverty’ having lost the most in theContinue Reading
The impact of COVID-19 on children in Africa: a thorn in the flesh
by Angeline Munzara The children of Africa are bleeding The COVID-19 outbreak is like a double-edged sword to a poorContinue Reading
Episode #9: Social protection response to Covid-19
Social protection and other forms of social security and welfare support have seen a large and rapid expansion across theContinue Reading
Tackling climate change and reducing poverty: is “building back better” possible?
by Daniele Malerba The Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent recession are having negative effects on economies and, most importantly, onContinue Reading
Episode #8: Food banks: plugging the gaps in the welfare system
Are food banks a sign of the ‘big society’ coming together to help its vulnerable members? Or are they aContinue Reading
Preventing malnutrition among children in Rwanda during Covid-19
by Francisca Mujawase Despite widespread reductions in child poverty in Africa, malnutrition remains widespread. Rwanda is no exception. Progress hasContinue Reading
Episode #7: Behavioural science: a cure for poverty? – Saugato Datta
Struggling to make ends meet reduces mental head space and makes it harder to make long-term decisions. Applying behavioural scienceContinue Reading
What is it like to live on little? These memoirs will tell you
by Keetie Roelen Looking for books that provide an insight into the lived experience of poverty? Here are four memoirsContinue Reading
Episode #6: Multidimensional poverty in 2020: a double-sided picture – Sabina Alkire
Many countries were on track to half multidimensional poverty by 2030, but Covid-19 will lead to a reversal of trendsContinue Reading
Off-grid energy and its implications for poverty
by Rasec Niembro Near 600 million individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa – around 66% of the population – live without gridContinue Reading
